Parks:DusitZoo move nixed

[The Enforcer!]

Hey Guys,

Crawling along Ratchadapsiek Road this afternoon and saw a lovely concrete slab sign constructed to the edge of Lake Rajada, it read (I think) 'Suan Sirikit'.

Is this for when/if the Thai Tobacco Monopoly is closed or (as my driver joked) when they fill the lake in?

The Enforcer!

[Wisarut]

Khun Reinforcer,

The park you mentioned at Lake Ratchada is ACUALLY
"Suan benja Kitti" at Thai Tobacco Monopoly Area.

Thai Tobacco Monopoly (Rong Ngan Yasoob) is still in business though since they just donate the 430-Rai of land around Lake
Ratchada, even thoug they have to move all the tobacco factories to other provinces such as Nongkhai or Phetchabun after getting the cabinate resolution in 2000.

Army Region 1 has deveopped the land into the park started in 2003.

The map of the whole Suan beja Kitti will be shown as follows:
http://www.rta.mi.th/21020u/Subdirectory/Benjakiti/S_Benjakiti/Benjakiti2/LargeBenjakiti2/Pic/1.jpg

The first section will look like this

http://www.rta.mi.th/21020u/Subdirectory/Benjakiti/LargeBenjakiti/Pic/Map.jpg

The actual Lake Ratchada
http://www.rta.mi.th/21020u/Subdirectory/Benjakiti/LargeBenjakiti/Pic/4.jpg

[The Enforcer!]

Dear Khun Wisarut,

Many thanks - next time I will not rely on my driver to translate!

Do we have timescales for this?

The Enforcer!

[Hitesh]

Thanks khun Wisarut. Its nice to finally see a map of the park.
Its a shame they are leaving the lake as an artificial rectangle but nonetheless I am sure it will be a wonderful asset to Bangkok once it is open.

[Pas]

I like the plan for the park. Bkk deserves more quality open space like this ;)

[The Enforcer!]

Wouldn't it be great if, when the Phase 1 and Phase 2 are complete that more walkways are built over Th. Dunag Phitak and the Chalerm Mahanakhon expressway so that one can walk from Suan Lumpini through to Suan Benja Kitti via Suan Lum!!

The Enforcer!

[Kiku99]

this is a great plan. Bangkok deserves to have nice parks. and we really need them:)

[Wisarut]

There is an elevated bicycle lane from Wireless Road (near Soi Lang Suan) to Thai Tobacco Monopoly via The Redemption Church (Catholic church with Thai style building) and Expressway. Too bad it seems to be abandoned except I could see the local people use as the walking way though ....

[admin]

I've seen that before, but didn't realize it was for bikes. Can you ride your bike up there? I think you'd have to carry the bike up the stairs first...

[Wisarut]

I've NEVER tried doing so ... but I guess that those Thaio bikers would have tried doing such a ting.

[Hitesh]

I used to ride my bike along that track. Yes Ron you're right you do have to carry your bike up the stairs but its actually a lot easier than it seems because there is a ramp (for pushing your bike, I would not recommend anyone try to ride up the ramp).
The scenery from the track is amazing. Its really quiet you'd never guess you were in central Bangkok, until you have to cross the expressway that is.

There aren't a lot of people biking along it though. The protion of the track in between the expressway and wireless road is used by residents of that area however. Mostly kids playing football and playing games.

[Nekochan]

I think the land where Thai Tobacco Monopoly is situated belongs to the Crown Property Bureau. I heard the Tobacco Monoploy may move out one day and the land would be developed for commercial use.

New park!! I don't know so, but I can say we are facing a situation that everything can be turned into .... money!!

What happened to the old Chulachomklao Military Academic? Now it is a BAR BEER (in Thai) or Nite Bazar.

LTP (Sor Jor Ror = The Office of Transport Policies and Planning, I think I am not mistaken) has a plan to connect Ratchada - Sarasin with an elevated 4 lane flyover. It means the bikeway has got to go. (same alignment)

This is what I say "Pak Wa Ta Ka Yip" in Thai. Solving traffic gridlock by building roads and roads does not make any sense. It encourages more car sales and people will drive. Only people in vehicle manufaturing and patrol business will gain benefits. (smell something fishy now?)

I could (might) only hope that Thai public will have such ... awareness just like Lad Prao residents. No more "not my business stuff".

[Wisarut]

Khun Neko Chan,

I think most of Bangkokians who suffer from Expressway - either as thsoe who have their housed demolished or those who stuck in the expressway traffic jam and horrendous expressway tikcet prices if they go out to other system have been awared what you have SAID very well ....

Only who who contractors who get the benefit form suhc construction alogn with the operators (e.g. Ch Karnchang) whco
are virtually monopolize Expressway without even privatization
as well as those who get more benefit from automobile selling
as you have said would LOVE ewxpressway ...

If you go to Mthai webboard (http://www.mthai.com), you'll see lots of voices AGINAT excpressway have grow loder and louder ....
Same can be said to the controversial Laem Phak Bia expressway
which those who live in mae Klong and Phetburi go AGINST the project -> at the point of revolting -> expect TRT candidate to be trashed in the next lection in Lad Phrao area, mae Klogn and Phetburi .... if TRT still insists on these controversial projects ...

[The Enforcer!]

Now it is open - has anyone taken any pictures?

Do we have an update on timrescale for extension over all TTM land?

The Enforcer!

[Yappofloyd]

Two quick queries;

When is Phase 2 of the TTM parkland due to be a reality? Not a for a few years I assume.

Also, didn't that sledge-hammer wielding, Khun Chuwit make a promise last year that his land (where the sledge hammer was put to much use)on Sukhumwvit adjacent soi 12 would be developed into a park PRE election?

Or was it just a promise to erect a big wrap around bill board of himself with parkland painted?

[The Enforcer!]

Two quick queries;

When is Phase 2 of the TTM parkland due to be a reality? Not a for a few years I assume.

Also, didn't that sledge-hammer wielding, Khun Chuwit make a promise last year that his land (where the sledge hammer was put to much use)on Sukhumwvit adjacent soi 12 would be developed into a park PRE election?

Or was it just a promise to erect a big wrap around bill board of himself with parkland painted?
Last time I looked it was bare land with a car parked on it ... does that constitute Park-Land?

The Enforcer!

[Yappofloyd]

Two quick queries;

When is Phase 2 of the TTM parkland due to be a reality? Not a for a few years I assume.

No answer on this one from anyone so I found out myself.......

The original decision to convert the all 430 rai of the TTM land was made by cabinet in Dec 2001. (What a great decision!!!! :) I imagine many developers were originally seeing big profits for this land..... ) The Thai army developed the first 130 rai (cost 330m baht) into what is now Suan Benjakitti Water Park.

The 2nd Phase is due to be turned into a "forest park" in 2008 when TTM moves and all buildings demolished, although two building including a small 'hospital' will remain. (Source: Bangkok Post, 18/11/04)

Refer to the link posted by Khun Wisarut at the start of this thread for the park plan.

So hopefully by 2008/9 there will be a huge urban forest in inner bangkok for all of us to cleanse our lungs! :)

[The Enforcer!]

I recall our new Governor, Apirak, announcing ten new public Parks in Bangkok.

I can see what looks like a new one at Sukhumvit Soi 10.

Is there a list or website for these parks?

The Enforcer!

[GWR]

This was recently mooted as part of HM the King's 80th Birthday celebrations and plans to renovate the vicinity of the Royal Palace. The Zoo's director obviously feels all his hard work to make the zoo a more educational experience has come to nought. There are plans to make it into a park. Would it be too churlish to point out that it already is a park: -

Dusit Zoo may have to move says government minister

The government is toying with an idea to relocate Dusit Zoo in Bangkok's Dusit district to the suburbs.

"We've have some discussions on this issue because we believe the current location is too limited in size for the zoo," Natural Resources and Environment Minister Kasem Sanidwong na Ayudhaya said yesterday.

PM's Office Minister Khunying Dhipavadee Meksawan has suggested the lush compound of the zoo could be used as a public park.

However, the idea has caught Sophon Damnui, who heads Zoological Park Organisation under Royal Patronage, off guard.

"I am nonplussed. I have never heard about this idea before," he said.

He said his organisation had developed the Dusit Zoo's landscape considerably during the past four years in a bid to make the zoo a true learning centre for children and adults alike.

"We have recently obtained a Bt12million budget to build a zoo museum in the compound and create a fountain so that children can play," Sophon said, while conceding he would not be able to oppose government policy.

"If the government insists on the relocation, I can do nothing except encourage children to visit the Dusit Zoo now before this legend is gone," Sophon said.

He said he personally believed the zoo had the potential to be of service for a long time at its current location.

The Nation



http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/02/19/headlines/headlines_30027273.php

[ncr]

No, no, no!

Bangkok's zoo is at Khao Din. Period. Why the need to come up with such half-baked ideas? Nothing more important to do, eh? :mad:

[Sunthorn]

I'm not sure I understand this? Today is the day after the New Year. Where's Khao Din? Do you perhaps mean Khao Yai? :)

[ncr]

No, I did not mean Khao Yai. :)

Khao Din is the popular moniker for the Dusit Zoo. (Derived from an earthen mound roughly in the center of the park-like compound.) All Bangkokians will usually call their zoo by this name (as opposed to the formal Suan Sat Dusit). So, what I was trying to express was that this location and associated name have a long tradition and are possibly very dear to the city's residents.

And what does this have to do with (Chinese) New Year???

[Sunthorn]

OK! The earth mound that has an airraid shelter built in it, right? I'm not a Bangkok person.

I'm not feeling that sharp after CNY. :)

[ncr]

You are right that there is a WW II air raid shelter in the zoo (also an interesting historical detail!), but that is near the eastern wall (Rama V Road). And it's not located in a mound, just half-buried in the (flat) ground.

The mound is situated quite centrally, between the lakes and canals, and covered with trees. I think there is also some stone marker or sign telling a story, but cannot really remember.

[Hitesh]

I think the land where Thai Tobacco Monopoly is situated belongs to the Crown Property Bureau. I heard the Tobacco Monoploy may move out one day and the land would be developed for commercial use.

New park!! I don't know so, but I can say we are facing a situation that everything can be turned into .... money!!


I think you may be right.
Its been s few years since this and the factory buildings are still intact.
I suppose another 2 years and people will forget about the old resolution from 2001. And we will need another Trendy Lifestyle Boutique New Concept Shopping Center by then.

[Wisarut]

Suan Sirikit park and TTM Lake (AKA Lake Ratchada) at Queen Sirikit National Convention Center :eek:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/100/256795853_8c1ee57ced_b.jpg

[admin]

Philip writes:

Funny. The only place to get some fresh air is the cigarette factory.

Nobody would deny that Bangkok has attractions of many kinds. Every
year, tens of millions of people come from all over the world to
sample the various delights on offer in this great city.
All well and good.

However, coming here for a week or two for an annual jaunt and living
here fifty-two weeks a year are two very different propositions
entirely. Bangkok, one of the very best destinations in the world for
a holiday, may very well be one of the worst places in the world to
live.

The reason is not complicated. It’s a simple lack of public space.

Imagine a place where a simple walk with the dog is impossible:
merely because city planners never saw fit to attach sidewalks to
roads, and a stroll amongst the relentless traffic is less than
appealing.

Imagine a place where the average area of parkland per person is a
tiny 7 square centimetres - less than one-fiftieth of Singapore’s 4
square metres per person, or an appalling one-hundredth of the 7.6
square metres for each Londoner.

Imagine a place where people are forced to get in their car and drive
twenty kilometres for their morning jog: for no other reason than
there is no green space within a closer radius.

If you can imagine that, you can imagine daily life in the Thai capital.

The people of Bangkok live a claustrophobic existence. Shuttling from
workplace to shopping mall to restaurant to home – with nothing in
between other than endless roads, expressways, overpasses and dual
carriageways.

For reasons historical, cultural, and purely economic, the city of
Bangkok developed in ways different to its neighbouring Asian
metropolises.

Singapore’s British founding fathers placed great importance on green
space and public gardens: likewise in Rangoon, Kuala Lumpur and Hong
Kong.

Jakarta’s Dutch founders aimed to emulate the home country’s orderly
appeal, with a large proportion of every neighbourhood given over to
public greenery.

And in formerly French Hanoi, Saigon, Phnom Penh and Vientiane, the
Gallic love of beautiful planned parks within urban environments has
even today left a legacy of elegant, liveable cities.

In Bangkok, capital of the only Asian country to remain free of
Western colonialism, hard-won independence has had its down side.

With a lack of the urban planning so beloved by the starch-shirted
Europeans of yesteryear, our city, seen from above, is little more
than a mass of grey concrete - with barely a splash of green to
relieve the monotone. The lack of verdant spaces has had a disastrous
effect on air quality, with no relief anywhere from the ubiquitous
exhaust fumes pumping out of every gridlock-trapped vehicle.

Despite the lack of planning, it’s still not too late, two hundred
and thirty years since the founding of the city, to do something
about this sorry state of affairs.

By a happy quirk of fate, there is a plot of land just perfect for a
public park, directly in the middle of the city. An area which would
provide a link between the overused Lumpini Park and the
underexploited Benjakitti green space, making enough of a critical
mass to create a true green lung for city-dwellers’ leisure and
relaxation – as well as giving real breathing space to this oxygen-
starved metropolis.

The area in question is also government owned: so there would be no
issues with land appropriation.

It’s the Thailand Tobacco Monopoly. The manufacturing facility where
all of Thailand’s cigarettes are produced.

Defined by the area bordered by Rama 4 Road, Ratchadapisek and the No
1 Expressway, this prime piece of land is to all intents and purposes
going to waste, benefiting nobody but the organisations profiting
from the sale of cigarettes.

When the Thailand Tobacco Monopoly was created, Bangkok was a very
different place: a city one tenth of its current size. There would
have seemed nothing wrong with having an industrial plant in the
middle of the city; and this was one of many factories in the area.

Now, however, every manufacturing plant has moved out of town, to
industrial estates in Chonburi or other areas.

Every one except this one.

With the attendant works traffic, and the legions of delivery trucks
entering and leaving the factory every day, the tobacco monopoly
seriously affects the quality of life of residents in the area.

But the main reason to move it out of town is to give everybody in
Bangkok an urban park worthy of the name. New York has one; Shanghai
has one; Singapore has several. If these cities can have green space
to make life worth living for their residents, we see no reason why
we in Bangkok should not enjoy something similar.

In these moral times, we never seem to hear the end of government
campaigns telling us to stop smoking for health reasons.

It would be ironic if the government decided to keep the cigarette
factory where it is, and deny us the opportunity to get some proper
oxygen in our lungs.

People of Bangkok.

[Pas]

I'm under the impression that the Tobacco Monopoly site is already earmarked for second phase expansion of Benjakitti Park.
I think Khun Wisarut posted some info on that before.

[GWR]

Dusit Zoo will not be moved out of Bangkok: Zoological Park Organization chief


The Zoological Park Organization has made a final decision not to move the Dusit Zoo out of Bangkok, the organization's director said Friday.

Sophon Damnui, director of the organization, said a committee in charge of making the decision had made a permanent resolution to keep the Dusit Zoo at its current location.

He said the committee decided to keep the Dusit Zoo as the cheapest venue for recreation and learning for youths in the capital.

The committee also found that the zoo had buildings and landscapes with historical value so it should not be moved away.

The Nation


http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/read.php?newsid=30044583

[Ahoerstemeier]

Here's a photo of that air raid shelter I did when I went there last time.

http://static2.bareka.com/photos/small/3840761/dusit-raid-shelter.jpg (http://www.panoramio.com/photo/3840761)

Anyone know what is the importance of this building? We were in a bit of a hurry to get back to the car park when we passed it, so I could note what it said on the signs - and now I cannot find the info in the web :-(
http://static3.bareka.com/photos/small/3840766/dusit-historical-building.jpg (http://www.panoramio.com/photo/3840766)

[Jromerz]

not sure what that building is either.. possibly a royal pavilion or something similar. The grounds of the zoo used to serve as Rama V's botanical gardens, then later converted. There is a tree planted over 100 years ago by a visiting Scandinavian royal a short way past the entrance facing Ananta Samakom hall, on the "Khao Din".

[Jromerz]

This is what i found from The Zoological Park Organization website:

"ในรัชสมัยของพระบาทสมเด็จพระจุลจอมเกล้าเจ้าอยู ่หัว พระองค์ทรงพระกรุณาโปรดเกล้าฯให้สร้างสวนพฤกษชาติขึ้ นในเขตของพระราชอุทยานสวนดุสิต โดยมีการนำดินมาถมสร้างเป็นเนินเขากลางน้ำด้วย ดังนั้นพระองค์จึงโปรดเรียกว่า “เขาดินวนา”..."

http://www.zoothailand.org/zpo/aboutthezoos_th.shtml


Roughly translated: During the time of King Chulalongkorn's reign he instructed the building of botanical gardens in the area of Suan Dusit park. Soil was also brought to build a small hill in the middle of water, from which His Majesty gave the name "Khao Din Wana"... [ วนา (wana) = forest ]