Mentors Posted November 30, 2004 Report Share Posted November 30, 2004 here in my country, we don't have Tubes or Skytrains, but we have Tram. Did you know, that Bangkok has also Tramways many years ago? :: See the exciting story with many great photos. :: http://www.2bangkok.com/2bangkok/Tram/index.shtml Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelgianBoy Posted November 30, 2004 Report Share Posted November 30, 2004 Mentors, Thanks for the link, great history BB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mentors Posted November 30, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2004 Belgian Boy, ...hmh... am I a bit sentimental today ? Here more such stuff: http://www.tramz.com/tva/th.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MooNoi Posted December 2, 2004 Report Share Posted December 2, 2004 Makes you wonder how different Bangkok would be today if they'd kept the trams. They used to have trams in Sydney, where I'm from. They kept the trams in Melbourne, and its so much easier to get around there than it is in Sydney. Melbourne has much wider streets than Sydney does, however, so that's an advantage. FlyP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mentors Posted December 9, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2004 100 FIRSTS: All aboard the tram Published on November 21, 2004 THE NATION Those wishing to navigate their way around Bangkok by rail can choose between the Skytrain and the subway, but earlier generations had an alternative choice: the tram. Trams started puttering about the capital late in the reign of King Rama V and kept on going until 1968. They first went into operation in 1887 as part of a transportation business set up by a British man, Captain Alfred John Loftus, and a Dane, Andre du Plesis de Richelieu. Horses pulled the track-bound coaches from Bangkholaem in today’s Sathorn district to the Royal Palace. The two entrepreneurs sold their company to a group of Danish investors in 1892, and within two years the trams were running on the new electricity grid hooked up across the country in 1890 under the supervision of Chaophraya Surasakmontri. In 1900, the Bangkok tram company merged with America’s Electricity Company Limited, and a new tram line was built linking north Bangkok with Samsen. The US firm kept running the trams until its concession expired on December 31, 1949 and the operation was handed over to the Interior Ministry. Trams still received widespread popularity until 1957, when Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat unveiled his grand plan to reform Thailand’s “backward” habits and develop it as a country of high standing in the eyes of the world. Among his many schemes, Sarit suggested that the tram was unsuited to “modern Bangkok” and encouraged the city’s residents to use cars, taxi cabs and buses instead. The last trams trundled off Bangkok’s streets on October 11, 1968 – and made their final voyages into a few select museums. Among the surviving relics is the one on display at Thammasat University’s Rangsit campus, where it still manages to draw curious looks from the young students. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous_Dog Posted December 10, 2004 Report Share Posted December 10, 2004 interesting the US company held it during the war years, I wonder what the story in that is, I \'m sure it's interesting. In Australia they got rid of trams in the 60's, and now they are bringing them back! DUMB OGD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shygye Posted December 10, 2004 Report Share Posted December 10, 2004 In the USA, GM bought up the Trams and replaced them with busses (GM built bus). Then GM pulled up the tracks to permanently remove competition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mentors Posted July 1, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2005 it is time again for just a nice memory: http://www.2bangkok.com/2bangkok/Tram/photoscs.shtml :: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dude_Le_Rude Posted July 2, 2005 Report Share Posted July 2, 2005 old trams are very cool. I tried a search for klongs... www.bygonepics.com/thailand/index_pidtures_klongs.htm this was the best I could find. does anyone know of an historical map of the klongs? an older Thai friend told me Sukhumvit used to be a klong... 30+ years ago... anyone remember?? peace! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mentors Posted November 7, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2005 some updates from the past in Bangkok http://2bangkok.com/2bangkok/Tram/swedish.shtml Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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