The Bangkok Metropolitan Council (BMC) on Sunday organised a seminar bringing together members of the BMC and executives of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) to exchange ideas and ensure seamless cooperation in working for the benefits of city people.

The forum of the legislative and administrative branches of Thailand’s capital began at Dusit Thani Hotel in Phetchaburi province on Sunday in a ceremony presided over by BMC president Wirat Meenchainan.

Wirat urged members of the BMC and executives of the BMA to exchange ideas, experiences and challenges they faced in carrying out their duties in the past year. Attendants were encouraged to find solutions to problems as well as ways to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their work in improving Bangkok by collaborating with each other.

Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt thanked the BMC for hosting the seminar, which would serve as a platform to review the operations of the BMC and the BMA in the past year for the betterment of all aspects of the city.

Chadchart said the BMA under his leadership had been focusing on problems at the community level for the whole year since he took office. These problems include flooding, blocked drainage, canals becoming too shallow, lack of lighting in public areas, and tidying up footpaths.

“We work on these problems and then coordinate with agencies responsible for bigger projects that require support from the city’s infrastructure,” he said. “This helps ensure that any big or small projects in Bangkok are carried out with a community-centric approach. We also ensure the transparency of operations by using modern technology, as well as encourage participation from all related parties to make Bangkok a liveable city for all.”

Wirat then presented BMC’s achievements in the past year in supporting the BMA implement projects under its policies, notably the setting up of a development budget at 200,000 baht per community.

“The project aims to distribute financial support at community level to promote other policies, such as the ‘1 family 1 soft power’ initiative,” he said. “With this budget, the city facilitates those who wish to improve their skills in cooking, arts, designing, and sports to generate additional income for their families.”

He added that the BMC had also helped pilot the Saturday School initiative, which aims to provide classrooms in subjects not available at any schools to those who are interested. With no requirement that attendants have to be a student of any school, the initiative is expected to promote education in alternative subjects and reduce education inequality in Bangkok.

Wirat said the BMC would continue working with the BMA on unfinished issues, including upgrading public health centres into hospitals to provide better healthcare to communities, and solve the legal disputes around the operation of the Green Line electric trains.

The seminar concluded with a joint workshop by experts from Bangkok Emergency Medical Centre (Erawan Centre) on administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation and using automated external defibrillators on emergency patients.