SURAT THANI — A seventh warrant was issued Thursday in connection to the spree of bomb and fire attacks during Mother’s Day holiday, while elsewhere the only suspect arrested so far denied all charges against him.
Military judges in Surat Thani province approved an arrest warrant for Sukeeman Kubaru, 34 of Narathiwat province, for allegedly placing a bomb which later exploded Aug. 12 near a market in Phang Nga province. He was accused of also being behind school milk truck turned car bomb recently disarmed in the Deep South.
Sukeeman was charged with possession of explosives and attempted arson.
Among the seven suspects named since the attacks one month ago, only one has been arrested. Head police investigator Gen. Srivara Ransibrahmanakul said today thatAbdulkadir Saleah has denied any involvement in the firebombing of a Lee Mart Super Wholesale Building on Aug. 12 in Trang province.
Taken into custody Sept. 5 by the military, he heard the charges against him Tuesday in a military court and was taken moved from a Pattani province military base to a prison in Nakhon Si Thammarat province.
Srivara, who traveled to questioned Abdulkadir himself today, said the motive of the stunning August attacks which hit seven provinces and killed four people cannot be determined.
Those assertions are growing increasingly bizarre given the abundance of physical evidence and suspects that all point to it being carried out by southern separatists.
Earlier this month, the separatist movement BRN reportedly even took claim for the attack. Srivara maintains that police have found no link to the group. Among claims made about his government’s successes just today, an ebullient junta leader, Prayuth Chan-ocha, said great progress had been made through peace dialogues.
Photo of Sukeeman Kubaru provided by police
As with the former six suspects, Sukeeman has a striking resume of suspected links to attacks in the southernmost provinces where a long-running insurgency has sought independence from Bangkok.
He was recently identified as the man who parked a stolen pick-up truck used for delivering milk for schoolchildren in front of a police station on Sept. 2 in Narathiwat. It was later destroyed in a controlled detonation.
The Narathiwat native was also allegedly seen in security camera footage parking a motorcycle bomb on a street in the Thailand-Malaysia border town of Su-ngai Kolok on June 26 before it exploded and injured two people.
Authorities said Sukeeman also has an outstanding arrest warrant from 2006 issued by the Narathiwat provincial court.
'Such a foul mouth,' PM Prayuth Chan-ocha says Sept. 15 while singing a pop song with reporters at Government House on a day he made the argument Thailand has a stronger economy, more social equality, improved safety and general welfare under his rule.
BANGKOK — Junta chairman Prayuth Chan-ocha, who was appointed prime minister by his appointed parliament two years ago, had a lot of hopes and ambitions to share on Thursday.
In a wide-ranging speech to commemorate his cabinet’s two years in power, Prayuth said Thailand has a stronger economy, more social equality, improved safety and general welfare. So good are the indicators, he said, his regime’s achievements could steer the nation toward First World status after his tenure ends.
“If the transition is successful, we may have the opportunity to elevate ourselves to a First World country,” Gen. Prayuth said at Government House. “That means a country that’s already developed, a country that has higher than average wages for people, a country with a complete welfare system, a country with a quality populace and good lives.”
The economy? GDP growth of two years ago quadrupling to 3.2 percent. Government? More efficient than ever. Bribery? Eliminated. Crime? Falling fast. Southern insurgency? Good dialogue underway. General happiness? “Least miserable” place on Earth by Bloomberg’s measure. Overall greatness? Twentieth best nation in the world, if you believe a little thing called U.S. News & World Report.
The backdrop of such an ebullient, confident vision is what some analysts consider to be the height of Gen. Prayuth’s reign: His grip on power was sealed by a recent landslide victory at the polls for the constitution backed by the junta. Its passage left his opponents shocked and disorganized, and bolstered the regime’s claims of widespread support.
Another apparent sign of Prayuth’s sense of security was his decision to stop trying civilians in the military court, which his spokesmen said this week was a drastic measure only necessary earlier, when the situation was more fragile.
Under Prayuth’s oversight, as he reminded the public in his speech, Thailand has staved off international bans and boycotts by launching massive overhauls in the country’s aviation, fishery and wildlife industries. In January, Thailand was appointed head of Group of 77, another prestigious step in international stage, the general said.
With this basis, Prayuth summed up the Thailand he sees just around the bend:
“Happiness and peace reigns throughout the land. Stable politics. Politicians with moral governance. A society that respects rules. People have discipline. Economy grows strongly. Development spreads to all regions of the country. Thailand has a graceful stand in the global stage.”
His critics and some pesky facts may easily refute some of the claims, from the state of the economy to the expanding violence in the south.
One critic unimpressed by the show was Redshirt leader Nattawut Saikua, who faulted Prayuth for not respecting freedom of expression.
“Maintenance of peace is what the government has always touted as its blue-ribbon achievement,” Nattawut said. “But I’d like to make my point that a nation’s peace comes with people of all sides having equal rights and liberty under a universal laws. As long as there’s exercise of special powers and discrimination, it cannot be called peace, but suppression.”
But today at Government House, it was Prayuth’s day to make the case. The five-hour presentation, which featured speeches from members of the entire cabinet, ended two hours later than scheduled, with Gen. Prayuth putting away his usual scowl and inviting the press corps to sing pop songs with him.
“You’re not even beautiful, yet you have such a foul mouth,” Prayuth sang along to a classic song by Am Saowalak, before pointing at his own mouth in obvious mockery of his bad temper, drawing laughter from reporters.
To clear up any confusion: Prayuth holds two positions. He’s both chairman of the junta’s National Council for Peace and Order – which holds the real power – and prime minister at the head of his semi-civilian cabinet.
After Prayuth, who was chief of the army at the time, staged the coup against the elected government on May 22, 2014, he ruled the country as head of the junta until the interim parliament declared him a Prime Minister on Aug. 21. His Majesty the King formally endorsed his position four days later.
Prayuth’s term as prime minister will end after the next election, which he has promised to hold at the end of 2017. He will continue to hold the post of junta chief.
BANGKOK— Several shops were damaged when a fire broke out late Thursday afternoon at JJ Green night market.
At about 5:25pm, smoke and flames were seen raging inside several clothing stores under what the time was pouring rain.
No one was injured, but four clothing stores suffered damage, according to Col. Seksit Supa-uan of Bang Sue police. The cause of the fire was being investigated.
A military court denied veteran Redshirt activist and anti-coup leader Sombat Boonngamanong release on bail on June 12, 2014, saying he posed a threat to national security.
BANGKOK — Kittithat Sumalnop became a post child for the pro-democracy movement and won the nickname “Champ 1984” when he was famously arrested one month after the coup for eating a sandwich and reading Orwell.
On Monday, he received news that elated him: The junta would no longer send civilian cases such as his before military tribunals. Then he got a call from his lawyer saying sorry, it doesn’t apply to you.
“No one should have been charged to begin with,” he said Thursday.
Though Kittithat says he doesn’t want the junta’s illegitimate powers used to do so, he’s among several pro-democracy activists facing military trials who said their cases should be returned to civilian justice now that the junta has ended the practice.
Rangsiman Rome of the New Democracy Movement said he’s among those unconvinced by the rationale that though the practice has been suspended, it would be too complicated to apply it to their cases.
“Transferring my cases to the court of justice would have been very simple,” Rangsiman said.
He faces multiple counts including sedition, violating a ban on political gatherings, and violating a law which criminalized virtually any campaigning in the run-up to last month’s charter referendum.
Rangsiman, despite being held in pre-trial detention for 12 days, said his cases are still with the Attorney General.
“If they wanted to transfer it, they could definitely do that. It may be a little inconvenient, but nothing compared to how civilians would benefit. No civilians should have been put on military trial to begin with,” said 24-year-old Rangsiman, a graduate law student at Thammasat University.
Sombat Boonngam-anong, charged with calling for the overthrow of the junta, which calls itself the National Council for Peace and Order, said the junta should even go further by dismissing all sentences and charges for politically related crimes.
While welcoming the news that no more civilians will be tried by the military, Sombat said the junta cannot whitewash its human rights violations as approximately 1,500 cases have already gone for military prosecution since the 2014 coup. That includes his cases: Sombat is charged with sedition and violating the Computer Crime Act for calling on people to oppose the coup.
On Monday, the junta announced it would revoke ordersunder which civilians accused of crimes deemed matters of national security – including insulting the monarchy – would be tried by the military, where defendants have much fewer rights than in civilian courts.
It said conditions had improved in Thailand since it seized power and that the public was now “cooperating” with its agenda.
The activists read in the decision the coup makers’ confidence in their hold on power and a desire to play to court of world opinion.
Sombat thinks the junta wants to reduce pressure from the international community. He also suspects such cases were inundating and overwhelming military judges.
Rangsiman cited a number of factors he believes were at play, including a less insecure regime confident in its grip on power after the public last month approved the constitution it had backed.
“If they think they cannot deal with internal [resistance], they won’t end the practice even if there are pressures from abroad,” Rangsiman said.
Kittithat agreed international pressure was a factor.
The junta thinks there will be no problem now, and those who still defy it can still be arrested and released later,” the 34 year old said. “They may also think all the big figures are already facing military courts. I don’t know which factors are more important, however.”
Kittihat said despite his travails, he would not be comfortable with junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha transferring his and 500 other civilian cases to civilian courts because he refuses to recognize the retired general’s authority. He would rather see the junta-appointed legislature pass a general amnesty bill absolving all those politically charged under the junta.
Rangsiman said he wouldn’t go asking.
“I won’t be making demands of the NCPO, because the NCPO has no legitimacy,” said the activist, who faces up to 10 years in prison for campaigning against the charter. “I insist that the NCPO illegally seized power, and we cannot ask people who have violated the law to rectify the matter.”
At top, a rendering of the proposed Viman Phra In (Paradise of Indra) as presented by the Chao Phraya boardwalk design team. At bottom, a rendered image of Crystal Island as designed by British architect Norman Foster.
BANGKOK — The architectural team behind an already controversial riverside redevelopment project announced Wednesday it would withdraw a design critics said was copied from a famous international architect.
Though it steadfastly denied copying the design of a massive project designed by Norman Foster for Moscow, the project’s design team said it killed the proposed Viman Phra In (Paradise of Indra) structure due to “public doubts.”
“To be honest, we just saw the work in Russia and Japan for the first time,” said spokeswoman Antika Sawadsri, referring to a monument in Nagoya, Japan, others said their design resembled. “But no matter what reason we say, people still think that we copied the design, so we decided not to continue with it.”
Watchara Chongsuwat, the principal at architectural firm A-Seven, earlier questioned why Foster wasn’t blamed for copying the building style from Thailand.
The firm was contracted by King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang and Khon Kaen University as part of a sprawling project to redevelop land on both sides of the Chao Phraya River for seven kilometers. Its design was prepared as part of a brief feasibility and design phase said to cost 120 million baht.
Despite the setback, Antika said a new proposal would be prepared to somehow meet the original deadline in nine days on Sept. 26.
On Sunday a group opposed to the project pointed out striking similarities between A-Seven’s design and that of Foster and Partners for the Crystal Island in Moscow, which has yet to be built. On Monday famed architect Duangrit Bunnag called for legal proceedings against A-Seven, saying it was a violation of architectural principles and possibly the practice’s by-laws in Thailand.
The head of the project denied repeatedly they are copycats and said critics were being “disrespectful.”
“I insist that we did this for the country, not for our personal benefit. And I insist that we didn’t plagiarize. We didn’t plagiarize,” said Sakul Hovanotayan of King Mongkut’s. “What will happen from this project is not useful only for people in our generation, but it’ll be also passed on to the next ones. So you have to reduce your biased opinions and be respectful.”
Duangrit, who brought attention to it Monday, thanked the university-led design team for killing the plan. He remains deeply opposed to the redevelopment project which the junta has hurried to push through since announcing it.
“What society has to ask is, what is the necessity and the reasons behind this megacity project, and whether we really want it” Duangrit wrote. “What would we choose between: a beautiful riverside walkway or less crowded roads, no floods and better education?”
Investigators canvas the scene after the 17-Aug bombing of Bangkok's Erawan Shrine.
BANGKOK — One of Thailand’s biggest criminal trials remains on hold after a military court turned down an organization’s offer to use a professional translator, and another prisoner recruited for the job only spoke Uzbek.
The military tribunal trying two Uighur men for last year’s bombing of the Erawan Shrine on Thursday rejected an interpreter offered by an organization in Europe to translate testimony for the pair accused of orchestrating the attack which killed 20 people.
“The prosecutor said the interpreter was sent from an organization which has a problem involving national security,” said defense lawyer Schoochart Kanpai. “We respect and agree with the court’s decision.”
The court did not elaborate on its decision to not accept the offer from the Munich-based World Uyghur Congress. The generally accepted motive for the August 2015 bombing was revenge for Thailand’s forcible repatriation of more than 100 Uighurs to China under pressure from Beijing. Chinese state media has described the World Uyghur Congress as a terrorist organization.
Instead, it brought into the chamber a woman wearing a shirt that said “Detainee” to do the job. The woman, who was already in custody on immigration charges, is Uzbek and could not speak Uighur.
“An earlier report said this interpreter was able to speak Uighur,” Schoochart said. “It turned out today she only speaks Uzbek, so the defendants cannot understand.”
That means the trial, which was paused after losing a previous volunteer translator in June, cannot resume. At the previous hearing on Aug. 23, Schoochart told the court the World Uyghur Congress in Germany had offered to dispatch the Uighur translator at its cost if the judges approved.
The case has been delayed since amateur, volunteer interpreter Sirojdolin Bakhodirov was arrested on drug-related charges and went into hiding. He had been translating between English and Uighur for the two suspects since they were arrested in September 2015.
The Uzbek woman and defendants today explained to the court that though Uzbek and Uighur are both Turkic languages, they are not the same.
Thursday’s hearing was to hear from the first witness, a high-profile officer from the circuitous investigation into the attack: English interpreter Lt. Col. Thuaythep David Wiboonsilp. His testimony was rescheduled to begin Oct.13.
Thuayhtep once helped translate into English for the defendants, who speak little of the language. As Thuayhtep will now be testifying against them, the court appointed a new English interpreter, Uraiwan Dumrongsunan, for the defendants.
Schoochart today said his client, Adem Karadag, is okay with being held on the same military base where he earlier alleged that he was tortured after his arrest.
The hearing today did not end with a concrete solution, though Schoochart said from now on he would leave it to the court to find an interpreter of its choice.
The exterior of the French Ambassador Residence. Photo: Embassy of France in Bangkok, Thailand / Courtesy
BANGKOK — Tour a century-old timber building on Rue de Brest – aka Soi Charoen Krung 36 – Sunday, that technically sits on French soil.
Once a year, the French Ambassador’s Residence in Thailand opens to the public to explore the early-19th century building to celebrate European Heritage Day. It will open its doors to the public for the 33rd year running to check out its unique colonial style designed by a now-forgotten Italian architect.
Tours of the former three-story customs house located along the the Chao Phraya River start on the ground floor where a grand kitchen is located. Walk up to the second floor to find the living room, reading room, workroom and elegant wooden dining room. The third floor bedroom of Amb. Gilles Garachon, unfortunately, will be off limits.
Photographs and films about its construction and the 160th anniversary of French-Thai diplomatic relations will be shown, while the work such as “La Forêt” by contemporary artist Jacques Vieille will show nearby at the embassy.
Guided tours of the residence are available and limited to 20 people per round. French-language tours are at 10:30am, 11:30am, 2pm and 3pm. For tours in Thai, be ready at 10:40am, 11:40am, 2:10pm and 3:10pm. Only speak English? Try 10:50am, 11:50am, 2:20pm and 3:20pm.
Feel free to explore the residence from 10am to 4pm on Sunday. The residence, located near the French Embassy, on Rue de Brest, better known as Soi Charoen Krung 36, can be reached by taxi or motorcycle taxi from BTS Saphan Taksin.
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The living room of the French Ambassador’s Residence. Photo: Embassy of France in Bangkok, Thailand / Courtesy
The grand wooden dining room of the French Ambassador’s Residence. Photo: Embassy of France in Bangkok, Thailand / Courtesy
The view of Chao Phraya River from the French Ambassador’s Residence. Photo: Embassy of France in Bangkok, Thailand / Courtesy
The French Ambassador’s Residence in 1866. Photo: Embassy of France in Bangkok, Thailand / Courtesy
The French Ambassador’s Residence in 1966. Photo: Embassy of France in Bangkok, Thailand / Courtesy
The exterior of the French Ambassador Residence. Photo: Embassy of France in Bangkok, Thailand / Courtesy
Police investigators examine the Gili Cat 2 boat on Thursday following an explosion while it was enroute to nearby island of Lombok, at Padangbai Port in Karangasem, Bali, Indonesia. Photo: Associated Press
BALI, Indonesia — Two foreign tourists were killed and about 20 other people were injured in an explosion Thursday on a speedboat that was ferrying them from the Indonesian tourist island of Bali to neighboring Lombok, police said.
Karangasem district police chief Sugeng Sudarso said the “Gili Cat 2” fast boat had about 40 people including crew on board. He said all the passengers have been evacuated and the injured are being treated on the island.
He said the dead are an Austrian woman and a woman of European nationality who police initially said was German.
Police have not yet determined the cause of the explosion, but a member of the forensics team investigating the scene said initial indications are it was an accident. The officer didn’t want to be named because he is not an official police spokesman.
Sudarso said the explosion occurred after smoke was seen billowing from an engine.
Ferry accidents are common in Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago made up of thousands of islands where regulation of boat services is often lax.
Sudarso said the explosion, which occurred when the boat was about 200 meters (220 yards) from the port of departure, shattered its rear windows and upended seating.
“We are still questioning the boat captain while a forensic team is examining the scene to find of cause of the explosion,” he said.
“One of the passengers died from bad injuries after being hit by boat debris that also caused injuries to others,” Sudarso said.
A manifest showed that passengers were from several countries including Britain, France, Italy, Portugal, Ireland and Spain.
Bali became a byword for tragedy in 2002 when bombings by Jemaah Islamiyah militants killed 202 people, mostly foreigners.
A sustained security crackdown since then has weakened JI but counter-terrorism officials say there is still a threat of attacks from militants inspired by the Islamic State group.
Rock singer Meat Loaf in 2010 on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange before ringing the opening bell. Photo: Richard Drew / Associated Press
LONDON, England — Meat Loaf made headlines when he collapsed on tour, something which surprised him more than the actual fall.
That was June and the international interest still astounds him.
“What floored me was the fact that it literally went around the world,” he says.
“I did an interview with a woman from Japan and that was her first question. Then I did an interview with someone from Thailand and that was their first question. I finally said, ‘There’s a lot more to report about in the world than me falling down on the stage in Edmonton.'”
The reason for the fall, he says, was dehydration.
“We don’t have the kind of show where we play a song, the singer goes back and gets a drink of water or whatever. The music never stops and so I have very little chance to get back.”
His new album “Braver Than We Are,” out on Friday in the U.S. and released last week in Europe, features old and new songs written by Jim Steinman. It’s the latest collaboration from the partnership which started over 40 years ago and includes 1977’s “Bat Out Of Hell” and “Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell” (1993).
In an interview with The Associated Press,Meat Loaftalked about the legacy of the “Bat” albums and the collapse.
On the collapse
“It was dehydration. That’s all it was. … I don’t remember being scared. … I kind of woke up on stage, but I don’t remember what was going on.”
On what would happen if he died on stage
“I have a plan if I die. The band plays, ‘When the Saints Go Marching In,’ and then they all get off their instruments and they lead the audience in a song, ‘Take Me Out To The Ball Game.’ And if it was too morbid to leave me on the stage, take me off the stage and still do the same thing.”
On the “Bat Out of Hell” musical
“That has been Jim Steinman’s dream, before he met me. And that’s what ‘Who Needs The Young’ (opening album track) was written for. Every song that Jim Steinman has ever written has been for this musical. I won’t give anything away but I’m just happy that my friend and someone who I love dearly and have worked with for over 40 years is finally seeing his dream come true.
On the new album
“Every album I’ve ever done; get a song, record it, done — down the line. But with this one, we wanted it to be cohesive. I tried to never finalize a song so that it flowed right to the next one so it’s a very hypnotic record. It also fits in the same category as ‘Bat Out Of Hell’ — nothing like ‘Bat Out Of Hell’ — but there is nothing else out there in the world musically like this piece of music.
On his sense of humor (and whether people get it)
“They don’t because, take a song like ‘Bat Out of Hell’ — it’s really silly. That I’m dying in the bottom of a pit in the blazing sun, torn and twisted. it’s funny. If you’re doing a comedy, you have to play that character real and the minute you go for comedy, it’s never funny. So on songs like ‘Bat,’ you have to be honest and you have to be truthful and you have to be in that moment so it works.”
On touring
“We will get this (pinched nerve in his back) taken care of and then we will sort out the tour dates.
(On tour), I’m really disciplined. After a show I try not to talk. Days off I don’t talk. I never leave my room. I stay by myself most of the time. Frances (his assistant) – her ritual is at 4 o’clock in the afternoon she comes in and checks on me, on a day off, like a nurse in an old folk’s home.” (He laughs)
Top: Watch ‘Inaccessible’ above at full 4K high-def resolution
BANGKOK — To ascend to BTS Mo Chit, one must first climb 45 steps. They might as well be a million for Manit Inpim, a wheelchair-bound activist who for years has fought for access to the popular rail service.
Twenty-one months after a landmark court decision gave the city a year to install elevators at all stations, a review by Khaosod English found that while many stations had what appear to be elevators – they don’t work.
After failing to comply with a Supreme Court order in January and asking for nine more months, the city now admits it has failed again to make good on its promise to make all stations accessible, faulting its contractor for being unable to complete the work.
Manit, one of the activists who has tracked progress and pushed for the policy, also blamed contractor Seri Construction along with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, which owns the system, and its contracted operator.
“The developer is not professional,” said Manit, who attends monthly meetings between City Hall and the contractor, Seri Construction. “And the BMA and BTS lack unity of cooperation to work.”
For its part, Seri Construction admitted the elevators won’t be available even by year’s end.
“We could make 60 percent progress by the end of September,” the manager of the project, Itthiphol Boonrak, said Sept. 7. “Probably almost 80 percent before Christmas.”
Disabled rights activist Manit Inpim, who spearheaded efforts to make the rail system accessible with Transportation for All, talks to Deputy Bangkok Gov. Amorn Kijchawengkul on Jan. 21 at BTS Phrom Phong in Bangkok.
He didn’t explain the basis for those numbers, nor could he say when it would reach 100.
City Hall said they were aware the elevators would not be ready before the extended deadline.
“The developer cannot finish the work in time,” Deputy Bangkok Gov. Amorn Kijchawengkul said in a recent interview. “They can only work four hours a day – after midnight to 4am, when the BTS is closed.”
Visits to a number of stations found some elevator shafts in varying degrees of completion. Signs posted outside of them prohibited entrance and still promised they would be usable this month.
Hollow Victory
It was a phenomenal and historic victory when disability rights group Transportation For Allprevailed against City Hall in January 2015. Ruling that access was a basic right and not a special accommodation, the Supreme Administrative Court ordered the city to install elevators and other facilities for the disabled at all of the elevated rail system’s original 23 stations. Judges gave them one year to comply.
The activists thought their 15 years of being denied the right to use Bangkok’s celebrated commuter rail line were over, eliminating their reliance on more expensive travel by taxi.
Unfinished structure for a street level elevator at BTS Ari was roped off with a sign saying it would be ready in September.
But that didn’t happen.
When the year was up this past January, the BMA admitted its failure, apologized and promised to complete it by September. The activists said they would be reasonable and wait nine more months.
Design-Limited
Recent extensions have stations with elevators, though they are not automatic and require a staff member to respond to a request.
Of the original 23 Skytrain stations that opened in 1999 – Mo Chit to On Nut on the Sukhumvit Line and National Stadium to Saphan Taksin on the Silom Line – elevators were later added to five: Siam, Asoke, Mo Chit, On Nut and Chong Nonsi.
Unfinished installation of a street-level elevator at BTS Ari as seen Sept. 7.
The activists say it hardly helps. Some have bells they’re required to ring in hope a staff member responds to their need for the elevator.
At BTS Siam, passengers were observed calling and using the elevator successfully. On Tuesday, a reporter found the elevator open and usable from street level at BTS Mo Chit. To get back down, security guards had to unlock the doors to use elevators down from the platform and concourse levels. Some activists say having to depend on staff doesn’t always work.
When staff are attentive, they are helpful and professional. A reporter traveling alone on crutches Wednesday was escorted up escalators at BTS National Stadium, and a staff member was waiting when he stepped onto the platform at BTS Asoke to lead him to the elevator there.
Up on the platforms, the trains pose their own limitations. Only the first car of each can accommodate a wheelchair.
Under the 2015 ruling, three elevators were to be installed at each BTS station: one connecting street to concourse level and two from there to each side of the platform.
Itthiphol said his company has finished street-level work, including the elevator housing and shaft, at 14 stations. He expected seven stations would have fully operational systems by the end of this month.
He said retrofitting the original, late 1990s infrastructure with elevators is problematic.
“I admit it is very difficult to add the elevators years after the BTS was built without a plan for it,” said the project manager.
The developer also acknowledged that only having one elevator at the street level for stations with typically four exits is not optimal.
Disabled citizens who filed lawsuit against BTS gather to hear the verdict at the Supreme Administrative Court, Jan. 21, 2015.
People on the wrong side of the street will have to cross the road to reach the elevator – something that can pose a serious challenge in itself at some stations.
The activists said they have been consulted on occasion.
In July, they were invited to test the first set of elevators being installed at five stations.
“And when we tested, we found some problems needed to be fixed,” Manit said.
Among those stations was BTS Phrom Phong, which the city promised in January would be one of the first finished – by April. It remains unavailable today. On a recent visit, two elevator shafts in the station were unfinished.
The elevator shafts inside BTS Phrom Phong station leading to both sides of the platforms are still under construction despite the promise that it will be completed in April.
Sign of Things to Come?
‘Filing for compensation is the last option we want to consider’
At the most recent monthly joint meeting to discuss the project, Manit said no one from the city told him of the delay.
“I know that BMA submitted a letter to the court about the delay, but they have not yet informed us,” he said.
Rather than return to court, they’d hoped the power of the court order would see it done.
“Filing for compensation is the last option we want to consider,” he said.
Amorn said City Hall is trying to negotiate with its operator for the system to let work crews work longer than four hours per day. He said the activists would be informed once an agreement was reached.
He said BMA will also consider seeking financial compensation from Seri Construction.
According to a lawyer with the Law Reform Commission of Thailand, the burden is on the activists, who prevailed in their lawsuit, to notify the court that City Hall failed to satisfy the order.
Apichart Pongsawat said the court would then pursue legal remedy such as fining City Hall daily until it completes the construction.
Activists worry that today’s disappointment will be tomorrow’s disaster.
Beyond demonstrating a failure in legal measures, they say the inaccessibility of the BTS provides a glimpse of how the city’s ambitious rail network will look like when 10 more commuter extensions are completed
By then, Thailand will have an older population which will face the same challenges in a rail service they say was never truly built for everyone – not the disabled and not senior citizens.
“The rail system will then become a disaster for the country,” Manit said.
