BusTalk

[thaitransit]

Last weekend I visited the Chinatown area to have a look at the mass transport of the area. I also used the opportunity to test out my new digital camera in a highly urbanised environment to see how it would perform. The Chinatown area is a good test for a camera as the streets are quite narrow and lined with tall buildings which tends to increase the risk of “white sky” images.

A Little Background on the Chinatown area.

The Chinatown area consists of a 1.2 sq km strip of land along the Chao Phraya River. The Chinatown area is located a short distance south east of the Grand Palace. The area was set up by King Rama 5 in the 19th Century as an area for Chinese traders and Bangkok's Chinese population. Today it has a population of around 50,000 people. This makes the Chinatown area one of the most densely populated areas in Bangkok with an average density of 41,000 people per sq km.

In the period following World War 2 the Chinatown area went though a 20 year long period of rapid growth and development. This increased the areas commercial importance until it was one of the most important business areas of Bangkok. This also attracted an increasing number of new residents. By the 1970s the Chinatown areas was fully developed and its aging pre war infrastructure and road network effectively limited its future growth. This allowed other areas of inner Bangkok to take the business crown from Chinatown.

Today Chinatown has declined somewhat due to a lack of modern office buildings and shopping centres. Coupled with the lack of a rail based mass transport system and a network of narrow and rather crowded streets. Over the last 20 years the lack of road infrastructure has greatly worsened the traffic in the Chinatown area throughout the day. Traffic speeds at times can be as low as 1 kph. Therefore the fastest way to travel in the Chinatown area is by motorbike or on foot.

One of the biggest factors for the extreme traffic congestion in the Chinatown area is due to the amount of through traffic coming across from Thonburi making its way to Rama 4 road in central Bangkok. Basically there are 4 lanes of heavy traffic being funnelled though the narrow one way streets of Chinatown. The only real way to fix this problem today is with a new underground metro line heading from Hualamphong station into the Wong Wian Yai area via Chinatown.

However despite Chinatown's recent decline in importance it still is a centre for the textile industry and spice trade. The area is also famous for its huge array of Chinese food products that are often difficult to find in other parts of Bangkok. During the Chinese New Year the area comes to life with street festivals and colourful lights.

The high density of the Chinatown area and its over 100 year history creates an interesting array of building styles and designs. Due to the density of the Chinatown area there are some small sois that are more like a corridor than a street as they are totally enclosed by buildings.

Transport wise the Chinatown area can be accessed by Metro bus numbers (1,4,7,25,40,73,73N,85,159,204,507,529,542) and the Chao Phraya Express Boat service. Most of the bus services operate every couple of minutes and its quite common for 3 of the same bus route to turn up together due to the almost constant traffic jams. The fastest way into Chinatown is via the Chao Phraya Express Boat. The closest Chao Phraya Express boat stop to Chinatown is Ratchawong pier (N5).


Within the next 10 years two new underground heavy rail metro lines are expected be built though or very close to the Chinatown area. The effect this will have on the Chinatown area will be massive as it will open up the whole area for new even higher density development. These new Metro lines will cross the Chao Phraya River into Thonburi. This should help reduce the amount of though traffic in the Chinatown area. But due to the unstable government of Thailand these metro projects are uncertain.

3. This is an image of a Route 204: BMA 2 – Ratchawong Pier bus. Taken as it was waiting to depart from Ratchawong Pier bus terminus in Chinatown. Bus number BMTA: 8 – 80428. Bus type: Mitsubishi non aircon. The digger is stored there during the day for late night drainage works.



4. This is an image of a Route 204 bus. Taken as it was waiting to depart from Ratchawong Pier bus terminus in Chinatown. Bus number BMTA: 8 – 55128. Bus type: Isuzu aircon.



7. This is a shot of a Route 1: Thanon Tok – Tha Tian bus. Taken looking east along Yaowarat road. This road is the heart of the Chinatown area. Bus number BMTA: 4 – 40520. Bus type: Hino AK non aircon.



9. This is a shot of a Route 40: Hualampong – Southern Bus Terminal mini bus. Taken looking east along Yaowarat road. Bus number unknown. Bus type: unknown. These mini buses are the most despised buses in Bangkok due to poor driving and uncomfortable seating.



11. This is an image of a Route 159: Phutha Monthon Sai 2 – Mochit 2 bus. Taken looking east along Yaowarat road. Bus number 159 – 11. Bus type: unknown.



16. This is a shot of a Route 40 mini bus. Taken looking west towards the former Suapa Plaza on Charoen Krung road. Bus number unknown. Bus type: Merc non aircon mini. Note: Charoen Krung road carries the inbound traffic flow. Suapa plaza is the large dirty yellow building it was very badly damaged by fire on 6th January 2009.



22. This is a shot of a Route 40 bus. Taken looking west along Charoen Krung road as the bus makes its way to Kheha Rom Klao. Bus number 40 – 10. Bus type: Golden Dragon aircon.



23. This is a shot of the tourist tram – bus. Taken looking west along Charoen Krung road. This service started last year using “fake trams” that are made to look like the former Bangkok electric trams from the 1950s. It operates as a short loop from near the Pink Lao bridge and also from Hualamphong station. It operates only on weekends. It would be nice if they could restore the real trams and operate them on rails in the Chinatown area.



26. This is a shot of a Route 7 Hualamphong – Khlong Khwang bus. Taken rather close up as it was travelling south along Suapa road. Bus number BMTA: 6 – 30356. Bus type: Merc O405 non aircon. This service operates 24 hours.



34. This is a shot of a Route 1 mini bus. Taken looking east along Yaowarat road as the bus makes its way to Tha Tian. Bus number unknown. Bus type: Merc mini non aircon. Note how the ticket guy is hanging out the door.



If you would like to see more images from the Chinatown area please visit:

http://thaitransit.blogspot.com/2009/06/buses-of-chinatown.html

I hope you enjoyed looking at my pictures. If you have any comments please leave a message for me regarding the post.

[Cyberider]

Excellent write-up and photos, thaitransit. Thanks for sharing!

[MOVIEBUSES]

Great info on the buses from other parts of the world. That city looks to be very crowded. Thanks for sharing these pictures and info.
www.rts-regionaltransitservice.com