Journeying down Bangkok roads with the minister

This is the message Transport Minister Chadchart Sittipunt posted on his Facebook timeline – a comment that has, so far, won some 52,000 “likes”.

Also posted on his page are photographs of him trying out different modes of public transport: buses, trains and boats. 

Just looking at these photographs makes you feel as if you’re travelling with him. 

On Wednesday, the engineering academic-turned-minister released the result of an August 6-23 survey in which he asked Facebook users to give him feedback on the different organisations under the Transport Ministry. 

Once the survey was complete, he said, he had his team collate the comments posted and pass the issues on to relative agencies. He then summarised the complaints and got his team to create charts to demonstrate them. 

The highest proportion of complaints, 45 per cent, were directly related to the public transport services; 21 per cent to the lack of facilities; and 14 per cent were grievances about traffic congestion. 

The organisation that faced the largest number of complaints (113 or 40 per cent) was the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority, followed by the Land Transport Department with 61 (22 per cent) and the State Railways of Thailand (SRT) with 48 (17 per cent). 

Of the 113 complaints filed against the BMTA, 71 had to do with problems such as bus drivers not stopping long enough for passengers to board; impolite staff; some routes not being covered; and long distances between bus stops. Another 17 complaints were related to such problems as bad air-conditioning; old buses; and the lack of signs in the English language. Thirteen were related to speeding buses and passengers being dropped off in the middle of the road. 

The remaining complaints were related to traffic problems such as some buses stopping for far too long at bus stops, or broken-down buses obstructing the traffic further. 

Chadchart either responded to these complaints himself or got his team to do it. Also, his timeline has been featuring a lot of data about the different public transport services he has been inspecting – posts that have won both positive and negative comments. 

One of Chadchart’s comments says: “As I was inspecting the entrance of the Khun Tan tunnel, I realised that there was light at the end of the tunnel. This reminds me of the situation at the SRT. I know that if we are determined, we will pass this dark period and enter better times in the future.”

We can only hope he means what he says.