Chadchart denies tree cull on canal
PUBLISHED: September 13, 2023, at 4:00 p.m.

In order to clear the way for construction work, the governor has denied having any plans to remove 368 Spanish cherry trees from the Sathon neighborhood.
Only a few shrubs will be removed to keep the waterway’s surface clean, according to Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt. The trees, known in Thai as ton phikul( Mimusops elengi ), were planted 30 years ago and will never be cut down.
” When I learned that the phikul branches had been cut down. I felt frightened. I spoke with the relevant company and discovered it was untrue, he said.
Social media users expressed their concerns about workers felling the large trees as part of the state’s growth, but the government responded that their worries were based on a miscommunication.
” We don’t intend to cut down any plants. Following our scheme of growing one million trees in the money, we have a plan to grow more trees, the government said.
Along with assistant Bangkok government Wisanu Subsompon, advisor Torsak Chotmongkol, and staff from the Public Works Department, Mr. Chadchart yesterday inspected the trees along the river.
” The area is beautiful because of the plants.” They provide shelter for individuals. Unless some plants are ill and unsafe to keep position, we will preserve them all, he said.
He claimed that while the revised version retains the 368 phikul trees, information posted on social media were based on an outdated river development program.
He expressed gratitude to those who had brought up the subject on social media so that he could quell their worries.
He claimed that the next phase of the Chong Nonsi Canal’s construction, which spans an area of 1.6 km from Chan Road to Soi Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra 7.
The Bangkok Bus Rapid Transit street and both canal banks will be renovated as part of the project. Additionally, the waterway’s footpaths and electronic poles will both be improved, and the canal will have lighting.
According to the government, the overall budget is 315 million baht, which was cut from 366 million before the task was revised.