Bangkok:- The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration will spend Bt200 million to develop a building at the Kokwua Intersection on Rajdamnoen Road as a 24-hour library, a senior BMA official said Thursday.

Pranee Satayaprakorb, director of BMA’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Department, said the city administration is under commitment to operate a 24-hour City Library after the Thai capital was selected as the World Book Capital for 2013.

She said the BMA will rent a building of the Crown Property Bureau at the Kokwua Intersection to run the City Library for 30 years.

The building has three floors and it has a total usage area of 4,000 square meters.

Pranee said the Crown Property Bureau has agreed to exempt the renting fee while the building is being renovated. The BMA will start paying the rent after the library is open to the public.

Now, the BMA is in the process of signing the renting contract. Once the contract is signed, the BMA will call for tenders to renovate the building.

The renovation can start this year because the BMA has already designed the library. After the renovation, the building will have modern style while identity of the old building will also be preserved.

She said the library will be ready for serving the public in 2016 and it will be open on around the clock basis.

All in all, the BMA is expected to spend Bt200 million for the development and the City Library will become an important landmark on Ratanakosin Island, she added.

She added that BMA also planned to build a cartoon museum at the Thai-Japanese Youth Center in Din Daeng.

hopefully they'll have some books/magazines/newspapers in english and wont charge entrance to the one group of people most likely to use a library in thailand, foreigners

open 24 hours? why?

Many people like to read through the night, I expect you will see many sleeping students in it.

The locals will be queueing for blocks in a mad frenzy to expand their knowledge

Seems an excessive expenditure to house comics.

She added that BMA also planned to build a cartoon museum at the Thai-Japanese Youth Center in Din Daeng.

The most significant announcement.

open 24 hours? why?

the city administration is under commitment to operate a 24-hour City Library after the Thai capital was selected as the World Book Capital for 2013.

That's quite a joke!!!

Remember what happened with the abortive BMA futsal stadium (completed late and never used)?? Check back a year or two from now...and see if the library project went the same way.

Or the fleet of new BKK fire engines (lost to corruption)... Or the thousands of long-promised natural gas fueled new buses (still not purchased) , Or the sidewalk bicycle path along Sukhumvit Road (abandoned) etc etc etc.

Edited March 6, 201511 yr by TallGuyJohninBKK

When my family and I immigrated to the USA, we were amazed by the public library system in America.

Since then, I could never understand how Bangkok was selected as world book capital? (did officials need a reason to visit Bangkok?)

Many people like to read through the night, I expect you will see many sleeping students in it.

Yeah and all those poor suckers with broken smartphones turn to read books...

Seems an excessive expenditure to house comics.

Wait when they negotiate with Disney to have a Mickey Mouse museum. You can't have enough education.

While the rest of the world is closing libraries, probably because everything is on the Internet, Bangkok decides to open one!

Does it ever cross ones mind that these projects are just a way to release government money so some of it can be skimmed off?

Presumably it will be air conditioned so an ideal place for people to keep cool and not have to run up electricity bills? Guess it will make a change from shopping malls!