BANGKOK, 3 January 2014 The Transport Ministry has laid down contingency plans to deal with traffic chaos expected during the planned Bangkok shutdown by the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) on January 13.
In order to lessen impacts on the city’s traffic, Transport Minister Chadchart Sittipunt has established a “war room” to monitor and keep track of developments of the situation.
The center will be supervised by Permanent Secretary for Transport Somchai Siriwattana-choke while high-ranking officials of the ministry are also assigned to take responsibilities of different aspects namely updated data, public relations on routes, damages to property and services due to the demonstration, and losses to be incurred from failure to deliver goods to Suvarnabhumi Airport and Bangkok’s Khlong Toey port.
In addition, the Transport Minister will invite the Bangkok Governor to a discussion on the handling of traffic during the capital’s closure. He also asked the MRT and the BTS to add frequencies of their trains to meet an increased demand which would likely occur on January 13.
