Saen Saep canal to be facelifted in two years with seven billion baht budget

[webfact]

Saen Saep canal to be facelifted in two years with seven billion baht budget



BANGKOK: -- For the first time in several decades, the government of Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday approved the spending a huge budget to make Klong Saen Saep a clean and safe canal for boat travelling.

Khlong Saen Saep is a man-made longest canal in the country that was dredged since King Rama III to connect the Chao Phraya river with Bang Pakong in Chachoengsao along a 90- kilometre distance.

It was built in 1837 and finished three years later.

The project to facelift the ancient city canal was proposed for approval by the cabinet yesterday by the Ministry of Transport.

Under the approval, seven billion baht would be allocated to clean up the polluted Saen Saep canal in Bangkok.

Initially, about 75 million baht would be used for closed-circuit cameras (CCTVs) installation as well as improving landscape and service of 28 passenger boat piers.

The water rehabilitation project, which is due in 2017, is not only helping to purify polluted water but will also provide safe ferry service to all passengers.

During the reign of King Rama III, he ordered the dredging of a water transport of food and weapons to soldiers during a war with Cambodia.

The construction started in 1837 and was finished three years after.

Klong Saen Saep was once filled with and abundance of lotus which King Mongkut in his 4th reign (1851-1868) built Sra Pathumn Palace (Lotus Pond Palace) in Siam district. The names of the palace and present Pathumwan district come from it.

The Saen Saep canal starts from Mahanak canal or Khlong Mahanak around Pom Mahakan fortress in Bangkok . The canal terminates into the Bang Pakong river in Chachoengsao province.

A portion of the canal is now used for public transport by an express boat service in Bangkok.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/saen-saep-canal-to-be-facelifted-in-two-years-with-seven-billion-baht-budget

-- Thai PBS 2015-11-11

[kotsak]

And how about the retards who stir the boats?

[Cuchulainn]

Good luck with that one. I live right beside it and it's boggin'!!

[trogers]

Ancient canal or sewer line?

Cleanup? Address the sources of the pollution first or else it's back to square one.

[jacky54]

they did it a few years ago, did not change much

[samsensam]

the canal's ok, it's the sewerage and polluted water that gets dumped into it that's the problem.

they could also train the boat drivers properly; many have difficulty coming alongside a pier smoothly and often cut the power when they hit choppy water resulting in no control over the boat...

it's a great way to dodge the traffic - and you can sometimes meet a pretty girl there

[Katipo]

7 billion baht to clean up a khlong. I can't imagine this will be a magnet for corruption at all

[MrJohnson]

blah blah blah, yet again

[retarius]

7 billion baht....that's like US$225,000,000. Good thing labor is cheap in Thailand.

[waldroj]

Yeah! That equates to around US $200 million (or just over $2 million US / kilometre for 90 km), or almost one Chinese submarine!

That's some facelift. Better get a second opinion, facelifts in Bangkok start around ฿50,000.

I think there are more pressing projects, where public funds should be used, in Thailand.

As for boat piers, they should be privately funded.

[bangon04]

Blind people in Bangkok will lose out. The can navigate accurately just using the smell of the San Saeb.

[khaowong1]

I used to live in a condo near MBK. I would take this canal ride back and forth to downtown Bangkok. It was a sewer then and that was several years ago. People would use plastic sheets to keep the sewer water off them. I love the canals, but 7 billion seems like a lot. It's not going to help much when the sewer lines from the houses run directly into the canal.

[Happy Grumpy]

The budget includes 5 S-Class Benz for every pier along the way. Just for transportation purposes when it needs to be checked up on.

'Transportation budgets' sure do eat up a lot.

[Srikcir]

When rice farmers are being told not to plant and find "something else to do," costly projects like this should have lower priority. But Prayut does seem to favor public projects that reflect well on the NCPO. And as there are no elections, canals have as many votes as do people - zero.