Purpose – Numerous studies to date have demonstrated the public-private partnership (PPP) project procurement method's failure to deliver low-cost housing (LCH) to low-income groups (LIGs) in developing countries. The purpose of this paper is to investigate critical failure factors (CFFs), and how they cause the failure of PPP-LCH program. Design/methodology/approach – Grounded Theory methodology was used to gather and analyze the data in order to identify, categorize, and develop the logically causal relationships among CFFs that cause PPP-LCH program failure. Findings – Ten CFFs in various phases of PPP-LCH project life cycle caused PPP-LCH program failure. Some CFFs resulted from ineffective PPP policy and strategy, while some were beyond the control of the project/program management team. These CFFs were inter-/intra-related to one another in a particular way. Originality/value – Despite the increase in PPP-LCH projects/programs for LIGs in practice and the prevalence of failure, the studies of PPP-LCH project/program failure still suffer from insufficient conceptual clarity about the causes of these failures. The lessons learned, to some extent, help decision makers in both public and private sectors to reduce the probability of the PPP-LCH project/program failure by clearly explaining the nature of each CFF.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the salient risks borne by private firms and to investigate their effective risk response strategies in public-private partnership (PPP) low-cost housing (LCH) projects in Thailand. Design/methodology/approach – The paper employs grounded theory and case study methodologies to extensively analyze ten private firms’ risks and their strategic risk mitigation. As a result, the matrix of imperative risks’ root causes and the area of the project life cycle most exposed to their impacts were proposed. This included the framework of the risk response strategy application. Findings – The private firm's risk mitigation strategies depended on the salient risks’ impact and the private firms’ predictability and controllability of the risk outcome. This included the private firm's participating objectives and core business, decision maker's risk attitude, risk perception, experience of risk, and risk assessment skill, and the project life cycle phase of risk occurrence. Practical implications – Under the same characteristics of the immature PPP market in developing countries, the contractors’ effective risk management framework can be used as a guideline to complement the contractors’ decision making on risk response strategy selection and resource allocation in the PPP project life cycle. Originality/value – Despite working under the familiar environment of construction risk and generous payment method in PPP-LCH projects, only few contractors were successful. The examination of risks borne and effectively responded by the private sector increases the likelihood of the project success.

To take advantage from locating in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) mainland region, the Thai government has established a policy of being logistics and transportation hub. The policy has, therefore, challenged the Department of Rural Roads (DRR) and particularly the Bureau of Rural Roads (BRR) 11, 12, and 14 undertaking responsibility for all rural roads in the south part of Thailand. The BRR strategic plan and implementation have been demanded to reform. This research aimed to create the conceptual framework of route project improvement execution plan for BRRs' decisionmaking on project investment prioritization. The focus group interview method was applied to gather factors influencing transportation investment projects in order to develop the criteria of route project improvement prioritization. In addition, the score level of each criterion was also collected through this method. Then, to rank the important criteria, the questionnaire was developed to gain the data of pairwise comparison and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method was applied to analyze the data. The results showed that the framework was suitable for the BRRs' long-term route project improvement execution plan while the instant application was appropriated for the BRRs' short-term plan.

This article aims to propose the equipment, vehicle, and tool (EVT) management plans appropriate to the department of rural roads (DRR) in the current situation. This situation is influenced by the government policies that constrain human resources, with budget limitations and new forms of funding procedures. These factors along with technology advancement have challenged the DRR to establish an EVT management plan. To create the plan, the effective inquiry as part of design thinking is used to assess influences through the focus group and content analysis method. The results indicate that the DRR project development role is changed. This change results in four strategic management plans in the EVT. These strategic plans are concerning the EVT management system, EVT procurement and accessibility, unburden and support DRR staff, and finally EVT maintenance and disposal. Besides, the process of EVT strategic management plan development is described and more concerned with the engagement of the policymakers. Therefore, this report facilitates the other public agencies, particularly in the developing countries, in their plan development, based on multifactor real-world settings.

The government policy for Thailand to be a logistics and transportation hub presents challenges to the Department of Rural Roads (DRR). The Bureaus of Rural Roads (BRR) 11, 12, and 14 as subsidiaries of the DRR have been forced to reform their methods of appraising rural road improvement projects. Multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) was first developed but was found to be inappropriate within the fiscal constraints since it was not based on monetary terms. This paper explores the DRR's attempts to overcome this problem. The DRR conducts a Benefit-Cost Analysis (BCA) to filter the improvement projects prioritized under the MCDM approach. While calculation is not a problem under BCA, the method cannot be readily adapted to incorporate all relevant parameters, particularly those relating to the social benefits of road improvement projects. These parameters are important in the Thai context and compatible with the characteristics of rural roads. The findings demonstrate that the incorporation of factors taken into account in MCDM but overlooked in traditional BCA is currently impracticable in view of the lack information and the difficulty of expressing those parameters in monetary terms. The paper discusses supplementing the DRR's improvement project appraisal process by BCA methods thus enhancing the effective and transparent allocation of the DRR's budget, while simultaneously providing regional benefits. This appraisal method coupled with discussion will enhance the capabilities of transport policy makers and agencies to perform their work, particularly, in developing countries.