Bangkok sidewalks: Making safe for walking
Sidewalks as motorcycle expressways, open sewer holes, vendors hogging all space so people walk in street to cars not stopping at crosswalks, Bangkok has dangerous sidewalks.
Sidewalks as motorcycle expressways, open sewer holes, vendors hogging all space so people walk in street to cars not stopping at crosswalks, Bangkok has dangerous sidewalks.
WALKING, CITY PLANNING & TRAFFIC LAWS
Making Bangkok sidewalks safe for walking
28/02/2016
Roger Crutchley
The best news of the week was the Chulalongkorn University study which revealed that Bangkok boasts five streets that are “pedestrian-friendly”, including Silom (read article here).
Some sidewalks can actually be used without pedestrians facing the risk of breaking their ankles in potholes, getting strangled by dangling overhead wires, run over by motorcyclists or treading in something most unpleasant (read 12 ways to seriously injure yourself on a Bangkok sidewalk here & also here).
Other minor sidewalk annoyances for pedestrians include: arc welding smack in the middle of sidewalk (bring your tinted goggles), restaurants that take over sidewalk for dishwashing after they close in the evening (bring your rubber boots), motorcycle dealerships that fill up sidewalks with their motorcycles, sidewalk bars with Karoake (leave wife and kids at home) and sidewalk as loading dock with forklift (no trips to store for children).
When drain hole covers are broken they can cause injury to pedestrians & to motorcyclists, as this one did.
VAST MAJORITY OF ROADS UNFIT FOR WALKING
Teacher teaching her blind student how to avoid potentially lethal drain holes while walking on the street.
Before pedestrians start leaping about with joy, the Chulalongkorn study covered 965 roads, of which only 134 had the “potential” to be fit for walking.
This unfortunately means that 831 roads were bit of a write-off for pedestrians and we all know what those are like.
It will take more than a few studies to convince citizens that Bangkok is a walking paradise, but at least it’s a start.
Things have admittedly improved in recent years with walkways providing welcome relief at a few major intersections.
But you can’t escape the feeling that pedestrians are still regarded as an irritation — second-rate citizens who can’t afford cars.
Motorcycle taxis use sidewalks as extension of road: Sidewalks are often transformed into expressways for motorcycles during periods of heavy traffic such as rush hour.
SIDEWALKS BECOME ROADS
It used to be a lot worse.
In the face of growing traffic gridlock back in 1995, one official announced: “Footpaths will be turned into roads where necessary to ease traffic congestion.”
Now that was just terrific.
The authorities had decided it was the pedestrians who were to blame for traffic jams.
Sign with new penalty for driving motorcycles on sidewalk, next to a pedestrian and a motorcycle driving on the sidewalk. (Photo: Post Today)
PLUNGING DOWN HOLE IN SIDEWALK
Common sense prevailed in the late 1990s after a Bangkok governor decided to make an inspection trip to ascertain the state of the roads and sidewalks (pavements) in the city.
He got his answer, not quite in the manner intended, when he plunged down a hole and had to be hauled out by embarrassed aides.
The governor’s experience naturally prompted a city-wide crackdown on holes.
It might not be a bad idea if they have another go this year, as there are plenty of lethal excavations out there waiting to trap innocent pedestrians.
Pedestrians forced to walk in street: Vendors take up almost all of the sidewalk forcing pedestrians to walk in the street which can be dangerous.
DANGEROUS PEDESTRIAN CROSSINGS
The very prospect of having to cross a road is enough to frighten most Bangkok pedestrians.
We have the ridiculous situation that pedestrian crossings (zebra crossings) are among the most dangerous places to cross a road. What’s more, they give tourists a false sense of security.
Everyone has probably experienced that unsettling feeling at a pedestrian crossing that does not have traffic lights.
You walk a few steps forward and then a few steps back as the cars whizz past, repeated several times, resembling a dancer performing a nervous cha-cha dance.
Traffic police helping pedestrians cross at a pedestrian crossing, signalling to cars to stop.
ELDERLY TOURISTS DOING BANGKOK CHA-CHA-CHA ACROSS SIDEWALK
I once witnessed an elderly couple of tourists unwittingly performing the Bangkok cha-cha, trying to cross Asoke Road.
They weren’t getting anywhere as the cars roared past, some with horns blasting at the couple who had intruded on their territory.
Then a traffic policeman appeared, marched out into the road and waved the thankful couple across.
The cop didn’t know it, but with that gesture he achieved more in promoting tourism than any of those Amazing Thailand campaigns....
Bobae market vendor decides to use all of the sidewalk for her goods. Pedestrians can walk in the street.
JUST DROPPING IN
Aside from crossing the road, it’s the holes in the sidewalks that are probably the biggest enemy of pedestrians.
A few years ago a former Post colleague was walking near his home when a truck came speeding down the narrow soi. My colleague took evasive action, but in doing so fell into a hidden roadside hole. He later discovered he had fractured his arm.
Another journalist was walking along Soi Prasarnmit after dark when he suddenly plunged down an open manhole, finding himself up to his waist in that unspeakable black sludge that lurks in the depths. It was a hole-in-one he would like to forget...
BEWARE THE OPEN SEWER MANHOLE
In a related incident last year, a British man fell down a 3-meter deep open sewer manhole in Pathum Thani intop black sewage muck.
The work crew had accidentally forgot to close it after repairs and left no warning sign (read here).
BMA inspector inspects pole prjecting from storefront (for awning?) that is an obvious hazard for pedestrians.
BMA inspector inspects sign so low off the ground that people can easily hit their head on it and ijunre themselves.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/878960/fixing-a-hole-for-bangkok-s-foot-soldiers
สามารถฝึกอ่านออกเสียงและดูคำแปลได้ที่ : http://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/learning-from-news/881888/bangkok-sidewalks-making-safe-for-walking