The long road ahead for Thailand if it wants to host the Paralympics

Can Thailand host the Paralympics? 

“Anyone would laugh at this question. I’m not against it, but it is really, really hard,” says Manit "Saba" Intharapim, a wheelchair user and activist for people with disabilities.

The Paralympic Games is a series of international sport events for athletes with disabilities. Since the “One Bid, One City” agreement between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) in 2001 to forge a close relationship between the two organisations, many Olympics host cities have also organised the Paralympics, the two mega-events separated by only a few weeks. 

The Paralympics offers a competition platform for athletes with different types of disabilities. They can be divided into 10 categories: impaired muscle power, impaired passive range of movement, limb deficiency, leg length difference, short stature, hypertonia, ataxia, athetosis, vision impairment, and intellectual impairment. And these also are divided into subcategories.

The real power of Paralympics is the arrival of accessibility.

Thousands of athletes with disabilities from around the world take part in the Paralympic Games. The host cities need to arrange an accessible sports arena, athletes’ village, and transportation for people with disabilities taking part in the games.

The IOC has set qualification standards for the Olympics host cities in different aspects such as: geopolitical, human development, envisioning sustainability impacts, political, public support, funding strategy, sport event experience, accommodation capacity, and safety. These qualifications alone led to some being considered “big cities” since 2001, such as Athens, Beijing, London, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo and Paris. But these big, advanced cities need more improvement in the accessibility aspect.

Recently, Paris was praised by the IPC for placing “accessibility at the centre of its bid” and embracing the challenges of making the city more accessible. Being one of the most visited cities in the world does not mean Paris is easily accessible. Paris has spent over 125 million euros to improve accessibility, including underground transportation systems, increasing the number of accessible municipal buildings from 45 per cent in 2022 to 95 per cent by 2025, expanding sound modules at road junctions for visually impaired persons, enhancing accessibility public services and at least one accessible school within a 15-minute walk from home.

How is Thailand doing in terms of facilities for the disabled compared to the host cities?

Manit "Saba" Intharapim, founder of Accessibility is Freedom, a non-governmental organisation that is calling for an inclusive society through universal infrastructure, makes a comparison of Thailand and Japan, the host country of the Paralympics 2020.

“Japan also has its limitations in terms of space. It is really hard to find restaurants, hotels, and buses in rural areas accessible to wheelchair users. But their main transportation, ramps and pavements are built neatly and carefully. If Japan scores a 100, Thailand would be 30,” he says.

Manit agrees that hosting the Olympics and the Paralympics could be a golden opportunity as the cities are forced to build up their inclusivity.

“The host cities for the Paralympics will utilise this opportunity to transform the cities to be more inclusive. But can Thailand host the Paralympics? Anyone would laugh at this question. I’m not against it but it is really really hard,” he says. 

Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike stated in 2017 that “putting weightage on hosting a successful Paralympics is more important than a successful Olympics”, outlining his focus on making the city fully accessible to all people with special needs. The Tokyo Paralympics 2020 ensured that Japan was accessible, such as the Japanese media covering disability sports and disability discussions. The Tokyo government and the organising committee issued a “barrier-free” action plan aimed at eliminating social, physical, and communication barriers. The non-government sector also joined, such as Toyota’s universal design JPN Taxis that ensure taxis can accommodate wheelchairs.

Japan’s accessibility has been on its way up for years due to disability activism, and sport events are a way to promote its advance and progress. In fact, Tokyo Paralympics 2020 is the third Paralympic Games following the games in 1964 and 1998. Japan also was the host of other sport events for people with disabilities, such as the Far East and South Pacific Games for peopl with disabilities and annual international wheelchair marathon.

Besides Manit, another Paralympian also made a comparison between Thailand and Paralympic host cities Paris and Tokyo.

“The obvious thing that exists in Paris and in Tokyo but not as much in Thailand is facilities for people with disabilities. There they take it seriously,” says Khwansuda Phuangkitcha, a K44 taekwondo fighter. She competes in the category for those with coordination and movement affected in the arms, or absence of a part of the arms. She participated in the Tokyo Paralympics and is now in Paris for the 2024 Paralympics.

“For example, in Thailand able-bodied people would still park in spaces meant for people with disabilities. But in many countries, this is strictly not allowed. You are not allowed to park there if you walk down as an able-bodied person. It is much easier to find a parking spot here [in Paris].”

“Another is facilities for wheelchair users such as toilets, sidewalks, and ramps. It’s a regular thing here but hardly found in Thailand where sometimes the ramps are way too steep. Here, facilities are everywhere, not because we are Paralympians,” Khwansuda said, adding that even though she does not require as much facilities as many others with serious disabilities, she still notices the difference.

What does Thailand need to put as top-priority in terms of improvement in the eyes of a taekwondo Paralympian?

“The pavements for wheelchair users and guiding blocks for people with vision impairment first. The parking lots or toilets may not be as important. Because, we need to go outside, we need to live. Pavements and ramps should always be present and with safety too.”

Khwansuda said that in her personal experience and those of other people with disabilities, Bangkok was more challenging to live in than the rural areas of Thailand.

“It is true that in Bangkok, there are more facilities: toilets for people with disabilities, ramps, parking spaces, but less safety. Bangkok has limited space, so wheelchair ramps are steep, pavements are taken by street food vendors and motorcycle taxis.”

The city famed for its street food earned its name by erasing paths for people with functional disabilities. 

Even if Thailand did not host the Paralympics, how can Thailand be more accessible, taking inspiration from the Paralympic host cities?

Panit Pujinda, an associate professor at the department of Urban and Regional Planning, Faculty of Architecture, Chulalongkorn University, told The Nation about the obstacles before Thailand.

“It [universal design-design that can be accessed or used by all people] is a drastically new idea for Thailand,” he says.

“Earlier, the economic value of people with disabilities was either zero or negative but nowadays the economic value of people with functional limitations, ageing people, and people with disabilities is positive. That is because, earlier, people who went outside were only strong individuals. Most people worked from their homes such as artisans and craftspersons. Hence, the elders were taken care of closely by their families. But since the industrial revolution, more people are engaging in work outside,” Panit explained.

Defining a person's value can be a controversial topic. While the writer believes that every person inherently has value beyond any form of measurement, in this discussion, Panit focused specifically on the economic value—namely, the benefits an individual contributes to the economic system.

 Panit explained further the role of the industrial revolution as an opponent of inclusivity. While the idea of inclusivity aims to embrace all people with all differences and ensure they access the same opportunities, the industrial revolution (18th century - early 19th century) speeded up the industrialisation process and mass production of material used in designing urban areas. The industrial revolution was followed by the idea of modernism (late 19th century - mid-20th century) and modernism was chased by the architectural idea called international style (20th century).

International style focuses on being functional to the majority. As a result, the marginalised ones are neglected including people with functional limitations. Thailand, just like other parts of the world, is influenced by the international style. Panit emphasised that the idea was not wrong, but outdated in a society of ageing people.

“These days, the attempt to be inclusive is being done carelessly. It is just for the sake of “I did it”. And that’s why we see steep wheelchair ramps, with old-fashioned architecture, which is not how it is supposed to work as they are not designed together. This is why we see awkward-looking architecture such as lifts on the street isles and people with disabilities needing to cross the street to use the lift,” Panit says of unsuccessful attempts to build inclusive facilities with a non-inclusive design. He also mentioned how wheelchair ramps take away a lot of space on the pathways on Silom Road in Bangkok as the pathways were not planned to support such a ramp.

How can this problem be solved or at least alleviated from the architecture professor’s point of view?

“The government and private sectors need to collaborate more,” Panit said.

He exemplified cases where government organisations and the private sector can collaborate. For instance, monorail train stations or bus stations could be settled on private land, which would not only offer more space to build facilities for people with disabilities but also make it easier to maintain. In return, the government can provide some benefits such as lowering land and building tax or give them permission for building development. 

Panit opined that the private sector would be eager to collaborate, as it would automatically have more traffic in their areas which might benefit their business. Some sectors which assist customers with luggages, shopping carts, or strollers like shopping malls or hospitality businesses already need to consider their spaces to be friendly for people with functional limitations. It is the government sector that has neglected this problem and one reason is the fear of corruption accusations.

“Thai people love dramas. Media loves dramas, especially about corruption. Thais have ears ready to hear the word corruption. Politicians are frightened to be accused of being corrupt,” Panit said, explaining why Thai politicians refuse to work with the private sector even if they are aware the collaboration would bring a better environment for the society.

“Even the new generation politicians play the same political games, no difference.” Panit said.

How does Thailand’s landscape compare with that of Japan, the host country of the 2020 Paralympic games?

“Japan has long been an ageing society. They have a lot of elders, but a city [Tokyo] where everything needs to be compact,” Panit said, explaining the city’s character.

“If you go to Tokyo or Osaka, you can see that the pavements and streets are on the same level,” says Panit, citing the success in collaboration between the government and private parties. By having pavements and streets at the same level, Japan not only shows it prioritises pedestrians as the primary mode of transportation, but also gives better experiences to wheelchair users and people with mobility challenges.

Panit mentioned Singapore as another example of successful collaboration with many public transportation routes built inside buildings and buildings connected to one another with walkways.

Would it be possible for Thailand to host the Paralympics (if we ignore the fact that Thailand needs to host the Olympics first, which would require many factors mentioned above), or have the same level of accessibility as the host cities of Paralympics?

Panit responds with a laugh. “The problem of our country is we have less public spaces compared to other countries, for example ramps and parks, and lack of collaboration between the government and private sectors.”

“Paris came up with a whole new way of thinking. They hold competitions in the city, beach volleyball with the Eiffel Tower in the background. But in Thailand, we might gather all the athletes with disabilities or mobility challenges in one passing-the-standard hotel. Then, transfer them to a passing-the-standard stadium. But can they really go outside? We probably would not use the city area like how Paris just started. Because, we probably use the old way of thinking.

“The city plan is developed as the people develop. It is built up by itself [...] Infrastructures take a decade to build but what’s in people’s heads takes longer to change. In Thailand, the people who lead the country are from my father’s generation. Even if they claim to be progressive, how progressive can they be when their foundation roots are in the old days?” Panit said.