Get Serious About Cycling, Bangkok Candidates Told

[MaxYakov]

Cycling for exercise should be encouraged but definitely not at the expense of pedestrians, Bangkok pavements are already poorly maintained and clogged with vendors etc and having to dodge cyclists would be a very dangerous prospect.

The majority should not be inconvenienced - much less put at risk - merely to indulge the hobby of a few.

Anyone who cycles in Bangkok as their main form of transport however is, frankly, fairly idiotic.

A few months ago I hired a private Math teacher (a Farang) for my daughter - the fool arrived at my door having cycled from Ladprao to Soi Asoke covered in sweat and stinking of traffic fumes; he was puzzled and quite offended when I refused him entry and cancelled the lessons.

Patrick

Prejudice personified

He is probably an SUV driver

If he is, at least he'd be on the road and not taking pedestrian-designated space from them.

Actually, there are large stretches of Sukumvit Road sidewalks/footpaths from Asoke to at least Thong Lo on the outgoing side that are clearly marked with bicycle lanes. It's a mystery to me why this particular portion is so marked. Perhaps it's because Sukumvit in that stretch is wide and fast. In my view, these marked portions do not give the bicyclist license to roll down them at an unsafe speed or at all.

[MaxYakov]

The total length of bicycle paths is 200 kilometres.

I'd like to know where they are hiding them. They must be including the marked sidewalks/footpaths that are scattered around (and a lot of poorly-marked ones, and parks, etc). I've seen only one place where the street had a marked bicycle path, but Bangkok is immense.

Edited February 25, 2013 by MaxYakov

[MaxYakov]

Well, I cycle daily down past Morchit Mai and quite honestly, it's not too bad, in some ways no worse than when I cycled in the UK. Positioning is important,maybe it's because I also ride a motorbike, but if you just read the road and expect the unexpected you'll be no more likely to get into trouble than if you ride a motorbike, IMHO...

Less likely if you consider:

1) You're not required to run at traffic speeds if running close to the curb or on a sidewalk w/o pedestrians

2) You can always quickly abandon the road to a sidewalk even if it means pulling the bike up over the curb

3) Collision speed is likely to be less than on a motorbike (if you're the collider and not the collidee, that is)

4) The bike is more maneuverable than a motorbike and can go places a motorbike often cannot go safely

Edited February 25, 2013 by MaxYakov

[kdw512]

I love biking and ride my bike everyday in Thailand. Yes, it is dangerous, but for a great part of the way from my apartment building to Lumpini on weekdays, traffic is bumper to bumper, and I can zig-zag thru just like the motorbikes. On weekends and holidays traffic is light in the morning, and not too dangerous. Is Bangkok polluted? Sure, but you breath the same air by walking, or jogging. It would be very nice to have bike paths to and from parks, but before that can happen, can someone at least do something about the idiots walking or jogging on the bike paths in Lumpini? The park is open for bicycles from 10AM - 3PM, and yet no one respects the bike path rules, and the guards at Lumpini don't give a #%@*.

[johwel]

Cycle in Bangkok and die from cancer from inhaling the toxic exhaust fumes.

Or overtake the sources of the fumes, by bicycle. One day, after a long period of only cycling to my destinations, I waited for a minivan. The pollution smelt and felt next to the road was remarkable more than on the bike.

[Asiantravel]

I love biking and ride my bike everyday in Thailand. Yes, it is dangerous, but for a great part of the way from my apartment building to Lumpini on weekdays, traffic is bumper to bumper, and I can zig-zag thru just like the motorbikes. On weekends and holidays traffic is light in the morning, and not too dangerous. Is Bangkok polluted? Sure, but you breath the same air by walking, or jogging. It would be very nice to have bike paths to and from parks, but before that can happen, can someone at least do something about the idiots walking or jogging on the bike paths in Lumpini? The park is open for bicycles from 10AM - 3PM, and yet no one respects the bike path rules, and the guards at Lumpini don't give a #%@*.

reminded me of this......

" If you ride you know those moments when you have fed yourself into the traffic, felt the hashed-up asphalt rattle in the handlebars, held a lungful of air in a cloud of exhaust. Up ahead there are two parallel buses. With cat's whiskers, you measure the clearance down a doubtful alley. You swing wide, outflank that flower truck. The cross-street yellow light is turning red. You burst off the green like a surfer on a wave of metal. You have a hundred empty yards of Broadway to yourself."

~Chip Brown, "A Bike and a Prayer"

Edited February 25, 2013 by Asiantravel

[MaxYakov]

Cycle in Bangkok and die from cancer from inhaling the toxic exhaust fumes.

Or overtake the sources of the fumes, by bicycle. One day, after a long period of only cycling to my destinations, I waited for a minivan. The pollution smelt and felt next to the road was remarkable more than on the bike.

Pollution in Bangkok is extremely bad. I'm on the 6th floor in Din Daeng and a white filter will turn black in 20 hours of pulling outside air through it. Sorry, don't have the exact flow rate - probably equivalent to a medium sized three-blade fan. It's an evaporation cooler converted to be an air filter.

This dust-fume mask is available at Home Pro for 125 baht and probably should be recommended for all air-breathers in Bangkok, unless they're in an atmosphere-controlled building/room. The central, circular thing is the one-way exhale valve and the mask covers both nose and mouth and seals completely. The filter material is about 1/16" thick and replaceable (comes with a spare filter). And, no, it unfortunately won't 'mask' the Bangkok odors.

Happy breathing whatever you're doing ....

Edited February 25, 2013 by MaxYakov

[rubl]

Dangerois, polluted, screaming hot, tropical storms.

Any other reason not to cycle to work in bangkok?

No (attire) changing rooms in the office or at customer sites

[rubl]

Cycle in Bangkok and die from cancer from inhaling the toxic exhaust fumes.

Or overtake the sources of the fumes, by bicycle. One day, after a long period of only cycling to my destinations, I waited for a minivan. The pollution smelt and felt next to the road was remarkable more than on the bike.

Pollution in Bangkok is extremely bad. I'm on the 6th floor in Din Daeng and a white filter will turn black in 20 hours of pulling outside air through it. Sorry, don't have the exact flow rate - probably equivalent to a medium sized three-blade fan. It's an evaporation cooler converted to be an air filter.

This dust-fume mask is available at Home Pro for 125 baht and probably should be recommended for all air-breathers in Bangkok, unless they're in an atmosphere-controlled building/room. The central, circular thing is the one-way exhale valve and the mask covers both nose and mouth and seals completely. The filter material is about 1/16" thick and replaceable (comes with a spare filter). And, no, it unfortunately won't 'mask' the Bangkok odors.

Happy breathing whatever you're doing ....

dust_fume_mask.jpeg

Here in Khet Dusit not much different. I let the wind go through the appartment, only using airco in bedroom. The window and door screens I have to clean at least once a week to avoid getting dirty myself leaning on or just touching them. No problem with odors, khlong too far away

[Marlow999]

Now, during the cold season, it is doable to cycle in Lumpinee park, even around noon.

I try to go there every now and then for a 40-50km ride, but I do not take the roads to get there anymore (way too dangerous).

Luckily they allow a bike on the skytrain so thats how I get to the park.

And I cannot imagine people actually biking to work here in Bangkok; even with good biking lanes and strict police supervision of no motorbikes there. It is just too hot to bike to work since you cannot spend the first hour at work cooling down and showering.

Luckily bikes on the skytrain don't cause any inconvenience either for the foot-traffic it was designed for. Don't you just love it when a group of walking cyclists get on.

Have you actually seen a group of walking cyclists on BTS? I avoid BTS during most hours with my bike for that very reason.

A major problem with the bus system is that the buses do not have bike racks.

Although bicycling in Bangkok is risky business, it's less so than riding a motorbike, as either an operator or a passenger, if the bicycle is ridden defensively and intelligently, IMHO.

Yes I have seen a group of them, on more than one occasion.

Bike racks on buses? You are joking surely? Why should public transport provide bike racks?

[Thai at Heart]

I'd be happier, if they got into planning proper recycling.

[Bob12345]

Now, during the cold season, it is doable to cycle in Lumpinee park, even around noon.

I try to go there every now and then for a 40-50km ride, but I do not take the roads to get there anymore (way too dangerous).

Luckily they allow a bike on the skytrain so thats how I get to the park.

And I cannot imagine people actually biking to work here in Bangkok; even with good biking lanes and strict police supervision of no motorbikes there. It is just too hot to bike to work since you cannot spend the first hour at work cooling down and showering.

Luckily bikes on the skytrain don't cause any inconvenience either for the foot-traffic it was designed for. Don't you just love it when a group of walking cyclists get on.

Since they allow it the skytrain is for both foot-traffic and walking cyclists, It does not matter who it was originally designed for since thats the past.

So I can also complain about foot-traffic taking my space in the skytrain...

[h90]

chooka, on 25 Feb 2013 - 07:03, said:

I would cycle everyday in Australia, found it very relaxing and it kept me fit. I continued to cycle here in Thailand but gave it away after a few near misses with idiots overtaking and driving in the left shoulder of the roads.

cycling in Bangkok is just suicide....there are more pleasant ways to damage health....

[Marlow999]

Now, during the cold season, it is doable to cycle in Lumpinee park, even around noon.

I try to go there every now and then for a 40-50km ride, but I do not take the roads to get there anymore (way too dangerous).

Luckily they allow a bike on the skytrain so thats how I get to the park.

And I cannot imagine people actually biking to work here in Bangkok; even with good biking lanes and strict police supervision of no motorbikes there. It is just too hot to bike to work since you cannot spend the first hour at work cooling down and showering.

Luckily bikes on the skytrain don't cause any inconvenience either for the foot-traffic it was designed for. Don't you just love it when a group of walking cyclists get on.

Since they allow it the skytrain is for both foot-traffic and walking cyclists, It does not matter who it was originally designed for since thats the past.

So I can also complain about foot-traffic taking my space in the skytrain...

Of course you can, but that would be silly, and it's not your space.

A bike not only takes up a lot more space than people do but they can only be accommodated in the door area causing even more inconvenience for normal passengers.

[driedmango]

Cycling for exercise should be encouraged but definitely not at the expense of pedestrians, Bangkok pavements are already poorly maintained and clogged with vendors etc and having to dodge cyclists would be a very dangerous prospect.

The majority should not be inconvenienced - much less put at risk - merely to indulge the hobby of a few.

Anyone who cycles in Bangkok as their main form of transport however is, frankly, fairly idiotic.

A few months ago I hired a private Math teacher (a Farang) for my daughter - the fool arrived at my door having cycled from Ladprao to Soi Asoke covered in sweat and stinking of traffic fumes; he was puzzled and quite offended when I refused him entry and cancelled the lessons.

Patrick

lol... I wouldn't work for someone like you in a million years, what are you teaching your children ? Sweat makes people smell, sweat is the product of an active body, children need to be taught the value of good fitness and also saving fuel and making less smog for all the couch potatos..... get a grip !

[driedmango]

Cycling for exercise should be encouraged but definitely not at the expense of pedestrians, Bangkok pavements are already poorly maintained and clogged with vendors etc and having to dodge cyclists would be a very dangerous prospect.

The majority should not be inconvenienced - much less put at risk - merely to indulge the hobby of a few.

Anyone who cycles in Bangkok as their main form of transport however is, frankly, fairly idiotic.

A few months ago I hired a private Math teacher (a Farang) for my daughter - the fool arrived at my door having cycled from Ladprao to Soi Asoke covered in sweat and stinking of traffic fumes; he was puzzled and quite offended when I refused him entry and cancelled the lessons.

Patrick

lol... I wouldn't work for someone like you in a million years, what are you teaching your children ? Sweat makes people smell, sweat is the product of an active body, children need to be taught the value of good fitness and also saving fuel and making less smog for all the couch potatos..... get a grip !

[Jim walker]

They have all vowed to provide better bicycle lanes for Bangkok, at long last some
ware decent to park the car right at the door when you pop into 7 / 11 for a few odds
and ends.

[driedmango]

Ps... the smog situation in Bangkok would be improved by people biking to work, it is the best answer to unhealthy people in general.

They are very smart to be looking at biking as a way to save the health of the city and also have a better life style.

People that hate bicycles I think are always selfish slobs with beer bellies.. and i haven't meet one who isn't evil right wing nut jobs.

[driedmango]

Cycle in Bangkok and die from cancer from inhaling the toxic exhaust fumes.

you breathe this in just by sitting there in an office tower .. they might take in extra "fumes" by breathing deeply but anyone that understand human health knows that the exercise you get from biking would more than offset that, compared to someone that is overweight, drinking, and in general unhealthy, and breathing their share of the smog as they weeze up some stairs at the mail, would have a much lower quality of life, and would be more likely to get and die of cancer.

Edited February 25, 2013 by driedmango

[driedmango]

Cycle in Bangkok and die from cancer from inhaling the toxic exhaust fumes.

Or overtake the sources of the fumes, by bicycle. One day, after a long period of only cycling to my destinations, I waited for a minivan. The pollution smelt and felt next to the road was remarkable more than on the bike.

Pollution in Bangkok is extremely bad. I'm on the 6th floor in Din Daeng and a white filter will turn black in 20 hours of pulling outside air through it. Sorry, don't have the exact flow rate - probably equivalent to a medium sized three-blade fan. It's an evaporation cooler converted to be an air filter.

This dust-fume mask is available at Home Pro for 125 baht and probably should be recommended for all air-breathers in Bangkok, unless they're in an atmosphere-controlled building/room. The central, circular thing is the one-way exhale valve and the mask covers both nose and mouth and seals completely. The filter material is about 1/16" thick and replaceable (comes with a spare filter). And, no, it unfortunately won't 'mask' the Bangkok odors.

Happy breathing whatever you're doing ....

dust_fume_mask.jpeg

Really all those filters and masks do nothing at all at the end of the day you can't clean air with a piece of paper filter, the worst stuff is so tiny you can't filter it .. there is nothing you can really do about air pollution but get rid of the root cause of it, then it goes away or dies down in a few days.

[huahinjoe]

This guys are nuts, its a huge health risk to ride bike in a city like this, your lungs open up wider when you ride the bike but anyway you die faster while somebody hit you.

Just a note on the sweaty subtopic they could make public showers too with all the proposed public toilets in bus stations...

Maybe their next idea will be a canal-wide jetski or pedalo service?

When I want to ride a bicycle I think about a city like Amsterdam, nah they ready to do that.... But Bangkok? come on... its a joke.

PS: why so many silly news clippings everyday from the thai news? I`m nearly getting addicted to Thaivisa just to see this crazy hubs, crackdowns and stupid proposed ideas coming out every day randomly without any prior thinking...

[p_brownstone]

Cycling for exercise should be encouraged but definitely not at the expense of pedestrians, Bangkok pavements are already poorly maintained and clogged with vendors etc and having to dodge cyclists would be a very dangerous prospect.

The majority should not be inconvenienced - much less put at risk - merely to indulge the hobby of a few.

Anyone who cycles in Bangkok as their main form of transport however is, frankly, fairly idiotic.

A few months ago I hired a private Math teacher (a Farang) for my daughter - the fool arrived at my door having cycled from Ladprao to Soi Asoke covered in sweat and stinking of traffic fumes; he was puzzled and quite offended when I refused him entry and cancelled the lessons.

Patrick

lol... I wouldn't work for someone like you in a million years, what are you teaching your children ? Sweat makes people smell, sweat is the product of an active body, children need to be taught the value of good fitness and also saving fuel and making less smog for all the couch potatos..... get a grip !

A rather fatuous Post don't you think?

Of course, everyone sweats during exercise, I sweat when I play Golf but I don't turn up for a business meeting immediately afterwards without showering first.

Among other things the situation taught my children that personal hygiene and consideration for others are important in life and disregarding either can have adverse consequences.

Patrick

[MaxYakov]

Cycle in Bangkok and die from cancer from inhaling the toxic exhaust fumes.

Or overtake the sources of the fumes, by bicycle. One day, after a long period of only cycling to my destinations, I waited for a minivan. The pollution smelt and felt next to the road was remarkable more than on the bike.

Pollution in Bangkok is extremely bad. I'm on the 6th floor in Din Daeng and a white filter will turn black in 20 hours of pulling outside air through it. Sorry, don't have the exact flow rate - probably equivalent to a medium sized three-blade fan. It's an evaporation cooler converted to be an air filter.

This dust-fume mask is available at Home Pro for 125 baht and probably should be recommended for all air-breathers in Bangkok, unless they're in an atmosphere-controlled building/room. The central, circular thing is the one-way exhale valve and the mask covers both nose and mouth and seals completely. The filter material is about 1/16" thick and replaceable (comes with a spare filter). And, no, it unfortunately won't 'mask' the Bangkok odors.

Happy breathing whatever you're doing ....

dust_fume_mask.jpeg

Really all those filters and masks do nothing at all at the end of the day you can't clean air with a piece of paper filter, the worst stuff is so tiny you can't filter it .. there is nothing you can really do about air pollution but get rid of the root cause of it, then it goes away or dies down in a few days.

I can't state how effective the mask is except to say that it's not just a piece of paper filter. I agree that the paper filters are generally a joke. One has to wonder, though, how effective are the filters that operating room staff wear when performing surgery, huh?

There is one alternative to getting rid of the root cause of air pollution in Bangkok (which is not going to happen in our lifetimes) - find a cleaner city and move to it.

[zig]

I have seen some bicycle paths in Banglumpoo area and there is even a free bicycle rental station nearby. However, the whole stretch of this marked bicycle path is always taken by the cars parked there and the police around there is just ignoring this. Hence, I see only very few people ever biking there.

I'd like to know where they are hiding them. They must be including the marked sidewalks/footpaths that are scattered around (and a lot of poorly-marked ones, and parks, etc). I've seen only one place where the street had a marked bicycle path, but Bangkok is immense.

[hellodolly]

Or overtake the sources of the fumes, by bicycle. One day, after a long period of only cycling to my destinations, I waited for a minivan. The pollution smelt and felt next to the road was remarkable more than on the bike.

Cycle in Bangkok and die from cancer from inhaling the toxic exhaust fumes.

Pollution in Bangkok is extremely bad. I'm on the 6th floor in Din Daeng and a white filter will turn black in 20 hours of pulling outside air through it. Sorry, don't have the exact flow rate - probably equivalent to a medium sized three-blade fan. It's an evaporation cooler converted to be an air filter.

This dust-fume mask is available at Home Pro for 125 baht and probably should be recommended for all air-breathers in Bangkok, unless they're in an atmosphere-controlled building/room. The central, circular thing is the one-way exhale valve and the mask covers both nose and mouth and seals completely. The filter material is about 1/16" thick and replaceable (comes with a spare filter). And, no, it unfortunately won't 'mask' the Bangkok odors.

Happy breathing whatever you're doing ....

dust_fume_mask.jpeg

Really all those filters and masks do nothing at all at the end of the day you can't clean air with a piece of paper filter, the worst stuff is so tiny you can't filter it .. there is nothing you can really do about air pollution but get rid of the root cause of it, then it goes away or dies down in a few days.

I can't state how effective the mask is except to say that it's not just a piece of paper filter. I agree that the paper filters are generally a joke. One has to wonder, though, how effective are the filters that operating room staff wear when performing surgery, huh?

There is one alternative to getting rid of the root cause of air pollution in Bangkok (which is not going to happen in our lifetimes) - find a cleaner city and move to it.

Can't help but wonder how any one can consider filtering enough pollution to turn a white filter black in 20 hours is infective

. granted some gets through but I fail to see that as a reason to let it all through.

Kinda like turning down 1,000,000 baht because you dion't know where 5% of it came from so turn it all down.

[MaxLee]

"Dear people of Thailand!!!!! Get serious about cycling, while we big fat high status politicians race around in our big fat Mercedes Benz's and run you over without further thought, with eyes closed, deaf ears, and ZERO ACCOUNTABILITY, NO MATTER RED LIGHTS, because we don't get punished for any casualties, that you suffer, anyway..."

"Oh, yes. And when your bike gets stolen, it's not our fault, buy a new one, bye...."

Edited February 26, 2013 by MaxLee

[MaxYakov]

hellodolly:

I didn't say it was ineffective, did someone else? The filter material I used was 3M Filtrete^TM
and it's available just about anywhere, but is relatively expensive. It
was intended to supplement the filter the indoor A/C unit has (usually
just a fine, plastic mesh). It appears to be exceptional as the cheaper
foam type filters did not appear to trap the pollution as well, or at
all.

I've since evolved to a 100% A/C, closed room
rather than trying to cool the room with outside air at night using the
evaportation-cooler-converted-to-air-filter. This is a
'shelter-in-place' configuration, as if a nearby oil refinery had caught
fire. As far as I'm concerned, with the number of un-smogged vehicles
in Bangkok that's about what we're looking at, The last time I cleaned
the A/C plastic mesh filters I got a lot of black sludge from the
pollution that had adhered to the mesh, which could not be a very effective filter.

Edited February 26, 2013 by MaxYakov

[Chopperboy]

Cycling like running are both about the worst exercise for your health.

All they achieve is to grind down your Chondrocytes (cartilage cells) and shorten your telomeres (protective caps at the end of your chromosomes)

Recent research shows that In fact no exercise is better for you than either cycling or running.

[Bob12345]

Cycling like running are both about the worst exercise for your health.

All they achieve is to grind down your Chondrocytes (cartilage cells) and shorten your telomeres (protective caps at the end of your chromosomes)

Recent research shows that In fact no exercise is better for you than either cycling or running.

Recent research also shows that citing research without a source is completely useless.

[zydeco]

Cycling like running are both about the worst exercise for your health.

All they achieve is to grind down your Chondrocytes (cartilage cells) and shorten your telomeres (protective caps at the end of your chromosomes)

Recent research shows that In fact no exercise is better for you than either cycling or running.

And positioning yourself on the point of one of those bicycle seats for such a long time that it cuts off the blood flow to your groin can't help with certain body parts either.