Thailand’s tourism authority took a jab at Singapore’s railway breakdown last night, saying online that its train services – known for their share of woes – were running “smooth as silk.”
The authority was thanking Singapore Airlines for promoting Bangkok’s newest train stations when it couldn’t resist adding the comment after Singaporean commuters were left stranded by a rail major breakdown last night that lasted several hours.
“Thank you Singapore Airlines for your feature! Our trains are running smooth as silk tonight,” the snarky comment read, drawing mostly positive reactions from the public who were laughing along with them.
Not coincidentally, “smooth as silk” is also the tagline for Thailand’s national carrier, Thai Airways.
Thank you Singapore Airlines for your feature! Our trains are running smooth as silk tonight. 😉
Posted by Tourism Authority of Thailand – Singapore Branch Office on Wednesday, 14 October 2020
“Someone from the Thailand tourism office must have been damn salty that they were caught in the [MRT] breakdown HAHA,” Redditor mattchuaaa said yesterday.
Thailand’s flex may have been a little premature – at least one station has been shut down today in a bid to block protesters from a rally site. Bangkok’s busy BTS Skytrain is often plagued by outages and system faults that leave commuters seething.
In Singapore, a cascading chain of power outages triggered a breakdown of railway services across three major lines last night, rerouting or stranding hundreds of commuters.
Train operator SMRT apologized for the problem today, blaming a faulty circuit breaker for causing the technical issue to spread. Transport Minister Ong Ye Kung had also apologized for the “rough and stressful” night.
Transport Minister sorry for ‘rough and stressful’ night without rail service
Where’s a circuit breaker when you need one?
Cascading power outages caused disruptions to the North-South, East-West and Circle lines. According to SMRT, it all started when staff detected a “breakdown of insulation of a power cable” between the Tuas Link and Tuas West Road stations along the East-West line. A nearby circuit breaker should have “kicked in to isolate the fault, but it did not,” resulting in a power trip along that line as well as the North-South.
While attempting to restore electricity in the two rail lines, SMRT staff tried to “draw power” from the substation in Buona Vista, which also happens to power the Circle Line. Without isolating the power fault, this caused a power supply disruption to Circle as well, SMRT said.
“The insulation fault has been identified and isolated and the faulty component of the circuit breaker has been replaced. Train services are running normally today,” its statement said.
Affected commuters yesterday posted photos and videos of people walking in dimly lit stations, crowded buses, and individuals stuck in the train.
“People rocking the whole bus like rioters and the cops had to yell aggressively at us to keep the crowd from overwhelming the bus,” Twitter user @__Mario__zahara said.
We are not ready for Phase 3. @SMRT_Singapore #mrtbreakdown pic.twitter.com/eRrXlBHMU8
— 🍕🌯🌮 (@__mario__zahara) October 14, 2020
mrt singapore power failure. look at the crowd at queenstown mrt stn :O
stay safe everyone !! #smrt #smrtsingapore pic.twitter.com/0wSeCkr9sv— clα mєt вts & mх 💟 (@meteorjeon) October 14, 2020
#mrtwatch Situation inside the train. As shared on HWZ. pic.twitter.com/N3szpyn325
— MRTWatch (@SG_MRTWatch) October 14, 2020
This is the scene at Queenstown MRT on the westbound bus stop. Easily more than 100 people crammed into a tiny bus stop making alternate travel plans as the rain starts pouring down. About 15-20 people at the adjacent taxi stand. @SMRT_Singapore pic.twitter.com/lOg4P6e82g
— Kyle Malinda-White (he/him) 🏳️🌈 (@kylemalinda) October 14, 2020
Others captured themselves walking on the tracks to reach the nearest stations.
#mrtwatch A train on the tracks with its front door open on Oct 14, 2020. (Photo: Yang Long) pic.twitter.com/WxN9fGPgss
— MRTWatch (@SG_MRTWatch) October 14, 2020
Halloween Horror Nights 2020 this year by SMRT! ❤️ I LOVED IT WITH @jadenchin! Nearly shit my pants sia ❤️❤️❤️ Well done SMRT! pic.twitter.com/0gG0duATTD
— Ryuu F. (@reeeyou) October 14, 2020
Jurong East, Boon Lay, Chua Chu Kang and Yew Tee were among stations that suffered a blackout last night.
#ewl #delay #smrt Yew Tee MRT station in darkness on Oct 14, 2020. (Photo: Yang Long) pic.twitter.com/Q1COxubCzA
— MRTWatch (@SG_MRTWatch) October 14, 2020
Choa Chu Kang MRT Station blackout. Nearby stores also affected. (LRT not affected thankfully) Classic @SMRT_Singapore Also tweet from other SGians are super pissed already. pic.twitter.com/Z8a5K2KjAE
— NotRevertingOldVGS IS A MISTAKE (@undecided777) October 14, 2020
Bruh Boon Lay also wth pic.twitter.com/PTJuKKTBbn
— CIpherLovesDonuts (@CipherDonuts) October 14, 2020
Jurong East MRT experiencing station-wide power trip! from r/singapore
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Transport Minister sorry for ‘rough and stressful’ night without rail service
