The real problem with Bangkok is the lack of a government vision on city planning. Street layout is haphazard and is basically dictated by how private landowners use their land. Sidewalks are completely non existent or comically narrow in most neighborhoods. The city government doesn't seem to have any ability to formulate a land use plan or stand up to private property owners. Even the development of public transport is driven by private business interests (i.e. BTS Group, real estate developers, etc)
The problem with the BTS was the short sightedness of the BTS authority. When the BTS first opened, Thai's thought that it was too expensive and so not many people used it. For many years, you could catch the BTS at any station on the Sukhumvit line and typically get a seat. Now every train carriage is jam packed and sometimes you cannot even get on. This is due to the fact that, although they built very long platforms, they did not have many carriages per train. Fujitsu could not supply any new ones as they had so many orders to fill, plus many trains were out of service for repair. Unless it is very early in the day, or heading into evening, I try and avoid the BTS as much as I can. BTW the MRT is not much better.
The pollution in Bangkok is nuts. Combined with a severe tropical heat island effect, the city can be absolutely unbearable at times. This is unfortunate, as it is well and truly one of the great cities of Asia, and deserves much better.
Gas prices do have a huge impact. A few years ago I regularly checked the US and Dutch average prices. While US citizens paid about $2 per gallon, the Dutch had to pay $7(+), $5 per gallon more, consistently. That's one of the reasons why they are such avid cyclists. Interestingly, the Dutch taxes on car sales, ownership and gas use, are not sufficient to cover the cost of car infrastructure. That tells you that the Thai and US government heavily subsidise their car and oil industry.
Interesting. A lot of (US) state departments of transportation are funded from gas taxes. It's ironic because they should be the departments improving public transportation infrastructure. But financially, there isn't a direct incentive for them to reduce individual vehicle usage.
@@anubizz3 pro bike ≠ anti car. Dutch just drive only 60% the distance of Americans per year! (13k km vs 22k.km). And more so, short distances are not done by car , but by foot/bike or transit : 50% of US car trips are
@@anubizz3 the Netherlands is consistently the best country to drive, many Dutch people love their car and can drive well. But you don't have to, that's the point. It's better and safer because nobody has to who doesn't want to.
@@lws7394 You so proud comparing annual distance drive? USA 237X bigger than Netherlands and you only manage 60% less distance drive? Also you comparing to a country that one of the worse in term or driving.... Compare yourself to Singapore and you see all of this fall apart...
People who have cars also take rail transit. It depends on which will be more efficient for any particular trip. Also, public transit is also very crowded in Bangkok.
Ive watched every njb, oh the urbanity, citynerd, etc vid and yr vids still have new perspectives to offer. Def the most underated channel on yt. Though i don't know if i would ever want to disuade any public transport even if it was subpar. I would just hope the areas around the stops adapt to the conveniance.
They only first opened their Skytrain system in 1999. They are expanding it, but it'll take still take some time before the city has more complete coverage.
Very good video love it! I'd say as a Bangkok resident, the city has some good arterial train route and theee are multiple plans to expand them. But as you mentioned, the "feeder" system to get to the destination (especially in the suburbs) is very lacking. I've seen plans for them, but never saw them in action. But anyway, It's very rare seeing a town planning video on Bangkok, people are slowly realising the problem here. Thanks for the video!
7:39 In Bangkok, public transport is privatised. Each type of transport as its own "card" that you use. The huge problem with all the public transport in Bangkok is that they're all privatised, so these greedy companies have profit before convenience. The buses are run by different companies and operators. The largest operator is called Thai Smile Bus, which have a fleet of only electric buses, these are great, and you can use HOP cards on their buses, but not on any other buses or public transport. The BTS is run by BTSC, a private company, that the government has virtually no control over, as they signed a contract that will expire in 25 years. You can only use their dedicated RABBIT Card on the BTS and BRT (which is a public bus with bus lanes). The MRT is run by the MRTA, which is state-owned, where you can only use their dedicated "Mangmoom" card. The SRT lines are run by the State Railway of Thailand, which is also state-owned, but you can't use any card on it, only pay in cash for a ticket. Now for Bangkok's public transport, there are 3 BTS lines (Silom, Sukkhumvit, Gold) , 4 MRT lines (Purple, Pink, Yellow, Blue), 1 Airport Rail Link that only connects to one of Bangkok's two airports, 2 SRT lines (Light red, dark red), several Boat services, and electric boat services. The MRT Orange line is a new line, connecting the suburbs of Minburi, and the Bangkok old town (which currently has no urban rail at all). This is 100% complete in terms of constructions, but they haven't ordered a rolling stock/trains, tracks, or signalling systems for them. Most likely it will be open by earliest date of August 2025.
still waiting for 90% of the population here to know that voting actually does something and they can’t just vote to whoever give them the most money (also tbh some of the politicians don’t really have much knowledge on urban planning)
Then could Bangkok solve a good part of it traffic problem by just painting bus lanes and taxing cars? It's cheap and take no time to do so why don't they do it? Great video. I just discovered the channel and the content is very interesting with well made video. Will you make a video on public space (plazas, parks, treets,...) later? or how to make a good transport network? You should maybe try to work with other channels like 'not just bikes' or 'city beautiful' to gain a bit a visibility.
I think that the issue with just painting bus lanes is that in Bangkok, motorcycles are everywhere -- even on the sidewalks/pavement, so paint would do little to deter them from using the bus lane. They could possibly do barricaded bus lanes like I've seen in Seoul, or maybe separations with a curb like Curitiba, Brazil could work? However this would cost more money... Thanks for watching and for your suggestions! 😀
@OptimiCities 🤔 seems like I underestimated the complexity of the problem. What I know is that if Bangkok is able to make transits more convenient than private vehicles, people would choose transits. It goes with different parameters like speed, efficiency, cost, comfort, consistency, etc. This just needs political will. Plus, baricading bus destroys its biggest advantage, the ease to redraw the network anytime. In addition, it creates walls in the city, making it less walkable. Complexe, there is no magic solution, unfortunately.
@@lettleman6523 Yes! I think you hit the key point that public transportation has to be more convenient than driving. Great point about barricades too.
The BTS, MRT, and SRT are too expensive if we take into account of the average people's daily wages and costs of living. The overall public transportation isn't THAT far-reaching, mostly sticking to/around main roads or some CBDs. This is especially the case for rail-based transportation. The "city plannings" are essentially non-existent for more than half a century at the very least. In the past before people actually cared about plannings, they let private landowners roam free. There are a lot of "soi"(small streets) that doesn't connect to anywhere, resulting in so many dead ends. Motorcycles are also EVERYWHERE, even on sidewalks. On the number of cars, all previous governments' automobile industry subsidization noticeably contributed to the rising car ownership over the past decades. In addition, a LOT of the cars are from provinces all over the country, or at least the owner isn't from Bangkok. They came to work in the capital and went home to their respective regions during holidays and festivals. During holidays, a lot of BKK's roads and streets are much less crowed. Due to massive vehicle emissions, the air pollution(PM 2.5) can be so awful on some days(when the wind isn't blowing) that the sky is yellowish, you can't see past a few hundred meters, and must wear protective masks outside, otherwise you'll hurt your throat. That being said, too much centralization is also an issue to tackle. It forced millions of people to move to places in and around BKK to work or seek jobs due to lack of oppurtunities elsewhere. Bangkok is known to be one of the most disproportionate primate city in the world, both population and economic wise.
![[UA] NAVI vs MOUZ | BO5 | IEM Rio 2024](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/CMBYk0cbGoA/mqdefault.jpg)
The real problem with Bangkok is the lack of a government vision on city planning. Street layout is haphazard and is basically dictated by how private landowners use their land. Sidewalks are completely non existent or comically narrow in most neighborhoods. The city government doesn't seem to have any ability to formulate a land use plan or stand up to private property owners. Even the development of public transport is driven by private business interests (i.e. BTS Group, real estate developers, etc)
Common theme amongst developing countries
The problem with the BTS was the short sightedness of the BTS authority. When the BTS first opened, Thai's thought that it was too expensive and so not many people used it. For many years, you could catch the BTS at any station on the Sukhumvit line and typically get a seat. Now every train carriage is jam packed and sometimes you cannot even get on. This is due to the fact that, although they built very long platforms, they did not have many carriages per train. Fujitsu could not supply any new ones as they had so many orders to fill, plus many trains were out of service for repair. Unless it is very early in the day, or heading into evening, I try and avoid the BTS as much as I can. BTW the MRT is not much better.
The pollution in Bangkok is nuts. Combined with a severe tropical heat island effect, the city can be absolutely unbearable at times. This is unfortunate, as it is well and truly one of the great cities of Asia, and deserves much better.
People too dark man. Europeans have that planning and initiative forehead
Gas prices do have a huge impact. A few years ago I regularly checked the US and Dutch average prices. While US citizens paid about $2 per gallon, the Dutch had to pay $7(+), $5 per gallon more, consistently. That's one of the reasons why they are such avid cyclists. Interestingly, the Dutch taxes on car sales, ownership and gas use, are not sufficient to cover the cost of car infrastructure. That tells you that the Thai and US government heavily subsidise their car and oil industry.
Interesting. A lot of (US) state departments of transportation are funded from gas taxes. It's ironic because they should be the departments improving public transportation infrastructure. But financially, there isn't a direct incentive for them to reduce individual vehicle usage.
Then why Dutch have 550 car per 1000 people if this bike priority is successful?
@@anubizz3 pro bike ≠ anti car. Dutch just drive only 60% the distance of Americans per year! (13k km vs 22k.km). And more so, short distances are not done by car , but by foot/bike or transit : 50% of US car trips are
@@anubizz3 the Netherlands is consistently the best country to drive, many Dutch people love their car and can drive well. But you don't have to, that's the point. It's better and safer because nobody has to who doesn't want to.
@@lws7394 You so proud comparing annual distance drive? USA 237X bigger than Netherlands and you only manage 60% less distance drive? Also you comparing to a country that one of the worse in term or driving.... Compare yourself to Singapore and you see all of this fall apart...
Bangkok would be my No.1 place to live if traffic weren't this awful. Always warm, food is delicious and everything is cheap, i'd love it
People who have cars also take rail transit. It depends on which will be more efficient for any particular trip. Also, public transit is also very crowded in Bangkok.
Ive watched every njb, oh the urbanity, citynerd, etc vid and yr vids still have new perspectives to offer. Def the most underated channel on yt. Though i don't know if i would ever want to disuade any public transport even if it was subpar. I would just hope the areas around the stops adapt to the conveniance.
Wow, thanks for watching!
And yet that channel you watch always prioritise bike over public transport.
They only first opened their Skytrain system in 1999. They are expanding it, but it'll take still take some time before the city has more complete coverage.
Very good video love it!
I'd say as a Bangkok resident, the city has some good arterial train route and theee are multiple plans to expand them.
But as you mentioned, the "feeder" system to get to the destination (especially in the suburbs) is very lacking.
I've seen plans for them, but never saw them in action.
But anyway, It's very rare seeing a town planning video on Bangkok, people are slowly realising the problem here. Thanks for the video!
I really enjoyed this video. I like your tone and the chill vibe you bring. Keep up the great work 💖
another urbanist channel to watch! yippee!
7:39 In Bangkok, public transport is privatised. Each type of transport as its own "card" that you use.
The huge problem with all the public transport in Bangkok is that they're all privatised, so these greedy companies have profit before convenience.
The buses are run by different companies and operators. The largest operator is called Thai Smile Bus, which have a fleet of only electric buses, these are great, and you can use HOP cards on their buses, but not on any other buses or public transport.
The BTS is run by BTSC, a private company, that the government has virtually no control over, as they signed a contract that will expire in 25 years. You can only use their dedicated RABBIT Card on the BTS and BRT (which is a public bus with bus lanes).
The MRT is run by the MRTA, which is state-owned, where you can only use their dedicated "Mangmoom" card.
The SRT lines are run by the State Railway of Thailand, which is also state-owned, but you can't use any card on it, only pay in cash for a ticket.
Now for Bangkok's public transport, there are 3 BTS lines (Silom, Sukkhumvit, Gold) , 4 MRT lines (Purple, Pink, Yellow, Blue), 1 Airport Rail Link that only connects to one of Bangkok's two airports, 2 SRT lines (Light red, dark red), several Boat services, and electric boat services.
The MRT Orange line is a new line, connecting the suburbs of Minburi, and the Bangkok old town (which currently has no urban rail at all). This is 100% complete in terms of constructions, but they haven't ordered a rolling stock/trains, tracks, or signalling systems for them. Most likely it will be open by earliest date of August 2025.
still waiting for 90% of the population here to know that voting actually does something and they can’t just vote to whoever give them the most money
(also tbh some of the politicians don’t really have much knowledge on urban planning)
there is only traffic if you make it in a car, I never had any problem as a person
Then could Bangkok solve a good part of it traffic problem by just painting bus lanes and taxing cars? It's cheap and take no time to do so why don't they do it? Great video. I just discovered the channel and the content is very interesting with well made video. Will you make a video on public space (plazas, parks, treets,...) later? or how to make a good transport network? You should maybe try to work with other channels like 'not just bikes' or 'city beautiful' to gain a bit a visibility.
I think that the issue with just painting bus lanes is that in Bangkok, motorcycles are everywhere -- even on the sidewalks/pavement, so paint would do little to deter them from using the bus lane. They could possibly do barricaded bus lanes like I've seen in Seoul, or maybe separations with a curb like Curitiba, Brazil could work? However this would cost more money... Thanks for watching and for your suggestions! 😀
@OptimiCities 🤔 seems like I underestimated the complexity of the problem. What I know is that if Bangkok is able to make transits more convenient than private vehicles, people would choose transits. It goes with different parameters like speed, efficiency, cost, comfort, consistency, etc. This just needs political will. Plus, baricading bus destroys its biggest advantage, the ease to redraw the network anytime. In addition, it creates walls in the city, making it less walkable. Complexe, there is no magic solution, unfortunately.
@@lettleman6523 Yes! I think you hit the key point that public transportation has to be more convenient than driving. Great point about barricades too.
I think Rio de Janeiro has a similar problem.
The BTS, MRT, and SRT are too expensive if we take into account of the average people's daily wages and costs of living. The overall public transportation isn't THAT far-reaching, mostly sticking to/around main roads or some CBDs. This is especially the case for rail-based transportation. The "city plannings" are essentially non-existent for more than half a century at the very least. In the past before people actually cared about plannings, they let private landowners roam free. There are a lot of "soi"(small streets) that doesn't connect to anywhere, resulting in so many dead ends. Motorcycles are also EVERYWHERE, even on sidewalks. On the number of cars, all previous governments' automobile industry subsidization noticeably contributed to the rising car ownership over the past decades. In addition, a LOT of the cars are from provinces all over the country, or at least the owner isn't from Bangkok. They came to work in the capital and went home to their respective regions during holidays and festivals. During holidays, a lot of BKK's roads and streets are much less crowed. Due to massive vehicle emissions, the air pollution(PM 2.5) can be so awful on some days(when the wind isn't blowing) that the sky is yellowish, you can't see past a few hundred meters, and must wear protective masks outside, otherwise you'll hurt your throat. That being said, too much centralization is also an issue to tackle. It forced millions of people to move to places in and around BKK to work or seek jobs due to lack of oppurtunities elsewhere. Bangkok is known to be one of the most disproportionate primate city in the world, both population and economic wise.
Great insight! And yes, the PM is definitely an unfortunate consequence of all this.
The video is a bit too quiet, the commentary especially.
Status it's about status