At a glance, today would seem like a big day for cyclists taking part in the inaugural World Bicycle Day. More than 1,000 bicyclists will form a procession, which will start at the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration's lan khon muang and then proceed to the United Nations office on Ratchadamnoen Avenue.
It's the first year that cyclists worldwide have come together to make a point.
Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith is scheduled to participate in the bike parade at this awareness-raising event.
The minister's participation may give the impression that the state is now committed to promoting cycling as a mode of transport -- a task that it has so far failed at.
In fact, despite it being a policy, a lack of direction has led cycling in Thailand down a road to nowhere. In the first year he was in office in 2014, Prime Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha launched a cycling initiative, encouraging members of the public to use the two-wheelers.
The prime minister, who is also head of the National Council for Peace and Order, provided a huge budget to local administration bodies nationwide.
In Bangkok, cycling was a major policy issue for candidates vying for the governorship in 2013, and all made promises to promote this type of carbon-free transport. When MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra was elected governor, he attempted to fulfil his election campaign pledges with the introduction of a few city bike lanes, together with the Pan Pan bike-sharing project.
The then-governor also pledged to extend bike routes out to larger parts of the city. When he was dismissed from office by the Prayut government over a corruption scandal in 2016, city cycling appeared to have been dismissed with him.
But it's a wrong direction that has really crippled cycling initiatives in most of the country.
Most city administrators treat cycling as a leisure activity, not a mode of transport that could be key to solving traffic and environmental problems.
When Aswin Kwanmuang took over the administration, he had no vision for cycling. Some bike lanes were branded as "useless and wasteful", and were decommissioned to pave the way for more cars, while other routes remain left in a sorry state. A plan to extend the bike lane network, as initiated by MR Sukhumbhand was shelved. That is a pity.
Without direction and education, the public lacks the incentive to take to a mode of transport that remains ignored by urban development projects.
State investment in infrastructure like cycling lanes ends up a being a waste, as the green strip on the far left of the road merely becomes a parking lane for motorists.
Lack of state policy or commitment to cycling on the part of state agencies leads to measures that hinder its use. The restrictions barring unfoldable bikes from being taken on the rail network also do cyclists no favours.
Things could be different if the city, rail operators, and cyclists discuss how two-wheelers can be accommodated in such a system, making the use of bicycles practical and safe. Calls made by this newspaper to promote this healthy and environmentally friendly method of transport have continually fallen on deaf ears.
Therefore, safety remains an issue for cyclists who require properly enforced cycling lanes, and not impractical infrastructure to accommodate recreational biking, while car users still get priority on the road.
It is apparent that the BMA under Pol Gen Aswin has paid little attention to this alternative transport. It also explains why it has recently ignored another awareness campaign aimed at reducing the use of private cars -- the so-called Car Free Day.
In past years, cyclists were a major driving force behind the campaign, but their role has been largely diminished.
Cycling has become a ceremonial part of an annual event that went almost unnoticed.
This year, while city administrators worldwide are rolling up their sleeves to design Car Free Day activities for Sept 22, there are still no words from the BMA, and other municipal authorities which over past decades have forced people to accept traffic congestion as an unavoidable part of city living, instead of being instrumental in making alternatives a workable option.
Today, cyclists who turn up in force to mark World Bicycle Day must do more to demand strategy and direction from Minister Arkhom, who is obliged to oversee state policy concerning cycling.
We can only hope that such a show of force on Bangkok's roads will emphasise that this mode of carbon-free transport, that also contributes to good health, must be embraced by those with their hands on the steering wheel of transport policy.