Going Nowhere Fast – Can Jakarta Learn by Bangkok?
Bangkok skytrain sunset
Bangkok’s brand-new international airport may look like the result of a kindergarten class having too much free time with the meccano however getting there as well as away is usually a breeze. A rail link connects with the centre of the city as well as by there access to the inner city mass transit systems in which have been developed over recent years. If the train is usually too inconvenient then a multi-lane highway connects the airport with the myriad of toll roads as well as freeways in which have been built over the last couple of decades as well as have contributed to getting round the city in which much easier.
Jakarta’s airport on the some other hand is usually connected to the city centre by just one toll road. as well as flooding a couple of years back forced its closure leading to a later widening.
Why is usually the item in which two capital cities in a booming part of the planet should have taken two drastically different approaches to solving traffic gridlock? Thailand through a programme of road building, mass transport networks while Jakarta has done, umm, next to nothing.
There is usually no simple answer in which can explain Jakarta’s malaise. Instead we need to consider quite a few factors, some manmade, others not in which have contributed to those delays in which are a familiar, as well as a loathed part of our daily life.
Thailand benefited by the Vietnam War for a start. With war on its doorstep as well as military doctrine of the era suggesting if Vietnam as well as Laos fell Thailand could be next, the military government, with the support of the US, set up quite a few air bases round the country, especially inside east near the Laos border. The air bases needed supplies as well as while much could of course be flown in, in which was expensive as well as diverted resources by their primary purpose of bombing Vietnam as well as Laos. With the eager support of provincial leaders, who often had stakes in construction companies, roads commenced to fan out across the country. Not single lanes like we are used to in as well as around Jakarta however two, three-lane highways.
Many political dynasties in which hold sway at This kind of point in Thailand commenced their road to riches as well as power thanks to US largesse. as well as they enjoyed the item. They noticed how much money could be made in doing brand-new roads as well as they identified further opportunity for profit by providing services along the brand-new highways. Thailand at in which time may have been a military dictatorship however inside centre needed the regions’ support as well as anyway there was enough money as well as contracts to go round to keep a not bad many people sated at the trough.
Skytrain Bangkok
While Thailand was busy building roads, Indonesia was chaffing under a dictatorship. There was little power inside regions as well as everyone owed their position as well as power to the centre. As a result the regions were neglected as people jockeyed for power as well as influence at the royal court where the real decisions were made. What toll roads in which were built were perfunctory as well as owed much to closeness to the source of power.
During the 1980s Thailand’s economic boom continued as well as the growing middle class, based in Bangkok, commenced flexing their muscles. Politicians knew in which they were voted in to power by the rural electorate, often under the patronage of those provincial leaders who had gotten powerful as well as rich, however they knew at the same time the item was the Bangkok urbanites who could kick them out. the item was necessary to pander to in which electorate as well as they did in which by doing the one thing everyone in Bangkok cared about. The traffic.
One businessman starting out in politics promised everyone he could solve Bangkok’s traffic woes in a few months of taking power. One of his ideas at the time was to use helicopters to remove broken down vehicles by elevated roads so the traffic could run smoother. He got in to power, talked about the traffic, called in no helicopters as well as later became the first prime minister in Thai history to serve his full term. His name? Thaksin Shinawatra.
Of course the item also helped in which infrastructure development meant loads of kickbacks so the item was a win win for everyone. Elevated toll roads soon covered much of the city while flyovers were built at notorious bottlenecks. The traffic was still bad, stories about drivers carrying portable containers to pee in went round the planet, however something was being done as well as the concrete pylons as well as large gangs of workmen testified to the fact.
inside mid 1990s Bangkok commenced work on its first mass transit systems. There were three in which had finally, painfully, got the go ahead. Commuters looked on in awe as concrete supports added to the urban landscape. Wow, they thought, This kind of is usually actually going to happen. Many had been to places like Hong Kong as well as Singapore, however not many expected their own city could actually have their own rail networks.
They nearly didn’t. The Asian financial crisis hit in 1997 as well as work stopped as money fled elsewhere. the item’s fair to Indonesia, who felt the impact of the crisis more keenly than its northern neighbour, took a lot longer to recover. Bangkok’s first elevated railway was open less than two as well as a half years after the financial meltdown as well as work was continuing on the underground railway.
Jakarta Traffic Jam
Jakarta meanwhile is usually stuck which has a ring road in which doesn’t ring the city. The Jakarta Outer Ring Road is usually yet to connect Pondok Ranji with Kebun Jeruk as well as the slip road in which was initially built inside halcyon days of the mid 1990s has been reclaimed by nature. Planned work on completing the link has been held up by land ownership issues; the single biggest obstacle to infrastructure development the country faces.
By the middle of the first decade of the 21st century Bangkok boasted an underground railway, an overhead railway, a brand-new airport as well as a road network in which reached out to the suburbs where the newly rich had flocked. Jakarta was still muddling along with an infrastructure in which was creaking before the crisis hit. The city had been continuingly growing however nothing was being done to handle the increased traffic; both vehicular as well as personal. Two brand-new elevated roads currently being constructed are 20 years too late as well as the item is usually unclear whether any further projects are on the table.
There still remains talk of an elevated railway. Pylons were stuck inside ground for one attempt however they are at This kind of point used to advertise the services of clowns as well as nannies while offering graffiti artists a chance to showcase their work. There is usually a plan to start work on another network sometime soon however no one is usually holding their breath.
The Thais have been there, done in which. Work on one rail line was halted during the financial crisis however is usually humming along nicely while the remains of another straddle the main railway line heading north; a grim reminder of the early 1990s when investors believed everything in Thailand could turn to gold.
The financial crisis is usually at This kind of point just a memory in Thailand. The traffic flows much better than the item has ever done with quite a few public transport options available for the people to use. The city has got richer as well. There are less people using motorcycles on the road at This kind of point than there used to be, meaning generating round Bangkok is usually at This kind of point less a trip into a local asteroid field.
Any talk of infrastructure must talk about corruption. Large sums of money as well as the public purse is usually a sure sign avarice will soon enter the equation. however the Thai system, with its powerful provincial barons ensured in which money still spilled round the regions. Indonesia, during a crucial time in its development, was to all intents as well as purposes a feudal family firm in which literally saw the money go down the plughole.
I first visited Bangkok as well as Jakarta some 25 years ago as well as have since been lucky enough to have lived in both for about 18 years. The alterations in Bangkok inside last decade alone forced me to buy a street atlas on my last visit. For Jakarta however, if I still had my lonely plant guide book by a quarter of a century back as I could find in which not much has changed.
Comments
Going Nowhere Fast – Can Jakarta Learn by Bangkok?
Going Nowhere Fast – Can Jakarta Learn by Bangkok?