This paper is aimed to develop a new road surface management system (RSMS) that is simple, practical and affordable for developing countries to adopt it. The method of evaluating pavement surface based on visual inspection is first proposed. The pavement condition index (PCI) is adopted and modified to be flexible so that any particular circumstances in developing countries can be added. A pavement performance model is, then, established to predict road surface distress condition, and used as a basis of estimating pavement maintenance costs. A case study of applying RSMS to Bhutan is conducted to show that RSMS can properly serve decision-makers as an effective tool for road surface management.