The chronic congestion is close to unbearable, Ms Sakulrat notes. The existing urban infrastructure seems unable to cope with the number of vehicles on the roads.
Ms Sakulrat is also concerned about the high cost of living in the city. From the cost of accommodation to transport and food, things have become way too expensive.
Transportation fees can be costly, Ms Sakulrat notes. Many people can spend hundreds of baht getting to and from work via public transport each day, she says.
Public vans and buses are the most used form of transport in Bangkok as they cover a larger area of its many districts. KITJA APICHONRAJAREK
It’s understandable that more people are turning to private vehicles to get to work as they afford more privacy and comfort, she adds.
The value of money has fallen, resulting in a rising cost of living which has reached an almost unaffordable level in the last few years.
“If I have a hundred baht in my pocket, I prefer to stay home and watch television at weekends,” says Ms Sakulrat, a company manager.
In stores throughout the country and now the book has its own Facebook page with constant suggestions and updates: https://www.facebook.com/youcanreadbangkokpost/
The city makes people work harder and live uncomfortably, she said, adding most residents are struggling to cover their monthly expenses, while money is not easy to come by these days.
Office worker Natchaphim Rattanasinnok, 26, said public transport was her biggest monthly expense. Reliant upon the public transport system, which includes bus, the skytrain and motorcycle services, she spends about 300 baht a day travelling from her home in Soi Vibhavadi Rangsit 27 to her office near the Democracy Monument and back. It takes about an hour and a half each way.
She wants the authorities to find ways to cut public transport costs, which are making her life difficult. She believes cheaper fares will encourage more residents to use the public transit system, which will help ease traffic congestion.
“I must live frugally. I have to work hard to stretch every baht because I live on one income,” said Ms Natchaphim, a native of Nakhon Ratchasima who moved with her father to a townhouse in the city more than eight years ago.
She said her family cannot afford a decent-sized house in the city which can be very expensive, so they decided to buy a house on the city’s outskirts, even though that meant extra hours of travelling to and from the business district for work.
“Travelling around the city is just a waste of our time,” she said, urging authorities to develop a public transit network that link the suburbs to the city centre.
The lack of parks and outdoor activities means that many Bangkok parents take their children to department stores on weekends. APICHIT JINAKUL
Ms Sakulrat urged the BMA to make Bangkok more habitable for residents. She called for more public parks in communities where residents can get involved in outdoor recreational activities which are part of a healthy lifestyle.
There are a few parks in the city. Many of them, however, are too small and crowded. Unfortunately, she said, creating new and sizeable parks is not easy.
At weekends, Ms Sakulrat usually takes her children to a department store that provides a cooler environment for them and offers a range of shops, restaurants, bookstores and cinemas. But she wants her children to play in an outdoor environment and stay closer to nature