Efforts to overhaul Bangkok’s Khlong Saen Saep must continue, if it is to fulfil its potential as a key part of Bangkok’s transportation system.
A version of this article appeared on the Bangkok Coconuts News Website in March 2016 and can be found here.
Following the recent disaster, where an engine on a commuter boat on Bangkok’s Saen Saep canal exploded injuring 60 people, the Marine Department’s director general stated that the boats should run on diesel only (instead of a mixture of LNG and diesel:- the money-saving measure that caused the explosion). Boat operator, Family Transport, has posted signs at each jetty reassuring passengers that LNG is no longer used. They have also increased the price of the tickets by 1 Baht per stop. A fact which may link with the higher cost of purchasing diesel compared to LNG.
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| Commuter Boats on Khlong Saen Saep. |
Passengers still see the service as value for money, and many, for instance psychology student Toffee (20), embarking at Prasamit Pier near Asoke, were happy to pay the increase in exchange for safer fuel. The move has also comforted commuters like Arm, a recruitment consultant, who uses the service every day between Asoke and Bangkapi. ‘After the explosion, I was worried about using the boat, but feel happier now the fuel has changed,’ she explained while waiting for her ride home. Safety upgrades must continue, as people really do rely on this service.
Time to Re-Discover Khlong Saen Saep?
Expansion of Bangkok’s Transport System continues with the opening of the Purple Line Skytrain later this year, and more lines in the construction and planning stages. Perhaps the express boat simply doesn’t measure up to the smooth air-conditioned convenience of Skytrains and metros: the Khlong experience is noisy, smelly, and potentially dangerous. Even so, similar to Bangkok’s rail-based services, the boats bypass the dreadful traffic, and are fast. The express boats should not be forgotten as an important part of the city’s developing transport infrastructure.
A fleet of 100 boats whisks between 60 000 and 100 000 passengers per day, between Pan Fa Leelard and Bangkapi. The principle reason for this popularity seems to be its speed compared to the roads. When asked why he used the service, Dental Public Health lecturer Kittithach commented, ‘It’s simply faster than taking the car.’ Locals repeated similar answers time and again.
This is not lost on visitors either. Honeymooning backpackers Guillaume and Catherine read online that Khlong Saen Saep is the fastest way to get across town, and were intrigued by the juxtaposition of gleaming high-rise buildings and traditional older ways of life, they expected to see along the way. The brave couple negotiated the evening rush hour with two enormous rucksacks, but would be rewarded with fascinating insights into hidden city life.
Retiree, Bettahar, a 72 year old French-Muslim woman, travelling alone, was also positive about using the Khlong. She loved the busy atmosphere and felt safer using it than being by herself in a taxi. Having visited Thailand alternate years for 14 years, she thought the service was now more popular than ever. As she said goodbye, it was heartwarming to see her being helped into the rocking, crowded boat by fellow commuters and concerned boat staff.
Undiscovered History
The express boat only serves part of the 90 km man-made canal, built between 1837 and 1840, in the time of Rama III. Once filled with lotus plants, the Khlong was dug by Chinese and Laotian workers to move troops and weapons towards Cambodia during Siam’s conflict with Anman (modern-day Vietnam). The name ‘Saen Saep’ stems from the ‘100 000 stings’ experienced by the workers as they toiled in mosquito-ridden conditions.
Trade boomed along the canal in the early twentieth century, when the Khlong became infamous for its astonishing floating brothels. These, each containing a girl lolling on cushions and soliciting passers by, had curtains to ensure privacy and were paddled by discreet boatmen. Business was arranged under bridges and concentrated around Pratunam. Poet Chitr Phoumisak, in his poem ‘Fishiness in the Night’, vividly describes how Khlong Saen Saep was ‘wincing from the madness of lust, suffocating from its fishy smells.’ The canal’s floating sex trade was abolished by the 1960s.
Environmental Clean-Up
Today, the canal is infamous for its not-so-fishy but seriously polluted waters. The honeymooning backpackers had certainly noticed the pollution, but seemed accepting of it as part of the Bangkok experience. As they speed along, passengers cover their eyes and clutch the plastic sheeting along the sides of the boats to shield themselves from the filthy splash-back. For Jay, an economics student, who uses the boat to get to class, improving the water quality is a real priority.
Canal user, Tara Buakamsri, who also happens to be the Director of environmental campaign group Greenpeace in Thailand, explained that the polluted waters are mainly caused by untreated sewage free flowing from households along the Khlong. He added that, while they make up a smaller proportion of the pollutants entering the water, industrial toxins are released from factories along the banks, and can be potentially much more harmful than the human waste.
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| Water swishing and swirling as viewed from the back of a Bangkok Express Boat |
Fortunately, last year, the government ordered a clean-up, promising 6.8 billion Baht to tackle the problems caused by businesses and homes’ discharging of untreated waste water, as well as to landscape the banks, build cycle lanes and install CCTV. Student Jay (20) hopes authorities will focus on the causes pollution in the first place; people living and working along the banks must be educated about keeping the water clean.
Khun Tara of Greenpeace agrees, adding that the problem is deeper still: “Thailand has some of the best laws protecting waterways in South East Asia, but these need to be enforced.” He explained that although the law includes the famed ‘polluter pays’ principle, it remains hard to identify who the polluters actually are. He believes that building regulations about where to pump untreated sewage must also be followed. Khun Tara hopes that the government money will be spent on educating communities about looking after the Khlong and empowering them to speak out when environmental laws are violated.
The Khlong’s pollution problems are big and complex to solve. However improvement-work, especially in terms of safety, has started; many jetties have been upgraded, have cameras in place, have staff stationed on them in busy periods, and are wider to cope with the crowds. The bilingual signage along the route is much improved. It’s possible to walk, jog or cycle along much of the tow-path, and boxes of flowering plants are appearing along the route. A clean-up boat also has been spotted scooping up larger debris. All of which will add up to making the Khlong an increasingly pleasant place to be.
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| A clean-up boat scooping up larger debris. |
Practicalities
The Khlong route is split into the Golden Mount Line and the Nida Line; the interchange is at Pratunam where tickets, costing no more than 20 Baht, are checked again. The service starts early (5.30 am) and continues until 8.30 pm (7.00 pm on weekends). It covers a range of useful destinations and is definitely the fastest way to the Khao San Road area (Banglampoo) from locations along Sukhumvit. (En route, try visiting the Golden Mount Temple at Pan Fa Leelard).
It’s possible to connect with Petchaburi MRT Station and the Airport link at the Asoke-Petchaburi Pier, and it’s a short walk to National Stadium BTS via the Jim Thompson house from Sapan Hua Chang Pier. Central World and Siam are within easy reach of Pratunam Pier. Ratchathewi, Nana, RCA, Thong Lor, and Ekamai are also accessible. Check out the Klong Sean Saep website for more route planning.
A Canal for the 21st Century?
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| Pleasant vegetation lines much of the canal. |
If the environmental upgrade continues, Khlong Saen Saep could become a valuable green asset for local communities to be proud of. Looking further ahead, as Greenpeace points out: climate change is set to cause sea levels to rise, making the Khlong and similar waterways vital in managing water levels in low-lying Bangkok. A serious reason for safeguarding the canal for the future.
In terms of public transport, hopefully the service can remain popular as a fast and cheap way to bypass the gridlock. While avoiding dramatic ticket price hikes, investment in more modern boats and more serious consideration of general safety is essential. Headline grabbing new skytrain routes are definitely needed, but the waterways from Bangkok’s past also have a role to play in getting and keeping this city moving.
Sources:
Bangkok: A Cultural History by Maryvelma O’Neil
Bangkok by William Warren
