Bangkok's birdwatching scene offers a different kind of Twitter.

Here's my article about the joys of urban birdwatching in Bangkok, published on Coconuts Bangkok in June 2016. (Typos in the article are not mine!) Maybe get up early and go along one morning?

Here are some photos of Bangkok's park based wildlife too:

A baby Oriental Magpie Robin waits for breakfast. 

Mother arrives with something tasty. 

An Asian Openbill 

A Little Egret 

It's not just squirrels in the parks, you can see tree shrews as well. 

A Coppersmith Barbet - One of Thailand's more common birds. 

A Black Crowned Night Heron

There are always plenty of monitor lizards. 

Khlong Saen Saep: A (Water)way to the Future?

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.  

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.  

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. 

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? 

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

Purple Line to Run From August Bangkok Post 

B6.9 bn Khlong Saen Saep clean-up plan detailed Bangkok Post 

Khlong Saen Saep Express Boat

LNG-Powered Boats Banned from Khlong Saen Seap. Bangkok Coconuts. 

Film screenings provide Thai food for thought:

A key element of sustainable living today is educating yourself about the important issues of the day.  This in mind, I’ve always been a fan of those campaign-style documentary films. Some, like Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth, work well globally.  However, with so many of these ‘stupid-white-men supersize-me’ type films originating from the U.S., I’m often left with the question of whether things are quite the same elsewhere in the world. Globalisation means that events in one community may well have affects on the other side of the globe. Therefore, in a sense, these films are relevant everywhere. But we should not ignore more local contexts which may shape the issues in unique ways. 

So, I was interested to discover that the Sasin Centre for Sustainability Management at Chulalongkorn University regularly screens ‘issues’ films accompanied by panel discussions, attempting to make links to the Thai context.  The Sasin Centre is a business school that focuses on combining sustainable development with corporate social responsibility and His Majesty the King’s sufficiency economy philosophy. The last screening was of Robert Kenner’s Food Inc. (2008) which dissects industrial food production in the US and argues that it is unhealthy for the consumer, environmentally harmful, and abusive of employees and animals.

It is a convincing film which left me less than comfortable as well as wondering, ‘What about Thailand?’  After the film, panel-guests with an interest in the Thai food industry were introduced, and a brief but fascinating Q & A session followed. The panel included Bill Marinelli, a ‘seafood guru,’ Dylan Jones, chef and founder of Bo-Lan restaurant and Charkrit Direkwattanachai of Tesco Lotus.  

And what was there to say about issues of food and sustainability in Thailand?

The first question was whether Thailand has similar problems to those highlighted.  Answers ranged from Marinelli’s optimistic view that Thailand is in a fortunate position and still has time to learn from and avoid US mistakes, to Dylan’s comment about the lack of questioning of food production and the issues around consumer information: reminding us of the absence of labelling in our soi food. Direkwattanachai felt that individual eating habits are key to tackling the problems, and outlined a series of measures Tesco were taking to promote healthy lifestyles and provide consumers with information.  Asked to comment on how Thailand might move forward, the panel saw awareness raising amongst consumers and subsequent use of purchasing power as crucial. 

The idea that consumer purchasing power can curb undesirable trends in industrial food production was an echo from the film. Essentially, if we demand more sustainable options by choosing carefully what we buy, the supply side of the market will respond and food production will change accordingly. To this end, stalls showcasing organic and slow food products were set up at the event, allowing the audience to exercise their own purchasing power.  I ‘did my bit’ by leaving with a kilo of fragrant passion fruit and a jar of coffee blossom honey.  

The stalls illustrated the opportunities for some folks in Bangkok to choose to step a little way out of the industrial food system. Delicious fruit and honey, but this consumer-driven approach is dependent on accurate, transparent information about the foods on offer.  Although the panel did touch on this, questions remain for me around the labelling of products we buy in Thailand. I've noticed a whole array of 'organic' logos on products available here. What do these labels actually mean?  What obligations does Thai law put on companies to provide information needed to make more sustainable choices? How can the public get answers if the information provided is unclear? 

I was struck when the point was made that the best solution might be to personally visit the farms. A tall order, given today’s frenetic lifestyles.  It is a measure of the success of the event, that I was left with more questions than answers, but with my desire to consider the issues in a Thai context was a little more satisfied. I recommend the Sasin film screenings (previously they’ve shown Tapped- about the impact of bottled water, and Disruption- concerning climate change) as great contributions to the sustainability debate in Thailand. I hope they continue into 2016. Keep an eye out here for future screenings. Well worth checking out if you’ve an appetite for Thai food for thought. 

Bangkok's global climate march? Thailand contributes to climate action?

Image from avaaz.org 

Bangkok's Climate March?

Living sustainably means changing how we live our lives, and potentially includes speaking out on the big issue of climate change. Not usually very committed to this kind of thing, I was intrigued to see plans online for Bangkokians to join the Global People’s Climate March, marking the opening of the Paris COP21 Climate Summit. Signing up through online campaign group Avaaz was simple until I revisited the event page to discover it no longer existed. It seemed that Bangkok would not be included in the 2404 events happening worldwide. Further searches and an email to Avaaz themselves revealed little information as to what happened. 

But I guess, given that over 100 people had signed up, such a gathering would not have been wise at the present time. So, what to do? Events were still listed for Phitsanulok and for Koh Lanta, the latter linked to a campaign against a coal fired power station. Both were way too far for a Sunday afternoon.  Knowing the rough Bangkok location and start time, the adventurous side of me wondered about going along anyway to look for anything impromptu.  However, the more sedate, ‘let’s stay in the air-con’ side of me wondered about Thailand’s role in the upcoming Paris meeting and I began googling around.   

Firstly some background: writing in the UK’s Guardian newspaper, Fiona Harvey highlights scientific warnings ‘that if emissions continue to rise we will pass the threshold beyond which global warming becomes catastrophic and irreversible.’  We are currently on target for a 5°C temperature rise but the threshold to avoid the ‘catastrophic and irreversible’ is set at  a 2°C rise, indicating a clear problem.  Harvey emphasises that the science consistently confirms ‘rising greenhouse gas emissions, linked to the use of fossil fuels, lead to higher temperatures.’ 

The Paris conference is therefore crucial as it aims for a new global agreement to tackle emissions. Its approach is different from previous conferences in that the EU, the US and China have already made emissions pledges. In fact all attending governments have submitted ‘Intended Nationally Determined Contributions’ (INDCs), which state their intentions to act. Given that the Thai Prime Minister will also be in Paris, what commitments has this country made? 

Thailand's INDC:

Thailand’s central commitment is for a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, from projected business as usual levels, by 2030. This would be achieved through a series of initiatives including: renewable generation of 20-30% of Thailand’s power by 2036; a shift from road to rail transportation; a revised system of car tax linked to emissions, and improved public buses in Bangkok. 

Thailand has seen a 0.95°C increase in average temperature from 1955 to 2005, and is thought to be at ‘extreme risk’ of the negative impacts of climate change over the next 30 years. It is likely that wetter parts of the country will see increased rainfall, while drier areas may see more pronounced droughts. The INDC highlights that 68% of the country’s climate change budget is going towards adapting to this situation.  

But this is a country which contributes just 0.84% of global emissions, and here we come to the heart of the matter: if Thailand’s contribution to global emissions is relatively small but the impacts of climate change significant: shouldn’t the richer/bigger emitters provide the cash to make investments for countries like Thailand to cut emissions and adapt? Especially as we all stand to benefit from such actions. 

The Thai INDC states that high cost is a major barrier to successful implementation of its plans. The document explains that both adapting to, and acting to slow, climate change creates ‘extra burden’ on the ‘already scarce government fiscal budgets of many developing countries including Thailand.’  Fiona Harvey reminds us of the last summit in Copenhagen, where richer countries promised $100 billion in support would be available annually by 2020. Those at the Paris conference need to ensure this pledge is met and sorting this out in the current ‘age of austerity’ remains a key challenge. As does spending the money wisely once it becomes available. 

And what of the Global Climate March? Well, although the public have not been able to show their support for Thailand’s climate change commitments, with a little effort online, I did find a glimmer of hope: there are actually some significant proposals on the table. 

Sources:

The Guardian Everything you need to know about the Paris climate summit and UN talks.

Thailand’s INDC