This chapter describes how the transportation problems of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) states are varied, making the creation of a unified policy very difficult. Projections suggest, however, that transport demand will continue to grow. The recent tsunami has added to the problems of many countries in the region, such as Thailand and Indonesia, not only because of the immediate diversion of resources that full recovery will entail. Many of the members of the ASEAN suffered severe damage to their coastal transportation systems and to the urban infrastructure of many of their coastal cities, and much remains to be done in order to restore the basic infrastructure networks for inter-urban and urban transport. Many rural areas lacked basic year-round access to transport infrastructure and services prior to the tidal wave; and this is in the context of the cost of transport services that were already high because of the inefficiencies in infrastructure provision and perfunctory efforts at establishing competitive transport markets. International aid has been forthcoming to meet immediate needs, but longer-term assistance is needed in order to return some parts of the ASEAN region to its pre-2005 state. There will be a need, however, to make more efficient use of both the aid that is forthcoming and local resources than has sometimes been the case in the past in some countries.
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