Against All Odds, Keeree Kanjanapas Built Bangkok's Mass Transit Systems

BY RON GLUCKMAN

 

BANGKOK: -- Subways can be transformational, not only for cities, but also for those who build them. That’s been the case in Bangkok, where the elevated Skytrain has helped transform the Thai capital from a city of gridlock to a modern metropolis of gleaming high-rises. “I do believe mass transportation has changed Bangkok,” says Keeree Kanjanapas, founder and chairman of the BTS Group, which built, against great odds, Bangkok’s first subway.

 

He refers not only to traffic flow, but also to the way locals live. “When we started building the BTS Skytrain, people never really considered high-rise condominiums. Now they not only accept them, they want this lifestyle, like in modern cities everywhere.”

 

Proof can be found everywhere the Skytrain glides overhead. Forests of high-rises sprout alongside, as developers pay hefty premiums for land near stations. “The premium for proximity to mass transit can be as high as 20% for projects within 200 meters of a station,” says Simon Landy, executive chairman of the Bangkok office of Colliers International, a property research and consulting firm. BTS is perfectly poised to capitalize as Bangkok massively expands its mass-transit system. In partnership with leading local developer Sansiri, BTS Group has five major residential real estate projects under way, all selling fast and all close to existing or upcoming mass-transit stations.

 

Full story: http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesasia/2016/11/29/against-all-odds-keeree-kanjanapas-built-bangkoks-mass-transit-systems/#4153689b4658

 

-- Forbes 2016-11-30

Yeah...traffic is super-better now and the flexibility (longer trains in rush-hour, running more frequently) is basically proverbial! >sarcasm offSo that is the guy, who had the brilliant idea, to built Saphan Taksin- station as a one rail, eye of a needle?
Just {#%+€~ brilliant!


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1 hour ago, webfact said:

That’s been the case in Bangkok, where the elevated Skytrain has helped transform the Thai capital from a city of gridlock to a modern metropolis of gleaming high-rises.

 

Can I hear a collective groan from all those car drivers , self included, who have wasted hours parked on Bangkok roads!

2 hours ago, BSJ said:

 

Can I hear a collective groan from all those car drivers , self included, who have wasted hours parked on Bangkok roads!

 

As someone who remembers the late '80s, it is undeniable that the BTS (and MRT) have made an incredible difference.  The traffic now is better than it was then - without the BTS/MRT, Bangkok would not be able to function at all.

It was quicker to walk from Silom to Siam than to get a taxi 20 years ago