How can Bangkokians move sustainably into the future?

You may not spot many of them on the streets, but the fact that charging stations have already been installed at many of the city’s shopping centers at record speed tells you that cars powered by electricity are probably more than just a dime a dozen in Bangkok.

“[Based on statistics] it’s pretty obvious that the plug-in hybrid and EV [electric vehicle] technology is a new trend that’s becoming a substitute to petrol engines,” says Krisda Utamote, director of corporate communications of BMW Thailand. Krisda details that BMW saw a 38 percent growth in both plug-in hybrids and EVs based on the 142,000 deliveries they made in 2018, not to mention the other 50,000 electrified vehicles they expect to deliver from all brands in the BMW Group (BMW, Mini, Rolls- Royce) in 2019.

Back in Thailand, the first two quarters of 2019 alone saw new 15,366 plug-in hybrids and EVs registered—that’s 75% of cars of the same type registered in the kingdom in all of 2018.

BMW

We all know the pros of hybrids and EVs—less energy consumption and less emission. But in Thailand, the cons nearly overshadow these positive implications. EV technology doesn’t come cheap, for one. Hybrids are usually placed at the top of the line, meaning you have to pay more to go green. And if you want those zero-emission electric cars that are fully imported? Well, you know the answer—even mass-marketed brands are forced to put a premium price on their EVs. Due to taxes and custom fees, Nissan had to sell the Leaf, the company’s first commercial fully-electric zero-emission car, at almost two million baht when they brought in the model last year. It’s a price that’s significantly more expensive than its other cars.

“If you look at countries with staggering growth, you’ll see that there are subsidy schemes from the government. In Norway, for example, if you buy electric vehicles you will be exempt from the 20 percent tax buyers of normal cars have to pay, not to mention other toll or ferry exemptions, or special parking privileges,” Krisda explains. “These make people think that owning an electrified vehicle has benefits.”

Krisda goes on to add that future models of BMW will share the same styling and architecture as much as possible to take advantage of economies of scale so the cost of production could be lessened. BMW isn’t the only European automobile brand taking the fast route on EV technology; all of them are because of the European Commission’s goal of reducing the emissions of new cars to only 95g CO2/km by 2020. “There’s no other way to achieve the target but through electrified vehicles,” BMW’s rep deadpans.

Nissan Leaf

Thailand, however, may lag behind in this goal. Our infrastructure doesn’t let you go far with just the use of electricity. With every charge, the Leaf can run for 300 kilometers, while the i3, one of BMW’s best-selling full EVs in Europe, can do 200 at its best. Petrol cars, meanwhile, can go 500 kilometers on a full tank, plus there are petrol stations everywhere. If you’re an EV driver in Thailand, the lack of suitable charging points outside of central Bangkok means you can’t just go off your itinerary, try new roads or drive to an unknown district.

As EV technology evolves, Thailand would have to increase the number of charging stations beyond malls along Sukhumvit. When that happens, then Krisda words will ring true: “We’ll see a decline in combustion car deliveries and an increase in electrified vehicle sales because it no longer makes sense to use petrol.”

Ten years ago, we complained about the lack of functional trains in Bangkok. Now, we’re complaining about the simultaneous expansion of the city’s train lines, and how it’s worsened the traffic (Ladprao has evolved into a 24/7 gridlocked nightmare). But what’s a terrible reality now stands to become a boon to the Bangkok’s transportation system in the future. City plans include a massive railway hub in Bangsue (bonus: it’s a swift ride away from Chatuchak Market); high-speed trains that will link the Donmuang and Suvarnabhumi airports in Bangkok, and the U Ta Pao airport in Pattaya; and high-speed trains to the Isaan region. (And then, there’s hyperloop study, involving pods traveling at airplane-like speeds from Chiang Mai to Bangkok, proposed by TransPod.)

Hyperloop project in Thailand proposed by TransPodTransPod

“In the future, Bangkok transportation will shift from road to rail to keep up with the changing behaviors and lifestyles of urbanites,” says Thin Hongthong, deputy-director general of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s (BMA) Urban Planning and Development Department, in an email interview with Time Out. “Sustainable transportation is the key to physically developing a city into an eco-friendly metropolis. This could be done through enabling convenient, cheap and green transportation, such as trains, smart buses and bicycles, and walking,” he expounds, before adding that Bangkok is learning from the success stories of notable green cities like Portland in the US, Amsterdam in The Netherlands, Bogota in Colombia, Vancouver in Canada, and various cities in Japan.

According to Thin, BMA has planned several big and small projects to make the city livable for everyone, including giving many sois a facelift to fill in the lack of secondary roads. “We’re not building more roads for drivers. We are trying to complete the perfect spectrum of roads a city should have, with primary roads, secondary roads and small streets. This should make up for better, flowing traffic around super blocks.” He also reveals that, to encourage seamless road-to-rail commuting, BMA is planning a number of park-and-ride spaces near terminals and supporting commercial developments for pedestrians around train stations.

Further ahead, BMA plans to adapt the concept of polycentric growth, evolving Bangkok from a centralized metropolis into a city with several sub-centers—suburban towns with mixed-use developments of their own. And trains will link these sub-centers together. “The short-term goal is to make the most of energy used; the long-term goal is to improve the standard of city living,” says Thin.

Trains are efficient when it comes to transporting a large amount of people, but it isn’t the most efficient in terms of economics. Free-running vehicles like buses and trams are way, way cheaper to operate, and can cut through smaller roads that trains could never do. Cities with effective train systems like New York, Kyoto and Singapore also have sprawling bus systems. In Bangkok, however, where the buses are old, and covered in grime and dust, people are wondering how bus travel can become more eco-friendly and enjoyable.

Inspiration comes from outside, specifically the Canadian Urban Transit Research and Innovation Consortium’s Pan-Canadian Electric Bus Demonstration and Integration Trial, a system that initially saw 18 electric buses running between three Canadian cities on five different routes, in 2018. The project has since inspired a few other electric bus projects around the globe.

At the recent Movin’On, the world’s largest sustainable mobility summit held in Montreal, manufacturers and inventors showed how the electric engine can be applied to any vehicle, small or big. (We were given a ride on a fully-electric school bus that was so quiet you could hear the gossip from the people in the back row!) But like with any new technology, these electric engines need time, money, and opportunity to develop.

All across the world, thousands of green-minded startups and individuals have launched various initiatives to encourage people to ditch their private cars for public buses. The New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn, the borough with the most bus riders, have been hosting the Bus Festival for 26 years to bring New York commuters together. In France, a French-language app called MyBus assists bus passengers in booking tickets, tracking GPS-installed buses and calculating the travel time from one destination to another. Here in Bangkok, we have Mayday.

Sereechai Puttes/Time Out Bangkok 

Founded in 2016 by young visionaries: Sanon Wangsrangboon, Sucharee Rawithornthada, Suwicha Pitakkanchanakul, Vipavee Kittitien and Waritthorn Suksabai, Mayday is a creative collective aimed at finding ways to make public transport friendlier to city dwellers. “Having worked on a number of city development [projects], we came to realize that problems in society are partly caused by [the inefficiency] of public transportation. [Improving public transportation] is key to solving the many challenges the city is encountering, including quality of life, and economic and social inequality,” says Vipavee in an interview with Time Out in 2018. One of their first projects was redesigning bus stop signs around the old town in a simplified and easy-to-understand manner. Their work was so impressive that the BMA commissioned them to redesign the signs at 188 other bus stops in the area. Big moves start from small steps, really.

We all know there are cameras installed along the roads to prevent crimes. We all know that our phones have been pre-installed with GPS to keep track of our locations. But perhaps you didn’t know that the government has planned a huge AI project to integrate and make the most of all these real-time data, just like in other progressive cities around the world.

MovinOn Summit 2019

BMA exec Thin Hongthong reveals that a project called Intelligent Transport System (ITS), planned under the Smart Thailand 2020 policy, will put together all these data to create the most efficient traffic environment. This collected information can help you locate your next public bus, plan your trip, and alert you to possible road closures, for example. The team behind ITS is also planning on a common ticket system so you won’t need to have two different cards for the BTS and MRT. The result? A more reliable and commuter-friendly public transport system. The authorities, however, are unable to confirm when and how these measures will be implemented. But with the new government installed, we’re hopeful that all these will happen soon.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo recently confirmed that the Southeast Asian country will relocate its capital from Jakarta on Java island to a new, higher location in East Kalimantan on the lush island of Borneo. This shocking decision came in response to the fact that the present Indonesian seaside capital, which was settled by the Dutch almost 500 years ago, is sinking around eight inches a year—with sea levels on the rise, parts of Jakarta could be submerged in a few decades.

Prior to this, Singapore’s Lee Hsien Loong announced, on the country’s national day, a few strategies on how to tackle their own sea-rise problem, including engineering, reclaimed lands and installing Dutch-style polder seawalls. The two cities have two different approaches to the same problem. Which way will Bangkok, which is also in danger of going underwater, head towards?

Top Koaysomboon/Time Out Bangkok 

Kotchakorn Voraakhom, a known landscape architect, says that, due to a number of geographical differences, fully adopting any of these countries’ ideas may not be the best solution. “Maybe there’s another alternative,” she says. “We just need to go back and learn how to adapt and live with the water.”

The mastermind behind many parks in Bangkok points out that Thais and water were bosom companions back in the day. “We even have water as a play tool [Songkran]. It’s the urban development that changed us. We’re a city with waterways, but we don’t really feel it, do we? We’ve forgotten how to embrace and be flexible [with nature]. I don’t know whether we’ll able to do it, with lots of waste and contamination and rubbish in the water these days. But I do believe we’ll have the coolest solution if we put in enough effort and dedication. Let’s make Bangkok amphibious!”

Sereechai Puttes/Time Out Bangkok 

Supporting Kotchakorn’s ideas are a few of her public space projects like Chulalongkorn University’s Centennial Park in Samyan, and Thammasat University’s Puay Park in Pathumthani. Both parks are beautifully designed recreation spots with trees and running tracks. But, due to clever design, these spaces will automatically become water basins in the occurrence of flood. (Because of this adaptive concept, Kotchakarn was invited as a key speaker at the 2019 Movin’On sustainable mobility summit in Montreal last June.)

She is confident that integration is the best possible solution. “Thais are always good at being adaptive. Why don’t we embrace the water and live with it?”