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Dangerous Crowds on the BTS

Another day, another rush hour. I use the BTS every day to get to and from work, and many more times throughout the week to visit friends, move across town and even take my bike from point A to a little bit closer to point B where the bike ride will start. I'd say about 98% of the time the ride is pleasant, fast and hassle free. Yeah, it can be crowded, but what major city doesn't have a crowded mass transit system? Tokyo's is arguably the best in the world, and their train cars are busting at the seams. However, there comes a point when the issue of safety starts to creep into boring ol' issues like crowding and late trains, and Bangkok's BTS is now seeing that more and more often. Steps are being taken to address the safety issue, but will it be enough?

Greg2016-11-17T15:48:00+00:00Bangkok, Transport|8 Comments

Hey Thailand – Are You Ready for AEC? I Hope So

Unless you're tied into the Thailand business community, it's easy to not have heard about the upcoming ASEAN Economic Community, or AEC. If you're not doing business here, it likely won't matter to you what it is, but if you are - or if you're interested in the shifting economic and social goings-on in Southeast Asia - you should definitely do a bit of reading on it. The only reason I know about it is because I work for a business magazine, and all indications are that if Thailand wants to stay competitive when the AEC goes into effect in 2015, it's got a lot of work to do.

Greg2016-11-17T15:48:11+00:00Asia, Thailand, Transport|0 Comments

(B)angkok’s (T)ightest (S)queeze

I hate writing posts like this because there's no way to come off as anything but one of the thousands of complaining douchebag expats that live in Thailand, which is really not what I'm about. Well, usually not what I’m about - we're all allowed to have off-days, but I'm generally a pretty up-beat guy. Anyway, any regular commuter who uses the BTS in Bangkok will have noticed that it's been pretty crowded of late - and not just "Wow, this is slightly inconvenient" crowded, but "Wow, I hope no one falls on the tracks and dies" crowded. There are several reasons why, so forgive me if I rant on a bit about what it’s like to ride the BTS these days. Hopefully someone at the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA, English link doesn't work, natch) will see this and take immediate, effective, and far-reaching action! Also, I’d like a Learjet.

Greg2016-11-17T15:48:16+00:00Bangkok, Transport, Video|0 Comments

That Taxi Meter’s Rigged!

The other day my friend Bangkok Di put out a tweet about how she thought the meter in her taxi was ticking up a bit faster than normal. I replied and told her that it sometimes happens to me too, especially when coming from the airport, and it touched off a short but vigorous debate online. Some said that the higher meter fare was because it runs when the car is parked and traffic must have been bad; some said the distance must have been longer; but either way, I agree with Di – some taxis in Bangkok do use meters that have been tampered with. It’s happened to me on several occasions - though very rarely - but the question remains: what do you do about it?

Greg2016-11-17T15:48:18+00:00Bangkok, Technology, Tips on Visiting, Transport|0 Comments

The Mechanics of Moving to a New ‘Hood

This post isn't about finding a place to live in Bangkok, but I wanted to write about what can change when you do move to a new apartment or house in Bangkok, which often goes several layers deep. Finding a new place here can be a hell of a task, as we covered in our podcast on the subject. Oh, you can find a great place if you're willing to pay a ton for it, but finding a great place for a good price is hard and time-consuming. In western culture, moving to a new neighborhood is largely an easy process. Sure, the driving and transit routes change and you have to look into where the schools and hospitals are, but the strip-mall pervasiveness of western development largely takes any real surprise out of the operation. Not so in Bangkok, where a move to a new place in the city can have some drastic effects on your wallet, your commute, you social life and even your diet.

Greg2016-11-17T15:48:19+00:00Bangkok, Food, Transport|0 Comments

The Future of Bangkok’s Mass Transit

Ahhh, the new year. Time to put the diseased, pockmarked wreck of the last year behind us and stare at the glorious, unspoilt landscape of the next 12 months in front of us. In the spirit of new beginnings, I finally completed a little project I've been working on for a while. I've had on my desktop for some time now a high-resolution map of the proposed future of Bangkok's mass transit lines. The original was all in Thai, but I whipped out my mad Photoshop skillz and roughly translated the names of the stations (with a bit of help) into English. It's still a bit busy, and I'm not sure what the timeframe on all these routes are, but it gives you an idea of what Bangkok's overlords have in store for the future. Bangkok right now is woefully underserved by its mass transit network, but when/if this is all complete, it will likely rank up near Tokyo and Hong Kong for mass transit awesomeness. Take a look.

Greg2016-11-17T15:48:25+00:00Bangkok, Technology, Transport, Travel|0 Comments