They say stations such as Kantang and Khon Kaen Central should be included in plans to modernise the national rail system. Professor Chukaew said the State Railway of Thailand (SRT) ought to include station preservation clauses in any contracts signed for the installation of double track lines where single ones currently exist.
The SRT has a little over 400 stations and an estimated half were built in the first half of the 20th century. The Association of Siamese Architects’s Ms Lassus also says the SRT should be concentrating on preserving national heritage and even for structures not listed as protected by the National Fine Arts Department.
The travel team at 12GO ASIA says one of the delights of rail travel in Thailand is pulling into, or passing through, stations where the buildings are still gaily painted timber and look as though they have changed little in almost a century. Stations at Hua Hin, Kanchanaburi and en route to Chiang Mai are among the most delightful to look at.
Conservationists urge Thai rail company to preserve old stations
News in Asia
Architects and academics have united in a bid to persuade Thailand’s railway operator to save the nation’s heritage stations from the wrecking ball. King Mongkut Institute of Technology’s Parinya Chukaew and leading architect Pongkwan Lassus say the country’s elderly rail stations have high cultural value.