Gridlock City

Nearly every city in the world has traffic problems. Why is Bangkok so special?

Further information can be found at:

• http://www.wcc.govt.nz/extern/nzij/public_html/eleven/asia.html
• http://asem.inter.net.th/bangkok/index.html

Reorganise the statements below. Put them in the right order (from most important factor to least important) so they explain what factors create gridlock in Bangkok.

1. Congestion is terrible at the beginning and end of every working day.
2. Cars are affordable, but large houses and holidays abroad are not. Cars are a symbol of modernisation.
3. Bangkok does not have an effective public transport system. Most people have to drive from their homes in the suburbs to offices, shops and factories in the city centre.
4. Western cities still have serious traffic problems, but few compare with Bangkok.
5. In the last 20 or 30 years, Thailand’s economy has grown dramatically. Many Thai people have money to spend. Some of the world’s major car manufacturers build small, cheap cars for the Asian market.
6. Bangkok is an ancient city, built with people and animals in mind, not cars and lorries.
7. Many people want to live in towns, because opportunities for jobs and the lifestyle are attractive. Bangkok is by far the biggest city in Thailand.
8. Bangkok’s population has grown from 3 million to 10 million in the last 20 years.
9. Many journeys take two hours or more, so people equip their car as an office, with computer, fax, telephone and so on.
10. It has some new wide roads, but many side roads are very narrow, often just alleyways between buildings.
11. When cars became affordable in Europe and the USA, towns began to change: for example, wider streets, houses with drives and garages, factories on the outskirts, and buses, trains and trams appeared.

Activity 2

City Life

Imagine you live in Bangkok and your friends in the country are thinking of moving there. You’ve been there for five years and can see the good and the bad sides of city life. Give advice to your friends under two headings, by entering the points listed below under the correct heading in the table.

1. It’s a long journey. You’d be 200km from friends and relatives.
2. There are more attractions — entertainment, and scope for meeting new and different people — in the city.
3. The mother farms and brings up children and is also a seamstress; there is a clothing workshop near her village.
4. Many city dwellers end up unemployed and homeless, living on the streets and begging.
5. Income from farming is never very high at the best of times.
6. Established migrants to cities sometimes resent others coming because it seems to threaten their livelihood.
7. There are more job opportunities in the city, and some jobs are very well paid.
8. The farm is doing OK at the moment.
9. The husband farms but is also good at carpentry.
10. Medical and educational facilities are better in the city.

Activity 3

City Landscape in Bangkok

The video shows many scenes like the one below; they help explain why the city centre is so popular. The following website gives you further information:

http://www.wcc.govt.nz/extern/nzij/public_html/eleven/asia.html

Add the labels below to the correct places on the diagram; then try to answer the questions.

Labels

Buddhist temple — about 1780

banks and offices — about 1990

evidence of traffic congestion

evidence of tourist trade

traditional way of travelling about the old city

pollution haze

Questions

1. Why do banks like to be in the city centre?
2. Why are most ancient temples near the centre rather than in the suburbs?
3. How will most tourists get to Thailand and then to their hostel?

Click here to view the answersheet.