Bangkok Pavements - What Are They Doing To Them?

[malcolminthemiddle]

The pavement problem is the lack of proper construction supervision which is the responsibility of the BMA and ultimately the incumbant Bangkok Governor.

A problem, not difficult to fix.

[Cool Water Palace]

I'd been thinking of starting a thread on footpaths/sidewalks/pavements for some time.

In London I'm often tripping over even slightly uneven joins between paving slabs. I don't recall once doing that in BKK. Perhaps I have to look out for where I put my feet, unlike in UK, especially as the extensive 'boulevarding' project in Camden means that many areas are really good. The BKK Governor should have a word, and offer a contract.

[1Lucky]

That seems to reflect the kind of different philosophy with regards to pavements in thailand. It seems to be a place to plant trees, dangle electrical cables, leave open gaping holes and generally dig up perfectly good tarmac and not bother to replace it. I'm beginning to think its probably just a cultural thing. If it were like the UK I'd hate it so what was I complaining about in the first place. This place is great - mad pavements and all.

Why would you hate it if the pavements were like in the UK? You can actually walk on the pavements in the UK. You could walk from one end of the UK to the other on pavements. In Thailand I doubt if you could walk a few hundred feet without having to dodge a multitude of obstacles.

Yes but in Thailand the pavements (or often the road next to the pavements) are populated by smiling friendly thais and sweet (though not sweet-smelling) soi dogs, rather than sour faced aggressive brits. Thailand does have plenty of failings and certainly in construction but I'm much happier hear than in not so Great Britain.

[1Lucky]

Great thread here. Hope everyone enjoyed slagging a third world country’s sidewalks in comparison to their 1st world home country. Would anyone care to compare the public works budget of Bangkok and London? How about the taxes to support it? That sure might explain the difference. You cannot have it both ways. Cheap country, cheap public infrastructure and services.

Give it a break guys. Have you never been to another third world country before? At least in Bangkok there is room to step between the spit on the sidewalk. In China you will never find that.

TH

I've been to plenty of third world countries and many have poor pavements/not at all. That is hardly ground-shaking news and wasn't the point I was making (which itself wasn't enormously exciting). The point of the post was the unbelievably shambolic work that is being done on the pavements on rama 4, sukhumvit and apparently elsewhere. If you do actually see it you'll see that its not a question of budget or size of the national economy - its just shockingly poor work. I've also lived in China which I don't believe is a third world country and I certainly found plenty of space to walk on the pavements without being spat on/standing in spit. From your comment about it it doesn't appear you've been to China.

Lucky

[1Lucky]

Ilove the pavements and roads here in bangers, everyday me and the gf go out for a qucik nibble, we always seem to trip up or fall over, " are ya dancing Love?" I will ask my girl. Without all those soi dog pawprints in the new concrete it would be just like living in hollywood with all of those star type imprints dont ya think?

Lookchin

I think the soi dog pawprints should be made mandatory in new pavement construction projects - though maybe they are already?

[fanciman]

May I add a reply?

This is a really excellent thread. By examining this one area of Bangkok Pavements, we can learn a lot about Thailand. It is most amusing, too.

First of all, I agree with everybody, so you can stay calm.

One thing that occured to me towards the end was California! Think of those Californians trotting along their sidewalks, a dainty little trip over a slightly raised kerb stone, and BANG! a 5000$ law suit is filed against the city, maybe more. Then all their friends are out lining up to fall down over the same blip.

I completely agree with the people that say it is taking the p***. But lets not blame the workers, nor the management in this case. I am entirely sure not even a country bumpkin simpleton labourer would ever considering dumping those blue pipes that way "normal". They just haven't been given the funds/equipment/time and did what was possible, realizig that it was unacceptable. I figured there must be a major improvement on the way, so they weren't bothered too much.

Good to hear about the low unemployment in Thailand. Not much spitting here either. (I hope Messers Rooney et al show the way here, and refrain from gobbing during Premiership games.)

The rich in the Mercedes Benz cars are heedless and careless of the problems of the poor. I wish they left the roads in that condition so that they would take an interest in such matters. As things stand, they only care about themselves.

They are probably the ones that plundered the funds meant for the construction.

The way forward? There is a brilliant man, pure vegetarian and former mayor of bangkok. Put him in power again.

I also hope Jintara Poonlarb completes her political studies soon and enters politics, taking over the country, and running things Issan style

Other than that, I have little to add on this occasion, the beginning of the New Year, the Year of the Fire Pig.

Good luck to you all as you navigate the pavements of 2007.

[backflip]

"The way forward? There is a brilliant man, pure vegetarian..."

Yeah, he had a spine of tofu.

[Briggsy]

In answer to your original question;

The municipal police "sell" them.

The vendors "rent" them.

The tourists trip over them.

The utilities dig them up with absolutely no consultation.

The goons who instal phone boxes obstruct them. (very well)

The Chinese shop owners steal them with surreptitious placing of potted plants and signs on wheels.

The dogs sleep on them.

Everybody throws litter on them.

People ignorantly walk three abreast on them and force you in to the gutter.

Rich people don't frequent them.

Politicians use them as a vehicle for stealing public money.

Motorcycles use them as pseudo-roads.

Yes, pity the poor pavements.

[samtam]

I think your most important point is that "rich people don't frequent them". You can assume that all politicians are rich, et voila....pavements in most of Bangkok are c--p. But yes, the workmanship is extremely shoddy, (like a lot in the public sector), but no one of any significance is looking at them. Screw the hoi poloi etc...

[orchis]

The problem is that may sidewalks were in moderately good condition previuosly

but after some works they have been completely ripped up and left in a worse condition

eg Sukumvit walking from Prompong to Tonglor, at the policebox ca soi 39-41 it looks like a warzone

much to the enjoyment of the countless rats. And that's a very wealthy neighbourhood.

[thaihome]

Great thread here. Hope everyone enjoyed slagging a third world country’s sidewalks in comparison to their 1st world home country. Would anyone care to compare the public works budget of Bangkok and London? How about the taxes to support it? That sure might explain the difference. You cannot have it both ways. Cheap country, cheap public infrastructure and services.

Give it a break guys. Have you never been to another third world country before? At least in Bangkok there is room to step between the spit on the sidewalk. In China you will never find that.

TH

I've been to plenty of third world countries and many have poor pavements/not at all. That is hardly ground-shaking news and wasn't the point I was making (which itself wasn't enormously exciting). The point of the post was the unbelievably shambolic work that is being done on the pavements on rama 4, sukhumvit and apparently elsewhere. If you do actually see it you'll see that its not a question of budget or size of the national economy - its just shockingly poor work. I've also lived in China which I don't believe is a third world country and I certainly found plenty of space to walk on the pavements without being spat on/standing in spit. From your comment about it it doesn't appear you've been to China.

Lucky

So you were making a point in thread titled "Bangkok Pavements - What Are They Doing To Them?” about 3 streets among the thousands in Bangkok. I think that as was pointed out the work is not complete and will apparently be repaved later, a common construction practice.

As far as China being a third world country, I lived there for several years, mostly in a small (for China) southern industrial town, and trust me, what I said about the sidewalks is true for most of the country. Most of the country is very third world, but calling it a developing country would probably be more politically correct.

TH

[chiang mai]

I've seen some odd discussions on this site previously but this one is close to being the oddest. Making comparisons between the the state of pavements in Camden UK and those in Bangkok seems bizarre to me and makes me wonder how much of the bigger cultural picture people understand when they visit Thailand. The UK is a fully developed social order that has taken hundreds of years to reach its present state, some might say that it is now like California where it is being over refined and all the minute things that affect individuals are being addressed. In the UK for example there are now checks to see what type of waste people deposit in public trash bins to see if it is appropriate - where it is not there is enforcement to follow up and prosecute offenders. That is just one of the many hallmarks of a fully (overly) developed infrastructure. Thailand is no where near that stage of development or maturity and the state of sidewalk repair is just one of the many symptoms. There are so many other elements of the Thail social and economic infrastructure that need to be addressed as a critical priority that it escapes me as to why people would chose to pass comment on the state of the sidewalks rather than the truly important things!

[1Lucky]

Great thread here. Hope everyone enjoyed slagging a third world country’s sidewalks in comparison to their 1st world home country. Would anyone care to compare the public works budget of Bangkok and London? How about the taxes to support it? That sure might explain the difference. You cannot have it both ways. Cheap country, cheap public infrastructure and services.

Give it a break guys. Have you never been to another third world country before? At least in Bangkok there is room to step between the spit on the sidewalk. In China you will never find that.

TH

I've been to plenty of third world countries and many have poor pavements/not at all. That is hardly ground-shaking news and wasn't the point I was making (which itself wasn't enormously exciting). The point of the post was the unbelievably shambolic work that is being done on the pavements on rama 4, sukhumvit and apparently elsewhere. If you do actually see it you'll see that its not a question of budget or size of the national economy - its just shockingly poor work. I've also lived in China which I don't believe is a third world country and I certainly found plenty of space to walk on the pavements without being spat on/standing in spit. From your comment about it it doesn't appear you've been to China.

Lucky

So you were making a point in thread titled "Bangkok Pavements - What Are They Doing To Them?” about 3 streets among the thousands in Bangkok. I think that as was pointed out the work is not complete and will apparently be repaved later, a common construction practice.

As far as China being a third world country, I lived there for several years, mostly in a small (for China) southern industrial town, and trust me, what I said about the sidewalks is true for most of the country. Most of the country is very third world, but calling it a developing country would probably be more politically correct.

TH

My point was how shoddy the workmanship is on these roads - by any standards, third world, first world or american. If you've actually seen the work you'll see what I mean - it is not a common construction practice - its a mess. As for your China comparison - I don't think it is particularly useful comparing a small southern industrial town in China with Bangkok to justify Bangkok's pavements. Try comparing the pavements of china's capital with Thailand's capital - much better. As are the pavements in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Kunming, Urumuqi, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, etc, etc. - what you said about pavements in China is not true for most of the country (rural parts aside - and of course when talking about Bangkok we're not talking about rural areas). Again its more accurate (not just politically correct) to call china a developing country - given amongst other things that it has one of the largest economies in the world. I don't even think your third world comparison necessarily reflects particularly favourably on Bangkok even with genuine third world countries. I've lived in Phnom Penh and didn't see such shoddy pavement works there and nor did I when travelling in capitals such as Dhaka, Dushanbe, Islamabad or even Kabul (bomb damage to one side).

[1Lucky]

I've seen some odd discussions on this site previously but this one is close to being the oddest. Making comparisons between the the state of pavements in Camden UK and those in Bangkok seems bizarre to me and makes me wonder how much of the bigger cultural picture people understand when they visit Thailand. The UK is a fully developed social order that has taken hundreds of years to reach its present state, some might say that it is now like California where it is being over refined and all the minute things that affect individuals are being addressed. In the UK for example there are now checks to see what type of waste people deposit in public trash bins to see if it is appropriate - where it is not there is enforcement to follow up and prosecute offenders. That is just one of the many hallmarks of a fully (overly) developed infrastructure. Thailand is no where near that stage of development or maturity and the state of sidewalk repair is just one of the many symptoms. There are so many other elements of the Thail social and economic infrastructure that need to be addressed as a critical priority that it escapes me as to why people would chose to pass comment on the state of the sidewalks rather than the truly important things!

Chiang Mai I agree with a number of the points you make - particularly about how minor this problem is. the reason why I'm not posting about more critical priorities for this country can be found in the censorship laws that apply to this board. If you are interested in non-censored political discussion I would advise that you go somewhere like the Foreign correspondants club. alas these boards are currently not the place to enjoy freedom of speech on the crucial and political, social and economic issues affected LOS.

[malcy]

its not the thai labourers who are at fault over the state of the pavements (sidewalks) . its the idiots who let them loose on them in the first place.

[Cool Water Palace]

I was trying to make an ironic point probably, it seems, not very successfully.

[AlexLah]

Where are the pictures?

Lot of people here complain about the sidewalks/pavements, but when will you post some pictures?

Alex

[rossegnole]

Hi

I think that's all about the ethics and the standards of workmanship in the thirldworld countries. It seems you forget that thailand is on of them.

The MRT ... I guess they have spent tons of money there for the A+ work....do you see how bad it is , I mean the granit work...the pluming , tiling painting everything is a very low quality work in the hotel i have been in.....I see things because I am in the construction business

Dont blame them , everything needs time

[markuk]

i think in the next 6 months you will find the pavement level raised to cover the blue pipes. Then maybe you will all be happy and let them get on with it, its their country!

[ashacat]

I live near Prakanong BTS, and that whole area has got to have the worst pavements in BKK. It's a disgrace!

[OlRedEyes]

i think in the next 6 months you will find the pavement level raised to cover the blue pipes. Then maybe you will all be happy and let them get on with it, its their country!

You forgot to mention go home. Getting old?

[sibeymai]

I'm pleased to report that in the last few days the footpath at Phra Khanong BTS has been leveled with sand and this morning I found that a section has been raised and concreted. Expect the rest to follow suit, along with all other areas currently disfigured by those blue pipes, I would expect.

Was reading past posts on this thread and someone mentioned California and it struck me that due to the poor state of the pavements here Thailand will probably miss out on what is arguably California's greatest contribution to modern society....skateboards and rollerblades.

Such a pity....wouldn't we all love to see bikini clad Thai babes speeding down the sidewalks, a la Santa Monica, Venice Beach ? Surely Thai's would embrace this American culture just as readily as everything else American. If only there was a smooth sidewalk.......

[OlRedEyes]

Was reading past posts on this thread and someone mentioned California and it struck me that due to the poor state of the pavements here Thailand will probably miss out on what is arguably California's greatest contribution to modern society....skateboards and rollerblades.

Such a pity....wouldn't we all love to see bikini clad Thai babes speeding down the sidewalks, a la Santa Monica, Venice Beach ? Surely Thai's would embrace this American culture just as readily as everything else American. If only there was a smooth sidewalk.......

Yeesh. That is a scary picture, taking the local driving style into account. Never thought of that before.

Keep the crummy pavements Please!

Edited January 23, 2007 by OlRedEyes

[markuk]

i think in the next 6 months you will find the pavement level raised to cover the blue pipes. Then maybe you will all be happy and let them get on with it, its their country!

You forgot to mention go home. Getting old?

haha yes i forgot that, if you dont like Bangkok pavements then go home and stop complaining!! and no i am not getting old, just fed up with people complaining!!