Rapid urbanisation has given rise to greater demand from disabled people for the same access to city amenities as all other citizens enjoy. With a push from government, big cities across the region are adjusting to make it easier for people with disabilities to get around.
People with disabilities celebrate victory after the Supreme Administrative Court ordered the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to build lifts at all 23 BTS Skytrain stations.
Singapore, for instance, is approaching the limits of its physical capacity and its focus now is on making sure that all inhabitants have proper access to buildings and facilities. In popular areas such as Orchard Road, disabled people can travel effortlessly via underground pedestrian tunnels and wide sidewalks.
In Bangkok, footpaths are bumpy and poorly maintained, making them impossible for wheelchair users or the blind to navigate. Encroachment by vendors worsens the problem, while many buildings lack wheelchair ramps and other basic facilities.
Just last month, the Supreme Administrative Court ordered the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) to build elevators for wheelchair users at all 23 BTS Skytrain stations. The BTS has been in business for 15 years but only five stations have elevators.
An Interior Ministry law enacted in 2005 requires every public facility to have lifts, ramps, toilets and car parks outfitted to serve disabled people, as well as Braille signs. However, the law was not retroactive. That was one reason why the BMA and BTS refused to upgrade the Skytrain stations until the court forced them to do so.
Chai Srivikorn, president of the Ratchaprasong Square Trade Association (RSTA), said the skywalk has helped meet the needs of disabled people because they could not use ground-level footpaths. Gaysorn tower, which his family owns, has an outdoor wheelchair elevator.
However, more collaboration is needed from other businesses along the route. Currently, disabled people can gain access to the extensive skywalk network only from a few locations including CentralWorld, Gaysorn, and Amarin Plaza.
A security guard helps a blind passenger exit one of just five elevators on the 23-station Bangkok Skytrain line.
Awareness of what people with disabilities need and what they can contribute is still low in Thailand, says Panit Pujinda, an assistant professor in the department of urban and regional planning at Chulalongkorn University.
"You have to understand that in the past Thai society valued senior citizens and people with disabilities very negatively, meaning that they were not considered to be taking part in productive activity. So we didn't have infrastructure to serve this social segment," he said.
"Now that we are entering an ageing society, Thai society is undergoing a gradual transition. Once people realise that this particular group of people can deliver more value to society, there will a push economically and socially for more investments in infrastructure to facilitate them."
He said the government must be the one that sets the regulations and standards for handicapped facilities and enforces the provision of such facilities in any new construction projects.
Joyce Yap, the CEO of Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, said that these days, operators of every shopping centre and governments do take the needs of the disabled into consideration, but she admitted there was room for improvement.
"If you ask have we done 100% for disabled people, my answer is no. We do take this into consideration; however, it's hard for us to cater to them 100%," she said.