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[Thailand] The Buses of Sanam Luang and Tha Chang.

 
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thaitransit



Age: 42
Joined: 07 Dec 2008
Posts: 40
Location: Mahachai City

PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 11:25 am    Post subject: [Thailand] The Buses of Sanam Luang and Tha Chang. Reply with quote

Last week while on my way to ride the new Pak Kret Chao Phraya Boat service. I stopped by Sanam Luang to photograph the buses of the area. I also documented the cross river ferries at Tha Chang.

A little Background on the Sanam Luang and Tha Chang area.

The area that surrounds Sanam Luang is the oldest district in Inner Bangkok. This area is considered the true heart of Bangkok as it was the starting point for the entire city. The Sanam Luang area is steeped in royal and government history dating back well over 200 years to the founding of Bangkok.

The Sanam Luang area is located near the Chao Phraya River and is home to the world famous Grand Palace. It is also home to around 14 major government offices and 2 major universities. The area also sees a number of major royal ceremonies such as royal funerals which brings in hundreds of thousands of extra people.

At the centre of the area is a large open space that is home to the 2nd largest metro bus terminal in Bangkok. This open area is called Sanam Luang it is the namesake for the entire area. This public space is more than just a bus terminal it is used for everything from royal funerals to Buddhist ceremonies. Also it has been the home to many major political protests over the years.

The Sanam Luang area was never actually designed to be a major bus terminal it was actually built for special events such as mentioned above. As the area was set aside over 200 years ago it predates most of Bangkok’s current mass transport system. When the Sanam Luang area was set up all transport was by water or foot with no land based mass transport system available.

Just to the south west of Sanam Luang is a small and congested bus interchange and major boat pier known as Tha Chang or elephant pier. This pier is one of the busiest Chao Phaya Express boat stops as well as the busiest cross river ferry service on the whole river with 2 separate cross river routes from the one pier.

As a transport interchange and terminal the Sanam Luang area rates rather poorly due to chronic traffic congestion and frequent shut downs for special events that can disrupt the entire bus terminal for a day or more at a time. There is also zero information as to where to wait for buses around the rather spread out Sanam Luang terminal. The bus terminal area is about 300 meters wide by 700 meter long with an open space in the middle of this area.

The Sanam Luang Bus terminal is broken up into 8 disjointed sections. Some are serviced by the same bus a few times before leaving the area others just once before leaving. There is no order to which stop services which direction within the loop roadway of Sanam Luang. Always ask if the bus is heading where you want to go when boarding at Sanam Luang.

2. This is a shot of a Metrobus Route 25: Siam Park – Sanam Luang bus. Taken looking east along Na Phra Lan road in front of the Grand Palace. Bus number (Metrobus) 25 – 13. Bus type unknown Chinese import. Note this bus is driver only with single front only boarding which is at odds to the rest of the bus system. Also Metrobus uses a flat fare structure regardless of distance.



3. This is an image of a Route 203 aircon bus. Taken looking east along Na Phra Lan road in front of the Grand Palace. Bus number BMTA 7 – 3070. Bus type Isuzu aircon.



5. This is a shot of a Route 203 bus. Taken looking north east along Na Phra Lan road in front of the Grand Palace. Bus number BMTA 7 – 50542. Bus type Isuzu non aircon. This bus was originally designed to be air conditioned. It appears they ran out of money to complete all the buses with aircon units.



7. This is a shot of a Route 33: Sanam Luang – Pathum Thani bus. Taken as it was rounding the south west curve on Na Phra That road. Bus number 33 – 1. Bus type unknown. Note this bus has the engine at the rear and has been recently refurbished into the new pink colour scheme. Also this bus has unusual outward opening plug style doors.



9. This is an image of a Route 64: Nonthaburi – Sanam Luang bus. Taken as it was rounding the south west curve on Na Phra That road. Bus number 64 – 7. Bus type unknown. Note: This is a 24 hour service.



12. This is a shot of a Route 124: Mahidol University (Salaya) – Sanam Luang bus. Taken as it was rounding the south west curve on Na Phra That road. Bus number 124 – 4. Bus type unknown.



13. This is an image of a Route 80 bus. Taken as it was rounding the south west curve on Na Phra That road on an outbound trip. Bus number BMTA 6 – 56064. Bus type Isuzu aircon.



15. This is a shot of a Route 503: Rangsit – Sanam Luang bus. Taken as it was passing the Royal Institute on Na Phra That road. Bus number BMTA 1 – 1031. Bus type Merc O405 NGV.



29. This is an image of a Route 203 bus. Taken as it was passing Thammasat University on Phra Chan road. Bus number unknown. Bus type unknown. This route has high number of these mini buses that operate in addition to the larger buses. Giving sub 30 second route headways at peak times.



31. This is a shot of a Route 203 bus. Taken as it was passing Thammasat University on Phra Chan road. Bus number BMTA 7 -50274. Bus type Isuzu non aircon.



37. This is a short movie of the Wat Rakhang cross river ferry as it approaches and docks at Tha Chang. Note the loading in the ferry and how people start to leave even before it has fully docked i.e. jumping the gap. These cross river ferries operate from 5am to 11pm 7 days a week.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDl-ZbmZ8jI

38. This is a short movie of the busier Siriraj Hospital cross river ferry as it approaches and docks at Tha Chang. Note: the larger load on this ferry and the mostly standing load design on the ferries. Again passengers start to disembark before the ferry has fully docked. These cross river ferries cost 3 baht per trip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGmwkolKE9c

If you would like to more photos of the buses and ferries around Saman Luang please visit:

http://thaitransit.blogspot.com/2009/01/buses-of-sanam-luang-and-tha-chang.html

I hope you find the pictures and vehicles shown to be of interest if you view this please post some comments and feelings about the pictures.
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