The election of a new governor and council will take place on Sunday, June 28th. 16 candidates are running for governor and 249 candidates are competing for 50 city council seats. The governor and council are responsible for, among many other things, the city’s road infrastructure and maintenance, flood management and street food zoning.
In 2023, an estimated 156,596 expatriates lived and worked in Bangkok but, without Thai citizenship, most of them cannot vote. In a roundtable discussion, hosted by Thai PBS World Editor Stephanie Adair, expats identified issues ranging from poor traffic management to Bangkok's ‘rainbow washing’ for the next Governor to address.
Traffic management
In a shared view with many on the panel, David, an Englishman who has lived in Thailand for 36 years, believes Bangkok needs to update its transportation system. He said not enough people are using public transport to get around, compared to other cities of similar populations.
Hugh, a UK expat of over 33 years standing, suggested that the new Governor should introduce a ‘congestion charge’, similar to London's, to reduce traffic in the inner city and persuade people onto the extensive and growing public transport network.
David also raised a concern over the city’s annual vehicle-related death toll. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Bangkok experiences 1000-1500 vehicle-related fatalities a year. London, a city with a similar population and a central area congestion charge, has only 110.
Brenda, a long-term resident originally from Malaysia, said there must be better traffic law enforcement for motorcyclists. Since the COVID-19 epidemic, Brenda has noticed a “massive influx” of motorcyclists, making the roads feel increasingly unsafe. She often sees reckless driving, such as switching lanes without indicating. She agreed with Hugh that a congestion charge may ease the chaos.
“It's the traffic that forces the bikes onto the pavement, which makes it impossible for people to use them safely,” she says. “Most of that traffic does not need to be there and, if it costs them more to be there, most of them won't be.”
Grant, a journalist from the UK, noted that one of the governors suggested installing Japanese-style small lane buses to run up and down the narrow lanes in residential areas to discourage motorcycle taxis. David approved of this, believing that it would make Bangkok more user-friendly.
“With the infrastructural changes that are needed to make it more user-friendly, there wouldn't be the need to have as many riders on the road if the infrastructure supports people,” David said.
Pedestrians
Winnie, a university student from Indonesia, said that being a pedestrian in Bangkok is almost impossible.
Due to the lack of signage and the many footpaths under construction, she says the future Governor should make their improvement a priority.
David said that, while Bangkok “is not a nice town to walk around”, it was not designed to be a walking city. “Different countries have different infrastructures, and they prioritise based on their population,” he said.
David said that the last Bangkok governor, Chadchart, has made progress in repaving footpaths in the inner city. In 2023, he announced that the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) had started repaving 90 kilometres of old footpaths, to improve pedestrian access for people with disabilities.
Hugh suggested that the minimal concern about poor footpaths may rooted in Thai culture. He said Thailand’s ‘sabai’ nature, a Thai expression meaning laid-back and easy going, may be why they are less bothered about potholes or muddy footpaths.
Safety
Despite Bangkok not being a particularly walkable city, the panel agreed that it is remarkably safe to walk around.
“Even if I have to walk home, like, at 2.00am, or just coming from my friend's home,” Winne said, “I just feel safe.”
Though Islam is a minor religion in Bangkok, Winnie feels extremely safe and is undisturbed when she prays in public places.
Hugh noted that, in his 33 years of living in Bangkok, he has always known it to feel safe.
“Ever since I came here, women, young women, middle-aged women, even men haven't felt at risk, they don’t think twice about walking home at three o'clock in the morning,” he said, “And to me, as a father of daughters, that is probably the thing of which Bangkok should be most proud.
Kenneth, a lecturer from the Philippines, said that he feels comfortable expressing his ‘queerness’ in public here, describing Bangkok as a “gay haven.” Unlike in his home country, he can express himself without fear of persecution or ostracisation.
“In the Philippines, we are a Catholic country. You cannot say that I am gay. You cannot say that in the Philippines because of, you know, a lot of things, like family dynamics, maybe your family is a very religious family.”
LGBTQ+ Rights
Kenneth proposed that the future governor should follow through with supporting LGBT rights. With the legalisation of gay marriage in Thailand in 2024, Kenneth says that it was a good step in genuine Queer support. He voiced concern, though, over Thailand's “rainbow washing”- presenting itself as being more supportive of the LGBT community than the reality. While Kenneth noticed that free contraception was handed out at his university, he said that there was a lack of free HIV testing.
“If we are looking forward to a more inclusive LGBTQ+ community, I think we should have testing centres everywhere.”
The roundtable discussed other challenges facing the city, including its thousands of tangled telephone wires, but laughed it off as part of Bangkok’s charm. While traffic congestion and infrastructure remained pressing concerns, their strongest hope for Bangkok’s next governor is to continue to foster a collective sense of pride - Thai or otherwise.
