CHON BURI: It was hard to imagine how the disabled could wheel themselves up a pedestrian bridge until the feat was successfully completed in Pattaya recently.
The first-ever hi-tech overpass makes this once-difficult task for the disabled as easy as pressing buttons on a transparent elevator.
The 14.5-million-baht bridge, located over an underpass at the Sukhumvit-Pattaya Klang intersection in Chon Buri, officially opened on Thursday, with Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith presiding over the ceremony.
Each year, Pattaya attracts 85 million Thai and foreign tourists and "more than 100,000 disabled people also visit the city every year", Mr Arkhom said.
Their numbers were large enough to prompt the need for facilities for them, he said.
Presently, wheelchair-bound people could only avail themselves of lifts at some skytrain stations in Bangkok. Pedestrian bridges seem to be built only for those in good physical condition, but not the disabled. However, observers say the new 42-metre-long overpass, built by the Rural Roads Department, will ensure that short journeys made by the disabled will be hassle-free.
A disabled man enjoys smooth travel along a modern overpass designed to make crossing easy for people of all ages and physical conditions. PHOTOS BY Tawatchai Kemgumnerd