The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration's (BMA) plans to develop infrastructure for the Chao Phraya River have faced constant resistance, with one bridge in particular looking destined to never get built.
The city administration's 14-billion-baht plan to build a 14-kilometre promenade has been attacked by architects and academics.
A planned bridge between Tha Din Daeng in Thon Buri and Ratchawong in Bangkok has also faced vehement resistance from local residents, as has another between Chan Road in Bangkok and Charoen Nakhon in Thon Buri.
If that were not enough, another plan for a new bridge to run over the Chao Phraya River in the Kiakkai area, adjacent to the new parliament complex site, has emerged as another strongly opposed project.
The 16-billion-baht project has been criticised as not being worth investing in as an electric rail system has already been planned to cover this zone of the city. Furthermore, architects said the project will become an eyesore as it will obstruct the view of the new parliament and compromise the complex's security system.
The bridge was initiated in 2004 to provide relief to traffic congestion in the Thon Buri area. Fourteen years ago, the authority decided against building a mass transit or electric train system. It also decided not to choose the Kiakkai area as the site for the new parliament.
The opposition to these projects is being led by the Association of Siamese Architects (ASA), urban planning academics from Chulalongkorn University, Thammasat University and Silpakorn University.
They aim to first get the project suspended by the government and then push for public debates on what its fate should be.
"This issue came from City Hall's intention to implement a resolution reached many years ago by the government's committee on land transport system management to connect the eastern bank with the western bank of the river," said Ajaphol Dusitnanond, president of the ASA.
The Kiakkai bridge is designed to be a part of a 5.9km link that will require a construction budget of up to 16 billion baht. Around 9 billion will cover compensation claims for 847 houses, buildings and lands belonging to public and private owners in those areas.
"The ASA has assessed that this project is not worth investing in and will ruin the magnificent view of the new parliament complex. So agencies concerned should consider revising the project," said Mr Ajaphol.
The ASA has already submitted a petition to Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon in his capacity as chairman of the land transport system management committee, requesting the Interior Ministry amend the scheme.
As such, Mr Ajaphol said, the ASA is calling for a suspension of the bridge construction project, saying it is not necessary as found in a recent study, which indicates that no new Chao Phraya bridge is indeed needed.
From an academic point of view, the Kiakkai bridge isn't worth the hassle because it will not connect to Kanchanaphisek Road, also known as the outer ring road, according to Associate Professor Panit Pujinda, head of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at Chulalongkorn University.
The outer ring road stretches for 168km and runs around Bangkok, Nonthaburi and Pathum Thani to Ayutthaya.
Worse still, the entrance and exit of the bridge have been designed to be quite narrow, while the land along the two ends of the bridge route mostly belongs to government agencies. That doesn't provide much room for further land development, he said.
Another purpose of the bridge is to support the Phahon Yothin Transit Oriented Development project, which has already been revised and downsized to just a small maintenance centre, he said.
"This made the Kiakkai bridge project even less necessary. So, no new Chao Phraya bridge is needed any more, especially now there is a plan to link the eastern and western banks of the river with the electric rail system," Assoc Prof Panit added.
In the future, the southern extension of the Purple Line of Bangkok's electric rail network is expected to be built along Samsen Road to ease traffic on the road.
"But if the Kiakkai bridge is built, the traffic may become even worse with a high number of cars clogging the area nearby, which would impact traffic on the road leading to the new parliament complex as well," he said.
Kwansuang Atibodhi, a lecturer at the Faculty of Architecture at Chulalongkorn University, is more concerned that views of the new complex may be ruined by the presence of the Kiakkai bridge.
He described the complex as a new piece of "national architecture".
"The parliament building will serve as a new centre for the state administration. It will receive international leaders and ambassadors, demonstrators and tourists alike," he said.
Aside from the beauty of the view of the new complex, security is also an important concern associated with the prospect of building the bridge very close to the complex, he said.
Parliament buildings in other parts of the world require strong security measures, including bans on higher structures nearby, he added.
The BMA has insisted on implementing its initial plan for this transport development project.
When asked to comment on whether the bridge would become redundant in light of the electric rail system, deputy Bangkok governor Chakkaphan Phewngam dodged the question.
He said the bridge is more necessary now because the new parliament building will increase traffic volume in the area.
Residents living in the Sampheng area near Yaowarat Road launched a protest against the bridge in March. Pornprom Satrabhaya