DEP Presents an Award to Fashion Island for Excellence of Setting Up and Management the Accessible Facilities

5 July 2021

The Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities(DEP), led by Director-General, Professor Siriluck S (Architecture, Lat Krabang University), and the “Accessibility Is Freedom” team, we went to observe the construction and management of facilities at the Fashion Island mall on Ramintra Road, and also presented an award to them for being a good mall role model, with the Building Manager – Khun Apisit K and his team welcoming us.

Our friends definitely knew that we had been working with Fashion Island, RamIntra for a long time (Check out from this link: https://www.accessibilityisfreedom.org/en/tag/fashion-island/) ever since we got the chance to talk with each other. We discovered that the chief executive’s policy was very ‘open’ and that they were ready to improve things as much as possible. Because of the forward attitude of a high-level executive, positive changes were allowed to happen a lot more easily.

I also wanted to mention that the renovations in the first phases were already very good, but the chief executive said ‘Let’s do more, our goal is to get WOW’. As a result, the first floor of the parking lot was transformed into a special parking area with very good management. In addition, a restroom in a new zone was constructed, and other things like the navigation signs were also refurbished. All of these improvements can be seen today.

In the cooperation project with the Fashion Island mall, I was an advisor. I pushed for the replacement of essential things and only changed as much as necessary. We did not do everything by the exact rules. For example, the accessible parking space needed to have a sign with the wheelchair symbol and actually needed to be put in the back of the parking slot, but we improvised and put it on the side instead, etc. And I do emphasize the safety values the most.

To be honest, we still have many more projects that we discussed, such as increasing accessibility to the building so that it could be reached by any means of travel, constructing a pathway to connect with the train, renovating the elevators and restrooms, and applying ideas related to the accessible parking space to the rest. However, the COVID-19 pandemic forced everything to slow down. When the economy is back to normal, we will continue our work and make it even better than before.

Right now, the Fashion Island Super Mall, RamIntra, is one of the best malls in terms of accommodations for the people with special needs customers. There are accessible parking spaces and other facilities that are well beyond the requirements of the law. I have said many times that this is as close to the word ‘privilege’ goal.

Huge thanks to the management team at the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, the management team at Fashion Island, and everyone who helped to advocate for change in our society. The most important element is strong teamwork.

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