BKK Intercity Bus Terminals: Mo Chit move?

[ttaaee]

Any comments on this new Southern Bus Terminal? Thairath 03/10/04, in Thai

[forumadmin]

a couple translations about the terminal are here:
http://www.2bangkok.com/2bangkok/Mas.../busways.shtml

[ncr]

1) If the Southern Bus Terminal is called Sai Tai Mai (New Southern Line) in Thai, where was the old Southern Bus Terminal located? (I mean, the new one looks old enough and is in bad need of being substituted.....)

2) When was Mor Chit Bus Terminal relocated to the present position? Anyone has photos of the old Mor Chit? Sadly (?) I have never seen it, as I have only been around in Thailand for 5 and a half years....

[Wisarut]

1) the old Southern Bus Terminal was at teh place opposite to Tai Fah Department Store at Samyaek Fai Chai ... Yep, that area is TOO SMALL so Tranmsportation Co. Ltd. has to move to the land donated by the private sector at Taling Chan ..... and now they have to considere moving to the new place again since the are is goign to reach the capacity limit very soon .....


2) Mochit from the old Morchit market in 1997 ...

[ncr]

Khun Wisarut, could you give me some clue where Samyaek Fai Chai is situated? (Names of the roads intersecting there, for example.)

I know the name, but khit mai ork..... Where is it?

[Wisarut]

If you could locate Hang Tai Fah whcih is on Charansanitwongse (a few kilometers after crossing Southern Railway when you head to Tah Phra), you'll be able to find the place where the old SOuthern Bus terminal is. It is opposite to Hang Tai Fah (very first department store in Thailand ... at the same age as Central Department Store ... (founded in 1947)

Now Central grow so big that it is goign to set the new branches abroad .... Thailand has become too small for the giant like Central!

[The Enforcer!]

Originally posted by Wisarut
It is opposite to Hang Tai Fah (very first department store in Thailand ... at the same age as Central Department Store ... (founded in 1947)

Now Central grow so big that it is goign to set the new branches abroad .... Thailand has become too small for the giant like Central!

Very sorry but Scottish merchant Robert Hunter opened the first Department store called 'Morgan & Hunter' in 1826.

The Enforcer!

[ncr]

Originally posted by Wisarut
If you could locate Hang Tai Fah whcih is on Charansanitwongse (a few kilometers after crossing Southern Railway when you head to Tah Phra), you'll be able to find the place where the old SOuthern Bus terminal is.

Ah, now I found it on a map - it's the intersection between Charan Sanitwong and Phran Nok Road in Bangkok Noi. Well, less than a kilometer south of the railway crossing, I think.....
Final question: and when did they move to Sai Tai Mai? Long time ago, I suppose...

[pong]

well, just a few yrs seem a very long time to most things Thai, but I think it was about 95/96 (again, as I sit in the library, i do not have direct access to notes) a GIANT reorganisation on BMTA busroutes was also needed then in the Thonburi area.
And I quite well remember it (yes, it was really cramped), hidden away and not clearly seen from the main rd.
also the move-over from old to new mochit took about 3 years and went in several stages (again; the first part was really a down-at-heel affair then, about where the arrival platform is now, without even an 7/11 etc. at the time and a VERY bad busconnection (only the routes to far north left there then)

[pong]

Ekmai, that old, congested Eastern Bus terminal has the advantage of being along the BTS Skytrain, as the only of BKK's 3 main terminals. Does not seem to be a big advantage, as about any normal bus leaving there is empty and only starts picking up passengers from Bangna and on.
What would you think of being a better location in the far future, also helping relieve Sukhumvit of some 100s of stinky buses per hour:
1.when the BTS is extended to BiTec/bangNa-SamRong, somewhere along/near BiTec. This palce also has many Expressway buses to thonburi etc.
2.When the airportlink is there finally, to Our proud new airport. A new thing for Thailand should then be implied; all in tickets as otherwise the train to there would cost double the busfare to rayong or so, I think. Would open up many more connections, and most likely there may even be a new buslink to thonburi as well from there.

[Nekochan]

Few years ago during Dr. Yongyut's era, OTP had a plan to relocate Ekkamai Terminal to somewhere on Bang Na Trad Highway. I think it would be opposite to Bitec Center. Since it could be within walking distance from Bang Na intersection and BTS.

The plan did not take shape. It was a purpose only. And they need to buy some container yard in the vicinity to obtain more land.

The latest study of SBIA City indicates that they may operate 2 eastern terminals at Ekkamai and ICD. I think they means Truck Terminal near ICD. It has not been heavily used as planned.

Dept of Town Planning had a new purpose to move ICD out completely and locate a new bus terminal there. SRT would never agree. ICD is SRT's money pot (correct English?). Moreover, SRT plans to double its size to 2 M TEU per annum which I intrepret this as 2 M container output annually??

That's equivalent to 200,000 container trucks in&out per month?? (or is it 400,000?)

New bus terminal will be linked to SBIA and Lad Krabang Station of Airport High Speed Rail (How?) for "intermodal" transfer.

The idea is not that bad. But going to new terminal is somewhat far away from city center and passengers have only Airport Rail to go to BKK. Taxi will cost too much.

This is the only think I remember.

[Wisarut]

Yep, Lad Krabang ICD is the treasure trove of SRT. and SRT would REFUSE ANY other people to meddle around with theri treasure trove

There are already 24 daily cargo trips between Lad krabang ICD and Laem Chabang Port and the demand fore mroe daily trips between these 2 destinations is increasing .... despite of the constrains of the available locos.... No wonder, SRT would keep this money maker routes for themselves.

SRT is considering to merge that lad Krabang Truck termianl with Lad Krabang ICD to allow the expansion - thus invesn enhance more wealth to payoff the 40 billion Baht debts, 20 billion Baht pension funds alogn with the massive rehab of the tracks which is the first priority of SRT NOW.

[gwmss15]

Why doesn’t the government look at a all in one place central bus terminal so that all northern eastern and southern buses are together.

In Brisbane Australia in the centre of the city they have an air conditioned underground bus terminal with BRT like access from the north and south.

Could something like this be build say under chatucuk park with connection to expressway and the MRT and BTS for easy passenger access and fast traffic free express bus access.

a sky bridge from the bts mochit could be built that also connects with the MRT and create an underground air conditioned walkway directly into the concourse of the new MO chit 2 underground bus terminal with about 100 to 200 bus parking bays with air conditioned waiting areas and fully electronic info signs in many different languages.

Most importantly an international standard ventilation system for the bus fumes

Buses could be stored at the old Mochit 2 terminal which will be set up as a full bus depot with fueling and maintenance areas bus staff rooms for the bus drivers. this could have a tunnel linking it to the underground bus terminal so extra buses could get to the terminal with out any traffic delays.


The benefits of this are:

1. all intercity buses depart from one place
2. traffic free access for buses
3. Easy passenger access via mrt and skytrain plus bus access either in the terminal or under mochit BTS station as is now.
4. possible smart card ticketing for all Bangkok transport and all Thailand intercity transport
5. multiple language electronic real time departure information for intercity buses at each stop and on the concourse where tickets can be purchased or smart cards refilled and information on buses obtained.
6. large area for bus storage and maintenance of intercity buses on old Mochit 2 site

Cost unknown but would be less than a single subway line but old sites southern and eastern could be sold to help pay for it

What do others think of this?

[jpatokal]

Well, let's think about this for a sec. Brisbane has under a million people and long-distance buses are not a particularly popular way of getting around Australia, it's just too big. Bangkok has at least 10x more people living and is the geographical and transportation hub of the country, so anybody in the south going up north will pass through and vica versa, and buses are still the number one method of travel for short, medium and long distance. So any such terminal would have to mind-bogglingly huge -- and Mo Chit 2 alone is already much bigger than quite a few airports I've been to.

As a reference point, the world's biggest bus terminal (AFAIK) is Tel Aviv Central in Israel, 6 stories tall with a spiderweb of ramps around it, which is also the central hub of a very bus-oriented country's transport system. But Tel Aviv is under 2 million in size and Israel as a whole doesn't have even a tenth of Thailand's population...!

But let's say they excavate a couple of football fields of ground from under Chatuchak. How will the buses get from there to anywhere? The final approach to Mo Chit can already take ages in heavy traffic, and that's for getting north out of the city. You're proposing that every bus to Pattaya and Phuket would have to cross the entire city lengthwise just to get to the places they start from today!

In short, ain't gonna work. The only rational thing to do to keep the three-part division (which makes quite a lot of sense given Thailand's geography), but move the terminals out to the ends of the BTS/MRT lines if/when they're extended. Bonus points will be awarded if they're connected to railway stations and SRT can run express services between them.

[gwmss15]

Did you read the part on the 2 tunnels that would be used to link the terminal to the following:

1. the express way and the normal road system the expressway one is a direct link i.e. bus only (no traffic there except for any on the expressway faster than some stupid routes via Rangsit or Bangna

2. old terminal would be used as bus storage reducing the size of the terminal as only buses going to drop off or pick up passengers on the next trip would be in the underground terminal why keep the extra not in service buses in there when you can clear the old mochit 2 and put them in there plenty of room and with its own traffic free tunnel to the new terminal

3. I agree it would be a big terminal but the one in Queensland has hundreds of bus routes through it most the town buses and handles tens of thousands of people per hour and is right in the centre of the city which would be like having it in silom road and it has 2 traffic free route for buses to get 20km plus from the city before they hit any shared traffic areas

but I could hardly see why you would need more than 200 bus pick and set down points if buses only waited there for pick up and set down not for going on a tea break that’s what the bus storage area is for on the old site.

from what I feel the underground space will be about 300 to 400 meters long and about 100 meters wide

with 2 or 3 levels in it

1. Tickets restaurants and waiting areas and bus info (linked to MRT and BTS)

2. Bus stops 1 to 100 Plus a small area for up to 20 town bus routes that used to serve mochit 2 numbered as A to Z on level 2

3. Bus stops 101 to 200