The Challenges Of Urban Planning In Bangkok (2.36)

A Bangkok city planner helps bring some clarity to the
ongoing (and confusing) development of Bangkok. But first, a very
magical (and very Thai) cure for terrorism. All of that and more on
this episode of the Bangkok Podcast.

Remember the news from a few weeks ago when
two journalists were arrested in Bangkok's airport because
they were carrying body armor? While the the arrest
captured everyone's attention, it's not the funniest part of the
story. Greg happens to be friends with one of the journalists in
question, and he related an unbelievable (unless you like in
Thailand) alternate body armor solution offered by the Royal Thai
Police. Ah, Thailand. But that's not what we're talking about
today. Bangkok is a growing city. To the untrained
eye (that's us) a lot of it looks like disorganized chaos,
unrepentant disregard for historical properties, and unchecked
sprawl -- vertically and horizontally. To get a better
perspective, we invited Tao Rugkhapan to help us out. He's a
lecturer at the School of Global Studies at Thammasat University
and he used to work for the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration
as an urban planner. He also did his PhD work on Bangkok's
preservation of Chinatown, an area of Bangkok we both
love. Kuhn Tao helps us understand some of the finer
points of Bangkok's urban development. Some of them are:



Why density is so high around current and planned transit
stations


What sort of planning cycle Bangkok uses


The problems current zoning restrictions face


The friction between private property owners and historic
preservation efforts


Why Sathorn is no longer the financial district of
Bangkok


A couple of major overhauls to Bangkok that will (again)
change the landscape


The unwavering impact of gentrification on Bangkok's
oldest communities


A look at what the future might hold for Krung
Thep



In reality, we have a wet, crowded, and likely less
historic city ahead of us. But it's not all bad news on the
Bangkok-living front. While we can't predict the future with any
accuracy, we certainly do seem to be living in interesting times,
for whatever that's worth.
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Love, Loathe, or Leave

Since the dawn of time (or at least public toilets), man
(the gender, not the species) has had but a single refuge: The
Men's Room. But that sacred ground isn't all that sacred in
Thailand, where the cleaning staff is ever present and invariably
female. Listen in to find out how we feel about this invasion of
our only private time.
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(Direct download .mp3)