Transforming Transport in Thailand: Experimenting for Transitions to Sustainable Urban Mobility

Cities throughout the developing world have embarked on the perilous path of ‘unrestrained motorization’. The use and ownership of cars and motorcycles is growing at a relentless pace and these vehicles are welcomed as desirable symbols of progress and modernity. At the same time effective land-use planning and control are absent and urban transport policy is geared toward futile attempts to road-build its way out of congestion.
This dissertation investigates the dynamics of urban transport development in Thailand. It provides center stage to the struggles of people who are paving the way for sustainability in Thai cites. They do so by experimenting with a number alternative mobility systems: bicycles, buses and motorcycle taxis. Mainstreaming these alternatives at the expense of the private motorized transport, they claim, is the way forward in building cities that are greener, more inclusive, more livable, and more prosperous. How far have they come so far in their objective of transforming transport in Thailand?
Besides addressing this empirical question, this dissertation contributes to the development of a geography-informed perspective on mobility transitions. It brings to the fore a more nuanced understanding of the role of place, space and scale in experimenting for sustainable urban transport.