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- City mulls curbs on inner city car parks24.06.2010
The owners of buildings along the city's mass transit lines could be told to remove car parking spaces, in a law change proposed by City Hall.
The plan is intended to dissuade motorists from bringing their vehicles into town, but could also deprive condo owners of private car parks and office buildings of car parks for their customers or tenants.
Sinit Boonsit, acting director of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration's building control and inspection office, said the city proposed cutting or banning parking spaces in buildings located near mass transit routes. Amendments are being drafted, he told a seminar yesterday.
The city has set aside public car parking close to skytrain stations so commuters who bring their cars into town have somewhere to leave them before they take the train to work or to go shopping.
However, under the new proposal, the city will abandon the legal requirement on property owners to provide car parks if their buildings are located near mass transit services such as skytrain routes.
This will discourage motorists from bringing their vehicles into town.
Thamrong Panyasakulwong, president of the Thai Condominium Association, said the proposed amendment to the building law could help developers save at least 20% of the cost of putting up a building.
Normally, a car park takes up about 30% of the space in residential buildings such as condominiums.
Wasan Khongchan, the managing director of the Agency for Real Estate Affairs Co, said if the car park requirement is scrapped, developers could offer buyers a discount on the purchase price.
Demand for condominiums could increase by up to three times as a result, he said.
Kittipol Pramoj na Ayudhya, president of the Thai Real Estate Association, said details of the policy should be made clear as soon as possible for the sake of investor certainty. Otherwise, investment plans could be delayed.
He warned that developers could turn parking spaces into more residential or office units rather than reserving the spaces for public use, such as a park or a taxi stop.
Professor Paul Barter of the National University of Singapore said the amount of parking space allotted in buildings in Bangkok is higher than in other Asian cities such as Hong Kong, Tokyo or Seoul.
Chamroon Tangphaisarnkij, chairman of the Engineering Institute of Thailand's subcommittee on traffic and transport, said more than 3 million privately owned vehicles enter the capital every day.
Traffic congestion is a serious problem in business areas such as Silom and Ratchaprasong where mass transit services are available, he said, adding car parks should be banned in these areas or higher parking fees should be imposed.
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