Turning Bangkok into a "walkable city" -- one in which people travel by foot, bicycle or public transportation -- will increase the well-being of its inhabitants, said Pornsan Vichienpradit, deputy director of the Urban Design and Development Centre.
In a recent panel discussion, "Liveable City, Thailand 4.0 or 0.4?" organised by Greenpeace, Mr Pornsan said the "GoodWalk" project, introduced by his organisation, with its GoodWalk score to assess the walkability of roads in Bangkok, aims to inform people of the benefits of walking and encourage them use private cars less.
"Cycling and walking contribute to our health. They can reduce the risk of obesity by 10% and help lessen pollution,'' he said.
The GoodWalk score assesses the "walkability" of areas in Bangkok by examining various factors such as safety, convenience and the availability of activities in the area. It is also a useful indicator for authorities prior to conducting more in-depth studies that might lead to full-scale development plans.
"The score shows the potential of areas and roads. If they are properly managed, they will attract people to walk in these places,'' said Mr Pornsan.
Bang Rak, with a score of 59 out of 100, is ranked first on the list of GoodWalk districts, while Pathumwan is in second place.
The top road in terms of "walkability", out of all 963 roads assessed, is Ratchawong with a score of 33.
Citing Copenhagen in Denmark and Warsaw in Poland, Mr Pornsan said modelling some areas of Bangkok on those two cities could generate more economic opportunities and invigorate the local economy.
However, he agreed that two major obstacles that Bangkok faces are the heat and pollution. Bangkok is not especially pedestrian-friendly either, he noted.
Kungwan Laovirojjanakul, co-founder of the Khon Kaen Think Tank, whose company operates buses that run side-by-side with city's own, stressed the need to make travelling by public transport more efficient to encourage people to think beyond using their cars for every journey.
''We have no authority to control the pollution caused by cars but we can try and make public transport more effective in order to attract more people to use it,'' he said.
He said he has started to see people using their cars less in Khon Kaen since his company's buses began running a citywide 15-baht service which now includes the airport in its routes.
''Once the system achieves its fullest connectivity, it will be better,'' he said.
Meanwhile, Mayday, a group of advocates use of public transportation, said the only way to alter entrenched patterns of behaviour is to offer alternatives that are not only effective but fully joined up with the full range of modes of public transport.