It’s nice to have our sidewalks back

Having successfully cleared downtown Bangkok sidewalks of cluttering and potentially dangerous kerbside vendors’ stalls, the city authorities have now redirected their aim at the motorcyclists whose use of pedestrian footpaths poses a danger that’s far from merely potential.
Notices have been posted around several neighbourhoods warning that bikers who use sidewalks as shortcuts face fines of up to Bt5,000. The same holds for motorists who park along footpaths in a way that obstructs pedestrians. The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s City Law Enforcement Department reminds them that they’re violating the City Cleanliness and Orderliness Act of 1992, which prohibits parking or driving any wheeled vehicle on the pavements.
This is of course most welcome news for pedestrians – and also for bicyclists who, for lack of designated bike lanes along our seriously congested roads, also use the sidewalks regularly. Parents will be relieved that their children no longer face the same risk of being struck by a motorcycle while they play on the pavement, walk to and from school or emerge from roadside buildings without first looking both ways.
There will be no sympathy for motorcyclists who believe congested traffic lanes give them the licence to drive along sidewalks. We hope the days have ended when bikers jump the kerb to avoid having to make U-turns or otherwise save time. The laws governing use of public spaces should not bend at their convenience. Bangkok has for far too long been held up to ridicule among visitors shocked at the hazard posed to public safety. And yet consider the date of the law cited on the BMA notices being posted. That legislation has been around for more than 20 years. What’s been absent all that time is conscientious enforcement of the law.
Sceptics fear the city’s willpower might quickly falter and the status quo will soon return, but there are ways to capitalise on this solid start. The metal lanyards placed at either end of sidewalk segments have been effective in blocking motorcycles while at the same time being wide enough to roll a wheelchair through. In some areas, though, that space is too wide and bikers have no problem squeezing between the poles.
Meanwhile, now that the city has ordered vendors’ stalls off the sidewalks and large sections of downtown are friendlier to pedestrians, roadside businesspeople continue to display their wares on the pavements outside their shops, using public space as private domain. Elsewhere vehicles that are waiting to be repaired sprawl across sidewalks. On pedestrian paths as in traffic lanes, the inevitable result is an aggravating, possibly risky bottleneck in the flow of daily life and a knock-on effect further up the thoroughfare. Clearly the authorities will have to get tough with business owners as well when they’re found to be violating the same law as motorcyclists skimming along sidewalks.
These are not mere quibbles, as some might argue. There is an attitude too prevalent in our society that the violations discussed here are “petty offences” unworthy of prosecuting, let alone punishing. It’s common to see offenders taking it as personal affront when they’re reprimanded. They might be fully aware that what they’re doing is wrong, but they see no reason to stop doing it and they’re quite prepared to continue.
Too often we hear people claiming the “right” to do this or do that when they haven’t in the slightest considered that their actions might be treading on the genuine rights of others. To those who remain unaware of their duty under the law and the need to respect the rights of others, the authorities will have to demonstrate that these are not “petty” matters.