TV news: Activist strikes blow for the handicapped after finding Asoke disability lift locked

[webfact]

TV news: Activist strikes blow for the handicapped after finding Asoke disability lift locked

 

Pictures: Manager Online

 

Thai media has reported on a story sure to raise issues of accessibility for the handicapped and elderly on the capital's skytrain system.

 

Manit Inphim, 50, - who is wheelchair bound - used his fist to smash a window on a lift at the Asoke BTS station on Sukhumvit.

 

The lift - for the handicapped, elderly, and those who would have difficulty with the stairs or escalator - was locked. People wanting to use it must contact station staff for the key, said Manager.

 

Thai Rath TV reported that the lift cost millions.

 

 

Manit, also known as "Saba", is an activist for the handicapped and runs a Facebook page entitled "Accessibility is Freedom".

 

Thai Rath said he was taken to Lumpini police station and had a minor hand injury.

 

They said that further details about what happened to him will follow.

 

Source: Manager Online

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2018-03-12

 

 

 

[The Old Bull]

You do what you have to do.

[colinneil]

Well done Manit, disability lift locked !! What the hell.

Somebody needs to use the lift have to contact staff to get the key !!Pathetic !!

If pc plod fine you for your actions, contact me, i will be happy to pay your fine.

[shady86]

Finally someone answered my question why these lifts cannot be used

 

[laocowboy2]

3 hours ago, shady86 said:

Finally someone answered my question why these lifts cannot be used

 

And to contact the station staff you have to go up to the concourse ,,,,, oh.

[timendres]

Love this guy. I cannot imagine the daily grind for any handicapped person in Bangkok. It is difficult enough without a handicap.

[InMyShadow]

Good to see the lift in Nana is now functional but not to street level, Just to concourse <deleted>???  How do they get to street level? what a waste of money

[webfact]

Disabled activist threatens to sue after punching BTS lift

By The Nation

 

 

A WHEELCHAIR-BOUND activist, who punched a lift LED panel and shattered the glass at the BTS Asok Station in Bangkok on Sunday afternoon, yesterday threatened to sue authorities if improvements were not made to boost accessibility for people with disabilities.

 

Manit “Saba” Inpim, founder and administrator of the “Accessibility Is Freedom” Facebook page advocating for the rights of people with disabilities, said that if the Transport Ministry failed to commit to solve problems regarding accessibility at BTS stations, he would next week sue the ministry, the BTS and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA).

 

 

Manit also said he had punched the panel after a security guard insisted on him adding his name to a list of disabled people using the lift, something he viewed as a basic right. 

 

 

He said he was in a hurry and had therefore bought a Rabbit card, despite the fact that wheelchair-bound people can use the trains for free, so he could waive the requirement to sign the form, but was still told to sign and wait. He said Asok was the only BTS station that insisted on disabled people signing such a form.

 

 

After waiting for five minutes for a lift which did not arrive, he punched the panel in frustration at the infringement of his rights when travelling, he said.

 

After the Sunday incident, Manit reported himself to police about the property damage. He then posted pictures and an account of the incident, which captured public attention. 

 

In his post yesterday morning to inform the public he would talk to the media at the BTS Asok Station, Manit also encouraged people to look at his previous posts about problems associated with BTS elevators for people with disabilities. 

 

In one article, he said an elevator design allowed passengers to board at the road and be transported directly to the platform without having to buy a ticket, affecting security and prompting staff to keep it locked. 

 

 

It is only accessible when a passenger pushes a button and staff unlock the door, which forces the person to wait in an area that is not sheltered from the rain or sun. Manit said the design showed how little consideration BTS engineers had for disabled people during their design process. 

 

Meanwhile, an administrator of the Facebook community page BKKTrains.com posted that he agreed that the BTS lifts had to be improved for better accessibility, but disagreed with the violent act, which could affect other people trying to access the lift.

 

The unidentified administrator added that he suspected the incident might have stemmed from the station not having enough staff to serve passengers at the time. When the BTS started operations in December 1999, only five stations at Mor Chit, Asok, On Nut, Chong Nonsi and Siam were equipped with elevators. 

 

All except for the Siam station lifts allowed passenger to proceed directly to the train platform and had locked doors. In 2015, the Administrative Court ordered Bangkok authorities and the BTS to install lifts at all 23 stations, but the work is still ongoing. 

 

Some stations have been equipped with new lifts that do not have locked doors, while Mor Chit and Chong Nonsi have been modified to have ticket scanners at the lift door.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30340771

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-03-13

[InMyShadow]

The lift should be open to skytrain arrivals from the airport. its painful to watch confused tourists struggling with big luggage. westerners and thais will give way to the obviously disabled....excluding the Chinese of course

[Get Real]

In this case breaking something and vandalising is beeing called "striking a blow for"???? I am sure I read that the law has only one standards somewhere, and that it was equal for all rich or poor.

Does that mean this man should have been voicing his opinion and diappointment instead of breaking the glass? Maybe next case for a certain officer of the law.

[Darcula]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

a security guard insisted on him adding his name to a list of disabled people using the lift

 

A kind of Schindlers list?  Depending on the manufacturer, might well be an Otis list or a Mistubishi list.

 

[Thian]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

not having enough staff to serve passengers at the time

When i use the purple line there's far too much staff...they are everywhere doing nothing..there's even one or two standing next to the ticketvendingmachines to explain how they work....there's 2 or 3 standing at the metaldetector...always a few walking around doing nothing.....the guard at the traindeck who ALWAYS has to blow his whistle very very loud....i can easy count more than 10 staffmembers but didn't check if there's an elevator for the disabled...will do soon.

[YetAnother]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Manit said the design showed how little consideration BTS engineers had for disabled people during their design process. 

consideration for others is not a strong trait in the thai everyman; in this case, likely boils down to another common thai trait, simple ineptitude

[RichardColeman]

1 hour ago, Thian said:

When i use the purple line there's far too much staff...they are everywhere doing nothing..there's even one or two standing next to the ticketvendingmachines to explain how they work....there's 2 or 3 standing at the metaldetector...always a few walking around doing nothing.....the guard at the traindeck who ALWAYS has to blow his whistle very very loud....i can easy count more than 10 staffmembers but didn't check if there's an elevator for the disabled...will do soon.

Yes, but they are for paying customers. The disabled don't pay. so probably anyone looking after them is only doing so in his 'spare time' when they get 5 minutes

[Thian]

2 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

Yes, but they are for paying customers. The disabled don't pay. so probably anyone looking after them is only doing so in his 'spare time' when they get 5 minutes

I don't understand why the purple line has 2-3 staffmembers at the metaldetectors while at the green line there is no metal detector at all, yes there's a guard with a handheld detector but they rarely do anything. Sometimes they're not even at their table.

[RichardColeman]

Just now, Thian said:

I don't understand why the purple line has 2-3 staffmembers at the metaldetectors while at the green line there is no metal detector at all, yes there's a guard with a handheld detector but they rarely do anything. Sometimes they're not even at their table.

Sounds like UK 'nothing to declare' walkthrough at heathrow !

[colinneil]

    

7 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

Yes, but they are for paying customers. The disabled don't pay. so probably anyone looking after them is only doing so in his 'spare time' when they get 5 minutes

  A very poor choice of words !! The disabled dont pay  !!

We pay every minute of every day because we are disabled, as we cannot do the things that other people take for granted.

[RichardColeman]

10 minutes ago, colinneil said:

    

  A very poor choice of words !! The disabled dont pay  !!

We pay every minute of every day because we are disabled, as we cannot do the things that other people take for granted.

Get a grip mate. Very clear my comment is about paying for the train service and that the disbabled don't have to pay for the service and treated as second class citizens. I have a disability too, but I don't try to read into every comment something that is not there merely as I got out of bed the wrong side :)

Edited March 13, 2018 by RichardColeman

[Madgee]

Vandalism is vandalism regardless of circumstances.

 

[atyclb]

59 minutes ago, Thian said:

I don't understand why the purple line has 2-3 staffmembers at the metaldetectors while at the green line there is no metal detector at all, yes there's a guard with a handheld detector but they rarely do anything. Sometimes they're not even at their table.

 

for the same reasons (or no reasons) the various thai embassies cycle through visa availability when theoretically all of them should provide the same essential services. erratic behavior is the norm

[colinneil]

53 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

Get a grip mate. Very clear my comment is about paying for the train service and that the disbabled don't have to pay for the service and treated as second class citizens. I have a disability too, but I don't try to read into every comment something that is not there merely as I got out of bed the wrong side :)

Well if what you just posted is correct, then it was an extremely bad choice of words.

[Crossy]

Off topic posts have been removed.

  

[Thaidream]

The BTS has a long history of refusing to make needed improvements to its operation unless forced.  The elevators for years were missing or not working and even under court order there are some not in operation. In addition, not every station has an escalator that can be used by the elderly and infirm.  The trains are completely packed and people have to continually wait for another train and the BTS has not added sufficient number of cars even though they have been ordered to do it.

We all know the reasons why.

 

[BangkokReady]

5 hours ago, colinneil said:

Well if what you just posted is correct, then it was an extremely bad choice of words.

He said disabled people do not pay for transport, and as a result of this they are treated unfairly. Seems to be pretty clearly in support of disabled people and criticising the BTS people.

 

I don't think that observing that disabled people travel for free on the BTS is in any way suggesting that they have privileged lives without suffering.

 

I realise that having a disability is not easy, but alienating people who try to stick up for you is not helping your cause.

[webfact]

UPDATE:

 

BTS operator addresses lift issue that angered wheelchair activist

Breaking News March 13, 2018 14:48

By The Nation

 

File photo

 

Bangkok Mass Transit System PCL on Tuesday provided an explanation following an incident on Sunday involving wheelchair-bound activist Manit Inpim.

 

Full story: https://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/1028927-bts-operator-addresses-lift-issue-that-angered-wheelchair-activist/

[tryasimight]

Hope he has to pay for the damages.  Gee what a tantrum thrower. 

[Thaidream]

I hope he doesn't pay for damages- the operator should pay him for inconvenience and a ridiculous system that puts the blame and onus on the disabled. Why should anyone who is disabled have to sign a form. They can be given a smart card that activates the elevator and take it to the train platform.

 

It's time the BTS stopped playing games and start following the law.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Congratulations to this guy!  I know he damaged quasi-public property, but frankly, BTS deserves it.

 

The way they've treated the disabled with disregard for years should be an offense to everyone -- failed repeatedly to comply with court orders requiring accessibility. And now that some stations finally have lifts, they've adopted policies that make them difficult for the disabled to use.

 

Just wish the guy had a baseball bat to use, so he didn't have to injure his hand.  If I were in his shoes, I'd be beyond fed up and pissed with the BTS by now.

 

 

 

Edited March 20, 2018 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[tifino]

 

well... if it wasn't before - it's certainly Disabled Now