Video: "Thailand's crazy" - tree cutting on Sukhumvit slammed by former MP

[webfact]

Video: "Thailand's crazy" - tree cutting on Sukhumvit slammed by former MP

 

Picture: TNews

 

The rector of Rangsit University and former MP Arthit Ourairat has slammed the authorities for cutting down trees in a dangerous fashion on Sukhumvit Road in Bangkok.

 

But the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority have said that the workers were trained by "qualified arborists".

 

And it has been revealed up to three million more trees could face the chop in the capital.

 

Picture: TNews

 

Earlier footage emerged on the Facebook page of Everything Bangkok that showed workers letting a large tree fall into the main road.

 

Workers giggle in the background as branches cover one of Bangkok's main arteries but most people were not amused.

 

Phoebe Storm posted: "Nah - don't put cones down or have a sign to stop traffic - just chop that tree down onto Sukhumvit".

 

Comment was rife with most western posters slamming the Thais though some said it was expedient and would not waste public money.

 

However, Dr Arthit weighed in with his own criticism on his personal Facebook page.

 

He said "That's just crazy once again, cutting the trees down like that" Calling the situation out of control or wild he wanted to know who had ordered it to be done like this.

 

Meanwhile Wallop Suwannadee of the BMA defended the tree cutting saying that his teams had been trained by qualified "arborists".

 

Special training sessions lasting six days were being conducted all over Bangkok.

 

These were held to train the staff in correct procedure as three million trees across the capital face cutting down or reshaping.

 

Source: TNews

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2017-12-19

 

[SkyNets]

True, but not just about cutting trees down Doc, not just about trees.

[RotMahKid]

3 million trees to cut down or reshaping, lets hope they replant the double amount somewhere else.

 

Edited December 19, 2017 by RotMahKid
forgot the word reshaping

[01322521959]

I guess it keeps costs down. Imagine the same thing carried out in the UK. Roads closed, businesses informed, police and emergency vehicles on standby. Health and safety gone mad in my home country. Over here the term health and safety is lax to say the least. But Hey Ho! They sure get the job done and finished with in short order.

[rkidlad]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Comment was rife with most western posters slamming the Thais though some said it was expedient and would not waste public money

It's only a problem when it becomes a problem. Like if someone important, or someone connected to someone important, is affected by this. 

[Crossy]

Meanwhile, the rest of the known universe are putting tees IN.

 

[richard_smith237]

I think some 'middle ground' is acceptable. 

 

In the UK the whole of the Road would be closed, in Thailand passers by are at risk of being injured by the falling trees because the road isn't closed. 

 

Perhaps a Partial Closure: i.e. allowing traffic to flow in the outer two lanes while cutting the minor limbs, and momentarily closing the outside two lines while the main truck is felled - but to be honest, it looks like there may have been someone stopping traffic.

 

The tree felling is also a good thing - Storms brought down trees last year which created damage. I remember one story of a tree falling in central Bangkok and killing a motorcycle rider.

 

It also looks to me as though the Metropolitan Authority are removing the cables along Sukhumvit road the majority of which I assume are non-functional. 

 

All in all - Good Job I'd say, but there perhaps needs to be a far closer 'eye' on safety. 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 19, 2017 by richard_smith237

[Colabamumbai]

Trees are the lungs of the city. 

[Sir Dude]

Yeah, might get the job done quick but appears a bit yeee-haaa from the looks of it. Tree surgeons they are not. That guy with the chainsaw looks like he might be good though for slashing & burning virgin rain forest and clearing land to make way for palm plantation expansion.

Edited December 19, 2017 by Sir Dude
Typos

[Beats56]

Wow absolutely no safety involved at all. These guys will go deaf with no hearing protection. Professional cutters use a bucket lift and cut the upper portion and use ropes untill the last managed part is safe to drop. I have seen some in flip flops also. Never happen in the western world. They would be shut down in a second.

[MW72]

6 days training. What more could you ask for?

[Minnehaha]

Trained where to put the petrol in a chainsaw and where they store the brooms and saws. 

 

Go to any ANY southeast Asian city and notice the ones who were colonized longest have nicest trees and often architecture.  Burma.  Singapore.  KL - lovely very green cities with lush trees.  Bangkok has mangled stumps and no cover except skytrain and 3story mildewed shophouses of concrete.  No sidewalks.  F ing Yangon has larger sidewalks! 

[Jonmarleesco]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

'... Wallop Suwannadee of the BMA defended the tree cutting saying that his teams had been trained by qualified "arborists".

Qualified, my a___e. When some pillock decides to try and be clever with use of one description in place of one most commonly used, you can be sure he has no idea what he is talking about. No doubt confused the term for those who tend trees with the one for those who live in them ...

Edited December 19, 2017 by Jonmarleesco

[Jonmarleesco]

49 minutes ago, MW72 said:

6 days training. What more could you ask for?

That six days did cover the whole of Bangkok.

[Jonmarleesco]

3 hours ago, Crossy said:

Meanwhile, the rest of the known universe are putting tees IN.

 

They're going golf mad?

[Jonmarleesco]

4 hours ago, 01322521959 said:

I guess it keeps costs down. Imagine the same thing carried out in the UK. Roads closed, businesses informed, police and emergency vehicles on standby. Health and safety gone mad in my home country. Over here the term health and safety is lax to say the least. But Hey Ho! They sure get the job done and finished with in short order.

The short order only cut short in the (highly likely) event of an accident.

[xen]

I find it very hard to defend Bangkok as an  city in its pursuit to be an international city of merit with this hillbilly attitude to the environment and to attractive streetscapes . We have seen this similar attitude  in Pattaya along Beach Road , and whilst cities like Singapore and Hong Kong attract not only tourists but international business what do these cretins do with their approach to livable cities despite restraints like climate and population. Over the past 40 years i have seen some improvement in Bangkok's city scape and urban environment but it is slowly being undone by not only the removal of these trees and gardens but also the assine approach to tree management. Shit if i could have got my arboricultural knowledge in 6 days instead of gaining it through study and work experience then i would be a happy boy. It just can't be done unless you want diseased trees or desolation. Absolutely no scientific thought here regarding climate change etc, just blind adherence to superstition and living in a world of unreality. TIT!

[ChrisY1]

Again.....the professional Thai "abhorists" at work under instruction from Anusorn, BMA......(an installed ex general)

[cracker1]

"And it has been revealed up to three million more trees could face the chop in the capital."

I am not a "Greenie" but this is very bad news for Bangkok ! The city need many millions more trees to make it a more beautiful place......................not less trees.

And I am not going to get into the environmental benefits of trees.

[Thingamabob]

Thais hate trees.

[the guest]

When making roads in Thailand, I have seen massive trees being removed which might have stood for a couple of hundred of years. When it comes to the environment, Thailand doesn't pay much attention to this, especially if there is money to be made.

[Borzandy]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

his teams had been trained by qualified "arborists".

Qualified,but Thais

[farcanell]

8 hours ago, 01322521959 said:

I guess it keeps costs down. Imagine the same thing carried out in the UK. Roads closed, businesses informed, police and emergency vehicles on standby. Health and safety gone mad in my home country. Over here the term health and safety is lax to say the least. But Hey Ho! They sure get the job done and finished with in short order.

Yes... and imagine the outcry if someone back home is killed or injured (or inconvenienced to their financial detriment).... just guessing, but that’s probably why they have those pesky rules

 

and comparing what happens on English roads, to Thai roads, is.... well... not very well thought out..... one country has the highest road deaths, the other is nearer to the lowest. Could this, and similar, s***, be a big part of it, do you think?

[farcanell]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

But the Bangkok Metropolitan Authority have said that the workers were trained by "qualified arborists".

Obviously not well enough.... or perhaps not in an urban environment, anyway

 

next up.... new Phuket life guards get six hours professional training... oh sorry, that was last month (still no lifeguards)

[jacko45k]

Oh good, it will be even hotter in Bangkok in March!

[Jeremy50]

An ugly city just got uglier. 

[bacwan]

15 hours ago, Minnehaha said:

Go to any ANY southeast Asian city and notice the ones who were colonized longest have nicest trees

Saigon has  beautiful parks with mature trees providing a cool place to be when it's hot out. Maybe someone can help me out and tell me where to find a nice shady park in central Bangkok.

24 minutes ago, Jeremy50 said:

An ugly city just got uglier.

Now that Thailand has captured first place for road deaths, they're aspiring to first place for the ugliest capital in SEA.

[steven100]

6 minutes ago, bacwan said:

Saigon has  beautiful parks with mature trees providing a cool place to be when it's hot out. Maybe someone can help me out and tell me where to find a nice shady park in central Bangkok.

Now that Thailand has captured first place for road deaths, they're aspiring to first place for the ugliest capital in SEA.

You could always move to Saigon ... 

[bacwan]

10 minutes ago, steven100 said:

You could always move to Saigon ... 

Yea, you're right. I could. And your point would be?

[impulse]

1 hour ago, bacwan said:

Saigon has  beautiful parks with mature trees providing a cool place to be when it's hot out. Maybe someone can help me out and tell me where to find a nice shady park in central Bangkok.

 

You're kidding, right?  Lumpini (at Silom MRT) and Benjakiti (at Queen Sirikit MRT) come to mind immediately.  And there are many more scattered all over the city.

 

Edited December 20, 2017 by impulse