Piling for riverside promenade project to start in October

[Lite Beer]

Piling for riverside promenade project to start in October

BANGKOK: -- Piling work for the grand Chao Phraya riverside promenade project is expected to start in October despite protests from affected communities, green groups, architects and bicyclists who are promised a spacious bike lane.

The promenade is, in fact, a parallel concrete walkway to be built on both sides of the Chao Phraya river initially from Rama VII bridge to Pinklao bridge which will eventually be extended to Phra Nangklao bridge covering a total distance of 50 kilometres. The walkway is 19.5 metres wide and 3.52 metres above mean sea level.

Proponents of the project have boasted that this will be a landmark of Bangkok and will provide Bangkokians with a new recreational ground.

Mr Yossapol Boonsom, a landscape architect of the Friends of River group which is against the project, said that the project destroy the landscapes of both sides of the river, damage the ecology of the river and disrupt river flow. The project design, he said, is ugly.

Mr Yossapol wonders whether the proponents of the project have ever bothered to ask the opinions of residents of riverside communities whether they want the project or not and whether tourists will take a river trip again.

The Bangkok Bicycle Campaign, a bicycle club, has also voiced its objection to the project. The group said the 19-metre walkway is too big for bikers who need only a two-metre bike lane.

The Thai Boat Association also does not want the project, pointing out that safety of boat services in the river will be compromised as there will be over 400 supporting pillars to be built in the river.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/piling-for-riverside-promenade-project-to-start-in-october

-- Thai PBS 2015-07-03