Showing 51 - 60 of 75
Welfare card system is condescending
News, Editorial, Published on 29/10/2017
» For a developing country with increasing income inequality such as Thailand, any pro-poor policy deserves public support. But the government's latest subsidy programme, the state welfare scheme for the poor, does not seem to be on the right track. It is flawed in its design and implementation, still questionable over its sustainability and not practical as a means for poverty reduction.
Car Free Day let-down
News, Editorial, Published on 22/09/2017
» The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration's (BMA) decision to bypass Car Free Day today attests to the agency's compromise on a goal to make the Big Mango a greener and more sustainable city.
Commuters lose out again
News, Editorial, Published on 22/08/2017
» It has not been a great week for the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA). The agency responsible for everything about Bangkok buses took two steps -- backwards. Eight new routes with gaudy vehicles and incomprehensible route signs were instantly judged more appalling than appealing. The BMTA then announced early details of its new effort to procure new, modern buses. That brought instant controversy from both the public and important places.
Bus reform must have public input
News, Editorial, Published on 20/08/2017
» As expected, confusion reigns over a planned bus reform which features the modifications of bus routes across the city. Most passengers turned a cold shoulder to eight new city bus routes introduced by the Department of Land Transport last Tuesday, claiming they were inconvenient. The rerouted buses, with different colourful fronts from the old red and cream bodies so familiar to Bangkok commuters, are to be given a test run for a one-month period. During the trial period, they will run in parallel with the original buses.
Wise pick for missing link
News, Editorial, Published on 27/07/2017
» The Prayut Chan-o-cha government on Tuesday gave the green light to the extension of the Purple Line, which links Tao Poon with the Thon Buri side of the city.
Bad drivers hurt everyone
News, Editorial, Published on 24/03/2017
» Aiming to prevent potential horrendous and fatal road accidents during the upcoming Songkran holidays, the government has come up with a number of new legal measures. Last Tuesday, its new order imposing harsher punishments on traffic law violators took effect, mainly focusing on the use of seat belts and collecting fines from traffic law violators.
Time to take road carnage seriously
News, Editorial, Published on 12/03/2017
» The picture of the wreckage of a double-decker bus that plunged into a ravine in Prachin Buri province, which appeared on several newspapers' front pages, must have broken the hearts of many readers. The doomed bus carried some 50 high school students and teachers from the northeastern province of Khon Kaen who were on a study trip to a royal development study centre in Tha Mai district of Chanthaburi. The trip was a reward for the students after completing their final exams.
Faulty culture of travel firms
News, Editorial, Published on 08/03/2017
» The first specific details of the programme to replace vans with micro buses for inter-city and inter-provincial passengers are now known. The Central Land Transport Control Board, under the supervision of Deputy Minister of Transport Pichit Akarathit, aims to have 55 buses on the roads by July 1. The pilot project will provide useful information. However, this optimistic report leaves out the single most important point.
Coal no longer an option
News, Editorial, Published on 22/02/2017
» Just when it appeared the dispute over the Krabi coal-fired power plant was on the verge of boiling over, cooler heads prevailed.
Toning down ad pollution
News, Editorial, Published on 16/02/2017
» Over the past few days momentum has been building against the forced advertising that commuters on the mass-transit system have had to endure for years.