SWOT Analysis

Detailed SWOT Analysis of the current transportation system in Bangkok

Strengths

Bangkok´s Transport system offer a variety of different transportation options to both the resident and visitor. When it comes to automobile transport both taxis and private hire vehicles are a common choice. Motorbike taxis and tuk-tuk´s are further modes for road transportation. However, Bangkok is also home to mass transit transport, these being the BTS Skytrain and the MRT lines (metro), which allow fast transportation by avoiding the terrible traffic congestion problem the city faces.

The mass transit transport system was part of a master plan for Bangkok to increase the connectivity of their public transport. Construction began in 1996 with the Blue MRT line. However, the financial crisis in 1997 stopped all construction and only resumed in 1999 with the BTS Skytrain. Today four main lines, including the Suvarnabhumi Airport line have been constructed, complemented with two Skytrain lines.

Through the emergence of the mass transit system job opportunities have increased within the transport sector, accounting for 1.2 million jobs in the Thai workforce in 2016, the year the construction of the MRT and BTS Skytrain ended.

Bangkok has a further strength when it comes to air transit. Through its increase in tourism demand and economic development the airports of Bangkok, in particular the Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports, have made Bangkok a major regional leader in the airport network. However, this strength comes accompanied by a threat. Although Thailand is known as a tourist hotspot and thrives in the business sector, the airports infrastructure must be able to maintain their level of ambition in order to stay ahead of the rising tide of traffic.

An additional strength is the central geographic location in which Thailand is regarding its trade ties with partners such as China and Japan. The development of a proper transport system in the whole country, is not only in interest to Thailand but also to its partners, leading to mutual trade benefits. For instance, China is investing in the rail transit system of Thailand for the realization of a more efficient distribution for its products and general trade.

And lastly, a public-private partnership model (PPP) is applied with the accomplishment of large-scale infrastructure projects such as the railway transit project. This model gives the opportunity to the private sector to weigh in with its expertise and knowledge regarding bigger issues. Apart from alleviating the government from the whole management of the project, it is also positive for the competition of private developers.

Weaknesses

Upon analysing the weaknesses of Bangkok's transportation system, it becomes clear that most of the issues derive from the history of the poorly planned city. The city's layout, which can be considered as extremely unfavourable, had been developed in such a manner that most roads are very narrow and create traffic congestion. The lack of efficient transport planning only aggravated the situation seeing as the city's population grew and still is growing without sufficient road space. Bangkok has a road to area ratio of only 8%, which is extremely low if you compare it to New York, which has ratio of 32%. The need for secondary roads is crucial for the correct running of a transport system without traffic congestion.

A further weakness to consider is the increase of residential development in suburbs, which is the cause of the land price rising in the urban area and the result of the plans carried out by the BMA (Bangkok Metropolitan Administration). Not long ago, the BMA released a plan to boost the development in the suburbs, however at the same time the plan banned the commercial development in these areas. This led to a shortage and absence in basic transportation routes and connections, resulting in the usage of the car as the only option for residents of the suburbs to reach the inner city, contributing therefor to the problem of traffic congestion.

Additional disadvantages include the mass rail transit system still being under expansion and construction in some areas, therefor only being accessible to some areas. The construction of the rail system has been subject to extreme delays in terms of political and bureaucratic challenges, such as many other projects in the past. Lastly, the outdated and poor-quality bus system is a further defect of the system, which in the following point can be analysed and witnessed as a possible opportunity for Bangkok.

Opportunities

After having analysed all the negative aspects of Bangkok´ city layout and transport system, it becomes clear how there are several possibilities for the city to better their system. These opportunities consist in firstly, and most importantly, the carrying out of projects, which have the aim to readjust the land in terms of increasing road connectivity. By building more secondary roads and eliminating small roads with dead ends, traffic congestion would reduce significantly. Apart from the issue of overs usage of cars, road public transport could be developed in a more efficient way.

One project, which the government should invest in, is without a doubt the revitalization of the bus network system. As mentioned earlier, the suburbs face a lack of public transport for the commute to the inner city. Rebooting the bus system would mean investing in new buses and rerouting its network to face new demands, seeing as the one now is not meeting the current ones. An idea could be the aim to reroute the network in such a manner, that it connects to some rail stations and further MRT and BTS Skytrain lines.

Further opportunities include the reactivation of canal transportation, which before the emergence of transport planning was one of the only modes of transportation. The idea and possibility to make the city more attractive for pedestrians, by improving crossings and sidewalks and increasing the number of green areas in Bangkok should also be an opportunity. And lastly, although the electric vehicle market has not been exploited yet in Bangkok completely, the substitution of current vehicles to electric ones could decrease air pollution greatly. It can be described as a challenge to reduce traffic congestion completely, but by implementing some of these elements the transportation system in Bangkok could improve significantly.

Threats

The main challenge regarding threats to the transportation system is the high number of cars used within the city. Carbon emission has therefor reached an extreme high level, regarding the global average. Consequently, this has led for the Pollution Control Department to have announced that the air in Bangkok has reached an unsafe level. All these threats are regarding traffic and the high number of residents using a car. A further threat in this area can be seen in the elevated accident rates, partly due to the cars and partly due to the disadvantageous layout of the city, which favours narrow and small roads.

Regarding the current mass rapid transit system some threats became apparent in the past few years. One of them being a demand challenge in the disparate usage of some MRT lines. Instead of having connected the suburbs to these lines and decreasing their car consumption, some stations of the MRT can be found in less populated areas. This means that the government will be forced to renovate the line in terms of current demands, which would take considering the past, quite some time. Another option would be that the government would increase the fees for maintaining of the line, which is considered a further threat seeing as this would create a financial problem for a significant proportion of the public.