Speaking of movies, this picture I took at the corner of Wittayu (aka “Wireless”) and Ploenchit roads looks like a movie set, doesn’t it?

The corner pictured above is the upper left-hand corner of the property shown in this photo below – just to the right of the shophouses that are being demolished – originally posted in early December.

Please return your attention to the first photograph.  There are several things that are very interesting and instructive about this photo.  Bear with me and I’ll explain them.

A – Two things here.  First, the building on the corner is a police box.  Almost every intersection in the city has one.  The signals, although sometimes set to “automatic”, are generally operated by a police officer sitting in the box.  During rush hour, other policemen will come out of the box and assist with directing traffic.  They use radios to coordinate the traffic signals.  Whether they are coordinating with any other intersection is anyone’s guess.

The second interesting thing is to notice how narrow the sidewalk is on the corner.  The area behind the box (covered by the new metal cage – more about that in a moment) is private land.  The previous shops that stood there had outdoor restaurants along this stretch and it became a de facto public sidwalk, making moot the dangerous narrow pedestrian footpath in front of the police box.

It looks like the new owner/developer of the property has agreed to maintain that public right-of-way.

B – Obstacle course… er, footpath.  Not only does this stretch of sidewalk (and pretty much every other stretch in the city) have vendors crowding, but you can see where construction work has been done and left in a perilous state.  Large plastic conduits lie half-burried in the concrete, creating tripping hazards galore. 

The conrete itself is actually a hopeful sign, though: previously, sidewalks were covered with individual pavers floating on a bed of compacted dirt and sand.  This looked nice for about a week, but eventualy the weight of vendor’s carts and other traffic would cause the pavers to shift, resulting in a very unstable surface.  The Bangkok Metropolitan Authority is now pouring a sub-layer of concrete and then paving on top of that.  We’ll see how it works.  In the meantime, watch your step!

C – Nice, new footpath.  The owners/developers of the new project – which I understand will be a mixed-use highrise – have rebuilt the quasi-public sidewalk so it is level, smooth, and – alors! – has metal posts spaced to prevent vendors and motorcycles from entering.  It is so nice, you almost want to cry.

D – Safety cage.  I’m not sure if the construction will be immediately adjacent to the footpath or not.  Normally, they use plywood to create a solid barrier.  This barrier lets in light and air but also any smaller particles that might fall to the earth.  I’m curious to see how this works.  Nicely, though, they built openings in the cage for the existing trees.

There’s your slice of Krungthep for the day.