Kanchanaphisek Park is a park in Chiang Mai along a remnant of the outer city wall. The park is a good model of what a reclaimed waterway can look like. Chiang Mai has numerous waterways that run from the mountain (Doi Suthep) to the Ping River. Unfortunately, most of these have been encroached by urbanisation. […]
thailand
Gulf of Thailand Seawall: The Greater Bangkok flood barrier and new sea city
The plan to build a city on artificial islands in the Gulf of Thailand to form a seawall for Greater Bangkok. The Bang Khun Thian land reclamation project is a proposed megaproject to build artificial islands in the Gulf of Thailand as part of a flood defence system for Greater Bangkok. The reclaimed land would […]
Myths and realities of the Singapore-Kunming Rail Link
Why there won’t be a high-speed railway from Singapore to China, and how Thailand and Malaysia have set back a truly unified system by years. The Singapore-Kunming Rail Link (SKRL) is a planned network of railways to create a unified line from Kunming to Singapore. This is part of the Pan-Asian Railway, which envisions three […]
Future Chiang Mai: construction and transport projects in Chiang Mai
Construction projects in Chiang Mai, including public spaces, apartments, light rail transit, high-speed railway, and the new airport. Chiang Mai is the second largest city in Thailand (by metropolitan area) and the largest city in northern Thailand. Despite it’s size, it’s a relatively low-rise city. The Old City area (inside the historic moat) is off […]
Bangkok should scrap the Light Red Line extension and build this instead
Bangkok is planning to build the Don Mueang–Suvarnabhumi–U-Tapao high-speed railway (the High-Speed Rail Linking Three Airports Project). Bangkok is also planning the eastern extension of the Light Red Line commuter railway in the same corridor. The Light Red Line eastern extension is an unnecessary duplication of resources. The money and labour hours should be directed […]
How to fix Makkasan Station, Bangkok’s failed City Air Terminal
Makkasan Station is a station on the Airport Rail Link (ARL) connecting central Bangkok to Suvarnabhumi Airport. It’s a grand station from the outside, but on the inside it’s a ghost town. [City Air Terminal at Makkasan Station, now off-limits to passengers.] The station was built with check-in counters for flights, so you could check-in […]
Koh Phangan Airport: The abandoned airport project in the Gulf of Thailand
Ko Phangan Airport is an abandoned airport project on Ko Pha-ngan, Surat Thani Province, Thailand. The airport began construction in 2012 and was being built by Kan Air (a domestic Thai airline based at Chiang Mai International Airport). The airport plan included a 1,100 runway and a passenger terminal capable of handling 1,000 passengers per […]
Bangkok construction update: 2023/2024 edition
The groundscraper of Sukhumvit, big projects surrounding Lumphini Park, legal drama for the massage parlour magnate at the Chuvit Garden project, Central Groups expanding mall empire, another iconic 60s hotel is gone, taking liberties with place names, and more. Welcome to the 2024 Bangkok construction update. This is a snapshot of major projects around Bangkok […]
Nonthaburi Civic Center: A missed opportunity to build a great transit hub
Nonthaburi Civic Center station is a Bangkok MRT station on the Purple Line, Pink Line, and the future Brown Line. Unfortunately for Bangkok, the station doesn’t provide an integrated transfer between lines. The urban rail transit system of Bangkok has been expanding at an impressive rate over the last decade. New lines have been added […]
Bangkok Urban Rail Transit Update – 2024 Edition
Bangkok’s urban rail transit system added two new lines in 2023, bringing the total number of lines to ten. Two lines are currently under construction, and more lines are planned in the future. This is a summary of news, lines under construction, and proposed lines. The last update was in December 2021, so this report covers […]
