After one year, how is governor Chadchart's promise of a liveable Bangkok shaping up?

In his first year as Bangkok governor, Chadchart Sittipunt has mobilized his city administration to tackle various micro issues in the capital but failed to deliver the tangible changes Bangkokians were hoping for.

A survey conducted by the National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) from May 24-30 shows Bangkok residents are still largely satisfied with Chadchart's performance, citing his hard work and dedication to the job.

However, the survey found that Bangkokians “dissatisfied” with his efforts had grown from 7.93% six months ago to 10% on the first anniversary of his Bangkok tenure. City residents who were “somewhat dissatisfied” had also risen, from 10.54% six months ago to 14.80% now.

What has Chadchart done?

Chadchart says his city administration has attended to both mega projects and micro efforts in its push to improve the lives of Bangkokians at community level.

“We have already addressed more than 190 micro issues,” the Bangkok governor said recently. During his election campaign, his team came up with 216 micro policies to implement. Progress on this front has duly been significant.

Chadchart said efforts to address micro issues may not deliver big improvements for all Bangkokians, but they are helping to make the city liveable for all.

“We are dredging drainage pipes, improving educational services, installing more lights in public areas, enhancing footpaths, and burying communication cables underground. Results may not be clear today, but they will become increasingly noticeable in the future,” said the man who took the helm of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) with a record 1.38 million votes last year.

Intangible progress

Dr Theerapat Ungsuchaval, who teaches at Mahidol University's Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, said it takes more than the city's physical structure to create good living conditions in Bangkok.

“So, solutions are not always tangible,” he explained. “The public needs to be aware that there are various dimensions for creating a liveable city.”

He believes the BMA under Chadchart's leadership should communicate its message of citizen power, promoting their participation and engagement in the city's development.

“I've noticed that Bangkok is changing. It's just that those changes are not tangible,” he said.

Bangkokians, he added, have already started speaking up, showing empathy, networking, and becoming keener to play a role in the running of their city.

For instance, records show city-dwellers have filed more than 285,000 problems via the Traffy Fondue complaints channel, which was promoted by the BMA after Chadchart came to power. Of these complaints, more than 200,000 have already been solved. About 61,000 others have been forwarded to other relevant authorities. The remainder are being dealt with by the BMA.

Theerapat said the next step for Chadchart and the BMA should be to tackle the bigger problems and foster mutual progress so that changes become tangible.

“You have to engage people in city development. You have to invite talents to make positive impacts together,” he said.

He added that Chadchart should also be prepared to push for legal changes needed to solve problems arising from outdated work structures.

“It's too difficult to handle new challenges with the old structure,” he said.

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Green performance 'good enough'

Sonthi Kotchawat, an independent environmental expert, gives Chadchart “a passing grade” for the implementation of his environmental policies. The capital has gained 13 new public parks in the year since Chadchart became BMA chief. Together, they cover 21 rai or 3.36 hectares – about the size of three large football pitches. In addition, more than 200,000 trees have been planted in Bangkok to improve its landscape and air quality.

“And the BMA plans to open another 26 public parks before the end of this year,” Sonthi added.

He also noted that most parts of Bangkok are free of the piles of trash that once defaced certain city neighborhoods. While the problem of uncollected waste still exists, he said, it now tends to be confined to canal-side communities where collection must be done via boats.

Room for improvement

Sonthi believes, however, that Chadchart can and should do more for the environment in his role as Bangkok governor. He had the power, for example, to make waste separation at source mandatory, the expert said.

“The BMA is authorized to issue rules on such matters.”

He added that Chadchart had also lacked the courage to require that households treat their own wastewater. The BMA only requires grease traps while in fact, households should have systems to treat used water prior to its discharge into public waterways, he said.

PM2.5 remains a threat

Sonthi said serious BMA action to tackle hazardous PM2.5 pollution was also missing, despite the smog that plagued the capital for several consecutive months in the past year.

“The Bangkok governor is empowered to declare low-emission zones and introduce drastic action when air pollution becomes worrying. But we have yet to see such responses.”

Sonthi said Chadchart could have also banned the use of private vehicles in some areas, pushed for free bus rides, and provided free parking spaces to encourage people to use public transport.

But apart from Chadchart's policy to inspect factories for pollution emissions, he had seen little progress in combating the city's chronic air pollution problem.

BTS Green Line issue unresolved

Saree Aongsomwang, secretary-general of the Thailand Consumers Council, lamented that Chadchart had not managed to solve the complex issues surrounding BTS Green Line and its extension routes.

“We expect to see the BMA tackle these issues one by one in a transparent manner, with the public interest in mind, and show the solutions,” she said, “But so far, all the problems remain.”

Saree said her council had offered to mediate in the dispute over a 40-billion-baht debt that the BMA owes to BTSC for operating the Green Line, but received a negative response.

She also lamented the lack of progress in Chadchart's vision to introduce seamless ticketing across Bangkok public transport systems.

“There is no single ticket for main transport systems in Bangkok, despite the fact that the BMA should be able to push for it.”

However, Saree acknowledged Chadchart had made a positive move in stating that he would not extend BTSC's contract to operate the Green Line.

By Thai PBS World