Bangkok's Morchit and Ekamai bus terminals to be relocated

[Gaybutton]

City bus station plan takes shape

14 Jul 2014

by Amornrat Mahitthirook

The Transport Co has vowed to move ahead with plans to relocate Morchit 2 bus terminal and Ekamai bus station to meet passenger demand.

Company president Wuthichart Kalyanamitra said discussions over the relocation of Morchit terminal will be held this week so the plans can be forwarded to the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) for consideration.

The discussions will take note of a study conducted by King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, which recommended new relocation sites and forms of investment that can be adopted to push the projects through.

Relocating Morchit terminal is expected to cost around 1.5 billion baht, most of which will be spent on land. The price tag for moving the Ekamai station has not yet been estimated.

Mr Wuthichart said three possible methods of investment in the projects are being explored.

First, the new terminal may be wholly funded by the Transport Co, which could secure a loan or use its own coffers.

Second, a joint venture between the Transport Co and private firms may be established to pursue the project.

Third, business operators could wholly invest in the project, allowing them rights to operate the terminal commercially.

He said that more than 100 rai of land must be acquired to build the new Morchit terminal. The current location is too small, with just 80 rai, he said.

An area on Phahon Yothin Road may be used for the terminal since it could serve a large number of bus passengers on the northern and northeastern routes.

"It is certain that the Morchit bus station will be relocated because the State Railway of Thailand (SRT), which owns the current land, wants to take the area back for development," Mr Wuthichart said.

The relocation cannot be completed within one year as requested by the SRT. In fact, construction of the terminal could take more than three years.

The Transport Co also plans to relocate the eastern bus terminal at Ekamai because the seven-rai station is congested.

The terminal is in heart of the city, causing severe traffic jams in the Sukhumvit area.

According to Mr Wuthichart, the company is looking at areas along the Bang Na-Trat Road for the eastern terminal's new location.

Methods of investment similar to those floated for the Morchit terminal project would be considered, he said.

The Transport Co also plans to rent 100 single-decker buses to replace double-decker buses which will be decommissioned this year, he said, adding the issue is pending NCPO approval.

After a spate of accidents, the double-decker buses have been deemed unsafe.

Meanwhile, Land Transport Department (LTD) chief Asdsathai Rattanadilok Na Phuket said yesterday the department and the 2nd cavalry division will meet passenger van operators and drivers this week to inform them of new rules to better regulate van services.

Stickers will be issued to vans which are under 10 years old, are equipped with basic safety features and whose drivers have passed mandatory training tests.

The stickers are to be affixed on the van's windshields.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/most-recent/ ... akes-shape

[ilz]

It should be of interest for many readers that Morchit Bus terminal finally should remain at Jatujak. At least this is what was announced early November.
http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/mo-chi ... chatuchak/

[Smiles]

Morchit is not too bad really. But what Thai bus terminal is anything but movable chaos 24/7?
But Ekamai's location on Sukhumvit Rd leaves no room whatsoever for expansion and of course is getting more and more choked as time goes on. I really hate that place and will be happy to see it torn down and relocated.

[Bangkokian]

What's the betting that they will be relocated to areas away from public transport.
Ekamai is at present next to a Skytrain station.
Morchit is remote from Skytrain or subway and needs a taxi to get there.

[Gaybutton]

What's the betting that they will be relocated to areas away from public transport.

My guess is if there is a worst possible location, nowhere near the BTS or MRT, along with being far away from anywhere you want to go, that's where they'll be . . .

[Trongpai]

The National Council for Peace and Order has also prohibited minibuses (passenger vans) from using the Victory Monument as a transportation hub. You used to be able to get minibuses to all over Thailand including Pattaya from various locations on the outer traffic ring and spots under highways.

Now, there's some new private land areas on the outer ring of the elevated foot path that circles the Victory Monument. New stairs or escalators take you to the new staging area. The trick is to know which area serves what section of Bangkok or Thailand. There's few signs and the few there are in only in Thai. It looks like they intend to color code each area.

It does seem to have improved the traffic flow but it's a long walk to some of the staging areas from BTS. Minibuses now don't go out into the traffic circle at all and get to the highway via back streets. Regular buses continue to use the outer ring of the traffic circle in their own lane.

Sometimes these announcements are made and nothing ever happens. The Victory Monument minibus ban was published along with the plans to move Morchit and Ekamai at the same time a few months ago. I was surprised how fast the Victory Monument transportation hub changed.

EZ Pass and M pass now are integrated but BTS/MRT remain on separate systems with several official announcements that they will be combined. One even posted a date, Aug 2015.

[ilz]

What's the betting that they will be relocated to areas away from public transport.
Ekamai is at present next to a Skytrain station.

According to wikipedia (thai version), the new bus terminal will be built in Bang Na, near the Sukhumwit / Ban Na-Trat expressway / Saphawut intersection. I do not know exactly on which side but it could well be next door to BITEC convention Center as there is already a station for vans.

The bus terminal will be located on the ground floor of another huge commercial center operated by Bangkok Mall (a The Mall company branch).

Works were scheduled to begin this year ; both the bus terminal and the commercial center are planned to open in 2021.

Access should not be too bad ; a 1,7 km long skywalk is planned between Udomsuk and Bang Na BTS stations ; from there it will be easy to go to BITEC, Bangkok Mall and of course the bus terminal. Expect some walking above Sukhumwit fumes and gases though ... one kilometer at a rough guess ?

It did not cross my mind to pay a visit during my last stay in Bangkok as I didn't know then where the Ekkamai bus station would be relocated ; perhaps someone will go and have a look ...