Finally! Public Transportation In Chiang Mai

[george]

Finally! Public transportation

CHIANG MAI: -- The dream of an effective mass transportation system in Chiang Mai is coming closer to realisation as mayor Boonlert Buranuprakorn has announced that 26 buses will be running on a trial basis along three main routes in the city from May 1.

The bus service is expected to be in full operation by May 16, when many schools open to serve teachers and students who commute and to help ease traffic congestion.

The government allocated Bt62 million for the purchase of the buses, which have a seating capacity of 32, as well as two maintenance-service vehicles and a route-checking bus, said Boonlert.

The funding was allocated specifically to improve the city’s transportation system, which will develop along side Chiang Mai’s growing role as an area aviation hub, he added.

The three main routes for the trial service are Nong Prateep intersection to the foot of Doi Suthep (17 kilometres), Nong Hoi intersection to the 7th Infantry in Mae Rim (12km), and Chiang Mai railway station to Huay Kaew Road (13km).

The routes have been established for some time, with yellow buses having plied them more than 10 years ago.

The municipality chose these old routes because they had been previously endorsed by a Royal decree in 1984, thus requiring less time than newer routes which would require prior approval, said Panyapol Mongkolcharoen, head of Municipal Enterprise, Chiang Mai Municipality.

However, the designated routes for the three-month trial period might be altered to match demand.

Panyapol added that all buses would converge at a small terminal to be built in the Chiang Mai Gate area, allowing passengers to transfer to different routes.

A team of transport engineers at Chiang Mai University will carry out the construction of the terminal to prevent overcrowding in the gate area, which now serves as a terminal for passenger trucks going to the Hong Dong and San Pa Tong districts.

Buses will run every 10 minutes during rush-hour times and every 15 minutes during regular hours. The service will initially run from 6am to 8pm daily.

During the three-month trial, the buses will be free of charge for passengers.

Panyapol then expects tickets to cost Bt5 for uniformed students and Bt10 will be the maximum charged to general passengers. However, the Provincial Land Transport Control Committee of Chiang Mai will have the final say on the fares.

--The Nation 2005-02-25

[Ajarn]

Good to see some of these busses running around, but empty... And way too big for any of the downtown streets, in my estimation. I like the more compact electric ones inside CMU... They take around twenty or so passengers...

Gawd, if they'd only put me in charge of everything, the fools

[Rinrada]

During the three-month trial, the buses will be free of charge for passengers

Yea I like it ...luvly words FREE

Hopefully I will be up there on the weekend of the 13th march so it better be all up and running .......Free...its all FREE -free - freeee

[chuchok]

During the three-month trial, the buses will be free of charge for passengers

Yea I like it ...luvly words FREE

Hopefully I will be up there on the weekend of the 13th march so it better be all up and running .......Free...its all FREE -free - freeee

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Mind you, we would expect that the word free would excite a Scotsman

Ajarn, would there be any chance of you showing us the routes on one of your maps?

[Rinrada]

chuchok.....re you email...sorry not ignoring you.

I have minesweeper at work and sometimes cant access messages.

Re City of Lotus.

Passed it on last visit but never stayed but hope to check out on next one.

Requested location (forget?)hence answer from over there.(as below)

Hi,Changpuak near Novatel.

Please ring Nong if you want to0 view.01-9619028

regards....Tama

At 17:02 23/2/05 -0500, you wrote:

Sawadee Krup.Location please krup

Agree it looks good and worth a second glance.-R

[Ajarn]

During the three-month trial, the buses will be free of charge for passengers

Yea I like it ...luvly words FREE

Hopefully I will be up there on the weekend of the 13th march so it better be all up and running .......Free...its all FREE -free - freeee

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Mind you, we would expect that the word free would excite a Scotsman

Ajarn, would there be any chance of you showing us the routes on one of your maps?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Chuckchok, I was trying to figure out their considerations when planning these routes, and I always came up blank. The only one that 'might' be a reasonable guess would be the one from the Train Station to (along?) Huay Kaew road, a pretty straight-forward route which they figure at 13 kilometers, but I'm sure a bird would figure 2 or 3, and this bird-brain would figure 6 or 7, as the Isuzu flies...

If I only had more of a clue, I still might not be more clued

Since they're all meeting at Chiang Mai gate...

oh, another clue.

Guesses?

[chuchok]

Thanks Rinrada.

And thanks (I think) Ajarn

[sabaijai]

During the three-month trial, the buses will be free of charge for passengers

Yea I like it ...luvly words FREE

Hopefully I will be up there on the weekend of the 13th march so it better be all up and running .......Free...its all FREE -free - freeee

Mind you, we would expect that the word free would excite a Scotsman

Ajarn, would there be any chance of you showing us the routes on one of your maps?

Chuckchok, I was trying to figure out their considerations when planning these routes, and I always came up blank. The only one that 'might' be a reasonable guess would be the one from the Train Station to (along?) Huay Kaew road, a pretty straight-forward route which they figure at 13 kilometers, but I'm sure a bird would figure 2 or 3, and this bird-brain would figure 6 or 7, as the Isuzu flies...

If I only had more of a clue, I still might not be more clued

Since they're all meeting at Chiang Mai gate...

oh, another clue.

Guesses?

If you can find an older Nancy Chandler map - printed before the bus routes died a decade ago - it shows all four routes of the famed 'yellow bus'. I have fond memories of those buses, couldn't believe it when the songthaew mafia allegedly put them out of business.

I hope they decommission at least 26 (or more!) songthaews when they put the 26 new buses on the road, else they may just add to congestion.

Would rather see electric buses as used on CMU campus all around town, but perhaps they don't have the necessary range?

[chanchao]

How long do we think the red bus songthaews will still be running around? i know it seems unlikely now, but with new taxis and now buses on the way, not to mention more people owning vehicles, a can see a squeeze on that market happening..

That said, even the samlor pushbikes are still around so don't start holding your breath just yet..

[Ajarn]

How long do we think the red bus songthaews will still be running around? i know it seems unlikely now, but with new taxis and now buses on the way, not to mention more people owning vehicles, a can see a squeeze on that market happening..

That said, even the samlor pushbikes are still around so don't start holding your breath just yet..

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Chanchao, what about these huge busses on the downtown streets? As planned now, every bus will stop at Pratu Chiang Mai each way of their run. Might work well for FedEx, but it's going to make that whole 5-way intersection grind to a halt. It's already close to that now for the better part of any day. Wulai road from Chiang mai gate has to be closed to most traffic at some point because it can't be widened without tearing down every building on both sides of that street, and the traffic flow has always been slow even without any busses.

I think the songthaews provide many useful services to the public in many forms, so I thinking planning for them makes sense, currently. I'd like to see vehicle size restrictions inside the moat, at least. Songthaews and Tuk-tuks might be able to better operate in this area (and out-of-town, of course). Bicycle samlors, too, which I would love to see stay if they don't become more of a danger than they're worth, like on Thapae road right now...

Personally, I love these CMU electric busses. Perfect size for downtown, no sound, no smoke, pretty colors, pretty legs...

Do they have some sort pf Master Plan for Infrastructure Development for the next, say, 20 years? 10 years? Next year? Everything in the government here always seems like Crisis Management...

[cdnvic]

The only problem with real buses is they're difficult to lift my ramshakle motorbike into when it breaks down.

On the other hand, in Nonthaburi we have excellent service with the local songthaews covering the neighbourhoods well and connecting to the main bus routes. Maybe finally CM will get that too, plus a bit better service on rural routes as the songthaew drivers look to new revenue sources.

cv

[chanchao]

I doubt they'll use full-size buses? They'd never fill them anyway. Won't they be the size of the current #10 bus? (Same model as Bangkok Airport Bus).

As for vehicle restrictions: there already are restrictions: Vehicles with more than 4 wheels are not allowed in town (inside superhighway) during the day, except for weekends and except for the biggest 6/8wheel vehicles of them all: those huge tourist coaches; the A380s of ground travel.

As for an awesome display of vehicle control, go eat at Blue Diamond on a Saturday morning to watch them squeeze a pretty big 8 wheel truck into that paper warehouse right next to it in Moon Muang soi 7/1. That's nothing short of amazing how they fit that one into those tiny sois.

Cheers,

Chanchao

[ovenman]

Some Thai friends informed me yesterday that they had heard these new buses would use a double-pricing scheme for farangs: something like five baht for Thais, ten baht for farangs. No definitive source on this information so I don't know if this is for real. Also, this information is not totally in sync with the posted news story. Anybody else heard anything new/different about bus fares?

[Ajarn]

Some Thai friends informed me yesterday that they had heard these new buses would use a double-pricing scheme for farangs: something like five baht for Thais, ten baht for farangs.  No definitive source on this information so I don't know if this is for real.  Also, this information is not totally in sync with the posted news story.  Anybody else heard anything new/different about bus fares?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Reminds me of the taxis from Hat Yai to the border. They had what I called, Butt Pricing. If your butt fit into one spot (4 spots in a back seat, 2 in front) you paid 25 baht, Thai or farang. My butt took 2 spots (more now, I think).

It always seemed like fair pricing to me

Anyway, as a tax-supported bus service, I assume, charging locals (thai or farang) 5 baht, and the tourists 10 baht, seems fair to me if that's what's going to happen.

Or, they could use Butt Pricing

[ovenman]

Reminds me of the taxis from Hat Yai to the border. They had what I called, Butt Pricing. If your butt fit into one spot (4 spots in a back seat, 2 in front) you paid 25 baht, Thai or farang. My butt took 2 spots (more now, I think).

The taxis between Hat Yai and Songkhla operate in the same manner. Would have never thought you could fit so many folks into such a small car!

Anyway, as a tax-supported bus service, I assume, charging locals (thai or farang) 5 baht, and the tourists 10 baht, seems fair to me if that's what's going to happen.

I've never heard of doing that anywhere for single-fares on public transit. I have heard of offering reduced-price passes or reduced-price advance purchase tickets for local residents.

[Ajarn]

Reminds me of the taxis from Hat Yai to the border. They had what I called, Butt Pricing. If your butt fit into one spot (4 spots in a back seat, 2 in front) you paid 25 baht, Thai or farang. My butt took 2 spots (more now, I think).

The taxis between Hat Yai and Songkhla operate in the same manner. Would have never thought you could fit so many folks into such a small car!

Anyway, as a tax-supported bus service, I assume, charging locals (thai or farang) 5 baht, and the tourists 10 baht, seems fair to me if that's what's going to happen.

I've never heard of doing that anywhere for single-fares on public transit. I have heard of offering reduced-price passes or reduced-price advance purchase tickets for local residents.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah, you're right. I guess it would have to be a pass kind of deal to cut down some of the problems with passengers paying other fares for the same ride. The more I think about it now, the more it seems 'Butt Pricing' is the fairest way to go ...

I'm still waiting to hear the new pricing 'for thai families' that will be less than the 800 baht as planned for the Night Safari... As planned at the monent, anyway. We know how these as yet non-realized proclamations are always just 'trial balloons' until they actually happen.

btw, ovenman, did you used to live in Songkhla? I spent almost 2 years there, about 10 years ago. Nice beach, but no comparison to Chiang Mai in any way, except for the great martabak places, maybe

[ovenman]

Yeah, you're right. I guess it would have to be a pass kind of deal to cut down some of the problems with passengers paying other fares for the same ride.

One would think that a bus pass system would fit in rather well here. It's a whole new level of bureaucracy that would need to be administered. Plenty of jobs to be filled by relatives and friends to whom favours are owed.

I'm still waiting to hear the new pricing 'for thai families' that will be less than the 800 baht as planned for the Night Safari... As planned at the monent, anyway. We know how these as yet non-realized proclamations are always just 'trial balloons' until they actually happen.

My Thai friends insist that anything much higher than 200 baht/person won't work for Thais and even that amount is pushing it to the outer limits.

btw, ovenman, did you used to live in Songkhla?

Never lived in Songkhla. It's just a low-key seaside town that my Thai friends and I like to visit. The beach is quite nice, although admittedly not fantastic, and Songkhla should never get too developed since the Thai Navy appears to own the majority of the land along the beach.

[Ajarn]

Never lived in Songkhla. It's just a low-key seaside town that my Thai friends and I like to visit. The beach is quite nice, although admittedly not fantastic, and Songkhla should never get too developed since the Thai Navy appears to own the majority of the land along the beach.

Sometimes I wish the Thai Thahaan 'owned' more land. It seems like every place I've visited that's controlled by the thahaan has been taken care of quite well, Samila beach being one good example. It's really the only nice place in the area...

Another example is Huay Tung Taaw (sock creek?) Lake. I've been going there for 20 years, the first 3 years on a daily basis for swimming excercise, and I'm amazed at how little it's grown- just improved and beautified. The Army has taken great care not to let the place get trashed or let in too many vendors over the years. One of Chiang Mai's Great Secrets, since I never see more than a handfull of people there during the week, and I can't remember the last farang I saw there...

And, if I could, I still wouldn't hesitate to jump in for a swim. This lake is the cleanest lake of its size I've ever seen in Thailand...

Please don't tell everybody

[SiamJai]

The more I think about it now, the more it seems 'Butt Pricing' is the fairest way to go

That'd fit well with me, lol.

Hmmm.. the lake you describe sounds very idyllic. I should give it a try one day, if you don't mind, Larry. ... I'd tell you about some secret "unseen" places in return, if I wasn't such a newbie to Chiang Mai - or to Thailand for that matter.

[Ajarn]

The more I think about it now, the more it seems 'Butt Pricing' is the fairest way to go

That'd fit well with me, lol.

Hmmm.. the lake you describe sounds very idyllic. I should give it a try one day, if you don't mind, Larry. ... I'd tell you about some secret "unseen" places in return, if I wasn't such a newbie to Chiang Mai - or to Thailand for that matter.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Enjoy!

There are truly many many special spots around. I almost always find them purely by accident on my travels, so that's great motivation for me to continue to put 5,000+ kilometers per month on my truck. My single strategy is to get in my truck, choose a direction away from my position, and just go.... (with passport and dosh! ) You can't go wrong from Chiang Mai, and so much can be seen in a day, or that one spot where you can chill all day. like Huay Tung Taaw.

[sabaijai]

Finally! Public transportation

CHIANG MAI: -- The dream of an effective mass transportation system in Chiang Mai is coming closer to realisation as mayor Boonlert Buranuprakorn has announced that 26 buses will be running on a trial basis along three main routes in the city from May 1.

The bus service is expected to be in full operation by May 16, when many schools open to serve teachers and students who commute and to help ease traffic congestion.

The government allocated Bt62 million for the purchase of the buses, which have a seating capacity of 32, as well as two maintenance-service vehicles and a route-checking bus, said Boonlert.

The funding was allocated specifically to improve the city’s transportation system, which will develop along side Chiang Mai’s growing role as an area aviation hub, he added.

The three main routes for the trial service are Nong Prateep intersection to the foot of Doi Suthep (17 kilometres), Nong Hoi intersection to the 7th Infantry in Mae Rim (12km), and Chiang Mai railway station to Huay Kaew Road (13km).

The routes have been established for some time, with yellow buses having plied them more than 10 years ago.

The municipality chose these old routes because they had been previously endorsed by a Royal decree in 1984, thus requiring less time than newer routes which would require prior approval, said Panyapol Mongkolcharoen, head of Municipal Enterprise, Chiang Mai Municipality.

However, the designated routes for the three-month trial period might be altered to match demand.

Panyapol added that all buses would converge at a small terminal to be built in the Chiang Mai Gate area, allowing passengers to transfer to different routes.

A team of transport engineers at Chiang Mai University will carry out the construction of the terminal to prevent overcrowding in the gate area, which now serves as a terminal for passenger trucks going to the Hong Dong and San Pa Tong districts.

Buses will run every 10 minutes during rush-hour times and every 15 minutes during regular hours. The service will initially run from 6am to 8pm daily.

During the three-month trial, the buses will be free of charge for passengers.

Panyapol then expects tickets to cost Bt5 for uniformed students and Bt10 will be the maximum charged to general passengers. However, the Provincial Land Transport Control Committee of Chiang Mai will have the final say on the fares.

--The Nation 2005-02-25

Now that the three-month trial period is over (counting from May 1st), anyone know whether these 26 buses the city purchased survived?

[chanchao]

Or where they are?

[cdnvic]

Or where they are?

Probably being recycled into more songtaews.

cv

[ode]

Or where they are?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I saw one on Thung Hotel rd. while waiting for rental car day before yesterday.

First one I've ever seen for that matter

[ThaiPauly]

Firstly, it's wonderful to see Ajarn back in full swing on the forum.

However I am a little dissapointed that there does not seem to be anything planned for the Hang Dong Road.

Does anyone think this will happen in the future,? only being a "Cheap Charlie" I could send the missus into town on a bus rather than being worried about her hanging on the back of a Songtel (although its a safer option than letting her drive her car)

Cheers, and once aagin good to have you on the forum Larry

TP

[chanchao]

The Hang Dong road already had the Khwan Wiang pink #10 bus for a long time now. I hope that one stays, if only to have a cheap connection to/from the airport.

And as for Songthaews.. They ARE pretty convenient aren't they? Even Bangkok runs out of available meter taxis (that'll go where you want to go) at the first hint of a downpoor & associated traffic jam.

/--->Tangent: I'd do away with the ancient ones, convert the remainder to something environmentally nice, make huge parking lots along the superhighway ring road (or slightly inside when space/access permits), turn all roads inside that area into proper walking pavements and then ban all cars from the city with the exception of buses, songthaews and meter taxis.

Cheers,

Chanchao