Technology and transparency will make Bangkok a smart city: Chadchart
A city will become smart if technology is applied to meet people’s needs, Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said on Tuesday.
He was speaking at the “Thailand Smart City: Bangkok Model” seminar hosted by Nation TV and Post Today at Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel.
Chadchart said the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) was working on turning the capital into a smart city to boost work efficiency, improve quality of life, create opportunities and gain people’s trust.
“It will be difficult to develop a smart city if people do not trust us,” he said. “Hence, smart cities need to fulfil all these aspects with the use of technology.”
Chadchart added that the lack of transparency is a key challenge he has faced since taking over as Bangkok governor earlier this year.
Hence, in a move to gain trust, BMA launched the Traffy Fondue application so Bangkokians can file their complaints.
“So far, up to 179,241 complaints have been filed via the application and 117,286 of them have been resolved,” he said, adding that these complaints reflect people’s trust in the BMA.
He said it was necessary to tackle people’s everyday issues like traffic, waste management and community healthcare to ensure a smooth transition to smart city.
Chadchart said transitioning to a smart city will be tougher if the authorities only focused on big issues.
“The development of a smart city should cover both big and small issues,” he said.
The governor added that the BMA has also made things more transparent by giving people access to all the data.
He said the aim was to have Bangkok added to the list of 50 most liveable cities in the world.
"Bangkok topped the list of best tourist destinations in the world, but was ranked 98 among liveable cities,” Chadchart said.
Meanwhile, Wasit Wattanasap, chief of nationwide operations and support for Advanced Info Service (AIS), said technology was crucial for developing a smart city as it will help people make decisions.
He said the target for developing smart cities varies from country to country because it is based on what issue needs to be dealt with first.
“If there is no decision-making, then technology will become meaningless,” Wasit said.
He added that cooperation between the private and public sectors is necessary to ensure that the transition to a smart city runs smoothly.
“A city becomes smart when it uses technology to make its citizens’ lives better,” he added.
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