A plea from a lowly pedestrian

It’s not that I’m not grateful for the wonderful train being built
outside my front door.

It’s not that I can’t wait for three or four years until it’s finished.

It’s not that I can’t put up with the traffic and the mayhem that all
the building is causing.

It’s not even that I am so unhappy with the state of the bumpy
footpath full of holes – at least clearing it of vendors has made it a
bit easier to walk.

I can even put up with the flooding.

It’s just that when I am out with my daughter and her buggy I can’t
really go  anywhere any more.

Are we expected to be some kind of prisoners in our soi and immediate
area for the next several years…until things get better?

You see, I might not have many years left and I want to make use of
the time I have to try and enjoy life a bit with my kids.

If I perch them on my motorbike I worry. If I get in the car we can’t
move anyway.

I don’t ask much – I just want to go out for a walk.

My daughter feels the same. She’d tell you herself it’s just that she
is only one.

I refer specifically to the building of the Green Line extension to
Saphan Mai in the Ratchayothin area – but my plea is applicable to
other construction projects throughout the country.

Around here all the pedestrian overpasses have been taken out. I get that.

But what did you replace them with – a few holes in the construction
fences where pedestrians could dash across if they saw a chink of
light in the onrushing cars.

Yes, I know you call them Zebra Crossings – it’s just that nobody
stops. They never have. Unless perhaps you’re killed on the road and
even then they might not stop.

There’s a sign on one disused bridge that says I can cross 15 meters
ahead – I’d do that if I had a death wish and wanted to see the back
of my one year old daughter. I don’t.

Anyway, I remember seeing a video of some tourists in Chiang Mai doing that.

It kinda scared me.

I’d rather cross, if possible, with a modicum of safety.

You see there are some lovely places to get to nearby where we used to
go before you started improving things.

The gardens at SCB with the fountains and the museum. The pond with
all its animals and the well maintained aquarium at Kaset University.
The playground on the other side of Pahonyothin Road.

But I can’t get there anymore. I am afraid my kids will be teenagers
before I can cross the road again.

I am not asking for much.

Just a bit of consideration.

I know all Thais are world famous for that. I see it every day with
the ordinary people in the streets trying to cope with the mess. They
open doors for me and say lovely things about my daughter as they try
to help on small flights of stairs.

So how about a sequence in the lights to give pedestrians a chance to
cross the road while the cars and bikes wait for a minute. Even thirty
seconds would be OK.

Then we could hurry to the other side – I can still step on it a bit
despite the dodgy farang back I hurt falling in one of your potholes
recently.

And it’s not just me and my buggy. I imagine that anyone in a
wheelchair would just have to live somewhere else.

Even the most able-bodied people along with the rest of us are finding
it difficult enough.

Oh and another thing – it’s nothing really.

Could you make sure those orange crane like things on top of the
pylons are tied on with a few nuts and bolts. You see a couple of
them, actually three, have fallen on pedestrians and workers in the
area in the last few months.

Four people won’t be walking anywhere in the future after that.

Maybe someone forgot – please have a word.

Throughout the city and in the rest of the country we are glad that
one day we shall have some extensive public transport to be proud of.

But for now could you just spare a thought for our lives as lowly pedestrians.

And at least help us to walk safely in our towns and cities.

And get from A to B.

And maybe even back home again…..

Alive, if possible.

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