Evaluating the impact of Trans-Asian railway on logistics mode selection between Thailand and China: an AHP-TOPSIS approach

Abstract

The newly opened Trans-Asian Railway offers opportunities for trade logistics between China and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations). This study selected six factors including cost, time, transport volume, reliability, safety, and environmental friendliness to investigate the impact on logistics for trade between China and ASEAN. It explores the most ideal solution for the Sino-Thai logistics route by using the AHP-TOPSIS approach and ranks the current five Sino-Thai logistics routes. The results indicate that the Sea-land transport (0.787) is still the best option, the Kunming-Bangkok Roadway (0.452) came in second, followed by the newly opened Trans-Asian Railway (0.431); The Nanning-Bangkok Roadway (0.373) ranks second to last, and the river-land transport service (0.249) is the last resort. In this sense, the newly opened Trans-Asian Railway would influence the current pattern of Sino-Thai logistics to some extent. The results will offer insight into the managerial decisions for the Sino-Thai trade.