By the time Bangkok celebrated the festive season, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) had already introduced a canal renovation project -- the Klong Chong Nonsi public park -- with great pride.
The soft opening which took place on Christmas Day covered the first phase of the 980-million-baht landmark project -- a 1.5-kilometre stretch of the 4.5km-long canal in Sathon district. The BMA boasted that it had designed the landscape renovation project based on the Cheonggyecheon stream in Seoul.
In addition to a reinvigorated canal with cleaner water, the project features modern walking tracks and exercise spaces as well as banks lined with trees.
Alas, not everyone has welcomed the landmark project. Some have questioned whether it was worth the effort, and with valid reason.
Some academics even criticised the BMA for not doing enough to seek public participation. While the BMA cited Cheonggyecheon as its muse, the body's public consultation process definitely didn't follow the same model. While the South Korean project required years of negotiations with aggrieved shop vendors, and its public consultation has been praised as a model of public inclusivity, the BMA resorted to an online public consultation to rush the project and get it finished during the Covid lockdown.
Originally branded as a New Year's gift for Bangkok residents, critics surrounded the Klong Chong Nonsi project, questioning its haphazard development under the BMA led by Pol Gen Aswin Kwanmuang, which caused problems such as traffic issues aggravating air pollution.
It is noteworthy that under his tenure, the BMA rolled out many landscape development schemes on canals and public parks, but almost no initiatives for green public transportation. Indeed, there was no real reason to rush for the Nonsi project. December-January is typically the time when toxic smog peaks in the city, and all outdoor activities are discouraged.
In recent years, Pol Gen Aswin Kwanmuang, the Bangkok governor, has taken flak for lacking any useful policies to tackle the hazardous haze, aside from band-aid measures like spraying water on the streets.
Meanwhile, the BMA has shown much less interest in improving the Bangkok Rapid Transit (BRT) system and making it serve the Sathon area better.
While the Klong Chong Nonsi park has revitalised the canal, critics ask why a pungent odour still emanates from the newly developed canal. The BMA pledged the water would be clear and clean, but the wastewater system remains unfinished -- and by the time it is, it could be too late to rescue the project after its lacklustre soft opening.
But the key question is the timing of the soft opening.
Some believe the incumbent governor rushed its launch for political reasons amid reports that he might run as an independent candidate in the next gubernatorial election this year. They say this photogenic project, at a glance, could give him and his team some much-needed PR.
Indeed, immediately after the New Year, Pol Gen Aswin created a new hashtag slogan #Krung Thep Plien Pai Laew" (Bangkok has already changed) on his Facebook account and other social media sites.
Pol Gen Aswin has staunchly denied having any political agenda, and has even vowed to roll out more costly projects despite the short time he potentially has left in office. Regardless of his intentions, rushing projects goes against political tradition for those whose terms are about to end.