After having patiently waited for the Purple Line to get going (so I can move to live in Wong Sawang and travel to town easily as planned for the past several years), its launch should make me happy.
But I doubt it.
The first station, Tao Pun, on the Purple Line, which runs from Tao Pun to Bang Yai, is one kilometre away from the old Bang Sue MRT station. But these two stations are not properly linked.
This means any passenger from Bang Yai wishing to go to Hua Lampong, or switch to the MRT, will have to get off at Tao Pun.
Sirinya Wattanasukchai is an assistant news editor, Bangkok Post.
Though one kilometre may not seem a big deal, imagine walking that distance to the Bang Sue MRT station in the blazing heat, the rain, in the dark and on Bangkok's broken pavements.
We may have to catch a taxi or motorcycle taxi if we want to save time and energy.
In the meantime, the Mass Rapid Transit Authority (MRTA), which operates both lines, is announcing it will provide shuttle bus services between the two stations for a year until a link is built.
Is this an act of generosity or a result of mismanagement?
Why don't they make life easier for passengers by providing a proper link between the two stations when the Purple Line officially opens in the first week of August this year?
In advanced countries where public transport is crucial for the majority of commuters, the stations would be linked, either by a bridge or tunnel -- with proper signs.
The link is usually planned as part of the work from the beginning.
But that has never happened in Thailand.
Remember when the Airport Rail Link first opened in 2010? It initially operated as a stand-alone system without any links to the BTS and MRT.
The rail link was supposed to ferry tourists from the airport to the town where they could change to another mode of public transport.
But any tourists wishing to do so had to push and pull their luggage from the station to street level only to have to drag it up to another city rail system, not to mention crossing the busy road where a zebra crossing is little more than a decorative pattern to motorists.
It was only about 18 months later that a ramp was installed to join the rail link with Phaya Thai BTS station, which hasn't really made things much more convenient.
Even now with its ramp linking both stations, a passenger from the rail link wishing to cross the street to the other side of Phaya Thai Road will have two options: One is to take the lift to street level and risk crossing the road; the other is to use the ramp and cross the street using the sky walk, but this entails carrying luggage down to street level using the stairs.
For those who want to enter the rail link from the Phaya Thai BTS station they have to face a similar tortuous route. If they take the escalator (which only goes up), they have to pay 15 baht to walk through the BTS station to use the ramp.
These inconveniences exist because these facilities were designed later, rather than being part of the system when it was launched. Therefore, I don't have much hope for the link between the new Purple Line's Tao Pun station and the MRT's Bang Sue easing the burden of travel.
Look at those lifts that are being added to 18 BTS stations by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to facilitate elderly and disabled commuters -- after 15 years!
This make us realise that such systems have not been designed with the whole of society in mind and that few, if any, officials have ever used public transport because they are provided with chauffeur-driven limousines. So they never see the flaws in their own systems.
The plan to merge the MRT and BTS ticketing system to make it more convenient for passengers has not done much to make travelling easier. We still have to carry two cards, for the BTS and MRT, every day to get around the city.
On top of that, the flaw reflects how the state pays little attention to public transport that serves the majority of commuters and fails to realise it's an environmentally-friendly system and one that that enables us to beat city traffic. It upsets me that we've had to wait so long for such a system that is riddled with flaws.
I am trying to be positive. The government may want to teach us the importance of patience and to appreciate the slow life so we can appreciate the things around us more.
What generosity!