Asia Times: Bangkok skytrain derailed before departure, skeptics say



	December 3, 1999	atimes.com

Southeast Asia

Bangkok skytrain derailed before departure, skeptics say
By Satya Sivaraman

BANGKOK - It has taken many years of state and private sector wrangling over contracts, several fatal accidents and a few public protests, but finally the Thai capital Bangkok has a brand new public transport service.

But not everyone is sure that the $1.5 billion elevated rail system, to be inaugurated on December 5, is the best answer to the city's notorious traffic jams.

While its supporters claim the ''skytrain'' system will ease traffic by taking thousands of commuters off crowded roads, its critics say that the high costs of the service and its poor connectivity to other modes of transport will make it unpopular among Thais.

Some environmentalists have further warned that the elevated concrete platforms, snaking their way through narrow city roads, are a potential pollution trap and an obstacle to firefighters in case of accidents.

The skytrain is the first of several mass transit projects planned for the city to be completed. The Hopewell project, a major elevated road and rail project linking Bangkok to its suburbs, was abandoned half-built by its Hong Kong-based promoter two years ago due to financial difficulties while a 20 kilometer-long underground subway project is under construction and expected to be commissioned by 2004.

A free test ride offered to city residents early November saw thousands line up to check out the new mass transit system, but not everyone was impressed. ''It is quick and efficient but only tourists will benefit because it links only the business districts inside the city. Local residents living in the suburbs and at a distance from the train stations will not use it,'' says Tuenjai Akrasanee, a secretary working with a private firm in Bangkok's busy Silom district.

The skytrain system, only 24km long, connects business districts like Silom and Sukhumvit to Victory Monument, a centrally located landmark in the city. Many Bangkok office-workers typically live outside these crowded districts and commute to work by bus, car or taxi according to what they can afford. The skytrain is unlikely to lure them on a regular basis.

City authorities are now preparing to re-route buses and find extra car parking spaces to make it easier for commuters to use the city's new skytrain.

Yet another deterrent for regular commuters is the skytrain's cost. Under a deal worked out between the skytrain operator and city authorities, fares will range between 15 baht (35 US cents) and 45 baht ($1.10). On the city's existing network of buses, which cover almost all parts of Bangkok and its surrounding areas, the fares range from 3.5 baht to a maximum of 24 baht.

Urban transport experts say that it is a pity that Bangkok's elevated rail system has not been planned better or else it could have provided much needed alternative to the city's bus services which commuters are forced to use despite its problems. ''Bangkok's existing public transport system is inadequate both in terms of its services and costs,'' says Dr Nimitchai Snitbhan, working on transport issues at the Thailand Development Research Institute, a Bangkok-based policy think tank.

According to him, the lack of a proper urban transport policy all these years is the major reason why most city residents, who can afford it, prefer to use their own cars.

Thus, while the share of passenger cars used for transport increased from 27.4 percent in 1984 to as much as 45.1 percent in 1994, passengers using buses decreased from 63 percent to just over 50 percent during the same period. By 2001, says Dr Nimitchai, it is estimated that buses will account for about 40 percent of passenger trips, and this will fall even further over the next five years.

On the environmental front, critics of the skytrain system have long argued that the massive steel and concrete structure is likely to trap polluted air underneath and exacerbate noise pollution in its vicinity.

Now that the skytrain system has finally been completed, their criticism is being borne out by an increasing chorus of complaints from shopkeepers and residents near the skytrain's 25 stations. ''Air pollution has certainly worsened since the skytrain was built. If I walk for just three minutes, I feel exhausted, I become moody and feel uncomfortable every time I see the station,'' Payong Kosa, a hairdresser at a shop near Silom station, told local Thai media.

Fears of increased pollution nearly stalled the construction of a key station on the skytrain route in 1998 following public protests by children from the Mater Dei school located opposite the proposed station site. The protests were also fueled by fears of accidents at the construction site, following several incidents at other locations where concrete pillars fell and crushed several people to death.

The school's objections were however brushed aside and the construction continued after the skytrain contractors threatened to make city authorities pay huge penalties if their planned route was disrupted due to environmental considerations.

''The skytrain operator should install a ventilation system at every station to show its sense of social responsibility,'' says Khunying Chodchoy, scion of a prominent Bangkok banking family and a well-known environmental activist who has long opposed the skytrain project. She likens the skytrain system to a massive roller coaster with trains up to 20 meters above street level, steep inclines and tight curves and says that the viaduct and wide stations will plunge the streets into darkness and trap pollution below.

The real problem, urban transport experts say, is the misplaced focus of the Bangkok city authorities on expensive projects like the skytrain system without altering the traveling habits of residents through policy intiatives.

Warns Walter Hook from the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy in New York: ''If all transportation projects planned in Thailand within the next 15 years were built, not only would they cost $15 billion, but they would speed up the flow of traffic by only 1.6 kph.''

Experts like him point out that Bangkok needs restrictions on the use of private vehicles, which several Asian countries are already using, together with a cheap and efficient public transport system. But what it has got are more cars on the roads together with a costly, half-baked project like the skytrain system.

(Inter Press Service)

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©1999 Asia Times Online Co., Ltd.