This week you will mainly love your city for its…

Phone booth-free sidewalks

When’s the last time you used a phone booth? We can’t remember either. But it doesn’t stop these unsightly, derelict or vandalized boxes from taking up precious sidewalk space, in competition with the motorcycles, food stalls, pot holes and pedestrians. Deputy Governor Thaya Theepasuwan has announced that 17,000 booths which are out of order or in violation of their 2003 concession contracts will now be removed. According to the city’s agreements with CAT and True, phone booths must have transparent panels, must not block the scenery and can only be installed on sidewalks wider than 1.5 meters. Talks will be held between the BMA and the aforementioned telcos on Aug 23. Now if they’d only do something about the outrageous “bike lanes” that are bisecting the sidewalks on Sukhumvit.