Mr. Chadchart Sittipunt, Governor of Bangkok welcomed Mr. Settha Thavisin, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance on the occasion of visiting Bangkok City Hall and meeting to expedite the development of Bangkok at the Rattanakosin Room, Bangkok City Hall (Sao Chingcha), Phra Nakhon District.
The Prime Minister revealed after the meeting that Bangkok is like a small Thailand. Many policies are also in line with the vision of Thailand and the government’s policies. The issue that I leave with the Governor of Bangkok is too little communication. We would like to have more communication to let people know what’s going on, for example, Bangkok announced the Work from Home (WFH) policy, causing the number of cars to decrease by 8-9% last week. If there is good coordination with the government, we will announce it together and possibly announce WFH to government agencies accordingly.
The Prime Minister discussed various problems in the Bangkok area saying that e-cigarettes are an important issue and that we must deal with them seriously because the target group is children. In the matter of imports, customs must be more stringent in inspections. Dust is an issue that must be treated fairly by Bangkok officials because the dust problem exists every year. In this regard, the problem of dust in Bangkok. Part of this is due to the use of cars at about 50%. If we can attract more people to use BTS/MRT cars, it will be good for air pollution.
The Governor of Bangkok spoke about traffic problems in Bangkok and said that solving traffic congestion is not by making more roads, but by making public transportation better. We have various electric trains such as the orange, yellow, pink, and southern purple lines, which have been continuously operated by many governments. But the problem is the Feeder system that will allow people to leave their homes and reach the electric train. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration is making efforts to build pedestrian walkways so that people can walk easily. Within 4 years, we aim to improve at least 1,700 kilometers of pedestrian walkways as First Mile/Last Mile connectivity from homes to infrastructure. In this regard, the Prime Minister spoke about the future development direction of Bangkok that he would like to see developed in Bangkok in many dimensions, including cleanliness, safety, traffic, PM2.5, and the well-being of the people. We must ensure that everyone is treated fairly, with the aim of development being to make Bangkok a good city to live in. In the past, the government and Bangkok have been in constant discussion to work together seamlessly.
