Thainet Just Can’t Even After BTS Breaks Down

By
Asaree Thaitrakulpanich, Staff Reporter
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A meme mocking the BTS’s maintenance problems by @kirapat_s. Image: kirapat_s / Twitter

BANGKOK — June has been especially rocky for BTS Skytrain service, and the Internet isn’t taking it lying down — let alone standing in “door areas.”

After the rail system broke down yet again during the Monday morning rush – nearly the 10th such outage this month – netizens took to social media to rage against the delayed machines.

For four hours, queues of disgruntled commuters snaked out of the stations as dysfunctioning trains lurched between stations for stops of at least 10 minutes between 6am and 10am.

One of the top-trending tweets Monday is #CancelBTSConcession. Commuters have used it to post complaints about service disruptions on the immensely popular downtown rail line used by nearly 700,000 people daily.

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In a twist edition on 2015’s Is This a Pigeon? meme, someone has the system’s operators pointing at broken down systems, delayed trains, queues to get change to queue to buy tickets and not enough trains and asks, “Is this normal?”

@Pthomtwitt berated the BTS for being broken down 6am to 8am with a photo of the Bangkok Mass Transit System top management. “Khun Keeree (went to poop?) Where are you? Fix this, now!” referring to CEO Keeree Kanjanapas.

Keeping the focus on those at the top of the food chain, @Treeserver posted a graph of the salaries of CEO Keree and other members of the board, who earn modest base salaries augmented by massive bonuses of millions of baht. In fiscal year 2017 fiscal year, Keeree earned total 3.8 million baht, while others earned about 2 million baht. These figures do not include stock benefits.

Illustrator Champ Teepagorn riffs on City Hall’s slogan with ‘The Good Life BTS Offers Bangkokians,’ an online comic pointing out the system’s flaws, from ticket machines that don’t accept banknotes or cards, quick-to-close turnstiles, loud advertisements and malfunctioning escalators. ‘The opposite of cheap and good is expensive and crappy,’ he writes.

‘Bitch,’ reads a meme made by @Kirapat_s.

@At_friend documented the nine times the BTS has broken down in June.

Nantapat Thongsa-ard screenshot messages she sent to the BTS Facebook page: ‘You’re breaking down too damn often. At least give me ticket compensation, bitch. I came to work late because of you, you bastard.’ After an automated response from BTS mascot Nuu Duan (I’m Fast), Nantapat replied with “Nuu Duan my ass. I’m late, bitch.”

@Pk_Kanjana_9394 said that she had a court appointment at 9am and got on the BTS at 7:30am but still did not get off the train until 10:30am. ‘The attorney, prosecutor, judge were all waiting for just me!!! They knew the train was delayed and knew it wasn’t my fault, but I was still so humiliated! I couldn’t meet their eyes! I’m pissed!!’

Someone took a The Heavens Have Spoken meme updated to complain about PlunkBat being buggy to show the descending angel’s slip reads “BTS.”

@AdiposMae summed up Bangkok public transportation thusly: ‘BTS problems => no apologies or compensation. Riding a motorcycle taxi => jacked up prices during crises. Calling Grab => high prices due to high demand. Using public buses => traffic jam. #CancelBTSConcession Life in Bangkok is so great.’

‘Hello, it’s 9. RIP Mo Chit Station. Everyone will go to work late. Su su, we will not stand for this. Let’s #CancelBTSConcession rather than canceling our travel routes,’ tweeted @Pnvich with photos taken from the northernmost station this morning.

f9S”>pic.twitter.com/GD90Fw8f9S

— 520吴亦凡 (@So_Jiseon) June 25, 2018

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