BMA mulls longer hours for visitors

BMA mulls longer hours for visitors

Bangkok governor Chadchart Sittipunt is planning to promote the local economy simply by encouraging some tourist attractions, especially those across the Chao Phraya Lake, to open until midnight.

Mr Chadchart yesterday said the extended starting hours of the city’s tourist attractions, such as museums and temples, refuse to only attract foreign visitors, but also local tourists, to stay lengthier in the capital.

“Keeping sightseeing attractions past sunset will bring about many benefits [for tourists]. For one, the weather won’t be as sizzling as during the daytime, which will undoubtedly improve visitors’ mood, ” this individual said.

In addition , if the city’s attractions are open in the evenings, visitors can better plan their itinerary to prevent traffic congestion during the busiest hours during, he said.

The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) will work with a variety of tourism associations to market the idea, the governor said.

In the meantime, he added, City Hall will be planning to install decorative lights around vacationers attractions along the Chao Phraya River.

The BMA is also considering lighting up the street art together Phadung Krung Kasem canal every day, instead of only on the weekends when the area is usually turned into a “walking street”.

To ensure the extended working hours do not have any detrimental effect on areas, the BMA will have to come up with a guideline to enhance public safety, he said.

“We need to find the right balance between rousing the economy and keeping order within local communities, ” he said.

The governor said City Corridor wants to work with private sector organisations in Venice to get Bangkok declared as its twin city.

“Bangkok includes a lot of waterways and is known as Venice from the East, so by working closely along with Venetian authorities, we can learn from their water management plan — not to mention possible ethnic exchanges and collaboration, ” he mentioned, adding he hoped to see the partnership take shape early the coming year.

Mister Chadchart also pressured the importance of improving the city’s liveability score. Bangkok is currently positioned 98th in Worldwide Liveability Ranking performed by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), and the governor said this individual wants to drive in the city’s rank to 50 by 2027.

“Tourists may see our town as quite a liveable place to live, but Bangkok residents may not agree. City Hall must develop the town to make it more liveable to both locals as well as to tourists, inch said Mr Chadchart.

“We will focus read more about transparency, introduce a lot more public green areas and specific zones and creative collaborative space, as well as resolve the city’s recurring floods, ” the particular governor added.