STAYING ALIVE
Four cyclists talk to Life about their experience of negotiating Bangkok’s notorious roads every day
Last month, Juan Francisco Guillermo, a Chilean cyclist on a 250,000km, around-the-world journey, was killed after being hit by a pickup truck i n Nakhon Ratchasima province. One week after the tragedy, members of the Thai Cyclists Network got together in front of Bangkok Art and Culture Centre for a commemorative ceremony. The event saw participants playing dead on the ground to raise public awareness of road safety and the risks faced by cyclists.
“Something like this happens just too often,” said Juthamas Udomlapsakul, a 24-yearold female who commutes to work every day by bicycle. She also highlighted the death of two British cyclists in a road accident in Thailand in 2013. “All these cyclists who had ridden in many countries eventually came to their end on Thai roads. What does it mean?”
While the deaths of foreign cyclists are truly shocking, the bike-vs-car debate is an everyday issue with various implications. As cycling becomes more popular — as a leisure activity and as an alternative mode of transport — the debate on road safety, traffic law, and coexistence between two-wheelers and automobiles has become intense. The government, as well as Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, have put in efforts to promote Thailand as bike-friendly. Bike lanes are set aside in many of the capital’s roads (though they’re often taken over by other vehicles). Bike days are regularly arranged to promote cycling. And cycling as an exercise as well as a lifestyle choice has gained momentum among city people.
But if you ask those who ride bikes every day, out of economic necessity or as a job requirement, Thai roads still mean a daily adventure.
In 2013, the US State Department issued a warning on its “Thailand Travel Advisory” page, stating that “speeding, reckless passing, and failure to obey traffic laws is common in all regions of Thailand”. The Thai Roads Foundation reported in 2012 that only 43% of motorcyclists wore helmets. Thoughtless acts that can put other people at risk, such as drink driving, are also rampant, accounting for 26% of road fatalities in Thailand, according to statistics from the World Health Oganization.
“We are trying to enforce the laws but some road users don’t give us a break by behaving properly,” said Sgt Peerawas Boonprom, who is in charge of policing road accidents around the Rattanakosin area where the longest protected bike lanes are located. “I believe that no matter how serious the laws are, they can’t control people who don’t have a conscience.”
The piece of legislation most concerned with cycling is the 1979 Land Transportation Act, which merely provides basic legal guidelines for cyclists to comply with, such as what lane to ride in, where to park, or what equipment is required for a bicycle.
“These cycling-related laws are reasonable even though they are rather outdated,” Sgt Peerawas said. “Cyclists are usually not the culprit for road accidents. It’s the recklessness of some drivers that claims the lives of cyclists after all.”
The people who’re exposed to this kind of risk on a daily basis are those who’ve been cycling for years, and will continue to do so because of their livelihoods. Bike Day or not, they have no choice but to keep on riding. And if traffic laws are updated or bike lanes expanded to cover more areas, the benefits will fall on these people more than on casual riders, whose numbers seem to have grown in recent years.
Life talked to four brave individuals who get on bicycles every day about what it’s like to cycle in Bangkok.