The speed at which Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt runs City Hall's affairs has been compared by observers to an old diesel fuel engine -- slow to start, only to accelerate towards the end.
During the first half of his four-year term, Mr Chadchart has been criticised for not keeping his gubernatorial election promises.
According to observers, the politician, who overwhelmingly won the highest seat at City Hall with 1.3 million votes back in 2022, has split opinions with his performance as governor.
Before the poll, Mr Chadchart exuded the persona of a hard-working, high-calibre contender for Bangkok's administrative top job. He rolled out hundreds of pledges to be fulfilled once in office, including a permanent solution to the perennial floods which frequently cripple the city during the rainy season.
However, his critics were unimpressed by the governor's "theatrical" live shows in which Mr Chadchart often broadcasts himself riding pillion on a motorcycle while inspecting flooded sois and roads.
After several such broadcasts, residents felt turned off, slamming what they said was the governor's failure to implement an effective fix for the flood problem.
At the same time, Mr Chadchart's supporters decried what they claimed were unfair criticisms of him, insisting Bangkok sits on a myriad of deeply entrenched structural and infrastructural shortcomings which could not be rectified overnight.
In November last year, the governor was criticised for a critical traffic snarl in Sukhumvit Soi 39, one of the busiest sois meandering through a dense business and residential district. The jam was triggered by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration's (BMA) closure of a partial traffic lane that had instead been converted into a bicycle lane.
The conversion instantly saw the soi descend into traffic chaos with congestion spilling into Sukhumvit and nearby roads during rush hours and throughout the day.
Public uproar exploded on social media, with torrents of complaints attacking the converted lane as an ill-thought-out and short-sighted plan.
The BMA immediately issued an apology, and Mr Chadchart leapt forward to defend the merits of the bicycle lane. He insisted the project, launched by the BMA in collaboration with foreign experts and embassies, was a designation of a safe route for walking and cycling in the city.
However, motorists and residents were not patient with the dedicated lane, causing traffic problems on 17 major roads and areas nearby, including Phetchaburi, Thong Lor, and Ekkamai.
Motorists reported long queues stretching as far as Victory Monument and Phatthanakan Road. Observers noted that motorcycles and delivery riders primarily used the bicycle lane rather than cyclists.
In addition to apologising, the BMA wasted no time removing the lane barriers and restoring two-lane vehicle traffic while maintaining a shared pedestrian and cycling path.
Mr Chadchart also apologised and admitted that urban development was prone to being marred by the "occasional missteps".
At the time, it was feared the residents' bitter aftertaste from their experience with the bicycle lane would sink Mr Chadchart's popularity rating. Critics said the underlying danger may lie in the voters' growing concern that the bicycle lane backtrack may attest to Mr Chadchart's tendency to get carried away with projects that affect the masses, only to abandon them later.
Growing concerns and the absence of substantial achievements may have spurred the governor to get his act together. After all, the next governor's election is set to take place next year.
It was not until recently that MCOT News radio reported that Mr Chadchart has decided to seek re-election after his current term expires in June next year.
His strategy is to meet residents in communities via mobile campaigns on Sundays, listen to their problems, and deal with them with a hands-on approach. He is also expected to speed up his efforts to finish outstanding projects and policies to combat longstanding woes such as floods, microdust pollution, traffic congestion, and refuse collection.
A source said Mr Chadchart's major stumbling block was not completing what he started, by quickly stamping out the most unforgivable misdeed committed by a leader -- graft.
The BMA, with Mr Chadchart at its helm, has had its fair share of graft allegations, including the procurement of overpriced fitness equipment and the construction of what were viewed as substandard bus stops.
The source said it was not surprising that Mr Chadchart has been campaigning for "visibility" lately, apparently to tip the popularity scale back in his favour.
Projects, dubbed by his critics as an "early" poll-canvassing ploy, have been underway since November last year.
This refers to City Hall's success in clearing out the Lao Market, which had for years encroached on the pavement opposite Klong Toey Market. The governor then turned to rooting out the stalls that illegally occupied the pavement outside Klong Toey Market, where vendors admitted to having bribed city thessakij inspectors to keep their trade going.
Mr Chadchart also announced that the authorities were clamping down on abandoned vehicles on city roads and streets, which have obstructed traffic.
Also, recently, the government set a goal of planting 1.06 million trees in Bangkok's eastern suburbs by April next year.
Pheu Thai playing for time
With the United States ramping up economic pressure on many countries, the Pheu Thai Party-led government has decided to temporarily halt its controversial casino-entertainment complex bill and instead shift focus to growing concerns over Washington's 36% hike in import tariffs on Thai goods.
Pichai: Solutions must be 'viable'
Even though President Donald Trump buoyed markets this week with another surprise in the form of a 90-day pause on the tariffs for countries that chose not to retaliate, fears are running rampant they could still be implemented against the kingdom.
Deflecting criticism that the Thai government's delay is merely a stalling tactic due to strong opposition to the controversial bill, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra insisted the administration is not trying to buy time but setting its priorities straight.
Last week, Mr Trump announced a minimum 10% tariff on imports from all countries, along with additional country-specific retaliatory tariffs. For Thailand, the rate was set at 36%, originally effective April 9.
The decision to postpone the bill came just a day before the House of Representatives was scheduled to examine it during a first reading, and on the same day, the new tariff rate was set to take effect before the 90-day pause.
As the government moves from a local political battle to weather broader economic storms, political analysts suggest it should not rush into any deal and must first understand what the US truly wants to achieve.
According to Sompob Manarangsan, president of the Panyapiwat Institute of Management, there is no need to make any concessions just yet, and the government should look for other ways to negotiate as well.
In addition to the US Trade Representative (USTR), the Thai-US Chamber of Commerce and informal connections such as lobbyists who are close to the US Republican Party can be exploited, Mr Sompob said.
He noted that markets with larger trade volumes with the US like Japan, the European Union (EU) and Canada will feel the brunt of the tariffs more than Thailand.
Mr Sompob divided the countries facing the tariff hikes into three groups: smaller nations that accept US terms without pushing back; those that stand firm against the US, such as China, the EU, and Canada; and countries like Thailand that are waiting to see how things play out.
"The US-China tension is escalating and is taking a toll on the US economy, as shown in the performance of US stock markets and lower consumer confidence. This may prompt the US to reconsider its tariff policy," he said.
Despite the impact of the tariffs, exporting to the US must continue as usual, as all countries will feel the pinch, Mr Sompob added.
"In fact, the US may emerge the biggest loser here as its people will end up paying higher prices for goods," he said.
Somjai Phagaphasvivat, an independent political and economic analyst, said the tariff hike appears to be driven more by national security concerns than economic ones, especially against countries perceived to be aligned with China.
He pointed out that Vietnam and Cambodia are facing nearly 50% tariff hikes, possibly because they are seen as allowing China to release its goods through them -- re-exporting Chinese products under their own labels.
Thailand is seen as leaning toward China and has thus been hit with the spectre of a 36% tariff, he said.
Mr Somjai said the government must adopt a multipronged approach in its negotiations with the USTR and use any leverage the country has, especially in agriculture.
He said the country may increase imports of US goods and play up its security cooperation as well as investment by private Thai companies in the US to ease tensions and offset the impact of the tariffs.
"Don't be a punching bag," he said.
Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira, who leads the Thai negotiation team, has admitted that settling on terms that satisfy both countries equally will not be easy.
"We need to truly grasp what the US wants and what they're trying to fix. I'm ready to negotiate, but we must ensure that what we bring to the table is practical and achievable.
"We need to work hard to show that our proposed solutions are viable," he said.
According to the finance minister, the trade imbalance presents a factor to the US debt, which is about 123% of its GDP.
"The US wants to reduce its debt burden and interest payments. That's why they're pushing to correct trade imbalances and bring more manufacturing back to America," Mr Pichai said.
Thailand's trade surplus with the US was estimated at over US$40 billion (1.37 trillion baht) last year.
