Bangkok group urges MRTA to protect historic shophouses in station plan

A Bangkok civil group has urged the Mass Rapid Transit Authority (MRTA) to move the proposed entry point for the Phan Fa Purple Line station in a bid to protect historic shophouses located on Phra Sumen Road. Rosana Tositrakul, an ex-senator of Bangkok and president of the Rattanakosin Heritage Conservation Group (RHCG), expressed concern that the century-old shophouses could be demolished in the process.

The construction company has proposed the dismantling and rebuilding of the shophouses. However, Tositrakul argued that this would compromise their architectural integrity. Instead, she recommended placing the station’s entry and exit points closer to more contemporary buildings in the vicinity. She speculated that the MRTA might have selected the site to avoid greater land acquisition costs, reported Bangkok Post

Tositrakul explained that the civil group had lodged complaints with multiple government agencies but had not received a response. She emphasised, “We are not opposing development in the city. We want to talk to the MRTA and let them know that city development can go hand in hand with heritage conservation.”

MRTA Governor Pakapong Sirikantaramas countered that the project is currently at the design stage and explained their choice of location was due to its proximity to seven of the area’s most dilapidated buildings. He mentioned that the MRTA would reconstruct the architecture in the same way they did with Wat Mangkon station and Sanam Chai station. He rejected Tositrakul’s suggestion of putting the entry and exit points near two modern buildings, stating that the suggested location would be too far from the station.

There is also a plan to extend the Yellow Line, nearly 80,000 passengers took advantage of the Yellow Line’s trial run over the weekend, as the Department of Rail Transport (DRT) plans to extend the trial to all 23 stations by mid-month. Pichet Kunadhamraks, the DRT’s director-general, stated that the current trial run includes 13 stations from Hua Mak to Samrong. To read more click HERE