Netizens, cyclists and BTS users are up in arms over an image posted online of bicycles hanging from hand straps in a BTS carriage.
I think whoever hung the bicycles have good senses of humour. I have found that people can no longer differentiate between jokes and reality. For several decades, I have seen people using bicycles to decorate their shops, offices and homes. At House, a movie theatre in RCA, a white-and-blue Cinelli hangs on the wall.
But I understand the concern of cyclists that the image, which to me looks like a prank, will prompt a ban of bicycles on board the BTS. Bicycles are currently permitted on board, even on crowded trains. The MRT is relatively less generous, permitting only foldable bicycles.
Thailand, after all, is not a cyclist-friendly city. There are an increasing number of cyclists, but the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration conspicuously lacks facilities to accommodate them. Bangkok is not a safe place to ride a bicycle. Remember the two Brit cyclists who pedalled around the world and ended up being hit and killed by a pickup truck in Thailand?
At the same time, I see more and more of my friends — both from childhood and at the office — shrug off the risks and take to the road.
“I think motorists should learn to share space, to have compassion and etiquette. A road is a way for people to travel, and there is no legal provision that bans bicyclists from using it,” an old friend told me, when I asked her how she developed courage to ride her bike in traffic-choked areas. (For your information, I abandoned my bicycle over a decade ago after I was almost hit by a public bus near Sanam Luang!)
I think the public attitude toward cyclists is rather biased and unnecessarily cynical. Every time I see a cyclist on the road, my first thought is “Bike at your own risk!” or “May luck be on your side”.
As many of my friends are cyclists, I sometimes look closer to see whether I know them. I’ve recently come to think that cyclists are, in a way, making a political statement, showing that they have been liberated from the norm of cars.
You might think cyclists are more vulnerable to road accidents. But are motorists and pedestrians much safer? Indeed, cyclists’ safety calls for etiquette and compassion among drivers.
If motorists learn how to respect cyclists, they will learn to respect the lives of others, such as pedestrians — or even other motorists.
Instead of berating cyclists or bickering about two cyclists hanging their bicycles on the BTS, city administrators, those behind the BTS and MRT and non-cyclists should change their mindsets.
It is possible to let bicycles board the BTS and MRT during rush hour, and for motorists to learn to give way to cyclists.
It is possible for universities to place free bicycle services around their campuses, for the State Railway of Thailand to dedicate a chunk of its land in the Makkasan area to cycling tracks, and for authorities to issue new laws, stating that every new road must have a bicycle lane. It is possible for every politician to set an example by riding a bicycle once a week. And it is also possible for people to be insanely creative enough to hang their bicycles on the straps of the BTS and post a picture of it on social media.
People do a lot of crazy things on the BTS — like faking sleep to avoid giving up seats to pregnant women, or making out. Hanging bicycles from hand straps may not be becoming, but it is just a joke. And the people behind it did so on an empty carriage, not during rush hour.
So what’s the next step? Maybe we can place a bicycle right in front of the Bangkok governor’s home as an invitation for him to hop on?
Anchalee Kongrut is a feature writer for the Life section of the Bangkok Post.