Showing 1 - 10 of 42
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.
Govt spurred its own jab PR fiasco
Oped, Sirinya Wattanasukchai, Published on 27/05/2021
» The high-profile Covid vaccine event on Monday -- in which Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha was given his second shot of AstraZeneca vaccine -- should have been a game-changing PR campaign that promotes the state vaccine programme. Yet the event turned into a PR calamity that stirred up critics, rather than boosting much-needed public confidence.
Can govt rise to jab roll-out challenge?
Oped, Sirinya Wattanasukchai, Published on 21/05/2021
» The colossal vaccine rollout plan in Bangkok -- 10 million doses to inoculate five million people over two months -- shows how the government has finally come to its senses that the only way to revive the economy is to create herd immunity as soon as possible.
Govt needs to get its vaccine priorities right
Oped, Sirinya Wattanasukchai, Published on 13/05/2021
» The government's recent change in its vaccination rollout plan to re-prioritise a risk group, the majority of them low-paid workers in the capital, may sound like a perfect preventive plan. But it's not yet inclusive enough.
City slum clusters demand special care
Oped, Sirinya Wattanasukchai, Published on 06/05/2021
» Just when we were made to believe that the Thong Lor cluster had subsided, the Klong Toey cluster emerged.
Vaccines don't mean you can't infect others
Oped, Sirinya Wattanasukchai, Published on 08/04/2021
» 'Don't worry, I already received my first vaccination shot [against Covid-19]. I won't be infected," the taxi driver told me confidently, almost in a carefree manner, when I asked him to put his face-mask on.
BMA's Green Line fares are unforgivable
Oped, Sirinya Wattanasukchai, Published on 20/01/2021
» The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration's (BMA) plan to raise the Green Line's fare ceiling to the absolute maximum, at over 100 baht, from the original 65 baht, has triggered an avalanche of criticism.
Gimme shelter as we wait for fewer buses
Oped, Sirinya Wattanasukchai, Published on 26/11/2020
» When I saw City Hall calling for new Bangkok bus stop designs, I was excited. The voices of regular people like millions of bus commuters would finally be heard. But when I went through the competition's requirements, I wasn't sure if there was anything worth celebrating.
City's history being lost to fake facade of beauty
Oped, Sirinya Wattanasukchai, Published on 05/11/2020
» The new graffiti on the walls along the recently facelifted Klong Ong Ang became the talk of the town so I decided not to miss out on it. City Hall wrapped up the artwork just in time for the recent Loy Kratong festivities.
Govt gets it all wrong in closing down train lines
Oped, Sirinya Wattanasukchai, Published on 21/10/2020
» Should I, or should I not, take the train today?" might be the question du jour for city commuters right now. Apart from checking if a train is running or delayed, commuters find it helps to remain flexible in case authorities suddenly order the train services to temporarily shut. Such has been the response to the pro-democracy rallies that have erupted daily since the Oct 15 crackdown, when riot police used water cannon to disperse crowds.