The Dawn of Modern Rapid Transit in Bangkok

angkok is a unique and vibrant place--during rush hour one is likely to see an elephant and his mahout sauntering past gridlocked Mercedes. Young people eat Western fast food and then buy traditional Thai deserts from a curbside vendor. The newly rich patronize gleaming shopping centers and exotic gilded temples. But during the last decade, while the economy boomed and forests of cranes dotted the skyline, traffic has ground to a near-halt in polluted canyons of shophouses.

For decades, proposals were floated for a fixed mass transit system and Bangkok was becoming notable among world cities for not having one. Finally, this December, Bangkok will inaugurate a state-of-the-art "Skytrain" that will glide above its major thoroughfares. The light-rail Skytrain is the first in a series of megatransport projects that will give Bangkok commuters an alternative to dangling from handrails on overstuffed busses.

Before the Skytrain, Bangkok had an extensive, but antiquated, mass transit system consisting of buses, taxis, three-wheeled motorcarts called tuk-tuks, and semi-legal motorcycle taxis. Traffic literally got worse from month to month while coalition governments seemed unable to follow through with any particular plan of action. Then, in the early 1990s, flush with optimism from the continuing economic boom, a slew of road, subway, and train projects began in earnest.

Despite the traffic, the prospect of tearing up precious roadway for construction was never popular. The inner city road network is made up of a few multilane thoroughfares connected by meandering alleyways called "sois". Major roads cannot be closed since many destinations are reachable by only one route. To minimize disruption, the Skytrain contractors (a consortium of Siemens and Italian Thai Development Public Company, Ltd.) cast 9000 span segments for the project 100 kilometers north of Bangkok, and then moved them into place in the middle of the night. Many of the segments were 24-37 meters long. The same method was used to construct the Long Key and Seven Mile Bridges in the Florida Keys in the US.

Since the Skytrain was being built directly in the center of major roads, public irritation was probably unavoidable. The massive overhead stations, 150 meters long, straddle major roadways and plunge streets below into deep shade. There were incidents in which construction materials fell onto cars. Public angst reached a high in March 1998, when a 105-ton steel beam fell onto a taxi, killing the driver. A local newspaper published a series of pro and con haiku on its website which captured the feeling of intimidation from the structures growing overhead.

Eventually the mood lightened as the pillars took shape and street-level areas were cleared and relandscaped. The economic slowdown also took cars off the street, improving traffic conditions around construction areas. Early economic benefits emerged as well. The Skytrain reportedly added to real estate value along the route and has created an advertising boom as companies seek to influence those who will abandon buses to ride the train.

On a recent test ride, a trip that would normally take an hour dwindled to a few scenic minutes. The 23.5 kilometers of track consists of two lines--Sukhumvit and Silom--that will serve some of the most congested arteries in the city. The system is green and quiet: electric motors on the lead car are fed through an electrified third rail. And despite the imposing nature of the overhead structures, an attempt was made to reflect national styles by adding Thai-style overlapping roofs and other architectural elements.

From this high vantage point 14 meters above the street, Bangkok's uneven development is obvious--a charming wooden house sits between towering office buildings, and empty swamp land stretches off behind glass skyscrapers clustered along a busy thoroughfare.

The Sukhumvit Skytrain line crosses another transport project that will be completed in the opening years of the twenty-first century: the Bangkok subway. A far-reaching network of ring roads and extensions of the existing Skytrain routes are also being planned.

Of course, the Skytrain will not solve the problem of traffic. The Skytrain's two lines are minimal in comparison to the sprawl of modern Bangkok, but it is a beginning and a precedent. The project was finished on schedule despite the handicap of having to erect a rail system over some of the most congested arteries in the world. Thailand's emerging democracy has proven it can guide necessary long-term projects to their successful conclusion--even at the risk of public ire. The traffic chaos that has come to symbolize life in Thailand's emerging megacity is just beginning to be tackled, but there is renewed optimism that real progress is possible.
 
Ron Morris is a free-lance writer and editor living in Thailand
 
All photographs © Ron Morris.

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Links

Unofficial Bangkok Skytrain Site
by Ron Morris
 
Official Bangkok Skytrain Site
online 15 Oct 1999
 
Thailand
Virtual Tourist
 
Bangkok
Virtual Tourist