Enough is enough, wheelchair-bound Manit Intharapim must have told himself before smashing the glass elevator door of a BTS lift at Asok station.
A rights activist, Mr Manit who is director of the "Accessibility Is Freedom" group, did this for one reason: to draw the attention of those involved to how people with disabilities are deprived of their rights to access all facilities at public transport stops.
Even though I don't condone violence, I still sympathise with him and those in similar predicaments who have struggled for years for better service.
Ploenpote Atthakor is editorial pages editor, Bangkok Post.
At a news conference, Mr Manit made it clear he was fed up with using the BTS, saying it was inconvenient and time consuming for people with disabilities.
I was once denied access to this notorious lift and mentioned this unfortunate incident in this column. I was with a big, heavy bicycle and needed to use the lift. A staffer sent a security guard down to see me, but he insisted I use the stairs, carrying the bike that was nearly half my body weight up to the ticketing level. He shot me an "it's your problem" look before going up in the lift, leaving me struggling with my bike on the stairs.
The lift-bashing episode makes me realise nothing has changed and the Skytrain service problems still exist. Most stations are designed so pedestrians who want to get to the other side of the road through them have to pay. Remember the Wutthakat case, when the company blatantly demanded 10 baht from anyone needing to going through the station, which was built on a canal, to reach the other side of the structure?
Even today, some pedestrians who have to cross the road through BTS stations still have to suffer the "Wutthakat" experience. That is sad given that Bangkok's roads are unfriendly for most pedestrians, especially the elderly.
With regard to lifts for the disabled, the company for years managed to defy calls from the activist group. In 2015, City Hall was ordered by the Supreme Administrative Court to complete the installation of lifts. One wonders why City Hall has to use our money to build a structure for a profit-making company, instead of forcing the firm to do so.
But lifts without service-mindedness are useless.
The BTS appears to define "disabilities" in a narrow sense. Without a wheelchair, you must be able to climb its steep stairs regardless of other conditions, such as tourists travelling with large suitcases.
I wonder how many mothers with prams have been barred from using the lifts because they are "able-bodied". What about the elderly who are not in a condition to negotiate the steep BTS staircases?
And even with an obvious disability, it doesn't mean a handicapped person is going to be believed. Wheelchair users such as Mr Manit still have to face senseless procedures -- signing a form before being allowed to use a lift. This raises my curiosity. What's on the form? Did he have to certify his own disabilities. Isn't that weird?
In his statement Tuesday, Anat Arbhabhirama, the Skytrain operator boss, tried to convince us the company is doing what it can to improve its service. Yet he seemed not to recognise the strangeness of making people with disabilities sign forms, saying it was all part of the process of making things convenient for the handicapped. Mr Manit, like me, is not convinced.
Touted as Thailand's wheelchair warrior, Mr Manit does not demand privileges. He has fought for the rights of people with disabilities to be able to live as normal a life as possible, while depending less on others.
As I said, I do not support violence in any form. It's a shame some people have to take the matter in their own hands to gain attention from inert bureaucrats (like the axe lady of Prawet) and some heartless business operators which, too bad for us, happen to be big players in the city's service sector.
But the Skytrain operator should realise that finding ways to improve its service, not just for wheelchair-bound passengers but others in need such as old people, mothers with infants, etc, is not rocket science.
What is needed is a bit of heart and some common sense.