Dreaming of gondolas

Re: “City to revive ‘Venice of the East’”, ( BP, Nov 11).

What once was, will never be restored, regardless of all attempts. With no forethought, no planning, other than monetary real estate greed, all those fabulous canals were filled in a long time ago. What’s left is but a fragment of the once “Venice of the East” trying to restore what was could never happen. The few boats plying the canals at the moment is like reproducing Disneyland on a small scale inside a big city. Pity.

The same claim can be made for the elevated train lines. Rather than State Railway of Thailand -articulated-style trams running through a sunny city, those big, grey, ugly pillars and those multi-storied stations were erected, to block out the sun, trap polluted air, and decrease traffic lanes.

Constructing more underground subways would have been perhaps more expensive, but better in the long run. What more could a “world class city”, or one that makes a claim to be, want? More canals? More, big- ger, glitzier shopping malls, a bigger airport? An indoor ski slope? Perhaps an indoor rice field with grazing buffalo to attract tourists? Anything is possible in Bangkok, as welcome as a cancerous tumours.

The only thing Bangkok and Venice share in common are the occasional floods, and, both cities are sinking. I look forward to the day when we all own gondolas. AQUA ALTA