The sight of most of the candidates for the 2013 Bangkok governor elections riding bicycles during the campaign, plus their promises to promote this mode of eco-friendly public transportation, made me think our capital could soon be dubbed the Copenhagen of the East.
But four years later, I realise was just a daydream. After former governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra was ousted, his replacement Aswin Kwanmuang seems clueless about improving public transport. Unsurprisingly, cycling has made little progress in the city.
Take a look at the bike share system Pun Pun Bike, a flagship policy of MR Sukhumbhand as he tried to win votes in 2013. He boasted of an ambitious plan to have 10,000 bikes in 1,000 stations around the city within his second term.
Sirinya Wattanasukchai is an assistant news editor, the Bangkok Post.
But when the governor was booted out last year the city had (and still has) just 500 bikes and 50 stations -- the same number as when the system was first installed in 2013 -- which are mainly clustered in central business districts.
Pun Pun Bike has several flaws and plenty of haters. The bulky stations are the size of a bus stop (meaning larger profits from more ad space), much to the annoyance of pedestrians. Business operators and owners are loath to have them in front of their property. All of which makes it pretty much impossible for City Hall to expand the network.
But if authorities had looked overseas they may have found better solutions. Many countries that have adopted similar schemes relegate their ad space to bicycle frames or wheel covers.
Slowly, the system in Bangkok has fallen out of favour. While the number of daily users stood at around 600 in its first year of operation they have since fallen to half this level.
These facts are disheartening but there may be light at the end of the tunnel as three private bike-sharing operators from Singapore and China are trying to revive the system here.
One of these companies left hundreds if not thousands of bikes for rent at public transport stops around Bangkok last month. The only problem: It didn't obtain the proper permits from City Hall. They are now being rounded up and the operator urged to register them.
While City Hall still seems to be mulling if promoting a culture of cycling is a realistic way of helping to ease gridlocked streets, it appears to approve of private sector contributions in this area.
A sound business model has not yet been finalised but it is likely these operators will have to bid for the opportunity to run their businesses in Bangkok.
When it comes to ideal models, inspiration can be taken from the likes of Singapore, Malaysia, China and Germany -- especially Leipzig.
I recently attended the International Transport Forum 2017 in this city, which lies about 160km southwest of Berlin, and saw its successful station-less bike-sharing system, with bicycles parked in designated areas on pavements or on special lots near train stations.
While the system run by Pun Pun still has a number of shortcomings, the one in Leipzig is more like Uber in the sense that it focuses on customer convenience.
People who want to use the official system in Bangkok may feel frustrated at dealing with a decade-old platform where you can only rent a bike if you (a) have a smart card, (b) manage to find one of Pun Pun's 50 locations spread across the city and (c) get there between the operating hours of 8.30am to 8.30pm.
Regular users know only too well how often the system goes down due to power outages or some other reason. They know the frustration of not being able to locate a station to deposit bikes, or finding a station but no vacant spots.
Fortunately, a smartphone app for cyclists that operates in real-time called Punmuang, developed by Green World Foundation, allows users in Bangkok to check on the availability of bikes at Pun Pun stations.
Of course, the station-less bike sharing system is much more flexible and convenient for users as they get more choice in where to leave and collect their bikes. But it will be tough for City Hall to manage, especially when users dump their bikes in the wrong places.
This problem could be solved by penalising violators, such as by deducting sums from a pre-paid deposit. But that would mean more work for city inspectors. Otherwise, it may end up as just another mess on the city's pavements. If so, street food vendors will be the first to complain of unfairness as they were recently banned from public areas.
Nonetheless, this is a great way for the city to promote cycling without having to use any of its budget. Cyclists won't mind paying rental fees if they are reasonable.