1. Background of Water Transport in Bangkok
Bangkok was founded as capital of Thailand in 1782 by King Rama I. It was almost the same time, 1781 [1], when the Spanish Governor of California, Felipe de Neve, established the community known today as Los Angeles or “City of the Angels.” Ironically the original name of Bangkok, “Krungthep” in Thai also means “Great City of the Angels.” While the two angels’ cities may or may not be able to maintain their ‘angels’ city’ reputation, yet one similar mistake that Bangkok tends to follow is the automobile dependent transportation system development of Los Angeles. Conversely, Bangkok must try to avoid is to becoming the “Los Angeles of the East.” On the contrary, if it is possible, Bangkok must try to regain her former reputation of “Venice of the East.”
Once, perhaps too long ago for the young and new generation to realize, Bangkok used to be known as the “Venice of the East.” Such pride and privilege has long perished due to the fact that the once dominating mode of city transport, the water based transport, has gradually lost its significant role to the road based transport system. Since the 20th Century,
transport development in Bangkok witnessed a rapid transformation from water based transport to road based transport. Most of waterway networks have been paved over with roads, citing some widely known streets in the city like Silom Road, Sathorn Road, Sukhumvit Road, Phloen- chit Road, for example. Since the ancient time, the Thais of Bangkok used to have their way of life around the river and canals [2]. In those days, people preferred to build their houses on stilts along the riverbanks and in boathouses as presented in Figure 1 and Figure 2, as mentioned by Sumet Jumsai, a leading and famous Thai architect.
Although today water transport in Bangkok still exists, it is mostly confined to the Chao Phraya River which runs through Bangkok and Thonburi (Figure 3), the twin city of Bangkok. The canals, to some extent, are still in use but they are merely a fraction of those that once criss-crossed the city. Nevertheless, the last left canals still offer the services to cater for trans- portation needs particularly for those who wish to travel faster than the existing public bus services. Also to some, especially those who are living along these canals, this alternative water mode of transport still remains significant.