Apirak outlines 12-year plan for Bangkok

The plan for 2009 to 2021 was divided into three fouryear phases, covering three levels of development, Apirak said.

They were developing Bangkok as the "Gateway" of the region, making Bangkok a live¬able "Green City", and creating a "Good Life" by helping communities have a better quality of life, he said.

He listed five aspects to achieve these goals.

First was linking basic infra¬structure in the city and adjacent areas for economic devel¬opment, land usage, convenient public transport and a healthy environment.

Second was promoting economic development via a Bangkok Metropolitan Administration unit established to host seminars and trade conferences, to fund the participation of local small businesses (SMEs) in interna¬tional trade expos, and give advice to SMEs.

Third was "Bangkok Green", a plan to boost the city's environment. Fourth was boosting quality of life, sufficiency economy and promoting people's health.

Fifth was making the BMA a "good model" city administration via the estab¬lishment a "think tank" or BMA research institute that would be the policy centre on developing Bangkok.

Detailed guidelines for the 12-year plan would be com¬pleted and sent to BMA agen¬cies this month. It would then be assessed by the United Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations Development Programme, and Mercer Human Resource Consulting (Thailand), Apirak said.