The Lens: Moving Thailand’s capital city won’t solve climate change

Valerie Chiu Wing-yee, 14, St Mary’s Canossian College

Climate change poses a threat to Bangkok’s low-lying location, which is prone to frequent flooding.

Because of this, the Thai government is contemplating a monumental move: relocating the capital to a safer location.

Bangkok has been the capital of Thailand since 1782. Due to its enormous significance and long history, moving the capital could create some problems.

It is crucial to note that this process is costly and may result in the destruction or dislocation of historical sites, museums, and cultural institutions in Bangkok.

One of the city’s biggest sources of revenue is the tourism industry, which has a rich history and cultural significance.

Threatening the tourism industry could lead to economic disruption and even affect local enterprises. These people will then look for another place to move their businesses, which hampers Bangkok’s progress.

When locals have less income, they will turn to the authorities, burdening the government and leading to social instability.

In addition, significant planning and resources are needed to accommodate this logistically challenging task. Many people live and work in Bangkok, and relocating the capital would require the relocation of these individuals, which could lead to social and economic disruption.

Human activities not only accelerate climate change, but they also ruin our lives.

Moving the capital because of climate change does not address the root cause of the problem, and it will continue hampering the quality of life. Even if the capital is moved, people will still live in the area – and this measure doesn’t help them.

Thailand should spend money on building dykes and widening river channels and adopt more sustainable habits.

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Cities across China are trying to dissuade their unemployed citizens from becoming ride-hailing drivers, despite the appeal of a low barrier to enter the field amid a weak job market.

The latest warning came from Jingdezhen in the southeastern Jiangxi province. The city’s transport authority said that “the number of private cars in the city has been increasing over the years, and the capacity of the online ride-hailing market is becoming saturated”.

“Enter the ride-hailing industry with caution”, the authority said in a post on its official WeChat account, adding that a local driver makes an average of 240 yuan (US$33.2) per day.

The average disposable daily income in Jingdezhen was 135 yuan in 2023.

There have been similar warnings from at least five other cities since April. By the end of April, Shangqiu, a city in Henan with 7.7 million residents, had more than 1,100 drivers actively waiting for online ride orders.

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Suzhou, in the eastern Jiangsu province, said more than 57,600 cars in its downtown area had registered for rides by the end of March, an increase of 3,466 from a quarter earlier.

Chongqing municipality in Jiangxi province said that less than 60 per cent of its 118,000 registered cars were dispatched for rides in the first quarter.

China had nearly 6.6 million registered online taxi drivers at the end of 2023, up almost 30 per cent from a year earlier, said the country’s transport ministry.

In contrast, the number of ride-hailing passengers grew just 20.7 per cent in the same period, according to the China Internet Network Information Centre.

Research and discuss

• What are the potential consequences or obstacles of having too many ride-hailing drivers in a given city?

• What could city governments do to solve the issue of an over-saturated ride-hailing market?