SURVEY: Should Article 44 be used to solve Bangkok Traffic?

[Scott]

The government recently indicated that it may invoke Article 44 to resolve chronic traffic problems in Bangkok.   In your opinion, do you believe this is will be an effective method of reducing traffic congestion?

 

Please feel free to leave a comment.

 

 

[captspectre]

how would they use art 44 to solvethe traffic problem? do they even have the slightest idea? would they shoot up the place? place all drivers in jail? put police on the roads to do what? they hardly never leave their police boxes now! take for instance the box on the corner of soi four and sukhumvit. I have never, NEVER seen the police even leave the box to go,to the bath room! even when there is s monstrous traffic jam on the corners! 

[eggers]

Further laws &Article44  are not answer .

Need Police to enforce current laws, as doesn't happen now!

Plus, need a central traffic control centre that can alter/coordinate traffic light systems to improve traffic flow. Currently there is no coordination of lights whatsoever. 

[overherebc]

Wasn't there a computer system designed years ago to sort this out but for whatever reason was never fully used?

[mike324]

nothing will be effective if the police don't do their jobs....its just that simple

[opouri]

First need to get cars out of the city which means many multi story car parks then busses to take people to where they need to go.

Police will only create more problems if they start doing there job. Need infringement cameras every where so can send them a fine for breaking the law. Then the police can be used for chasing up those who don't pay there fines People will start doing the right thing if they know it is going to cost them.

 

[PatOngo]

Even divine intervention won't unravel that mess!

[jybkk]

3 hours ago, opouri said:

First need to get cars out of the city which means many multi story car parks then busses to take people to where they need to go.

Police will only create more problems if they start doing there job. Need infringement cameras every where so can send them a fine for breaking the law. Then the police can be used for chasing up those who don't pay there fines People will start doing the right thing if they know it is going to cost them.

 

 

Yes. S44 will solve nothing. What they need is a multi-front short term +long term plan. It should include:

• Long-term planning for road development with modern traffic approach (computer analysis, no more of this u-turn nonsense, etc...)
• Push towards 'mixed commuting' (large car parks near public transportation hubs allowing people to first use the car then leave it before entering the most congested area)
• Acceleration of the original Mass Transit plan (the 10 lines or so were supposed to be ready by 2015. What we have now is maybe 20% of what was planned)
• Strict enforcement of parking/stopping rules (traffic on main roads is severley impaired by cars stopping anywhere on the left side. A single car parked on the left of a 3-lane road makes the whole stretch effectively a 2 lane road in terms of flow).
• Computerized real time traffic light management
• Universal public transportation ticket/card
• Incentives for public transport commuting ( monthly 'commuter card' with discounted fare for home <-> work trips, tax rebate on commute cards purchased by employers for their employees,...)

And I'm sure a lot of other ideas could be proposed by actual urban development and traffic expert from all around the world where these problems have been handled. It's not like Bangkok is any different.

[Humberstone]

Discourage people from driving into central Bangkok, maybe use a congestion charging system.

 

Change the building code for office buildings. The first 9 floors are usually car park, change this to be a maximum of 2 floors only. Again, the aim being to discourage drivers.

 

Cars over a certain age - say 10 years (?) to be taken off the road. So much congestion caused by breakdowns of old vehicles, particularly during the rainy season.

 

I don't think that changing the policing will make much difference at all. Bottom line is too many cars. Even with a comprehensive mass transit network I don't think people in Bangkok will give up driving without being made to pay or by making it as difficult as possible.

 

[scorecard]

7 hours ago, overherebc said:

Wasn't there a computer system designed years ago to sort this out but for whatever reason was never fully used?

 

Yes there was, about 20 - 25 years ago, designed by a foreign expert. Everybody was warned that on one day one there would be bumps and hiccups and there were.

 

Within a very short time (from memory 1 hour) somebody ordered the new computerized system to be turned off. It was never started again.

[chainarong]

Sixty years of mismanagement , indifference , and slovenly attitude and you expect  section 44, which after all relies on the very people who have neglected the traffic flow and city planning to fix the problem, talk about abuse of the law , the problem gets fixed when the Government gets in proper planning expertize , spend hundreds of billions on up grades, installing better traffic lights,  camera's,  at every intersection, installing traffic flow HQ,  that's not going to happen this month, so what grand piece of B/S can the Junta find for section 44 next..........................................................    

[Thian]

Mr Prayuth should use article 44 to make the Police do their job....and he should test them in person...Just wear a dark helmet and drive like an idiot (with open exhaust pipes) past the police along the road (those ones under tents first, they play on the laptop all day long).

 

If they let him pass he can turn around, drive back and sack them on the spot.

[Thian]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2016/sep/19/41-men-found-inside-16-seat-vehicle-in-thailand-video?CMP=embed_video

[Credo]

There is no amount of legislation that can solve traffic problems.   It requires law enforcement and a change in driver mentality.  Driver mentality is generally tied to the chance of getting caught.

 

Twice a week, I leave before 5:00 a.m.  for another province.   I live in a suburban area.   The traffic is not bad, but there is traffic.   At a point where it starts to merge onto a major artery it slows considerably and is further complicated by the many, many drivers who head to the front of the queue, blocking access to the through traffic.   By 9:00 it is a major jam.   At that very junction is a large and well manned police box.   

 

 

[Humberstone]

I think a lot of people on this thread are in denial. Better policing might make things a wee bit better, but not much. It's all about too many cars on the road in Bangkok and until you can move people away from the thought that car ownership is a privilege not a god given right will you see a change.