BMA to start opening more space for development, including coast, in 2025
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) will permit more commercial zones for property developments and plans to turn 4,004 rai of seaside area in Bangkok Khun Thien into a new vacation zone in its new city plan that will take effect from 2025, a senior official said.
Thaiwut Khankaew, director of the City Planning and Urban Development Department, unveiled the plan during a seminar on property held by Thai-language news outlet Thansettakij at the Renaissance Bangkok Hotel on Wednesday. Thansettakij is part of Nation Group.
Thaiwut said the new city planning act of 2019, which replaced the one enacted in 1975, required the BMA to redraw its city planning from scratch. City residents have been calling on the BMA to update and change the status of many zones due to the city’s expansion and the addition of new residential areas.
The city plan for Bangkok will not expire, but it will be subject to dynamic changes in line with the people’s wishes and rapid urban development due to the expansion of basic infrastructure.
Among the planned changes to the city plan, the BMA will carry out land reform in Bang Khun Thien district, which is located on the coast of the Gulf of Thailand, Thaiwut said.
The BMA will build dams to prevent erosion of 2,470 rai of land on the coast and will allow development of housing estates, hotels and resorts on 4,400 rai of land to create a new vacation centre for the capital, Thaiwut added.
The BMA will also upgrade many zones by changing their status to allow commercial development, Thaiwut added.
Ratanakosin Island will remain a conservation area where high-rise buildings cannot be built, he said.
Many areas around the capital will be changed from agricultural to residential zones.
In eastern Bangkok, the BMA will reduce the area of 250 square kilometres for flood retention in Nong Chok and Klong Sam Wa districts to only 50 sq kms, Thaiwut said.
The BMA will dig a new canal to drain flood waters into Prince Chaiyanuchit Canal and Prawet Canal and then the Gulf of Thailand.
The committee in charge of overhauling the Bangkok city plan met on Tuesday and the plan will be reviewed by an advisory committee next month, Thaiwut added.
