Bangkok is stepping up efforts to clear its notoriously tangled overhead cables ahead of next month’s International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank meetings, with work under way on several major roads in the capital.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) is working with the Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA), telecommunications operators and other agencies to remove unused cables, organise existing lines and move more wiring underground.
According to the Bangkok Post, Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said yesterday, September 23, that the clean-up would improve safety and the city’s appearance before thousands of international delegates arrive in October.
The work is concentrated on Wireless Road, Rama IV Road, parts of Sathon Road and the area around Lumpini Park.
On Rama IV Road, crews have begun removing electricity poles and relocating cables along a 1.8-kilometre stretch between Sam Yan and Wireless Road. A wider operation involving telecommunications providers covers 11.3 kilometres across three major roads.
Chadchart outlined three approaches to tackling the problem, which he said has persisted for decades and requires cooperation between multiple agencies.
The most extensive involves moving both power and communications cables underground before removing electricity poles. However, the cost and time required mean this approach can only be used in suitable areas.
Where underground electricity infrastructure is not yet available, communications cables can be placed in existing underground conduits, reducing the number of wires suspended from poles.
The quickest option is to identify and remove disused cables while reorganising those still in service.
All three methods will be used across the capital, although the Bangkok cable clean-up will not be completed before the international meetings.
City Hall is also developing stricter controls to prevent the problem from recurring. Telecommunications providers wishing to install new cables on electricity poles will have to follow the required procedures and obtain permits or risk legal action.
Bangkok’s underground cable programme predates the upcoming meetings. Work to remove overhead cables along Asok Montri Road began in 2024, part of a longer-term effort to modernise the capital’s electricity infrastructure.
The IMF and World Bank annual meetings will take place from October 12 to 18 at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center. Around 15,000 delegates and visitors are expected to attend, according to the Bangkok Post.
Thailand last hosted the meetings in 1991, making this year’s event their first return to Bangkok in 35 years.
In related news:
- Pathum Thani vendors seek help as discarded cables pile up
- AIS wired to untangle Thailand’s messy power poles
- Truck triggers blackout after toppling 70 poles in Samut Prakan
The story Bangkok gets its wires in order just before global bankers arrive as seen on Thaiger News.
