Bangkok on mission to clear footpaths

[Malthus101]

I have a dream.....a dream that one day I may travel along the sidewalks of Bangkok in a wheelchair.

I have a dream...a Honda Dream 125 that I park on the sidewalk when there is nowhere else to park.

It's just one of those things. Are you a person who wants more or less regulation in your life. I'm pretty happy with having less regulation imposed on me, so I now accept things like sidewalks being a place for car and motorcycle parking, planting large trees, public works appliances, vendors, tables, chairs, more vendors, potted plants, large signs promoting the latest and greatest in WiFi and Cellular Technology, garbage, castaways, drunks, dogs, and an occasional pedestrian.

I'm with it. I accept it. I embrace it. It's one thing in life that simply does not bother me. Thank god (and Buddha)!

This is worth taking note of - the reason many of us are here in Thailand is get out of our own dead, soulless cities.

It's creep - first you give authorities power to do this, then that, then another thing. Before you know it, as someone has said, you end up living in a city like Singapore or Dubai.

No life!

There are of course things they could improve here without destroying the character. Like building sidewalks/pavements in the first place. Man I miss pavements!

Yes those scooters riding in the cycle lanes are annoying but then again, quite handy when you are on one! It's tit for tat. I can put up with them as long as they don't expect me to jump out of the way for them, as long as they remember it's MY right of way.

Alleyways - from my condo, I have to walk about 10 mins to get to the BTS. That could be 3 if there were some alleyways to the main roads. To get to the main street near me where my bank is, a potential 20/25 minutes walk round all the back sois... If they put some alleyways in? 10 mins max.

Planning is not the forte of the Thai mind. Short term gain seems paramount to them.

Anyway... those VW bar-vans are damn cool! I wish we had those in the West! It's stuff like that makes Thailand attractive! If you want clean walkways and wheelchair access, there are plenty of depressing Western cities you can live in. I would if those needs were at the top of my list.

It's wild out here.

[kannot]

They have footpaths???????

[connda]

I have a dream.....a dream that one day I may travel along the sidewalks of Bangkok in a wheelchair.

I have a dream...a Honda Dream 125 that I park on the sidewalk when there is nowhere else to park.

It's just one of those things. Are you a person who wants more or less regulation in your life. I'm pretty happy with having less regulation imposed on me, so I now accept things like sidewalks being a place for car and motorcycle parking, planting large trees, public works appliances, vendors, tables, chairs, more vendors, potted plants, large signs promoting the latest and greatest in WiFi and Cellular Technology, garbage, castaways, drunks, dogs, and an occasional pedestrian.

I'm with it. I accept it. I embrace it. It's one thing in life that simply does not bother me. Thank god (and Buddha)!

You might like Mogadishu. I understand there is virtually no regulation of anything there; a paradise!

If you like Buddha, consider the middle path. A little bit of regulation to prevent excessive annoyances or dangers is not necessarily a bad thing. I witnessed a teenager get hit and killed by a bus as he tried to get on a motorcycle taxi that was parked on the sidewalk too close to the street with a bunch of other obstructions in front of him. Would it be that difficult to designate a safe area for these guys to park and pick up passengers? Too much to require that street vendors stick to one side of the sidewalk instead of crowding both sides and leaving no room for two people to pass each other (let alone the inevitable motorcycle trying to push through? Too much to ask that at least a portion of sidewalks be made available for the use of actual pedestrians?

On the other hand, I fear the crusaders for order will go too far and strip the streets of all their character instead of implementing just a few common sense measures as above. I guess I wish them only partial success in their efforts.

The trouble is, once the 'Regulation Genie' is out of the bottle, their ain't no putting him back in. There is "Power" in the making and enforcement of regulations. Once 'law-makers' get their mojo working -- mmmmh mmmhhh -- it feel good to have power! Look at the EU. The UK. Parts of the US. Over-regulated. In the US little kids are fined and their parents threatened with jail for simply setting up and selling lemon-aide on the road side. "Ya'll can't do that..you need a permit...a health permit, a business permit, ya can only sell in specially zoned areas, not safe to sell near the street -- young children might get hurt." You get my drift. Crikey, setting up a road side lemon stand was a right-of-passage for young kids in my day. You took your first baby-steps into the entrepreneurial world. Nowadays, you end up with a $499 ticket and a day in court. Nope, the West has gone flipping overboard. Less regulation is better imho.

Do I like the vendor setting up business and blocking the entire sidewalk, forcing me to walk in the street? Not really. But I accept the good with the bad. I prefer it here to my own country. And when car traffic gets thick -- I just follow the other motorcycles up and onto the sidewalk. Beats standing in the sun.

Edited September 10, 2013 by connda

[connda]

I have a dream.....a dream that one day I may travel along the sidewalks of Bangkok in a wheelchair.

I have a dream...a Honda Dream 125 that I park on the sidewalk when there is nowhere else to park.

It's just one of those things. Are you a person who wants more or less regulation in your life. I'm pretty happy with having less regulation imposed on me, so I now accept things like sidewalks being a place for car and motorcycle parking, planting large trees, public works appliances, vendors, tables, chairs, more vendors, potted plants, large signs promoting the latest and greatest in WiFi and Cellular Technology, garbage, castaways, drunks, dogs, and an occasional pedestrian.

I'm with it. I accept it. I embrace it. It's one thing in life that simply does not bother me. Thank god (and Buddha)!

You might like Mogadishu. I understand there is virtually no regulation of anything there; a paradise!

If you like Buddha, consider the middle path. A little bit of regulation to prevent excessive annoyances or dangers is not necessarily a bad thing. I witnessed a teenager get hit and killed by a bus as he tried to get on a motorcycle taxi that was parked on the sidewalk too close to the street with a bunch of other obstructions in front of him. Would it be that difficult to designate a safe area for these guys to park and pick up passengers? Too much to require that street vendors stick to one side of the sidewalk instead of crowding both sides and leaving no room for two people to pass each other (let alone the inevitable motorcycle trying to push through? Too much to ask that at least a portion of sidewalks be made available for the use of actual pedestrians?

On the other hand, I fear the crusaders for order will go too far and strip the streets of all their character instead of implementing just a few common sense measures as above. I guess I wish them only partial success in their efforts.

It truly is this bizarre when the idea of freedom is to have the individual right to inconvenience thousands in a communal area.

It's Bizarre to have a Bazaar in a communal area? Really? Take a second and really think about that.

[tominbkk]

It's all about corruption. Just watch an ordinary person try to set up a spot to sell something on the sidewalk. They wouldn't last 2 minutes before they were either thrown off the sidewalk or extorted by cops.

[F4UCorsair]

I remember my first trip to Singapore in 1969. What an eye opener, women, booze and decadence.

Lee Kuan Yew decreed that it needed cleaning up, and whilst still a great city to visit, it is sterile and lacks character.

Hong Kong was similar in the mid 80's, cleaned up and lost much of its character.

Please leave Bangkok as it is............except for those motor cycle taxi guys who block pavements, touting for business from every passer by.

[Somchai Mao]

I remember my first trip to Singapore in 1969. What an eye opener, women, booze and decadence.

Lee Kuan Yew decreed that it needed cleaning up, and whilst still a great city to visit, it is sterile and lacks character.

Hong Kong was similar in the mid 80's, cleaned up and lost much of its character.

Please leave Bangkok as it is............except for those motor cycle taxi guys who block pavements, touting for business from every passer by.

I don't mind the motorbike taxi guys. On top of the Thai I speak I know a fair bit of Issan. If I give it the bo aow krup when passing it always elicits a response. Then the bor bpenyang afterwards and it makes for a bit of a laugh. I've sat with them a few times and found out how they work, basically a lot of the guys will work another stand when theirs closes down for the night in a quiet district, will work 24hrs for weeks on end, no room, nothing, then go to the baan for a few days. Normal working guys, with a few exceptions. You want know about anything in your district in Bangkok get friendly with the guys and you'll find out. That includes all the gossip.

[rametindallas]

And where are they going to put them? On the road?

If you are referring to taximocy, where I stay on On Nut, they park in a line on the small soi across from me. In fact, on On Nut, ALL the taximocy stands are on small sois just off the street. It can be done. It wouldn't have become a city-wide problem except many drivers had become lazy and didn't try to minimize the amount of footpath they blocked. I like taximocy and use them often but they can be inconsiderate to those walking. Maybe they want more people off the footpaths and on taximocys

you are aware that the charming term "taximocy" exists in neither english nor thai aren't you?

To answer your question directly, no! Being a university graduate in the US, and English being my native tongue, I was already pretty sure that 'taximocy' did not exist in the English language. Since I don't know what circles in Thailand you travel, I can't know what you don't know. The Thais that I interact with pronounce 'motorcycle' as 'mo cy' or 'mo sai' (Thais seem to love truncating English words) and 'taxi' as 'taxi'. Since, in the Thai language, the describing word follows the noun, that would be 'taxi mo cy' or 'taximocy'. Another example of this way of speaking would be the term, 'Rote Ben'; literally 'car Ben(z)' for Mercedes Benz car.

Out of curiosity, what do the Thai people in your circles call motorcycle taxis (in the Thai language)?

p.s. I'm glad you find the term charming.

Edited September 11, 2013 by rametindallas

[harrry]

Out of curiosity, what do the Thai people in your circles call motorcycle taxis (in the Thai language)?

p.s. I'm glad you find the term charming.

I cannot tell them what thais call them in thai as the use of the thai language is only allowed in the Thai forum.

a few things are translations of:

Criminals

Dangerous idiots

Suicide merchants

Extortionists

Mafia

and when you realy need them:

Saviour.

[HoudiniXLogic]

I've never had a problem with the motorcycle taxi's ever. I guess I'm not as anal about strangers bugging me (completely desensitized to everything now), so when the Taxi guys ask me "pai nai, pai nai?" while I'm walking past, I'll say "Pai 7, Pai mahalai (university), Gub baan, Pai hongnarm, etc" and usually its a small chuckle and they reply "Pai leiiii (go ahead)".

Theres this one dude who's always baked, and even though theres definately a mental delay when he speaks, he's sharper than a scalpel when he's behind the wheel. If anything, the Govt needs to make a more official motorbike taxi-stand.

And set up the random pylon in the middle of the sidewalk to make it much much harder for motorbikes to get through. Like the ones they have by CDC.

[Commander Tamson]

Just came across this article from last month in Coconuts...further evidence that the BMA is talking out of both sides of their mouth.

http://ec2-54-254-14-67.ap-southeast-1.compute.amazonaws.com/2013/08/16/cyclists-pedestrians-annoyed-bmas-new-billboards

Cyclists, pedestrians annoyed by BMA’s new billboards

Well researched John and as you say, shows the hypocracy of the BMA. Maybe someone with the knowhow should link those two stories and send it back to the Nation and see if they'll go into print on it

[ginjag]

And where are they going to put them? On the road?

If you are referring to taximocy, where I stay on On Nut, they park in a line on the small soi across from me. In fact, on On Nut, ALL the taximocy stands are on small sois just off the street. It can be done. It wouldn't have become a city-wide problem except many drivers had become lazy and didn't try to minimize the amount of footpath they blocked. I like taximocy and use them often but they can be inconsiderate to those walking. Maybe they want more people off the footpaths and on taximocys

you are aware that the charming term "taximocy" exists in neither english nor thai aren't you?

To answer your question directly, no! Being a university graduate in the US, and English being my native tongue, I was already pretty sure that 'taximocy' did not exist in the English language. Since I don't know what circles in Thailand you travel, I can't know what you don't know. The Thais that I interact with pronounce 'motorcycle' as 'mo cy' or 'mo sai' (Thais seem to love truncating English words) and 'taxi' as 'taxi'. Since, in the Thai language, the describing word follows the noun, that would be 'taxi mo cy' or 'taximocy'. Another example of this way of speaking would be the term, 'Rote Ben'; literally 'car Ben(z)' for Mercedes Benz car.

Out of curiosity, what do the Thai people in your circles call motorcycle taxis (in the Thai language)?

p.s. I'm glad you find the term charming.

Just to but in, In all my years here and wanting a motocy taxi, that's all you need to say. In Issan all persons speak this. but would speak Honda motocy. rot BMW, rot Benz, rot tour, rot fai, etc

[Keesters]

Need the same directive in Pattaya. Footpath outside Chaimongkol market is hardly one person wide once the vendors have taken up more than 3 quarters of it.

[ableguy]

I have a dream.....a dream that one day I may travel along the sidewalks of Bangkok in a wheelchair.

Dream on my friend,

[soomak]

ummm......there are 200k motor bike taxis in BKK?!?!

200k!?!? Wow.

Yeah I am amazed to...

10 million people, 200K motorcycle taxis

That's a motorcycle taxi for every 50 people, doesn't seem reasonable

Maybe it a misprint, and should be 20K ?

[soomak]

I cant believe everyone wants Thailand to change that much - do you all want Thailand to look like Singapore or resemble the utterly characterless streets of KL - the banners , yep get rid of them, but the rest it is what Thailand is - i love all the food stalls, good hard working Thais producing some the worlds best food, day in day out, to the whole hearted appreciation of the Thai people from North to South - long may they stay in place - go to the UK or US and see the town centres, all ghost towns, all sterile carbon copies of themselves - give me the clogged soi's of Bangkok any day thanks.

+1 my sentiments exactly. Why is there always a cry for whipping these Thai's into shape and conforming to the way visitors experience things in their countries? I for one, enjoy the vast differences and thrive on the chaos in which things work, people go about their business and there is form in the madness.

That is one of the most enduring qualities of this beautiful country. It's different from what I know. I love it. It is what I may from time to time be exasperated with, but would not change. I have visited and lived here almost 20 years. I pine for the good old days when you could see across Sukhumvit view unconstructed by the Skytrain. I don' t mean the Skytrain is bad, it's fantastic and useful. It is just not the same. The same goes for all the old trucks and cars that used to ply the streets. They were cool. A huge honking Isuzu 2 1/2 ton truck with all the decorations of the owner onit. Also, all the old mercedes that used to cruise around, classic.

Anyways, my rant is done. Let them live as they please without our undue influence. Cheers.

If I didn't live in bkk, I couldn't care less how they lived (except if they started killing people or some other horrible stuff).

Since I live here, I prefer that the sidewalks would be existent, clean of obstacles, and comfortable to walk on.

I would even find it better if I could bike on the sidewalk (or have a bike path), but that's a dream that's not going to happen, so I would settle for walking safely and comfortably to the BTS or to Lotus.

I for one, don't find dirt, bad smells and dangerous roads endearing and charming, but hey - each to his own...

Edited September 23, 2013 by soomak

[Thai at Heart]

Why does "Asia" and "culture" or "spirit" always have to include "lawlessness" and "the risk of being killed"?

So some of you enjoy motorcycles coming straight at you at high speed on a pavement? Why don't you walk in the middle of the road, if that is so much fun and adds so much to your "Thailand experience"?

Quaint isn't it. As though the Thais are desperate to live in a mess and don't want Bangkok to become a little like Singapore.

Traffic fumes, corrupt coppers, packed side walks. It's just so quaint, don't change it.

So was Dickensian England.

[ChrisY1]

Well you may laugh.....but I just walked fown Suk Soi 4......and the footpath id clear!!!!

Cannot F?%#&/g believe it!!!

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[charmonman]

I cant believe everyone wants Thailand to change that much - do you all want Thailand to look like Singapore or resemble the utterly characterless streets of KL - the banners , yep get rid of them, but the rest it is what Thailand is - i love all the food stalls, good hard working Thais producing some the worlds best food, day in day out, to the whole hearted appreciation of the Thai people from North to South - long may they stay in place - go to the UK or US and see the town centres, all ghost towns, all sterile carbon copies of themselves - give me the clogged soi's of Bangkok any day thanks.

+1 my sentiments exactly. Why is there always a cry for whipping these Thai's into shape and conforming to the way visitors experience things in their countries? I for one, enjoy the vast differences and thrive on the chaos in which things work, people go about their business and there is form in the madness.

That is one of the most enduring qualities of this beautiful country. It's different from what I know. I love it. It is what I may from time to time be exasperated with, but would not change. I have visited and lived here almost 20 years. I pine for the good old days when you could see across Sukhumvit view unconstructed by the Skytrain. I don' t mean the Skytrain is bad, it's fantastic and useful. It is just not the same. The same goes for all the old trucks and cars that used to ply the streets. They were cool. A huge honking Isuzu 2 1/2 ton truck with all the decorations of the owner onit. Also, all the old mercedes that used to cruise around, classic.

Anyways, my rant is done. Let them live as they please without our undue influence. Cheers.

I sympathize with you, but I've been hanging around this place for a long time myself, and I think the motorcyle taxis are a relatively recent innovation (I don't think there were any 15-20 years ago). So, if they were better controlled, I don't it would change the character of Bangkok for the worse. As for the Skytrain, it has been a mixed blessing as you say. As much as I appreciate being able to get around more easily, it has contributed to the destruction of much of what I used to like about Sukhumvit Road, and its replacement by bland mega-malls. I remember when tuk-tuks (and buses) were the main forms of public transportation, and I loved it.

Anyway, I don't think the changes have been particularly due to the influence of Westerners, just the downside of economic growth and creeping consumerism.

[metisdead]

A nonsense trolling post has been removed.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Well you may laugh.....but I just walked fown Suk Soi 4......and the footpath id clear!!!!

Cannot F?%#&/g believe it!!!

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Don't get too excited!

Monday afternoons and evenings are the designated "clear sidewalks" day around that part of Sukhumvit... All the vendors get the day off, by police/BMA directive.

Things should be back to their congested normal state today...and thereafter.

[tominbkk]

1. Clear the sidewalk and fine/imprison anybody who tries to use the sidewalk for commercial enterprise.

2. Fire and/or imprison any police who extort money from people for use of the sidewalk for commercial enterprise.

Done!

[QROPS]

To paraphrase a quote originating from elsewhere but stuck somewhere between my fingertips and thoughts:

"A developed country is not best measured by how many poor drive cars but by how many rich use public transport"...

I'd take this a step further and suggest that its also by how safety and readily mobile people can be without the need for mechanised transport.

I can't imagine any location nearby in Bangkok that I could safely take an infant in a pushchair to. As a consequence anyone with an infant, toddler or child has to either take a risk or drive.

As Thailand develops this will be addressed. However, the lip-service of the latest crackdown drowns in the stench of its own hypocrisy whereby everyone knows the cause and effect.... people high up enough to do something don't really care and as a consequence neither does anyone else. Neither do we (readers of TVcom), we are here and we live with it, moan about it, discuss it, let the frustrations off our chests but ultimately accept that like many respectable folk arounds us nothing is going to be done about it soon... fingers are simply crossed for I and I hope we hope these simple developments will make life better not only for us but for many.

The only place I've found that I can take my daughter in her buggy is near my condo in Rajdamri. It probably helps that I live next to the Four Seasons, but I can walk all the way to Lumphini Park or go the other way to the Skywalk to Central World/ Paragon with absolute ease.

I don't know of any other part of Bangkok I can do that.