For a few days last week, life in inner-city Bangkok became shockingly pleasant.

For a brief moment, in celebration of His Majesty the King's 60 years on the throne, the authorities cleaned up main thoroughfares.

After all it is not everyday the world's press and cameras zero in on the capital. The dignified affair demanded the city put its best foot forward, not its worst.

Unruly vendors, stray dogs, bogus beggars, marauding elephants and taxi gangs that monopolise sidewalks daily, dumping mountains of litter and garbage, were banned.

For once, it was not hard to believe why anyone would want to pay high prices to live in places such as Sukhumvit, Silom or Rama IV with gruelling jams, heavy pollution and parasitic hawkers.

As the days unfolded, one question arose: why don't the authorities permanently rid the city of the pestilence?

A developer recently confided that one reason Bangkok's property prices are in a state of flux is that when compared to other financial cities in Asia, it is not a place to which serious firms would relocate. To send expatriate families here requires heavy incentives, he said.

"Prices of real estate are greatly dependent on the city's ability to offer a high quality of life. Bangkok today looks close to breaking down," he said.

To be sure, with the exception of the Bt3-billion sale of part of the British Embassy grounds to the Central department store group last month - a deal that had been on and off since 1993 - general land sales are less spectacular.

The key, the developer said, to how land speculation works is this: the location has to be able to draw people, not pressure them to leave.

"Anybody who trades in real estate knows this. Land prices only go up in places people are shifting to," he said.

As such, the exodus from Chinatown's Yaowarat in the past 30 years, thanks to dangerous overcrowding, pavement vendors, heavy pollution, and traffic jams - all the similar afflictions of Silom, Suriwong, Sukhumvit and Rama IV - is one reason the market is dead in that part of town.

There are heaps of other problematic land tracts in Bangkok, such as Chokchai, that are depressed because of inadequate roads and poor commuting systems.

The royal celebrations last week showed the capital possesses great qualities that can make a difference in attracting global investors.

Today, government is trying to lure affluent retirees from overseas to settle in Bangkok, buy a second home and park their money here.

So far, the very top end of the market is not convinced. Many are terrified of the high level of toxic lead in the air, wasting the precious remaining years of their lives in unmoving traffic and tiptoeing the streets to avoid vendors and elephant dung.

And in which other city in the world would you see gangs of street children selling flowers between midnight and 3am?

After last week, one would hope the relevant authorities realise that the city functions far better without the parasitic behaviour of encroachers.

Their existence causes greater harm than good and they need not operate in city centres. Many outlets such as the weekend market in Chatuchak and other shopping sites can accommodate them.

Being poor does not give anyone the right to use public property to procure junk, be a public nuisance or defile it with trash. Some vendors also bring their pets along with them.

As the royal celebrations come to a close, and foreign visitors depart, the one question many developers ask is how long will it take before the city administration wakes up to tackle this infernal mess?

Every year, the ranking of international cities sees Bangkok fall a few more rungs down the ladder while Singapore, Osaka and Kuala Lumpur regain the top slots.

Even Chiang Mai and Phuket are ranked better places to live than Bangkok.

While some might think the BTS skytrain and new subway system, new Suvarnabhumi Airport and a host of new mega-projects may help the capital, the truth is our decision-makers and skills - not just bricks and mortar - shape the lives of its residents.

Itthi C Tan

The Nation