The military government has promised to make much needed reforms to the country and return happiness to the people. One glaringly obvious area which they would do well to improve is Bangkok's public transportation sector.
After the 2011 floods, ex-prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra introduced a first-car buyer policy in 2012 to address lost vehicle production and sales. However, the result was predictable as traffic slowed even more in Bangkok, which is already on the list of top 10 cities in the world with the worst traffic. The number of registered vehicles in Bangkok at the end of 2012 was almost 10% higher than it had been at the end of 2011 and average speeds were 20% lower than in 2009. "Now people have to spend 30 minutes to an hour more on the road, especially in the main congestion areas as many office buildings and schools are located there,'' said Sujin Tayanukul, director of the national Land Traffic Management Division.
The costs of this worsening traffic congestion are high economically, socially, and environmentally. Economically, traffic congestion obviously adds increased transport costs for commercial goods and contributes to decreased productivity on the employment side. Socially, it reduces the amount of time residents can spend together with family and friends, increases stress and causes health problems from the increased pollution. And environmentally, besides worsening air quality and heating up Bangkok even more, it contributes greatly to Bangkok's overall carbon emissions: a quarter of its emissions are from this sector. A United Nations Environmental Programme study found that Bangkok's transportation sector emits at least 200% more carbon per capita than that of New York, London, and Mexico City. Bangkok has comparably little space for new roads so building more is simply not the answer.
Due to a number of governance issues, Bangkok is currently decades behind where it should be in building an integrated rail network. The Bangkok Mass Transit System (BTS), Metropolitan Rapid Transit (MRT) and Airport Rail Link (ARL) networks combined only cover 86km in length (compared to 178km in much smaller Singapore).
The reasons include the constant changes in government (six since 2006) which has resulted in a lack of continuity even though there has been bipartisan political support for the 12-line Mass Transit Master Plan (M-MAP), the lack of coordination between the 11 agencies responsible for public transportation in Bangkok, and the lack of an integrated transport planning framework which has often been subjected to political interference.
Implementing the M-MAP has always been plagued by delays either at the approval, contracting or construction phase. Two new lines (MRT Purple Line and SRT Dark Red Line) and two extensions (MRT Blue Line and BTS Bearing to Samut Prakan extension) are currently under construction. These were all approved in 2010-11 but have been subject to delays both before they were approved and after construction began.
Other lines were originally planned to be completed by 2008 or 2009, but their construction has not started. Four new lines or extensions (BTS Mor Chit to Khu Khot extension, the ARL extension, and MRT Pink and Orange lines) were planned to be tendered by 2013 during the term of the previous government. However, these were all delayed for policy reasons, and thereafter due to the seven-month political struggle during which parliament was dissolved and elections in February were annulled.
Overall, about 311.5 billion baht worth of new rail lines have been delayed in the last 18 months. This delay is occurring at a time when the economy grew by only 2.9% in 2013 and the Bank of Thailand's forecast of GDP growth in 2014 has been reduced from 4-5% to 2%. A landmark UK study found that for every dollar invested in urban mass transit, $3.50 (113 baht) worth of economic activity and efficiency gains are generated.
After the coup, the military government undertook its own three-month review and has committed to funding seven new lines or extensions (including the four delayed from 2013) during its term as a component of the government's 2.4 trillion baht infrastructure megaproject plans from 2015-2022. While the timetable is unclear, the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand did state last week that the Pink, Yellow (Phase 1) and Orange lines will be tendered by early next year.
The fear is, however, that yet again little will be tendered and commenced before the next elections after which the next government will review all plans thus leading to further delays. This has been the pattern of the last few years. This pattern has led to a domino effect on the next batch of lines, causing delays to increase from two to three years to four to five years. Every time a line is delayed by a few years, the final construction costs expand because of inflation.
In addition, the government should promote sustainable satellite cities and decentralisation around Bangkok so people can work and live in outer areas without having to commute into the inner city.
The city's most recent five-year land use plan bans the construction of large office and commercial buildings in the outskirts, only allowing residential buildings. However, this goes against the trend worldwide where the modern workplace does not need to be located in one dense, inner city business district.
Decentralisation can foster economic activity in previously neglected areas and decrease congestion costs. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration should therefore adjust cities plan to encourage such changes.
Some proponents of the coup claim the military government can bypass all of the country's recent political problems by autocratically ordering government agencies to implement its plans.
Rapidly expanding the mass rail system in Bangkok is a good test case of such claims.
It would certainly help boost the military's goals of spurring economic growth and improving the quality of life in Bangkok.
Danny Marks is a PhD candidate in human geography at the University of Sydney. Danny Brown is a human rights lawyer and public transport advocate.