Improved Transport Will Make it Easier to Move Around Bangkok

Mass Rapid Transit (MRT)

People living in and visiting will find it more convenient to travel in the capital, which Bangkok is expanding its transport network to improve traffic safety and traffic flow. People living visiting Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, will find it more convenient to travel when visiting on holidays, or on business or attending conferences.

The Ministry of Transport is accelerating the mapping out of a master plan to develop the transport network linking Bangkok’s mass transit systems.

A study shows that there are currently 22 bridges across the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok and its vicinity. Of these, 21 bridges are for road transport and only one is for rail transport. Today they carry an average traffic volume of 1.7 million vehicles a day. The volume is likely to increase by 450,000 vehicles a day in the next 10 years.

According to the Ministry of Transport, various agencies plan to construct altogether 15 new bridges in the city and nearby provinces. Of these bridges, four will be built by the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and three by the Department of Rural Roads. The Department of Highways, the Expressway and Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand, the State Railway of Thailand, and the Mass Rapid Transit Authority of Thailand will build two bridges each. These agencies have been told to work together, so that each new project will be connected with the existing transport systems.

Bangkok Mass Transit System (BTS)

In Bangkok, there are two electric train systems for commuters: the Bangkok Mass Transit System (BTS), or the skytrain, and the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), or the subway, which facilitate mass transfer with great efficiency. Plans exist to extend these urban rail mass transit systems to reduce traffic congestion.

The most populated city in Thailand, Bangkok covers some 1,537 square kilometres on both bank of the Chao Phraya River, and its suburban areas are growing continually.

Since Bangkok is the center of the economy and tourism, with a huge mass of people living and commuting, expressways and mass transit systems have been expanding to solve traffic problems. The city boasts a diverse transport system, connecting function areas and convention centers, sufficient to accommodate tourists and conventioneers.