Promenade dreams

Promenade dreams

Re: "Government gives green light to riverside promenade project", (BP, Feb 28).

The building of pedestrian boardwalks along the Chao Phraya River is the best idea to hit Bangkok since … well, for a long time actually.

It will benefit everyone when completed. New York City demolished that unused, infamous West Side Highway that ran for miles above part of the city, especially in the Greenwich Village area.

The result is outstanding, a walking area to enjoy the sun, sea, and “fresh” air (fresh air in NYC is of course an illusion).

The City of San Francisco has a similar area in the Embarcadero, the Presidio and other parts of the city. It’s wonderful, because cities belong to those who live in them and should be enjoyed.

There is a short, narrow, but uninspiring cement boardwalk at the boat stop prior to the Rama IV Bridge, the United Nations stop, but during the rainy season it is mostly under water.

I only hope I live long enough to see the completion of what the Bangkok open pedestrian walks will be like, because I’d like to enjoy something positive in Bangkok before I eventually drop dead from all this air pollution and smoke from the burning rice fields.

Jack Gilead


And the motorways?

I understand that some space along the Chao Phraya River will be developed for a riverside promenade.

Great.

And what about the 40 million baht which the Ministry of Transport has spent for a feasibility study to build expressways along the river?

Does it mean we will have in the near future kilometers of riverside promenades and above that expressways along the river?

Are they designing both, the promenades and the expressways?

Otto Helmut Jaekle


Chinese loo manners

Re: “Temple plans non-Chinese toilets”, (BP, Feb 28).

I agree with the keepers of Chiang Rai’s famous temple, Wat Rong Khun, in their decision to build more toilets to accommodate visitors — especially Chinese tourists who have recently come to visit the place in growing numbers.

However, to separate the toilets for Thais and other non-Chinese tourists on one side, and for mainland Chinese tourists on the other, is not a wise thing to do.

Two things must be done to solve this problem:

First, the temple keepers must demand the guides and bus drivers take responsibility for Chinese tourists under their charge who have dirtied the toilets.

They must be ordered to clean up the mess or pay a heavy fine.

Repeat offenders must no longer be welcomed to the temple.

Some bus drivers take Chinese tourists to Wat Rong Khun because the toilets there are clean and free to use, not for real sightseeing.

Second, the Thai and Chinese governments must work together to prevent untoward incidents as a result of misunderstandings between the two countries’ peoples.

Some Chinese tourists lack knowledge about Thailand and its traditions and values, and behave offensively in the eyes of the locals.

Vint Chavala


Wood burning worse

With all the recent correspondence concerning smoke pollution in Thailand from burning off rice and sugar fields, I have found there is one more dangerous health practice carried out and that is the manufacture of “barbecue” fuel by the slow burning of wood.

The noxious fumes given off during this process not only cause general irritation to the eyes and lungs but also contain deadly carcinogenic material.

Some mornings in the small village where I live in the north of Nakhon Sawan the level of pollution from this source is so extreme one dare not even open the house windows or even venture outside.

The "fast" burn-off of rice and sugar waste, although unpleasant, is far less dangerous to health than this "slow" burn system to make barbecue fuel.

Brian Stocks


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