Bangkok to Say Goodbye to Telephone Booths

[webfact]

Bangkok to Say Goodbye to Telephone Booths
By Chayanit Itthipongmaetee
Staff Reporter


Photo: Nist6dh / Flickr

BANGKOK — For generations they stood ready to help passers-by reach out to the world. But now Bangkok's telephone booths, from a time when filaments of copper were needed to connect people, are unsightly reminders of the pre-cellular age.

More than 4,000 public phone booths in the capital city will be removed for the sake of a tidier Bangkok, City Hall announced Monday.

Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1456908304


-- Khaosod English 2016-03-02

[KhunBENQ]

Its time!

Hope they will turn to Pattaya too.

Some of them at the most prominent spots on the walkway opposite the beach e.g.

Crazy to watch people crawl past.

Even in our village one has been torn to make way for the renovated shop at the corner.

I guess the teens hardly know how to handle such a dinosaur.

Edited March 2, 2016 by KhunBENQ

[trogers]

There goes the sources of spare change...

[SoiBiker]

Where will the dogs sleep now?

[kinmaew]

But what do I need to do if I need to make a telephone call to tell Noi I am running late?

[trogers]

But what do I need to do if I need to make a telephone call to tell Noi I am running late?

Borrow the mobile of the girl you are presently with...

[MaxLee]

Smartphone Battery empty,...... AAAAAHHH, what do I do now?????

[crazygreg44]

will they remove the cables leading to the booths, too ? Or will they remain tangled up in those poles?

[swampdonkey]

will they remove the cables leading to the booths, too ? Or will they remain tangled up in those poles?

Probably not

Just look at the telegraph / electric poles

[craigt3365]

Always hated seeing a phone booth right in the middle of the sidewalk and forcing you to walk in the street to get around it. That, and the bolts they leave in the sidewalk when they are removed. Wonder how many have fallen due to these???

[HooHaa]

but where will taxi drivers pee?

[samsensam]

a step in the right direction but i still see people using the phone boxes so they should review which are used and not remove them.

if the objective is a tidier bangkok then look no further than removing the street vendors; it would make the city safer, more accessible especially for the disabled, elderly and those with small children it would benefit the businesses blocked by the temporary stalls and make the city look better.

[jacky54]

can't think of one that actually worked the last few years

[gk10002000]

hmmm. so how will people make "anonymous" or discrete calls? I forecast a lot of people will start carrying around a cheap cell phone call only phone that has a different number from their regular use phone. But even those supposedly have to be SIM registered so a person theoretically could find out how has that number, assuming of course that the registration is done properly, the person had the proper ID, the proper ID and name was collected, the proper name was put into the "database" or whatever system the registration process uses, and assuming a person has a way to query the system to find out who belongs to a certain number. Has anybody tried to find a person via a phone number? Is there a way to do it? Submit a request to DTAC or the police or ???

[SoiBiker]

a step in the right direction but i still see people using the phone boxes so they should review which are used and not remove them.

if the objective is a tidier bangkok then look no further than removing the street vendors; it would make the city safer, more accessible especially for the disabled, elderly and those with small children it would benefit the businesses blocked by the temporary stalls and make the city look better.

I see a lot more people using the street vendors than I do using the phone boxes.

[exalll]

will they remove the cables leading to the booths, too ? Or will they remain tangled up in those poles?

And will they remove the concrete bases? Or just leave them there for pedestrians to trip over?

[Emster23]

Awright! More room for vendors (and payments to BIB.... phone booth doesn't bring income to the poor police)

[Nowisee]

will they remove the cables leading to the booths, too ? Or will they remain tangled up in those poles?

And will they remove the concrete bases? Or just leave them there for pedestrians to trip over?

It's pretty standard to leave as many trip hazards as possible. It would require to much effort and work to remove.

[condo bought]

Good to get them out of the path of the scooters and motosai taxi riders.

[colinneil]

Removing them is a good idea most have not worked for years.

Concrete plinths left as another tripping hazard no doubt.

[HooHaa]

a step in the right direction but i still see people using the phone boxes so they should review which are used and not remove them.

if the objective is a tidier bangkok then look no further than removing the street vendors; it would make the city safer, more accessible especially for the disabled, elderly and those with small children it would benefit the businesses blocked by the temporary stalls and make the city look better.

currently working in metro manila for a few months, cant wait to get back to my bangkok house where the street vendors are plenty.

simply put i love the streetfood culture and there is some very good food around if i want it.

not so here.

[ALLSEEINGEYE]

No extra room for walking will just provide more real estate for the BIB to sell to street vendors.

The road is unfortunately the only option for walking.

[crazygreg44]

a step in the right direction but i still see people using the phone boxes so they should review which are used and not remove them.

if the objective is a tidier bangkok then look no further than removing the street vendors; it would make the city safer, more accessible especially for the disabled, elderly and those with small children it would benefit the businesses blocked by the temporary stalls and make the city look better.

i object . . if you remove the street vendors, you will take ASIA out of Bangkok

they are the last resort of hope that will remain to attract tourists

[katana]

I always found that even when the booths worked, the ubiquitous background roar of traffic and two-stroke motorcycle engine noise made conversation nigh on impossible.

[t8769]

I remember using them in the old days - calling up airlines to change tickets and trying to make myself heard over the traffic noise.

​Sure there was little convenience and things were difficult to arange, information hard to get.

​But life was more relaxed, less hectic, and we had more time to talk and relax.

Were things better then? Its hard to say.

​