A year after Bill Gates posted a viral snapshot of Thailand’s “faulty infrastructure” of tangled streetside wires on Facebook, nothing has been done to clean up the eyesore in Ratchada.
The picture that went viral gave rise to discussions on “energy poverty” — something that hinders the local quality of life.
Shortly after the news went global, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha ordered the Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA) to re-install the cables underground, which they did. However, in some of Bangkok’s less-accessible and non-regulated sois, these draped wires still remain.
Last year, the prime minister promised to install all cables underground in a span of 10 years. Recently, the time period has been shortened to 5 years.
The telecommunications operators must re-install their cables underground as well, reported Thairath.
So far, areas that have succeeded to install cables underground are: Silom, Phaya Thai, Phahonyothin, Lumpini, Sukhumvit, and Pathumwan.
In the suburbs, the MEA has teamed up with the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) as well as TOT Limited to better organize those cables along major roads, such as Ngam Wongwarn. Their motto: “Collect, fasten, tie, fix.”
Any unused cables will be cut and taken down.
Not surprisingly, the bustling city’s inner areas are the hardest to clean up. Only when traffic is light will the MEA be able to untangle these wires. So, clean up days are restricted to either national (or public) holidays, or with the aid of traffic officials.
If you spot any wacky cables around, you can call 1130 (MEA’s call center) to report them. This will notify the officers, and they’ll try to fix them “as soon as possible.”
