Governance of Public–private partnerships in transportation infrastructure projects based on Thailand’s experiences

Abstract

Public–private partnership (PPP) has been extensively applied in transportation infrastructure projects. The specific characteristics of PPP projects cause the allocation of risks and benefits among the public and private sectors, and in practice, multiple decision making processes based on public interest resulting governance problems. The need for private investment in transportation infrastructure projects urges governments to apply good governance practices to attract private investment. The purpose of this study is to examine PPP governance problems and applied practices so as to investigate the governance improvement of PPP transportation projects in Thailand. The findings represent the governance problems and practices applied in PPP transportation projects in Thailand. The discussion of the findings, in relation to the international PPP governance practices, reveals the gaps for further governance improvement in terms of policy, regulation, institution, and stakeholder. This study extends the investigation of PPP problems in transportation project implementation through the lens of governance little shown in previous studies. It contributes to government and local government a more in-depth understanding of governance problems and good practices to better govern the PPP transportation projects to achieve the project goals.