City Hall has committed to investing B256 million to add more elevators to BTS stations.

After years of legal action brought by disabled rights activist groups, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) on Wednesday approved funds to install 19 new elevators at 16 stations.

The announcement followed a class-action lawsuit brought against the BMA by the Transportation for All activist group for failing to make good on a court order to build elevators.

According to Khaosod English, the BMA has promised to finish the installation of elevators on both sides of the 16 stations within four months of a contractor being hired. Currently there are working elevators at most stations, though only on one side of road.

The BTS has been operational since 1999, though disabled-access has long been a point of controversy. In 2015, the Supreme Administrative Court ordered the BMA to install elevator stations. 

Progress has been slow, though not without flashpoints. In March, activist Manit Intharapim, a leading figure in the Transportation for All group, was reported to the police for punching and cracking the glass of a BTS elevator at Asok.  

“It’s more than just equal rights for commuting,” Mr Manit told us in a previous interview. “We need a better transportation for everyone.”

Pictured: Mr. Manit at a BTS station in 2017