planr

What's the latest on when the northern bus station is moving out of Bang Sue? I've got a good view of the whole construction area from my office tower and they seem to be making good progress with several new rail lines going in different directions, but right smack in the middle of everything is that bus station. Seems like they're going to have to move it soon or have to delay some work.

Mo Chit 2 as it is known is going to be the site for the Red LIne Depot. The Transport Company which runs the bus terminal (MOT) was meant to be giving the land back by the end of this year........

The new site was to be located on Vihavadi-Rangsit rd between DMK airport and Rangsit, not far from Zeer. Linked to the Dark Red Line. It had been selected and was a done deal. However, a few months ago an issue arose and now the site is being reviewed.

For the Eastern Bus terminal at Ekkamai, land was selected nearly 2 years ago on Bang Na Trat rd just 700m west of the Bang Na junction and what will be in the future be Asias largest shopping mall which will take up that huge block of vacant land on the NE corner. I'm not sure of the timeframe.

The Bangkok Mall (The Mall Group) is currently slated for completion in 2021... Would be surprised to see the bus station move before then.

Run 8 boogies like other developed cities before they be allowed to charge similar fares...

I'm no engineer, so I'm merely speculating... but could not running more carriages be an engineering consideration? Perhaps the lines and the platforms they are built on cannot support the weight of eight carriages, or the weight of 16 carriages (when two trains pass by each other)?

Each BTS and MRT station platform can handle six carriages at a time (each direction).

So you've avoided the BTS for years rather than work out how to use it properly.

Like others have said - Rabbit card. Bangkok 101.

No, I know very well how to use it, it is very simple, but if you read my OP, I said I object to queueing up twice for

the one thing, and if possible, I walk, use a bus, or the MRT where you only queue once.

I do not live in Bangkok, so a rabbit card would not suit me, and a lot of times my business is not near BTS stations.

I live in Bangkok and travel to HK and Singapore each 2-3 times a year for work. I have an Octopus card and an EZ-Link card I keep with spare bits of cash from each city after each visit, which I stick back in the wallet when heading out again. Not having a Rabbit card is sheer laziness.

I must be missing something, the headline and article content state the exact opposite of each other

On a related topic, the planned line connecting BTS Udom Suk to Suvarnibhumi is going through the motions, I believe one of several public hearings was held recently and there was a bit of news in Prachachat. Word from friends in the transport and real estate sectors is that this is very much a priority for the BMA, but seems to receive less media attention as it's not a part of the MRTA's master plan (e.g., Pink, Yellow, Orange, etc).

The developer who secured the rights to that site is from the same group as Chang Beer. If you go by the site, you can see they are setting up a number of temporary "stalls" made out of shipping containers, like the Artbox - http://www.artboxth.com/

The same group has also set up an outdoor live music venue of sorts on an adjacent part of the site called Lumpini Square... no website, but many results if you google it.

Santana's show is on the 29th.

Contact link - http://www.thaiticketmajor.com/contact.php?la=en

Number - +66 (0) 2262 3456

Is there a list of what will open when, of all the various new projects? In English please

We are not allowed to link to other forums, but there is another forum with MUCH more detail on building development, transportation development, and other infrastructure development. Sky Scraper City is the name, and there's a whole section on there for Thailand. Loads of pictures and a decent amount of English.

Thank you - that would be fine, but my Thai reading abilities are not good enough

It's all in English jpinx. I had a look at it this morning

The website itself is in English, but most of the interesting commentary and information is from Thai users, written in Thai

There will be a few more Decathalon locations over the next fews years as Tesco Lotus have signed a partnership agreement with them

Price varies quite widely on the exact kind you want to buy. A stroll around Sukhumvit soi 3/1 ought to be enlightening.

The purple line is scheduled to open August next year... though trial runs might start sooner.

Nana Hotel is going to be gutted, completely refitted and rebranded as Hard Rock Hotel. Prices will be 5 times higher, but Nana Plaza will still be just across the road.

Are you speculating on that notion , throwing out a wild guess? Or do you actually have some facts on that subject?

Facts. BTW, Nana Plaza will be closing in 2016. It is to be torn down and a shopping mall erected on the site.

Hotel idea is entirely plausible... shopping mall not so much

Comes from regulations enacted what Chamlong was governor (I think), keeping one day for street cleaning.

It says on wiki that the tender hasn't been given yet, is that correct?

It has not yet been tendered and probably won't be until next year at the earliest.

So SRT land worth 61 billion baht if leased out will be leased to the Finance Ministry for 50 billion baht.

Why not for 61 billion baht?

Is the Finance Ministry going to be in a profit making leasing business in saving 11 billion baht on the lease?

And where would the difference go if tenants are charge 61 billion baht?

Either the article was badly written or something badly is in the Finance Ministry's plans.

Each organization has undertaken independent valuations of the land and those are the values each feels it is worth. It would be like trying to sell your house, which you've assigned a value of X and the buyer is only willing to pay X-5.

If either agency decides to undertake commercial development of Makkasan, there will be no profit for at least a decade or more once the first buildings complete, given the cashflow required to actually make money.

The big arts & crafts place was and is called Narai Phand - http://www.naraiphand.com/contact_us.php

It was reported that Paragon uses 123 Gwh per year. Anybody knows how much the BTS, MRT, BMA, etc use all together?

164 Gwh in 2013

The Chinese Restaurant in Thai Wah Tower 2 on South Sathorn Road is excellent with great views.

Most people know this building as the Banyan Tree hotel :-)

As someone mentioned Din Tai Fung (Central World or Central Embassy) is a great restaurant but not a dim sum place.

My favorite is the original branch of Hua Seng Hong in Chinatown near the junction of Yaowarat Road and Yaowarat Sois 23 and 6.

The land is owned by the Crown Property Bureau. The right to develop the site was awarded to a partnership between TCC Land and Univentures, both publicly listed developers under Khun Charoen's (ThaiBev / Chang Beer) control.

The original tender from the CPB called for a large amount of office space, some retail space, education and cultural facilities, as well as perhaps some condominiums and hospitality products (e.g., hotel or serviced apartment).

It is NOT playing host to the new Australian embassy. That is behind the new Japanese embassy on Wireless Road just to the north of the development site we're talking about... but also CPB land.

Two reasons.

1) Ordering additional rolling stock typically has about a 2-year lead time, so much planning must be done in advance... when will an operator actually "need" to add additional rolling stock based on passenger loads, desired load factor, revenue per passenger, etc.?

2) Following the foregoing, the BTS has not reached the point (yet) where it really needs to add carriages as they are apparently happy with the existing ridership / revenue mix.

Some riders may dislike existing "overcrowding," but you cannot run a profitable system with empty trains, hence no rush to add carriages. As both the BTS and MRT are run by publicly listed companies, strategic planning decisions will almost always have to take shareholders "welfare" into account. Folks should not confuse the fact that while the BTS and MRT are public transit, they are not a public good.

The site of the Mo Chit BTS depot has always been planned as a high density development. In fact you can see the steel rebar reinforcements sticking up from the pilings on TOP of the depot to this day. However, the site has been mired in conflict between the BTS, the Treasury Department and who knows what other agencies since the depot was built in the mid-1990s...

This is the official BMTA website route information page in English - http://www.bmta.co.th/en/bus_info.php

Google Maps also has bus route information (e.g., clicking on stops near your origin or destination brings up a list of lines serving that station) --> however it is sometimes inaccurate

Crossy... no comment?

Hmmm, I'm pretty closely involved in this project so cannot really comment, we are suffering from the normal Thai government speed restrictions, but with luck the end of next year is do-able.

The intention is to be very HK Octopus-like, and yes, it will include buses and the express-ways if all goes to plan, of course TiT

BTW, it's Xerox (formerly ACS) not Serox who are one of the six EOIs.

Yes, I very much understand

So these bits of news are for a separate contract that builds upon the ongoing work, as opposed to redundantly doing what you're doing, correct?

Crossy... no comment?

I don't think the people who made the final decisions on where the bts stops are were influenced in the slightest by what the thais like and don't like. The influences were most obviously all related the the amount of revenue certain stops would create. It is obvious, and also obvious there are too many stops. But, somebody here says that is not the case, so maybe I am wrong. I would think 1km apart stops with the number of motorbikes here is way overkill though. What I am saying makes perfect sense though, if the stops were configured with revenue from these businesses in mind, what would we see? We would see an excess number of stops, equaling more revenue.... and that is exactly what we see imo.

The reason is simple: Thais hate walking, and when forced to do so, walk at a snail's pace. If the stops were more than 1 km apart, only farangs would use the BTS and it would not be economically viable. To be honest, knowing Thais' attitude to walking, I'm surprised they aren't 0.5 km apart.

You are of course free to think as you like, but the people who made the final decisions absolutely incorporated walking trips into their demand analyses. Whether or not they were or are accurate may be debatable, but it is most certainly standard practice and I know for a fact it was taken into account here.

You're absolutely correct that in locating stations, existing and potential future built form (which translates into ridership) was taken into account along with demographics, but you must also remember that 20 years ago when plans for the BTS were being finalized, the Bangkok's built form looked much different.

In fact, the BTS (and MRT) have enabled additional development that would likely not have taken place if there were no stations. Looking at Ari and Phrom Pong as examples, which had little development 20 years ago and are now growth hot spots.

Last point... more stops doesn't necessarily equal more revenue. There are plenty of stops which under perform, such as Ratchadamri and Sanam Pao, that without, the BTS could potentially turn a higher profit (though not necessarily revenue).

I am talking about revenue generated by the businesses the bts stations generate. My claim is that the layout was almost assuredly driven and pressured by this, and this alone for the most part. As you say, we can all believe as we like, but if you can imagine a scenario where say less stops would generate more money somehow, that is what I think they would have done. The powers that be would not give a flying hoot about Thais and their walking proclivities (or lack thereof).

I rode the MAX once or twice in Portland. As I remember, for one it is terribly efficient, much like the BTS, and also, the stops are quite a bit further apart. Different cities, maybe apples and oranges. Whatever the case, it certainly is nice to go say 10 km in 5 minutes as opposed to 3 km in 5 minutes.

The layout (station locations) had very little to do with businesses that existed at the time the BTS was being planned and built. Back in the 1990s, BTSC offered to connect shopping malls, offices, etc via the now ubiquitous skybridges FREE of charge (including construction costs).... an offer to which most declined as they believed at best, would have no impact on their operations, and at worst, actually bring in "undesirable" foot traffic if you can believe it. The 1990s were dark days in terms of commuter perspectives on rail, bearing in mind that the only benchmark was the SRT's trains, which being perfectly honest, are not an attractive option for many people, even now.

Things are very different today. Not only do developers have to pay to build their own connections, but the BTS actually charges them "access" fees in the millions of Baht.

As for MAX, never been to Portland but I do know it is a light rail system which has a different operating profile than heavy urban rail like the BTS. Also, that aside, as you say, it is a bit like apples to oranges as transit design standards in the US are a little different than other places, particularly when it comes to aligning to street grids / road networks. For example, the METRO light rail system in Phoenix has fairly wide-spacing on its system (relative to Bangkok), but a big reason for this has to do with the street layout where major intersections are one mile (1.6km) apart.