Abstract
This manuscript shows the development of trade facilitation indices for both imports and exports at seven international ports in Thailand by applying the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) the results of questionnaires from freight forwarders. The indices consist of four elements: port infrastructure; port management; customs procedures; and equity in customs law enforcement. The data from 42 major freight forwarder companies were used to analyze their satisfaction about port services and customs operations, as well as to calculate indices’ subcomponent weights. The indices show that most ports just passed their existing expectation and need improvements to facilitate future demand according to ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015. Next, future scenarios indices for predicting how ports can facilitate trade according to port and customs development plan and AEC scenarios were estimated. These indices can point out components that would be improved and lead to suggestions for port development for better trade facilitation.
