Stretching from Surawong Road all the way down to the Chao Phraya River, over a distance of about 4.5 kilometres, Chong Nonsi Canal is being transformed into Bangkok’s longest park, at around 9 kilometres around both sides of the pedestrian walkway.
Inspired by the Cheonggyecheon Restoration Project in Seoul, many people say this will give Bangkok residents a “touch of Seoul”. This is Chong Nonsi Canal Park.
Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is now reviving Chong Nonsi Canals and surrounding areas by increasing clean water access, green spaces and better drainage as the city authorities work to improve the condition of the capital’s waterways.
Parts of the project were temporarily opened for the public to visit from December 25th last year to January 5th, with activities and exhibitions laid on to celebrate the Christmas and New Year festival. It is now closed for further construction work.
BMA Spokesman Pongsakorn Kwanmuang said that the public space is just a fraction of a larger project, to develop the landscape of the canal into another landmark, to beautify the city and to provide another recreation area.
Once the project is completed, 140,000 cubic meters of water from the canal will be pumped into a treatment plant in the Chong Nonsi area and the treated water will be pumped to Lumpini Park for use.
Some street food vendors told Thai PBS World about the way that the canal park affects their business. The first thing is the pollution from the construction, as there is already a lot of PM 2.5 dust in the air.
Some of them say that the canal park today does not benefit their businesses that much. They hope that it will bring more customers to them, but opening the park while it is still under construction did not generate much satisfaction among those who visited. They said the park is not as beautiful as expected. Most of them might not want to come back. They still hope, however, that after everything is completed, both pollution problems and their business will improve.
Another point people noticed during the soft opening of the canal park was the lack of public toilets, which are very necessary in such a place.
Some say they can clearly see a little improvement in the water quality in the canal, even if it is not totally clean and clear yet, and hope that it will be a lot better once the project is completed.
The remaining construction is expected to finish by August this year and that’s when Walk-A-Tif will be here again to show you what’s going to happen in the new and improved Chong Nonsi Canal Park.
by Kitipat Chuensukjit
