Cities and Sustainability- Soi 11 Design Report Dew (Pijak) Tangsawatdumrong

In soi 11, there are many problems that have been unsolved for some time. The problem I will be focusing on is design; the design of the sidewalk. Sidewalk of soi 11 is poorly designed. Some of the problems with the sidewalk that I recognize are: 1. Sidewalk too small (>1m)

2. Street vendors on sidewalk

3. No pedestrian crossway throughout the whole soi

Cities and Sustainability- Soi 11 Design Report Dew (Pijak) Tangsawatdumrong

4. Bad/no maintenance

5. Bumpy sidewalk

6. Power line hanging too low (head level)

Cities and Sustainability- Soi 11 Design Report

Cities and Sustainability- Soi 11 Design Report Dew (Pijak) Tangsawatdumrong

7. Bad water drain leaving water on/near sidewalk

8. Sewers look fragile

9. Objects such as payphones and power box are on the sidewalk

Cities and Sustainability- Soi 11 Design Report Dew (Pijak) Tangsawatdumrong Due to all of these problems, soi 11 is regarded as an unsafe and inconvenient place to walk. Because of this, this report will be sent to Nist in order to suggest possible improvement to the sois poorly designed sidewalk. The aspect I will be focusing on in this report is the poor design of sidewalk. The main effect of this problem is that it is unsafe and inconvenient to walk in soi 11. The cause of this problem is that there is a lack of space and quality of the sidewalk stated above. I asked my parents who have been living in soi 11 for more than 10 years how this problem affects the quality of life of the people living it the soi. They say that because it is unsafe and inconvenient to walk in the soi. People tend to use cars instead. When everyone uses a car, the traffic will be worst also, it will be bad for the environment because of the gas released into the atmosphere. It is inconvenient for inhabitants of soi 11 to travel because the traffic is bad during rush hours and it is unsafe to walk. My mom states that she does not encourage me to walk in soi 11 because of the lack of side walks, she says If possible, try to avoid walking in soi 11, it is dangerous because there are no sidewalks, where there are side walks, it is filled with street vendors which will force you to walk on the street and you might have a chance of getting hit, the drivers in Thailand are not friendly. Bangkok is not the only city that has this problem. There are many other cities that also encounter this problem but manage to fix it. Most of Japans sidewalks have a yellow line in the middle of the sidewalk. This usually means that there are no obstacles ahead in this sidewalk. This may not be a way to counter this problem but if we add an additional law to it saying If someone puts a obstacle on the sidewalk which has a yellow line indicator (these include payphones, billboards, power box and street vendors), they will be punished by law. It will stop street vendors from selling on the street and phone companies putting payphones in the middle of the sidewalk.

Cities and Sustainability- Soi 11 Design Report

Cities and Sustainability- Soi 11 Design Report Dew (Pijak) Tangsawatdumrong London used to have a similar problem, there was unnecessary or repeated signs in the middle of the sidewalks. These signs were removed to create space for pedestrians sidewalk. This can be applied to Bangkok by moving the cement power line stand, removing the payphone and removing the power box, just this much will make a big impact on the space available on the sidewalk.

There are few recommendations I want to make to manage this issue; the first one is to make a strict law regarding the street vendors. This law will not allow any street vendors to sell on the sidewalk. My second suggestion is to make an area in every soi where street vendors can sell their goods; the price for rental will be free. I also want to introduce the yellow lane rule in Japan to Bangkok, if an obstacle is found on the sidewalk, the owner will be heavily fined. Another important point is to have a pedestrian crossway every 100 meters. Have staff come in to check on the conditions of the soi twice a month and make immediate repair if necessary. The final suggestion is to have a law enforcer in each soi to take care of the rules stated above. If this plan is successful, the sidewalk conditions will be much better, this will encourage pedestrian to walk instead of taking cars, this will make the traffic better and it will be better for the health of pedestrian and the environment. I think this solution is difficult to enforce because this solution is based on law, it is hard to get citizen to follow the law in Thailand. This plan requires the cooperation of the citizen and law enforcers. If this plan is successful, it will impact the inhabitants of the soi greatly because it will make the movement of the soi better and the traffic will flow.