When trams still ran in Bangkok
Tramways in Bangkok
It is a pity that there are no trams in Bangkok since 1968, because I think a tram is a wonderful means of public transport.
During my first job in business I lived in Amsterdam and went to the office by tram. Even when I moved to Alkmaar and went to Amsterdam by train, I took the tram (line 17) to work from the station. I can write a separate story about that, but I will limit myself to the fact that I do know the entire tram network of Amsterdam - with the exception of the very recent expansions.
The tram in Bangkok
In Bangkok, the tram ran from 1888 to 1968. Unlike most other countries, the tram appeared before the train. In Bangkok, the first horse tram ran in 1888, followed by a neighborhood railway in 1893, the same year in which said horse tram was electrified. Bangkok's electric tram was the first in all of Asia in 1893, predating Japan. Trams later appeared in Thonburi and Lopburi, but all these tram companies have long been defunct.
In 1953 there have been plans by the Metropolitan Electric Authority (MEA) to introduce trolleybuses. However, the plan to achieve this turned out to be too ambitious and the trams could stay. Six aluminum trams were donated to the city of Lopburi in 1955, where MEA opened a tram line in that year. In 1961, the Silom line, which was the least busy, was discontinued as the first line of the tram network. The rails released would be used for track doubling in New Road, which was being reconstructed.
In the same year, however, when road traffic had increased considerably, the government decided, on the advice of MEA, to discontinue the tram service altogether, with the result that the other lines were closed in 1962 and 1963, with the exception of a few routes that less traffic in the way. It concerned the southern part of the Dusit line between the Sapandam depot and NaPhraThat and the eastern bypass line around the old city between Thanon Phra Athit and the point where it intersects with the Bang Kholaem line. Via the track of the Silom line in Thanon Bamrung Muang, the carriages of this line could also reach the Sapandam depot. 16 separate motor cars were available for these routes until the curtain fell for them on September 30, 1968.
I took this piece of history from a website, where you can read the English text and see beautiful pictures of the trams in Bangkok: www.oivb-public-transport-in-image.nl/
See another nice video from days gone by below:
Until recently, popular in Chiang Rai was the silent electric tram on wheels with a normal horn.
Old top, yes.
With the disappearance of tourists, the tour by tram has now also disappeared.
Dear Gringo, is the book about the Bangkok tram (title: Bangkok Tramways Eighty Years 1888-1968 With local Railways and Lopburi trams and the old intercity trams and the old intercity trams) known to you? It contains many photos from the long-gone tram era. Also photos of the tram company of Lopburi.
No Dick, I don't know the book, but it seems interesting to me.
Give me more details, ISBN number and all, and where to buy it.
Quite pricey book: https://www.amazon.com/Bangkok-Tramways-Eighty-Years-1888-1968/dp/974849537X
Google is your friend Bert:
Title Bangkok Tramways: Eighty Years 1888-1968 : with Local Railways and Lopburi Trams
Authors Erik van der Spek, Wisarut Bholsithi, Wally Higgins
Publisher White Lotus Press, 2015
ISBN 974849537X, 9789748495378
Length 164 pages
What a fun and interesting video! Thank you.