Once deserted and useful only to drain Bangkok's floods, Khlong Phadung Krung Kasem is now abuzz with people. During rush hour, passengers queue up to board free boats running from Thewet pier to Hua Lamphong. In the morning or after work, boats get crowded and passengers sit all the way to the back.
The new boat service began on Sept 5, and the scene tempts us to call it a renaissance for the old canal which has been ignored for the last five decades. Dug in 1852 as an outer dyke for Rattanakosin Island, the canal was a route for the shipping of goods from the Chao Phraya River to inner Bangkok. Back then, the canal brimmed with boats and commercial activities. Then the canal grew quiet and became rarely used when roads and cars replaced boats. It later became polluted by wastewater from ramshackle textile dye shops during the late 1960s.
As road traffic keeps getting worse, and public transport fails to catch up with the intensity of people's movements, the canals and waterways of Bangkok are probably more useful than we think they are. No, the return of commuters to canals cannot be compared to the old days when roads didn't exist. Yet the scene at Khlong Phadung signifies a possible solution to our traffic nightmare and perhaps a revival of water transport, long underused.
The free boat service is one of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha's initiatives. It is part of a move to ease traffic congestion, and for those who are nostalgic, PM Prayut is seen as a man who has brought back the good old days when Bangkok was dubbed, appropriately or not, the "Venice of the East".
Town planners have long considered existing waterways as a solution to the traffic problems that cripple Bangkok and pollute the air.
"People often look at canal transportation plans and bringing back the image of 'Venice of the East'," said Yanyong Boon-long, architect and town planner who advocates the use of canals. "But for me, the name 'Venice of the East' is just for tourists. Bangkok can be better than that. I believe that our canal network created during the reign of King Rama V is better in terms of coverage than the BTS and the subway system."
Bangkok was originally a canal town. There are 1,161 canals with a total length of 2,272km. In the past, canals were main transport routes where people commuted by boat. Currently, there are only five routes for canal and river transportation -- Khlong Saen Saep, Khlong Phra Khanong, Khlong Phasi Charoen, Khlong Rangsit and the Chao Phraya River. Thirty years ago, there was canal transportation on Khlong Lat Phrao but the service ended.
Today, the canal that still sees heavy traffic every day is Khlong Saen Saep, which has a boat service running from the eastern outskirts of Bang Kapi, cutting through the busy area of Phetchaburi and which stops at Phan Fah Bridge in the old town. The service began in 1990 and now serves around 40,000 commuters a day.
From the north and west of Bangkok, the Chao Phraya Express Boat, which runs from Nonthaburi to Thanon Tok, has served commuters for over 40 years and in the past 15 it has functioned as a connection point with the BTS Skytrain at Sathon. Tourists take it for sightseeing, but the boat is indispensable to thousands of commuters who live on the northern suburbs of the capital.
Bangkok is notorious for its traffic congestion. Kasikorn Research Center early this month released a report estimating the cost of congestion is 11 billion baht a year or 60 million baht a day, based on the economic value people could have created. Mass transit development, such as the Skytrain and subway extensions, have been moving at a glacial pace, not sufficient to cope with the rising number of cars and people.
That's where boats, long forgotten or treated as secondary, should offer some hope. In February last year, PM Prayut ordered Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) to operate a canal boat trip in Khlong Phadung Krung Kasem to promote tourism and culture.
Subsequently, the junta government pressured the BMA to clear illegal vendors occupying canal areas near Yaowarat and old town areas, to recover the canal's bank for further development. Last month, he floated an idea about boat taxi services as alternative transportation.
The free boat service on Khlong Phadung Krung Kasem is also operated by the BMA. During the first seven days, there were 8,212 people using the boats, according to the BMA's Traffic and Transportation Department (TTD). The 5km route started at a small pier close to Orathai Bridge near Hua Lamphong railway station and ended at Thewet station.
Most commuters are students, residents in the area and staff of government offices dotted along the canal.
"Public response to the free boat ride is encouraging even though we just launched it," said Wiriyawat Sirichai, a BMA official who oversees canal maintenance.
"The BMA is not a commercial operator and we just use four small boats. But we can provide a service for 1,000-1,200 passengers each day and we can deliver more when we acquire more boats in the near future."
For the service, the BMA has modified its small barges that were once used to collect garbage and do water-draining work to accommodate passengers.
Commuters who use the service usually seem to be in a more relaxed mode compared to those hectic city slickers in business areas like Silom or Sukhumvit.
"Instead of waiting for the bus that will get stuck in the traffic, I prefer to wait for boats. It is like a break," said a commuter and government officer who asked not to be named. The only drawback, she said, is the waiting time. A free shuttle boat comes every 15 minutes during rush hour in the morning and evening, and 20 minutes during regular hours. The BMA plans to increase boat services during rush hour to every 10 minutes.
"The BMA needs to provide facilities along the route to accommodate commuters during the waiting such as benches, or create small gardens," said the commuter. After the trial period, the BMA plans to charge fees for the service and expand the route to nearby canals -- to regain the network of waterways. It is seeking a budget to run the service full time. If approved, it could take about 11 months to get off the ground. Based on a TTD study, 345 million baht would be needed to buy 20 boats, improve nine piers and build a pier at Thewet Pier at Wat Thewarat Kunchorn, where passengers can transit to Chao Phraya express boats.
Architects and town planners, such as Yanyong, have floated ideas to policymakers to combine the canal network with the mass transit system. Canals, they say, must be utilised more.
Yanyong also edited a popular book, Bangkok Handmade Transit, which examines the history and potential of various transportation modes in Bangkok, including waterways. A graduate from the University of California at Berkley, Yanyong is helping design a connectivity link for communities at Khlong Lat Phrao to connect with the BTS Skytrain station.
"Our canal network thoroughly penetrates small community areas," said Yanyong. "It is cheaper and can be developed the right away. And if canal networks can combine and connect with BTS routes, Bangkok will have a large transport network. People can travel by various ways and achieve greater mobility and connectivity instead of being limited to cars and enduring traffic congestion."
The use of boat transportation is not good for only saving time, he said. "It also jump-starts local business. There will be small local shops, coffee places and venues to hang out along the river. Boat transportation can change the face of the city. It can breathe life and commercial activity into the old town and area by the river and canal."
The revival of Khlong Phadung Krung Kasem is a good start. The BMA is now planning to bring back boat transportation to Khlong Lat Phrao, an area afflicted by severe traffic congestion. When the new BTS Skytrain for the Lat Phrao area is completed, there will be four stations located next to the canal. The BMA just received 2 billion baht to move out land encroachers, develop canal banks and solve the water pollution problem.
With links to the BTS Skytrain, and a pro-boat transportation policy, many people now dream that the day of boat transportation -- encapsulated in the image of the "Venice of the East" -- may return.
A worker prepares Thewet Pier in Wat Thewarat Kunchorn, where passengers can transit to Chao Phraya express boats. Photo: Patipat Janthong
