Showing 1 - 10 of 15
Bangkok's clean streets, empty souls
Oped, Sirinya Wattanasukchai, Published on 10/11/2025
» Banthat Thong used to be a neighbourhood, not a concept. You could live here and find everything: restaurants, bookstores, hardware shops, clinics, banks -- even a place to have your shirts made. It was one of those streets where life unfolded upstairs and business happened downstairs. Today, it is something else entirely.
Put culture first in old town revamps
Oped, Sirinya Wattanasukchai, Published on 28/03/2024
» Will Thailand's old towns include their old communities as they are renovated? In many of these important districts, institutional owners of land are apt to evict legacy tenants to make way for redevelopment, threatening vintage architecture and eroding vibrant local cultures and ways of life.
Can one little plaque do that much 'damage'?
Oped, Sirinya Wattanasukchai, Published on 23/09/2020
» Less than 24 hours after the anti-dictatorship activists installed a plaque symbolising democracy at Sanam Luang before wrapping up the rally, state agencies managed to remove it, explaining that the brass item "damages" the historical site. Wow! Such swift action by state agencies is rare.
'Smart city' plan or is it the eve of destruction?
Oped, Sirinya Wattanasukchai, Published on 23/07/2020
» Upon hearing that the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has launched an initiative to make Bangkok's old town in the Rattanakosin area a smart city, I became curious. What does the agency have in mind when it thinks of "smart city"?
Does Singapore love hawkers more than us?
News, Sirinya Wattanasukchai, Published on 14/12/2019
» I was absolutely thrilled when I learnt that Singapore was planning to open a version of the Chatuchak Weekend Market early next year.
'Tessakit' must do duty to make pavements safe
News, Sirinya Wattanasukchai, Published on 30/08/2019
» When a video clip of a woman in university uniform blocking motorcyclists from riding on city pavements went viral last week, Bangkok had a new street hero.
Need for speed will not help solve gridlock
News, Sirinya Wattanasukchai, Published on 02/08/2019
» Earlier this week, Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob, proposed to raise the speed limit on all four-lane roads from 90kph to 120kph in order to solve traffic congestion. He insisted that speed isn't the real cause of road accidents.
Electric scooters risk sparking fresh city brawls
News, Sirinya Wattanasukchai, Published on 28/06/2019
» Walking around Thonglor last week almost made me think for a moment that I wasn't in Bangkok. Sukhumvit seemed cool, as some commuters -- mostly expats and tourists -- zoomed about on electric standing scooters.
Biker taxi turf war the upshot of bad planning
News, Sirinya Wattanasukchai, Published on 21/06/2019
» Last Saturday, more than a dozen men in orange vests stormed Soi Udomsuk. They have nothing to do with the "yellow vests" in France, whose violent protests against the Macron government have captured the world's attention.
City pedestrians deserve better pavements
News, Sirinya Wattanasukchai, Published on 03/05/2019
» Social media has been dominated by unusual activity as netizens try to get pictures of what they see as the worst pavement in the Big Mango. Their eagerness seems vivid and strong, as if it were a contest.