Journal of Asian Network for GIS-based Historical Studies, Vol. 4 (Dec. 2016) pp.30-43
Railway Freight Transport in Mainland Southeast Asia before World War II:
the Analysis of Four Inland Railway Systems
IchiroKAKIZAKI1
1
Yokohama City University
Abstract: . This paper aims to analyze the pattern of freight transport on four inland railway systems in mainland
Southeast Asia: the Burma railway system, the Thai railway system (on the east bank of the Chaophraya), the
Yunnan line, and the Cambodian line. Transport volume on the Burmese railways was also the largest, followed by
the Thai railways, the Yunnan line, and the Cambodian line. Rice was the most important transport item on Burma,
Thailand and Cambodia, while coal & charcoal (mostly coal) was the largest freight item on the Yunnan line.
Primary commodities such as rice, timber and metallic ore were largely transported from hinterland to
entrepôt by these railways, with the exception of the Yunnan line. On the other hand, manufactured products were
mainly transport on the opposite direction: from entrepôt to hinterland in all railway systems.
As a result, it can be summarized that four inland railway systems in mainland Southeast Asia functioned as
the means of transport between entrepôt and hinterland, although the importance of such entrepôt–hinterland
transport varied according to the system. The Yunnan line had the least role as an inland line since the transport of
primary commodities such as rice and timber concentrated on local transport within Tonkin or Yunnan rather than
entrepôt–hinterland transport; its crucial role was the the foster of tin mine at Gejiu.
Keywords: Railway, Freight Transport, Mainland Southeast Asia
1. Introduction
Railway construction in mainland Southeast Asia started since
the 1870s, and a total of about 10,000-km railway networks
were completed before the outbreak of World War II. Those
railway lines were divided into three types; inland line
connecting entrepôt and its hinterland, coastal line along the
coast, and suburban line between city and its suburban area. In
mainland Southeast Asia, both suburban and inland lines were
constructed first, followed by coastal lines. Since coastal lines,
such as the Southern line in Thailand and the North–South line
in Vietnam, were mainly parallel with coastal navigation whose
transport cost was relatively lower, coastal lines had lesser
importance on freight transport. On the other hand, inland lines
had usually more advantage on the reduction of transport time
and cost when they substituted the slow high-cost land transport
by animals. Therefore, such inland railways should have played
important roles on freight transport between entrepôt and its
hinterland.
Revealing the freight transport on such inland railways is
important since these lines have been the feeders of international
maritime transport. However, there are quite few studies
regarding to railway transport in mainland Southeast Asia. It is
true that there are some academic studies regarding to the
railway history of each country such as Maung (1964) in Burma,
Holm (1977) in Thailand, and some recent general books on
railway history in each country, such as Whyte (2010) in
Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, and Doling (2012) in Vietnam.
However, most of them did not focus on the transport by using
statistical materials. Maung’s study did mention the role of
railway on freight transport, but its scope limited from the
opening of railway in the 1870s to the outbreak of World War I.
On the other hand, the author had already revealed the increase
in the transport of primary commodities such as rice, pigs, and
wood to Bangkok, the entrepôt, from its hinterland such as the
Northeast and the North (Kakizaki 2005), and also tried to
reveal the characteristics of freight transport on the Yunnan–
Vietnam line (hereafter the Yunnan line) (Kakizaki 2013).
However, the comparison of each railway system had not yet
been made.
Therefore, this paper aims to analyze the trend of freight
transport on inland lines in Southeast Asia before World War II,
focusing on the middle 1930s, by comparing four inland railway
systems in mainland Southeast Asia: the Burmese railway
systems, the Thai railway system on the east bank of
Chaophraya (excluding the coastal Southern line), the Yunnan
line, and the Cambodian line in French Indochina1. Due to the
limitation of sources, the detailed analysis of freight transport is
limited only on the Thai railway system and the Yunnan line
where the volume of transport at each station or each section is
available2.
2. Trend of Freight Transport
2.1 Change in Transport Volume
After the first railway in mainland Southeast Asia emerged in
Burma in 1877, railways were constructed by three political
powers: Britain, France, and Thailand (Siam). As Fig. 1 shows,
Burma advanced the expansion of its railway networks first
during the 19th century; the total length reached about 2,500 km
by the end of the 1900s. After adding other 800-km lines, its
total length increased to about 3,300 km by the end of the 1920s.
Then Thailand expanded its railway networks rapidly in the 20th
century, and its total length exceeded 3,000 km by the 1930s3.
Although French Indochina started railway construction earlier
than Thailand, the construction of the inland Yunnan line
delayed; the whole 850-km line completed in 1910. Lastly, the
Cambodian line between Phnom Penh and Mongkol Borey
opened during the 1930s. As a result, four railway systems,
totaling about 10,000 km, were constructed by the 1930s as Fig.
2 shows.
Comparing the volume of freight transport, the Burmese
railway system had the largest volume as Fig. 3 indicates. It
30
Journal of Asian Network for GIS-based Historical Studies, Vol. 4 (Dec. 2016) pp.30-43
3,000
2,500
Burma
2,000
Thailand
1,500
Yunnan
1,000
Cambodia
500
1877
1881
1885
1889
1893
1897
1901
1905
1909
1913
1917
1921
1925
1929
1933
1937
0
Fig. 1 Total length of each railway system (in km)
Note: Figures of Thailand include the Southern line.
Sources: ARI (various years), SABI (various years), ART (various
years), SYT (various years), Dohling [2012], ASI (various years).
Fig. 2 Four inland railway systems in Southeast Asia
Sources: Kakizaki [2015]
reached its highest level of 5.7 million tons in 1928 before
decreased to about 4 million tons by the Great Depression. The
transport volume in Thai railways system, including the
Southern line, followed Burma; it steadily increased to about 1.5
million tons by 1929 before dropping, and finally recovered to
the level of 2 million tons by the end of the 1930s. The Yunnan
line also shows the similar trend, but its highest peak was only
380,000 tons in 1938. The transport volume on the Cambodian
line was the least with 230,000 tons in 1938. As a whole, it can
be said that the transport volume in each line is correlating with
the total length of railways in each country.
When we compare the density of transport in each
country, the gap among four railway systems reduces. As Fig. 4
shows, the density of freight transport in Burma was the largest
with about 1,200 tons per km in the 1930s, followed by other
three systems with about 500 tons per km. It is noted that the
density of freight transport in Cambodia exceeded the Yunnan
line since the total length of the former was about one third of
the latter. The density of Thai railway system rose if the coastal
Southern line was omitted. Fig. 5 shows the density of freight
transport in four railway systems, limiting only the inland lines,
or the east bank lines, in Thailand. Since the Southern line of
Thailand had small volume of freight transport with
considerable long length, the density of Thai railway system
rose to 700 tons per km; the gap between Thailand and French
Indochina’s two lines enlarged.
2,000
1,800
1,600
1,400
1,200
1,000
800
600
400
200
0
Burma
Thailand
Yunnan
Cambodia
1877
1881
1885
1889
1893
1897
1901
1905
1909
1913
1917
1921
1925
1929
1933
1937
3,500
Fig. 4 Density of freight transport in each railway system (in
tons/km)
Note: Figures of Thailand include the Southern line.
Sources: Fig. 3 and 4.
7,000
6,000
5,000
Burma
4,000
Thailand
3,000
Yunnan
2,000
1,500
1,213
1,000
709
Cambodia
1,000
385
500
1877
1882
1887
1892
1897
1902
1907
1912
1917
1922
1927
1932
1937
0
Fig. 3 Volume of freight transport in each railway system (in
thousand tons)
Note: Figures of Thailand include the Southern line.
Sources: Same as Fig. 1.
508
0
Burma
Thailand
Yunnan
Cambodia
Fig. 5 Density of freight transport in each railway system
(annual average 1936-1938, tons/km)
Sources: ARB (1937-38): 92, ARB (1938-39): 96, SYT
(1945-1955): 328-331, ASI (1936-37): 117, ASI (1937-38): 120.
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Journal of Asian Network for GIS-based Historical Studies, Vol. 4 (Dec. 2016) pp.30-43
2.2 Transport Items of Each Railway System
Next, the author will examine the transport items of each
railway system. Although the transport volumes of each item on
all railways are available, the classification of item on each
railway is different. Therefore, the author adjusted the
classification on the basis of Thai railway’s classification. After
reclassification, the transport volume of each item on each
railway can be summarized as table 1. This table shows that the
total volume of rice transport was the largest among all items
with about 1.8 million tons; it can be said that one third of
freight transport on four inland railway systems was the rice
transport. Since mainland Southeast Asia was the important
rice-producing center for export, it is quite natural that rice was
the most important transport item there. The second largest item
was railway materials with almost one million tons, among
which volume in Burma was extremely high. The extraordinary
high volume in Burma may result from the inclusion of coal
transport for railway use, which should have been exceeded in
other systems. Then, stone, timber, and garden products are
following.
The trend of transport items in each railway systems is
similar except the Yunnan line. Fig. 6 shows the share of
important items in the Burmese railway systems. Rice is the
largest item, accounting for 29% of total transport volume,
followed by railway materials, stone, and garden product. If we
exclude the railway materials, the share of rice would rise to
37%. The transports of garden products, sugar cane, and fodder
are the peculiar characters of the Burmese railway systems,
though their shares are not so high comparing with rice. It can
be summarized that the main transport items on the Burmese
railways were the primary commodities such as agricultural
products.
Transport items on the Thai railway systems had the
similar trend. From Fig. 6, it is understood that rice was the
most important item with 41% of total transport volume,
followed by marl, timber, railway materials and stone. Since the
share of rice was higher than the Burmese railway system, the
importance of rice transport was higher on the Thai railway
systems. As for marl, the second largest transport item, was the
material for cement production, transporting from the Central
region to the cement plant in Bangkok. Although not including
in this figure, pigs were also the important item of rail transport,
especially from the Northeast to Bangkok (Kakizaki 2005:
186-195).
The Yunnan line had the different trend in freight
transport. Fig. 6 shows that the largest transport item was coal &
charcoal with 21 % of total transport volume, followed by corn
with 11%, provisions and rice with 10%, respectively. The coal
& charcoal transport on the Yunnan line was, in fact, mostly the
coal transport within Yunnan 4 . Corn, the second largest
transport item, was shipped from Tonkin to Hai Phong, the
entrepôt of Hanoi, to export to France (Kakizaki 2013: 196)5.
On the other hand, the Cambodian line, another inland
railway in French Indochina, was the typical railway for rice
transport. As Fig. 6 suggests, rice accounted for 64% of total
Table 1 Average transport volume of important items in
each railway system （annual average 1936-1938, in tons)
Burma
Rice
Railway
Thailand
Yunnan
Cambodia
Total
1,154,101
505,398
31,261
107,976
1,798,736
856,296
95,470
1,342
33
953,141
372,792
materials
Stone
281,720
91,072
N.A.
N.A.
Timber
209,726
100,319
8,766
7,301
326,112
Garden
276,360
24,785
N.A.
N.A.
301,145
204,179
Products
Metallic ore
192,218
-
11,961
N.A.
Sugar Cane
166,727
625
N.A.
N.A.
167,352
54,140
13,588
69,781
N.A.
137,509
Coal
&
Charcoal
Provisions
88,242
12,880
33,393
1,658
136,173
127,431
N.A.
N.A.
N.A.
127,431
N.A.
105,530
N.A.
N.A.
105,530
Petroleum
45,696
18,651
30,206
1,293
95,846
Firewood
54,209
8,792
N.A.
26,811
89,812
Bean
81,001
5,539
N.A.
N.A.
86,540
N.A.
82,259
N.A.
N.A.
82,259
60,872
11,087
N.A.
N.A.
71,959
39,948
16,126
8,588
N.A.
64,662
25,647
13,231
9,888
407
49,173
Fodder
Marl
Package
Sugar
&
Molasses
Salt
Metal
Goods
& Machinery
Oil seeds
34,362
N.A.
10,582
N.A.
44,944
Textile
16,859
7,646
19,092
44
43,641
N.A.
N.A.
36,331
N.A.
36,331
Cement
N.A.
23,534
7,483
N.A.
31,017
Building
N.A.
11,403
3,044
11,033
25,480
N.A.
2,975
13,833
6,109
22,917
Tobacco
17,770
3,169
N.A.
N.A.
20,939
Livestocks
10,693
2
8,482
480
19,657
Cotton
17,796
1,582
N.A.
N.A.
19,378
Jungle
N.A.
12,213
3,130
541
15,884
N.A.
13,069
N.A.
N.A.
13,069
Corn
Materials
Manufactured
products
Products
Fish
&
Fish
Products
Wheat
Hides & Horns
Manune
Vehicles
&
12,568
N.A.
N.A.
N.A.
12,568
N.A.
6,171
4,207
N.A.
10,378
4,145
N.A.
N.A.
439
4,584
N.A.
2,888
798
26
3,712
Parts
Other Goods
Total
132,997
42,110
14,953
3,827
193,887
3,961,524
1,232,114
327,121
167,978
5,688,737
Note: Since the classification of freight items in each railway is
different, the author adjusted the classification on the basis of
Thai railway's classification.
Sources ： ARB (1937-38): 5, ARB(1938-39): 7, SYT
(1937/38-1938/39): 212-213, ASI (1936-37): 178-180, ASI
(1937-38): 187-191.
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Journal of Asian Network for GIS-based Historical Studies, Vol. 4 (Dec. 2016) pp.30-43
transport volume on the Cambodian line, which was the highest
share among four railway systems. Apart from rice, firewood,
building materials and timber were the important items,
although their shares were relatively low.
Other Goods
Provisions
14%
2% Bean
Burma
Rice
29%
2%
Fodder
3%
Sugar Cane
4%
Metal ore
5%
Timber
5%
Garden
Stone
Products
7%
7%
Metal Goods
&
Machinery
3%
Metal ore
4%
Railway
materials
22%
Other Goods
19%
Coal &
Charcoal
21%
Oil seeds
3%
Manufacture
d products
4% Textile
6%
Thailand
N1, 67,672,
5%
N2, 92,227,
7%
Rice
10%
Petroleum
1%
Cement
2%
Garden
Products Package
2%
7%
Manufacture
d products
4%
Provisions
1%
Yunnan
Rice
41%
N2, 36,260,
3%
NE2,
46,676, 4%
N3, 59,645,
5%
NE3,
80,031, 7%
Marl
9%
Petroleum Other Goods
Cambodia
1%
3%
Timber
4%
Building
Materials
7%
NE2,
255,146,
20%
Bangkok,
202,617,
16%
Stone
7%
Railway
materials Timber
8%
8%
24%
N3, 182,937,
14%
Provisions
10%
Other Goods
Salt 14%
1%
E, 41,093,
3%
N1, 302,426,
NE3,
135,366,
11%
Corn
11%
Petroleum
9%
2.3 Situation of Freight Transport on Thai Railway System
and Yunnan Line
Since both the Thai railway system and the Yunnan line had the
detailed statistics for freight transport, we can grasp the situation
of freight transport more concretely. In Thailand, dispatch and
arrival volume of freight at each station can be gained from the
annual report of the Railway Department. However, since the
report for the year 1936 was the last issue available, Fig. 7
contains only the figures in 1936. As for the dispatch, the N1
section had the largest volume with 30,000 tons, followed by the
NE2 section with 25,500 tons, and Bangkok with 16%; it means
that 84% of freight dispatched from the inland area, or the
hinterland of Bangkok. As for the origin in the hinterland, the
Northern line had the largest with 45% of total dispatch volume,
followed by the Northeastern line with 36%, and the Eastern
line with 3%.
Rice
64%
Firewood
16%
Fig. 6 Share of important freight items on each railway
(annual average 1936-1938, in tons)
Sources: ARB (1937-38): 5, ARB (1938-39): 7, SYT
(1937/38-1938/39): 212-213, ASI (1936-37): 178-180, ASI
(1937-38): 187-191.
NE1,
36,049, 3%
N1, 131,526,
11%
Dispatch
E, 20,707,
2%
Bangkok,
782,588,
65%
Arrival
Fig. 7 Dispatch/Arrival volume in each section on Thai
Railway System (1936, in tons)
Note: Abbreviation is as follows: E: Eastern line, N1: Northern
line between Bangkok and Paknampho/Muak Lek, N2: Northern
line between Paknam Pho and Uttaradit, N3: Northern line
beyond Uttaradit, NE1: Northeastern line between Muak Lek
and Khorat, NE2: Northeastern line’s Ubon branch line, NE3:
Northeastern line’s Khon Kaen branch line.
Sources: ART (1936/37): Table 9.
On the other hand, Bangkok was the largest destination
of freight transport with about 780,000 tons; about two third of
total transport arrived at Bangkok. The shares of the arrival on
two main inland lines were similar: 19% on the Northern line
and 14% on the Northeastern line. As the hinterland accounted
for 84% of total dispatch and the entrepôt accounted for 65% of
total arrival, it can be concluded that the Thai railway system
functioned as the typical inland line, aiming at the transport of
primary commodities from hinterland to entrepôt.
As for the Yunnan line, the volumes of transport between
33
Journal of Asian Network for GIS-based Historical Studies, Vol. 4 (Dec. 2016) pp.30-43
sections are available, as Fig. 8 shows. This figure indicates that
the largest transport was the transport within Yunnan,
accounting for 42% of total transport, followed by the transport
within Tonkin (the northern Vietnam) with 19% and the
transport from Hai Phong to Yunnan with 12%. It is notable that
the shares of transport to/from Hai Phong, the entrepôt, were
relatively low: 16% to Hai Phong and 20% from Hai Phong.
Therefore, the share of the transport between entrepôt and its
hinterland was limited to only 36% of total transport. High
shares of domestic transport within Yunnan and Tonkin should
have resulted from the existence of Gejiu, the largest tin mining
center in Yunnan, as will be mentioned later, and the different
location of the largest city and the entrepôt at Tonkin: Hanoi and
Hai Phong.
Yunnan to
Hai Phong,
13,801 , 4%
Tonkin to
Yunnan,
5,267 , 2%
Yunnan to
Tonkin,
2,431 , 1%
Hai Phong
to Tonkin,
26,136 , 8%
Tonkin to
Hai Phong,
37,695 ,
12%
within
Yunnan,
138,176 ,
42%
Hai Phong
within
to Yunnan,
Tonkin,
39,133 ,
63,609 ,
12%
19%
Fig. 8 Transport volume in each direction on Yunnan line
(annual average 1936-1938, in tons)
Sources: ASI (1936-37): 178-180, ASI (1937-38): 187-191.
Although no detailed freight transport statistics are
available on the Burmese railway systems and the Cambodian
line, their characters of freight transport should have been
similar to the case of Thai railway system. Since rice was the
most important transport item for both railways, it should have
been transported from hinterland to entrepôt. Apart from rice,
most important transport items were primary materials that were
produced in inland areas, and their destination should have been
at entrepôt for export or domestic consumption. Therefore,
except the Yunnan line, three inland railway systems in
mainland Southeast Asia should have functioned as the means
of transporting primary commodities from hinterland to
entrepôt.
3. Transport of Primary Commodities
3.1 Rice
Rice was the most important agricultural product in mainland
Southeast Asia as the staple food and the export item, and was
also the most important transport item on three railway systems
as Table 1 shows. Rice was mainly exported from three
entrepôts: Rangoon in Burma, Bangkok in Thailand, and Saigon
in French Indochina. Therefore, the three railway systems
should have played important roles on rice transport from inland
areas to these entrepôts.
Fig. 9 shows the dispatch and arrival volume of rice on
the Thai railway system. As for the dispatch, the N 3 section
was the largest dispatching place with 27% of total transport
volume, followed by the NE2 section with 24% and NE3 section
with 21%. The Northeast, or the middle Mekong basin,
dispatched the largest volume with about 240,000 tons, followed
by the North, or the upper Chaophraya basin, with about
120,000 tons, and the Central region, or the middle and lower
Chaophraya basin, with 86,000 tons. Although the Central
region, especially the Chaophraya delta on the lower
Chaophraya basin, was the center of rice-producing for export,
the transport of rice from there was mostly carried out by water
transport via rivers and canals. Therefore, railway contributed
only to the rice transport from the inland areas where water
transport was difficult or impossible. Especially, rice from the
Northeast had to rely on rail transport completely since there
was a mountain range, the Dong Phayayen range, between
Bangkok and the Northeast, and no road transport existed at that
time (Kakizaki 2005: 221-222).
N1, 35,143 ,
8%
NE1, 39,086
, 9%
N2, 50,940 ,
11%
NE3, 94,501
, 21%
E, 1,910 ,
0%
Bangkok,
1,031 , 0%
N3, 119,151
, 27%
NE2,
107,395 ,
24%
Dispatch
Others,
22,070 ,
5%
Bangkok,
464,675 ,
95%
Arrival
Fig. 9 Dispatch/Arrival volume of rice in each section on
Thai railway system (1936, in tons)
Note: Figures include both rice and paddy.
Sources: Same as Fig. 7.
On the other hand, there was almost no rice transport to
entrepôt observed on the Yunnan line. As Fig. 10 shows, most
of rice transport on the Yunnan line was limited only within
Yunnan with 57% of total transport volume, and within Tonkin
with 42%. During the 1910s, the rice transport within Yunnan
headed to Bishezhai, the junction to Gejiu, and the transport
within Tonkin headed to Hanoi or Haiphong (Kakizaki 2013:
198-202). Although only the figures of agricultural product were
available, Bishezhai still received the largest volume of
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Journal of Asian Network for GIS-based Historical Studies, Vol. 4 (Dec. 2016) pp.30-43
agricultural product with 21,985 tons in 1937 (Tetsudo-sho
1942a.). However, whenever severe rice scarce occurred in
Yunnan, the rice transport from Tonkin to Yunnan emerged
(Kakizaki 2013: 196-197).
Tonkin
to Hai
Phong,
117 , 1%
within
Tonkin,
13,245 ,
42%
within
Yunnan,
17,898 ,
57%
Fig. 10 Transport volume of rice in each direction on Yunnan
line (annual average 1936-1938, in tons)
Sources: Same as Fig. 8.
Although there was no detailed data for the rice transport
in Burma, the shares of rice transport arriving at three major
entrepôts served by railway were available for the year 1939-40.
In this year, rice transport to Rangoon, Bassein, and Moulmein
accounted for 74%, 2%, and 3% of total transport volume,
respectively (ARB (1946-47): 7). By using these shares, we can
estimate the volume of rice arriving at these three entrepôts as
Fig. 11: 854,034 tons at Rangoon, 23,082 tons at Bassein and
34,623 tons at Moulmein.
Fig. 11 Comparison of rice transport arriving at entrepôt
(annual average 1936-1938, in tons)
Note 1: Arrival volume at Burmese port is based on the share of
each port in 1939-40: 74% at Rangoon, 2% at Bassein, and 3%
at Moulmein.
Note 2: Arrival volume at Bangkok is the figure in 1936/37.
Note 3: Arrival volume at Saigon is the rice transport volume on
the Cambodian line.
Sources: Table 1, Fig. 9, & Fig. 10.
In Cambodia, the section between Pursat and Mongkol
Borei was the center of dispatching rice. In 1937, Battambang
dispatched the largest volume with 18,198 tons, followed by
Chondeur Sva with 15,194 tons and Mongkol Borei with 10,817
tons (Tetsudo-sho 1942a.) 6 . Since this section was the
northwestern part of the line, the Cambodian railway’s most
important role was the transport of rice from northwestern
region to Phnom Penh.
As Fig. 11 shows, four railway systems transported a
total of about 1.5 million tons of rice to six entrepôts in
mainland Southeast Asia. The arrival at Rangoon was the largest
with 854,034 tons, followed by Bangkok with 464,675 tons and
Saigon with 107,906 tons. According to Latham, these three
entrepôts exported about 3 million tons, 1.4 million tons, and
1.3 million tons, respectively, during the middle of the 1930s
(Latham 1999: 43)7. Therefore, shares of railway transport on
rice export can be calculated as follows: 28% at Rangoon, 34%
at Bangkok, and 8% at Saigon.
3.2 Timber
Timber was one of the important transport items in mainland
Southeast Asia: the third largest item in Thailand, the fourth in
Burma and Cambodia. The most important wood as the export
commodity was teak, especially in Burma and Thailand, which
was the third and the fourth largest export item in value in the
1930s, respectively8. However, the role of railway on timber
transport in two countries differed.
In Thailand, timber was mostly conveyed from hinterland
to entrepôt as well as rice transport, as shown in Fig. 12. The
most important origin was the NE2 section with 38%, followed
by the E section (the Eastern line) with 29% and the N3 section
with 27%. In fact, timber was the most important transport item
on the Eastern line where demand for freight transport was the
lowest among three inland lines in Thailand.
However, the Thai railways had very little role on teak
transport. In Thailand, teak was found in the mountainous
Northern region, or the N3 section. Therefore, timber from the
NE2 section or the E section was not teak but other kind of
wood such as mai yang (dipterocarpus turbinatus). Especially,
such wood in the Northeast was firstly commercialized after the
opening of railway since transport of timber from the Northeast
in the Mekong basin to Bangkok in the Chaophraya basin was
completely impossible before railway opening. Even timber
dispatched from the N3 section, the center of teak felling, was
not teak but mai Pradu (pterocarpus macrocarpus) (Kakizaki
2005: 199). All teak timber has been transported by floating on
the river; the traditional means of transport did not change even
after railway opening since floating along rivers was the
cheapest means of transport.
On the Yunnan line, the local transport within Yunnan
was the center as Fig. 13 shows. The trend that the local
transport dominated was the same as rice transport, but the share
of local transport within Yunnan was further higher than the
case of rice. During the 1910s, the main arrival stations were
Bishezhai and Yunnanfou (Kunming), and the arrival at
Yunnanfou was increasing at the end of the 1910s by the
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Journal of Asian Network for GIS-based Historical Studies, Vol. 4 (Dec. 2016) pp.30-43
NE1, 1,129
, 2%
N3,
12,002 ,
27%
E, 13,059 ,
29%
Others,
1,767 , 4%
NE2,
17,341 ,
38%
Dispatch
Others,
2,721 , 6%
the largest dispatch station was Romeas with 1,890 tons, and
few dispatch from major stations on the northeastern part
existed (Tetsudo-sho 1942a.).
The situation of timber transport toward the entrepôts can
be summarized as Fig. 14. Rangoon received the largest volume
with 209,726 tons, followed by Bangkok with 45,270 tons.
Since almost all transport on the Yunnan line was the local
transport, mostly within Yunnan, Hai Phong received extremely
few volumes. Since timber other than teaks was mainly used
within each country, most of timber arriving at Bangkok or
Saigon (Phnom Penh) was not the export commodity. Therefore,
the function of railway on timber transport was largely limited
to domestic transport, although the transport from hinterland to
entrepôt dominated.
Bangkok,
45,270 ,
94%
Arrival
Fig. 12 Dispatch/Arrival volume of timber in each section on
Thai railway system (1936, in tons)
Sources: Same as Fig. 7.
increase in demand of timber for construction at Kunming
(Kakizaki 2013: 204). In 1937, A-Mi-Tcheou (Kaiyuan) was the
largest dispatching station with 5,393 tons, and the arrival
volumes at Bishezhai and Yunnanfou were 5,902 tons and 1,601
tons, respectively (Tetsudo-sho 1942a.)9. The trend of timber
transport was the same as rice; the transport to Bishezhai was
the center.
In Burma, railways transported teak timber. Although
there is no data showing the origin of timber transport, the
Sittang valley line should have been the center of timber
dispatch. It is true that the teak transport via river also
dominated as in Thailand, but railways seem to have played
roles on teak transport from such areas where river floating was
not convenient. In Cambodia, the timber transport occurred from
inland area to Phnom Penh, especially from the section between
Phnom Penh and Pursat, or the southeastern part of the line, as
within
Tonkin, 605
, 7%
Hai Phong
to Yunnan,
39 , 0%
within
Yunnan,
8,060 , 93%
Fig. 13 Transport volume of timber in each direction on
Yunnan line (annual average 1936-1938, in tons)
Sources: Same as Fig. 8.
Fig. 14 Comparison of timber transport arriving at entrepôt
(annual average 1936-1938, in tons)
Sources: Table 1, Fig. 12, & Fig. 13.
3.3 Metallic Ore
Metallic ore was also important primary commodity on the
Burmese railway system and the Yunnan line. It was the sixth
and the eighth largest item in two railway systems, respectively.
In Thailand, the transport of metallic ore, or tin ore, did exist,
but was limited only on the Southern line. There seems to have
been no transport of metallic ore on the Cambodian line.
In Burma, most of metallic ore was shipped from the
Bawdwin mine, the largest mine in Burma. The Bawdwin mine,
locating in northern Shan state, produced lead, silver, zinc,
copper, and so on, operated by the Burma Corporation (Andrus
1948: 122-126). The ore was smelted at Namtu, about 20km east
of Bawdwin, and then shipped to Rangoon by rail for export.
There was the 71-km two-foot narrow gauge railway between
Bawdwin and Namyao, the nearest railway station on the Lashio
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Journal of Asian Network for GIS-based Historical Studies, Vol. 4 (Dec. 2016) pp.30-43
line, where metal ore was transshipped to main line’s wagons
(Tetsudo-sho 1942b: 63-64). As shown in Fig. 15, the transport
of ore from the Bawdwin mine accounted for the 97% of total
metallic ore transport. Therefore, the Lashio line, or the
Northern Shan State line, should have played most important
role on metallic ore transport.
Copper
matte, 7,259
, 4%
Nickel
Speiss,
3,689 , 2%
Iron Ore,
22,057 ,
11%
Zinc
Concentrate
s, 75,661 ,
39%
Silver, 181 ,
0%
metallic ore was the typical inbound transport toward entrepôt.
Others,
1,820 , 15%
Wolfram,
4,902 , 3%
Pig lead,
78,468 ,
41%
Yunnan to
Hai Phong,
10,141 ,
85%
Fig. 16 Transport volume of metallic ore in each direction on
Yunnan line (annual average 1936-1938, in tons)
Sources: Same as Fig. 8.
Fig. 15 Volume of metallic ore transport on Burmese railway
systems (annual average 1936-1938, in tons)
Note: Blues originate Bawdwin and red originates Mawchi.
Sources： ARB (1937-38): 8, ARB (1938-39): 9.
Another important mine in Burma located at Mawchi in
Karenni state, about 150km east of Toungoo on the main
Rangoon–Mandalay line. It was the largest wolfram (tungsten)
and tin mine in Burma, producing about a half of both ores.
Before opening of the motor road between Mawchi and
Toungoo, the metallic ore was sent to Kemapyu on the Salween
River to upstream to Shwenyaung, the railhead of the Southern
Shan State line, before shipping toward Rangoon (Andrus 1948:
126-127). In 1936-37, 5,185 tons of wolfram from the Mawchi
mine transported to Rangoon, among which 2,778 tons
dispatched from Shwenyaung and the remain from Toungoo
(ARB (1937-38): 8). The distance of rail transport decreased
after the dispatch station changed from Shwenyaung to
Toungoo.
On the other hand, the metallic ore transport on the
Yunnan line was mainly the transport of tin from the Gejiu mine
in Yunnan. Tin ore from Gejiu has been refined there before
shipped to seaport for export. The one of main commodities that
were supposed by France when constructing this line was tin. As
Fig. 16 suggests, the transport of metallic ore (refined tin) from
Yunnan to Hai Phong accounted for 85% of total transport
volume. After tin ore was dug and refined at Gejiu, it was
transported to Bishezhai by the 600-mm-gauge Ge-bi line before
transshipped to the Yunnan line’s wagon to Hai Phong, which
was quite similar to the transport of metallic ore from the
Bawdwin mine10.
Fig. 17 indicates the situation of metallic ore transport
arriving at each entrepôt. Rangoon received the largest with
192,218 tons, followed by Hai Phong with about 10,661 tons.
The transport of metallic ore from above-mentioned mines was
exclusively performed by railways. Since almost all metallic ore
was to be exported abroad, it can be said that the transport of
Fig. 17 Comparison of metallic ore transport arriving at
entrepôt (annual average 1936-1938, in tons)
Sources: Fig. 15, & Fig. 16.
4. Transport of Manufactured Products
4.1 Textile
Textile was the manufactured products, mostly cotton cloth,
clothing, and yarn, from European countries, the United States,
and Japan. Although such textile had been made in each country
before the influx of cheap textile from Europe, the imported
textile prevailed over the domestic textile since the 19th century,
and became one of the important import items in each country.
Fig. 18 shows the transport of textile in the Thai railway
system. It clearly indicates that the textile transport was the
outbound transport from entrepôt, contrary to the transport of
primary commodities. Almost all dispatch came from Bangkok,
and the arrival at the N3 section was the largest with 33% of
total transport, followed by the NE3 section with 20%, the N1
section with 17%, and the NE2 section with 16%. In 1936/37,
Lampang in the N3 section received the largest volume with
1,065 tons, followed by Khon Kaen in the NE3 section with 988
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Journal of Asian Network for GIS-based Historical Studies, Vol. 4 (Dec. 2016) pp.30-43
tons, Khorat in the NE1 section with 969 tons, and Chiang Mai
in the N3 section with 951 tons (ART (1936/37): table 9). Since
Lampang was the junction to Chiang Rai and the eastern Shan
state and Khon Kaen was the railhead toward Nong Khai and
Vientiane, some should have been further conveyed toward
eastern Burma and Laos. In total, the Northeast absorbed 50% of
the textile dispatched from Bangkok, and the North received one
third. Since the statistics of Thai railway classified as cloth,
most of them should have been the manufactured cotton cloth,
perhaps including clothing.
Others,
171 , 2%
Dispatch
NE2, 1,113 ,
15%
N1, 1,235 ,
17%
within
Tonkin,
2,790 ,
15%
Others,
154 , 1%
Hai Phong
to Yunnan,
13,787 ,
72%
Fig. 19 Transport volume of textile in each direction on
Yunnan line (annual average 1936-1938, in tons)
Sources: Same as Fig. 8.
Bangkok,
9,449 , 98%
NE1, 969 ,
13%
Hai Phong
to Tonkin,
within 823 , 4%
Yunnan,
1,538 , 8%
Bangkok,
184 , 3%
N3, 2,302 ,
32%
Although there was no data showing the trend of
transport on the Burmese railway system and the Cambodian
line, it can be assumed that the textile transport on these two
systems was the outbound transport as the Thai railway system
and the Yunnan line. Therefore, the textile transport can be
summarized as Fig. 20. This figure shows that Rangoon was the
largest dispatching place with 16,859 tons, followed by Hai
Phong and Bangkok. There was very little transport on the
Cambodian line as far as the statistical data shows. The reason
of small transport might have been the influx of cheaper cotton
products from Thailand to northwestern Cambodia around
Battambang12.
NE3, 1,406 ,
20%
Arrival
Fig. 18 Dispatch/Arrival volume of textile in each section on
Thai railway system (1936, in tons)
Sources: Same as Fig. 7.
The transport on the Yunnan line also shows the similar
trend. Fig. 19 suggests that the transport from Hai Phong to
Yunnan was the largest with 72% of total transport, followed by
the transport within Tonkin with 15%, and within Yunnan with
8%. As for the transport from Hai Phong to Yunnan, the arrival
at Yunnanfou was the largest during latter half of the 1910s
(Kakizaki 2013: 193-194). This trend seems to have been
succeeded even in the 1930s; Kunming (Yunnanfou) received
the largest volume with 11,938tons, followed by Bishezhai with
2,400 tons in 1937 (Tetsudo-sho 1942a.). On the Yunnan line,
the transport of cotton yarn prevailed over cotton cloth: 13,759
tons of cotton yarn and 5,517 tons of cotton cloth in 1938 (ASI
(1937-38): 188-189). Especially, the share of cotton yarn was
high on the transport from Hai Phong to Yunnan, accounting for
about 80% of total transport from Hai Phong to Yunnan.
However, most of yarn to Yunnan seems to have been coming
from China11.
Fig. 20 Comparison of textile transport dispatching at
entrepôt (annual average 1936-1938, in tons)
Sources: Table 1, Fig. 18, & Fig. 19.
4.2 Metal Goods & Machinery
Metal goods & machinery was another imported manufactured
items from Europe, the United States, and Japan. Since all of
mainland Southeast Asia was colonialized except Thailand, the
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Journal of Asian Network for GIS-based Historical Studies, Vol. 4 (Dec. 2016) pp.30-43
British/French colonies were expected to become their markets
for manufactured products; the industrialization in each colony
was extremely limited. Therefore, metal goods & machinery
were also the outbound-transport item from entrepôt to
hinterland.
Fig. 21 indicates the situation of metal goods &
machinery transport on the Thai railway system. Bangkok was
the largest dispatch center with 90% of total transport. As for
the arrival, the N3 section was the largest with 31% of total
transport, followed by the NE3 section with 24%, and the NE2
section with 16%. The trend of important arrival stations was
similar to the textile transport: Lampang accounted for the
largest with 1,529 tons, followed by Khon Kaen with 1,405 tons,
Chiang Mai with 1,055 tons, and Ubon in the NE2 section with
924 tons in 1936/37 (ART (1936/37): table 9). Contrary to the
textile transport, there was the inbound transport from hinterland
to entrepôt, though the share was considerably low. There might
be certain kind of transport of disused metal goods & machinery
on the inbound direction to Bangkok.
N3, 946, 7%
Others, 414,
3%
Bangkok,
12,569, 90%
the largest city in Tonkin. Although total transport volume of
metal goods & machinery was not so large on the Yunnan line,
it can be said that the demand of metal goods & machinery
equally existed either in Yunnan and Tonkin.
within
Yunnan, 515
Tonkin to
, 5%
Yunnan,
609 , 6%
within
Tonkin,
2,134 , 21%
Others, 58 ,
1%
Hai Phong
to Yunnan,
4,321 , 44%
Hai Phong
to Tonkin,
2,251 , 23%
Fig. 22 Transport volume of metal goods & machinery in
each direction on Yunnan line
(annual average 1936-1938, in tons)
Sources: Same as Fig. 8.
Fig. 23 is the summary of metal goods & machinery
transport. Rangoon dispatched the largest volume with 25,647
tons, followed by Bangkok with about 12,569 tons and Hai
Phong with 6,572 tons. While the total volume of metal goods &
machinery transport was similar to the textile transport, the
order of Bangkok and Hai Phong changed: Bangkok was the
second largest in metal goods & machinery transport while Hai
Phong was the second largest in textile transport.
Dispatch
N2, 617, 6%
N1, 924, 8%
NE1, 539,
5%
N3, 3,380,
31%
Bangkok,
1,091, 10%
NE2, 1,695,
16%
NE3, 2,560,
24%
Arrival
Fig. 21 Dispatch/Arrival volume of metal goods &
machinery in each section on Thai railway system
(1936, in tons)
Sources: Same as Fig. 7.
On the other hand, the transport of metal goods &
machinery from Hai Phong to Tonkin was relatively large on the
Yunnan line. As Fig. 22 shows, the transport from Hai Phong to
Yunnan accounted for the largest part with 44%, and the
transport from Hai Phong to Tonkin was the second largest with
23%. Then the transport within Tonkin was following with 22%.
The transport within Tonkin should have originated at Hanoi,
Fig. 23 Comparison of metal goods & machinery transport
dispatching at entrepôt
(annual average 1936-1938, in tons)
Sources: Table 1, Fig. 21, & Fig. 22.
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4.3 Petroleum
Petroleum became important fuel after entering into the 20th
century. Kerosene and benzene were the most important
petroleum products in mainland Southeast Asia: the former for
the fuel of lamp and the latter as the fuel for motor vehicles.
While Burma produced petroleum, both Thailand and French
Indochina had to import them from abroad.
The trend of petroleum transport on the Thai railway
system is shown in Fig. 24. Bangkok contributed to almost all
dispatch with 99% of total transport; it was the typical outbound
transport from entrepôt. As for the arrival, the N3 section
received the largest volume with 45% of total transport,
followed by the N1 section with 10%, the NE3 section with 14%,
and the NE2 section with 10%. It is worth noting that the North
received more petroleum than the Northeast with 45% and 30%
of total transport volume, respectively, which was different from
the case of textile transport. Lampang accounted for the largest
arrival volume with 3,174 tons, followed by Chiang Mai with
2,154 tons, Khon Kaen with 1,311 tons, and Khorat with 1,205
tons in 1936/37 (ART (1936/37): table 9). The reason of more
arrival in the North than the Northeast, though the former had
lesser population, seems to have been the higher economic level
of the North and the more number of motor vehicles there13.
Others, 262,
1%
Bangkok,
19,341, 99%
Dispatch
NE2, 828,
6%
N2, 968, 6%
Bangkok,
131, 1%
NE1, 1,474,
10%
N3, 6,612,
45%
NE3, 2,061,
14%
N1, 2,657,
18%
Arrival
Fig. 24 Dispatch/Arrival volume pf petroleum in each
section on Thai railway system (1936, in tons)
Sources: Same as Fig. 7.
On the Yunnan line, the petroleum transport also mainly
started from Hai Phong, the entrepôt, to its hinterland. As Fig.
25 shows, the transport from Hai Phong to Tonkin was the
largest with 55% of total transport, followed by the transport
from Hai Phong to Yunnan with 32%; the transport from Hai
Phong to Tonkin exceeded the transport to Yunnan. In 1937, the
total volume of petroleum transport was 27,420 tons, among
which Hanoi received the largest with 13,677 tons, followed by
Bishezhai with 4,990 tons, and Kunming with 3,606 tons
(Tetsudo-sho 1942a.). Therefore, the largest volume of transport
from Hai Phong to Tonkin mainly resulted from the transport
from Hai Phong to Hanoi.
within
Yunnan,
1,660 , 6%
within
Tonkin,
1,143 , 4%
Hai Phong
to Yunnan,
9,669 , 32%
Yunnan to
Hai Phong,
987 , 3%
Hai Phong
to Tonkin,
16,464 ,
55%
Fig. 25 Transport volume of petroleum in each direction on
Yunnan line (annual average 1936-1938, in tons)
Sources: Same as Fig. 8.
Although Burma could produce petroleum, its transport
by rail should have originated at Rangoon. Burma has been
producing about 250 million imperial gallons of petroleum
annually during the latter half of the 1930s, and most of oil
fields located along the Irrawaddy River in Magwe and Pakokku
districts (Andrus 1948: 116-117, Nihon Burma Kyokai ed. 1942:
172). Most of petroleum was sent to Syriam, across the Pegu
River from Rangoon, by 520-km pipeline to be refined as
several petroleum products such as Kerosene and Benzene.
Since there was no railway arrived at all oil fields in Burma
except at Indaw on the Mandalay–Myitkyina line whose
production was relatively small, most transport of petroleum
product should have been the outbound transport from Rangoon.
In Cambodia, petroleum was also transported from
entrepôt to hinterland. In 1937, Phnom Penh dispatched the
largest volume with 1,302 tons, or 93% of total transport, and
Battambang received the largest volume with 614 tons, followed
by Pursat with 314 tons (Tetsudo-sho 1942a.). Therefore, the
trend of petroleum transport in Cambodia was also similar to
Thailand and the Yunnan line.
As a result, petroleum transport in mainland Southeast
Asia can be summarized as Fig. 26. Rangoon was the largest
dispatch entrepôt with 45,691 tons, followed by Hai Phong with
26,133 tons and Bangkok with 19,341 tons. Since the annual
consumption of petroleum in Burma during this period can be
estimated as 270,000 tons, the dispatch from Rangoon
accounted for about 17% of total consumption14. The dispatch
from Bangkok was also about 17% of total import volume:
about 140 million kiloliters or about 112,000 tons (SYT
(1937/38-1938/39): 90-91). The share of dispatch volume
from Hai Phong and Saigon was the largest with about 26% of
the import and transit volume of Indochina15. Therefore, it can
be concluded that the petroleum transport was another typical
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Journal of Asian Network for GIS-based Historical Studies, Vol. 4 (Dec. 2016) pp.30-43
outbound transport from entrepôt.
Fig. 26 Comparison of petroleum transport dispatching at
entrepôt (annual average 1936-1938, in tons)
Sources: Table 1, Fig. 24, & Fig. 25.
5. Role of Inland Railway Systems
5.1 Facilitator of Entrepôt–hinterland Transport
As we have examined, four inland railway systems in Southeast
Asia played important roles to facilitate the transport between
entrepôt and hinterland. Such role was especially high in Burma,
Thailand, and Cambodia, while the Yunnan line’s role on the
entrepôt–hinterland transport was relatively lower.
On three railway systems, rice was the most important
transport items, which was mostly shipped from hinterland to
entrepôt. The share of rice transport varied in each system: from
the highest of 64% in Cambodia to the lowest of 29% in Burma.
Since the important transport items following rice were also
primary commodities in these railway systems, their direction of
transport was also the same as rice transport: from hinterland to
entrepôt. Therefore, inbound transport from hinterland to
entrepôt dominated over outbound transport from entrepôt to
hinterland. Phnom Penh station dispatched 10,569 tons of
freight while received 91,836 tons in 1937; the arrival was
nine-fold more than the dispatch (Tetsudo-sho 1942a.). Bangkok
also received freight three-times more than dispatch in 1936:
788,582 tons of arrival and 202,617 tons of dispatch, as shown
in Fig. 10.
On the other hand, the Yunnan line’s role as the
facilitator of entrepôt–hinterland transport was lower than those
railway systems. As Fig. 11 indicates, the local transport within
Yunnan and Tonkin prevailed over the entrepôt–hinterland
transport. The transport to/from entrepôt accounted for only
36% of total transport volume. Also the dispatch volume at Hai
Phong exceeded the arrival volume: 65,269 tons of dispatch and
51,460 tons of arrival, as Fig. 11 shows. Such trend was quite
different to other three railway systems.
The limited role on the entrepôt–hinterland transport
mainly resulted from few inbound transport of primary
commodities to entrepôt. There was almost no transport of rice
to Hai Phong, as Fig. 13 shows. The only remarkable transport
of primary commodity toward Hai Phong was the transport of
corn, which was the export commodity to France. Since the
average volume of corn arrived at Hai Phong was 33,456 tons
between 1936 and 1938, it means that 65% of arrival at Hai
Phong was corn, which come from Tonkin. Following was tin
from Yunnan with 10,141 tons, or about 20% of total arrival at
Hai Phong. Therefore, as for the inbound transport to entrepôt,
the Yunnan line contributed to the transport from Tonkin to Hai
Phong, or within Vietnam, rather than the transport from
Yunnan to Hai Phong, which was the original object of this
railway supposed by France.
However, the transport of manufactured products on the
Yunnan line was rather the entrepôt–hinterland transport. The
share of outbound transport from Hai Phong was the highest
among above-mentioned three transport items. Although the
transport volume of manufactured products was not so large, it
can be said that the Yunnan line’s role on entrepôt–hinterland
transport was as high as other three railway systems in terms of
outbound transport.
5.2 Special Character of Yunnan line
As examined above, the Yunnan line’s role on transport was
different from other three inland railway systems. Although
three railway systems in Burma, Thailand, and Cambodia
contributed to the entrepôt–hinterland transport largest, the
importance of entrepôt–hinterland transport on the Yunnan line
was lower than local transport. Therefore, we cannot conclude
that all four railway systems in mainland Southeast Asia were
the typical inland railway, functioning as the facilitator of
entrepôt–hinterland transport.
In fact, the most important role of the Yunnan line was
the foster of Gejiu tin mine. The transport within Yunnan, or the
transport to Bishezhai, the junction to Gejiu, was the largest for
the transport of primary commodities. As for the coal transport,
the largest transport item on the Yunnan line, the transport to
Bishezhai accounted for 68% of total transport in 1937
(Tetsudo-sho 1942a.). The rice transport within Yunnan also
should have headed to Bishezhai, just same as the 1910s. Such
fuel and food was essential for the operation of tin mine at
Gejiu; coal was used as the fuel for smelting and rice was the
staple food for laborers. The arrival of manufactured products at
Bishezhai such as textile and petroleum also supported tin
production at Gejiu.
The mining town of Gejiu was heavily populated with
about 150,000 laborers as of 1918 (Takeuchi 2003: 18). Such
large number of laborers created the demand of food as well as
consumption goods such as cotton yarn for clothing, timber for
house-construction, and kerosene for lamps. As for fuel,
charcoal produced around Gejiu had been used for smelting
before the extinction of forest there (Takeuchi 2003: 22).
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Journal of Asian Network for GIS-based Historical Studies, Vol. 4 (Dec. 2016) pp.30-43
Therefore, coal along the Yunnan line came to be exploited to
supply to modern refinery, which resulted in the large transport
of coal within Yunnan.
On the other hand, the output of the mine, or tin, was
exclusively transported to Hai Phong via the Yunnan line. It is
true that the tin transport from Gejiu to entrepôt such as Hai
Phong did existed even before the opening of the Yunnan line in
1910, and the volume of tin transport did not dramatically
increased after the opening of the railway: less than double16.
Nevertheless, the transport of tin was completely shifted to rail
transport after the opening of the Yunnan line. Since the share
of tin transport accounted for 73% of total transport from
Yunnan to Hai Phong, it can be said that there was almost no
other important items shipped from Yunnan to Hai Phong by rail
apart from tin.
As such, the transport to/from Bishezhai became the most
important on the Yunnan line. In 1937, the sum of dispatch and
arrival volumes at Bishezhai was 118,544 tons, accounting for
38% of total transport volume (Tetsudo-sho 1942a.). The
Yunnan line played most important role as the foster of tin mine
at Gejiu, which was the special character of this line comparing
with other inland railways in mainland Southeast Asia.
entrepôt: Rangoon and Hai Phong, respectively.
On the other hand, manufactured products were mainly
transport on the opposite direction: from entrepôt to hinterland
in all railway systems. Textile in Thailand mostly dispatched
from Bangkok to its hinterland, and about four third of textile
transport on the Yunnan line originated at Hai Phong. Metal
goods & machinery also mainly dispatched from entrepôt: 90%
on the Thai railway system and 66% on the Yunnan line.
Petroleum transport on both the Thai railway system and the
Yunnan line also showed the similar trend; 99% of Thai
petroleum transport dispatched from Bangkok and 87% of
Yunnan line’s petroleum transport originated at Hai Phong.
As a result, it can be summarized that four inland railway
systems in mainland Southeast Asia functioned as the means of
transport between entrepôt and hinterland, although the
importance of such entrepôt–hinterland transport varied
according to the system. The Yunnan line had the least role as
an inland line since the transport of primary commodities such
as rice and timber concentrated on local transport within Tonkin
or Yunnan rather than entrepôt–hinterland transport. The
Yunnan line, in fact, had the most important task as a feeder to
tin mines at Gejiu, the largest tin mining center in Yunnan.
6. Conclusion
Notes
This paper aims to analyze the pattern of freight transport on
four inland railway systems in mainland Southeast Asia: the
Burma railway system, the Thai railway system (on the east
bank of the Chaophraya), the Yunnan line, and the Cambodian
line. By the 1930s, Burma constructed the longest length of
railway system with about 3,300 km, followed by the 3,100-km
Thai railway system (including the coastal Southern line), the
850-km Yunnan line, and the 330-km Cambodian line.
Transport volume on the Burmese railways was also the largest,
followed by the Thai railways, the Yunnan line, and the
Cambodian line. Rice was the most important transport item on
Burma, Thailand and Cambodia, while coal & charcoal (mostly
coal) was the largest freight item on the Yunnan line.
Comparing the Thai railway system and the Yunnan lines whose
detailed transport statistics were available, it was found that the
Thai railway system was the typical inland line with the
transport from hinterland to entrepôt at Bangkok dominated,
while the Yunnan line contributed to local transport rather than
the transport between entrepôt and hinterland.
Primary commodities such as rice, timber and metallic
ore were largely transported from hinterland to entrepôt by these
railways, with the exception of the Yunnan line. Rice transport
on the Thai railway system was mostly performed from
hinterland to entrepôt. Both Burma and Cambodia should have
experienced the same situation, while local transport within
Yunnan and Tonkin dominated on the Yunnan line. Timber
transport in Burma, Thailand, and Cambodia was also made in
the same direction: from inland to entrepôt, and local transport
within Yunnan was the majority on the Yunnan line. As for
metallic ore transport, both the Burmese railway system and the
Yunnan line contributed to the transport from inland mines to
1
In fact, the Burmese railway systems included such coastal
lines as the Maltaban line or the Ye line. However, since there
are no statistics available for the transport on each line, the
author regards all lines in Burma as the inland lines. As for the
Cambodian line, although the actual line starts from Phon Penh,
it was virtually connecting Saigon and Cambodia’s inland area,
combining with river transport on the Mekong between Phnom
Penh and Saigon.
2
Annual reports of railway administration are the main sources
for this study. However, the available statistics differ according
to each country; annual report for Thai railways provide detailed
data for transport but those for Burmese railways contain little
information regarding to transport. Apart from annual reports,
Statistics in statistical yearbooks in each countries are
complemently used.
3
However, Fig. 1 includes the length of the Southern line with
about 1,350 km.
4
Virtually all transport should have been the transport to
Bishezhai station, the junction to Gejiu, the largest tin mining
center in Yunnan (Kakizaki 2013: 202).
5
Corn became important export item to France after the Great
Depression. However, the main dispatching port was Saigon in
Cochinchina (Robequain 1941: 311).
6
Although these figures include all agricultural products, rice
accounted for almost all transport of agricultural products.
7
These figures are annual average export volume of each
country between 1934 and 1938.
8
The second largest export item was petroleum product in
Burma, and the second and the third export items in Thailand
were tin ore and lubber.
9
These figures include all forestry products.
10
This narrow gauge light railway was constructed by
privately-established Ge-bi Railway corporation, and opened
traffic to Gejiu in 1921 (Takeuchi 2003: 21).
11
According to trade statistics, the transit volume of cotton
yarn from China to Yunnan via Indochina was about 10,000 tons
in 1936 and 1937 (Oiwa ed. 1942: 165), which was
correspondent to the transport volume of cotton yarn from Hai
42
Journal of Asian Network for GIS-based Historical Studies, Vol. 4 (Dec. 2016) pp.30-43
Phong to Yunnan via the Yunnan line.
12
Although there was no transport of textile arriving at the
Eastern line (E section) in Fig. 18, there was a possibility that
the textile transport arriving at Aranyaprathet, the border station
with Cambodia, did exist but was not listed in statistics due to
relatively small volume of arrival, or textile was sent as
package.
13
According to the rural economic survey in 1934-1935 held by
James M. Anderson, the average household incomes in the
North and the Northeast were 73.89 bahts and 30.16 bahts,
respectively (Andrews 1935: 372). As for the number of motor
vehicles (including motorcycles), the numbers in the North and
the Northeast were 757 cars and 464 cars, respectively (SYT
(1937/38-1938/39): 240-243).
14
The estimated consumption volume can be calculated as
follows: the total petroleum production was equivalent to
900,000 tons (1 imperial gallon = 3.6 kg), adding import volume
with 25 million gallons, or 90,000 tons, then reducing export
volume with 200 million gallons, or 720,000 tons (Nihon Burma
Kyokai ed. 1942: 203, 207) .
15
The annual average import volume of petroleum between
1936 and 1938 was about 95,000 tons, adding the annual
average 7,300-ton transit (between 1936 and 1937) to Yunnan
(Oiwa ed. 1942: 165, 192).
16
While the export volume of tin was about 4,000 tons annually
during the 1900s, before the opening of railway, it increased to
about 7,000 tons during the latter half of the 1910s (Takeuchi
2003: 17).
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43