Join us for the final judgement day in regard to the group of people with disabilities prosecuting, requesting 1,400 million Bath compensation in return to BMA (Bangkok Metropolitan Administration) on its failure to provide elevators and accessible facilities at BTS 23 stations.

According to the incapability of Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), the current owner of the entire BTS, that failed to provide adequate elevators and other accessibility facilities on its BTS 23 stations, a group of people with disabilities, for this reason, had prosecuted the BMA and finally won a lawsuit on November 24, 2014. The court thus issued an order to BMA for them to complete, constructed by law, all the remaining elevators and other supportive accessibility facilities within one-year time. As such, the completion should be fulfilled by the beginning of 2016. Nevertheless, the construction remains unfinished to this day, three years over has passed.

Subsequently, a group of so-called Transportation For All (T4A), national institutions of persons with disabilities, and other right honourable people with disabilities of 500 had sued the BMA and demanded the compensation of 1,400 million Baht, this caused by the BMA’s incapability that failed to provide accessible facilities for persons with disabilities, and also in disregard for the Administrative court’s order for its completion within the beginning of 2019.

The inability to travel not only affects the travel itself, but also the loss of basic human rights. Once PWDs are unable to travel, it means they cannot go to schools, to hospitals, or to work which steal opportunities from PWDs to improve themselves.

Tourism is Thailand’s main source of income. Ideally, with global tourist attractions comes global standard of public transportations, accessible for all with equal justice. They would benefit from it and, at the same time, reduce unnecessary works for service staff to take care upon them. The inaccessibility causes the burdens and has a negative impacts both economically and socially. The country would eventually lose its competitiveness on global scale.

I would like to call everyone coming altogether to voice your opinions and to let the people see how the process of judgement would, at the end, present the roles of government’s responsibility for this injustice.

See you on this upcoming Monday, March 4, 2019. Start from 9:00am, having activities before the court’s premise throughout the morning, then break for lunch, and wait till the afternoon for the court’s final judgement.

The accessibility facilities is not only for the people with disabilities, it is for everyone.

See ya!
/Saba
1 March 2019

References Documents (In Thai):

1. A copy of Administrative Court since 24 Nov 2014 to provide adequate elevators and other accessibility facilities on its BTS 23 stations with in 1 year https://drive.google.com/open?id=14_rENwNu0KoWPi0Whg8e1Ep0JZAGh5HH
2. A copy of the group of people with disabilities prosecuting, requesting 1,400 million Bath compensation in return to BMA on its failure to provide elevators and accessible facilities at BTS 23 stations. https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Hpw9BbdANbAxcjLSg6nTdMjwg-Nx0RVd / https://drive.google.com/open?id=1FgPrs1U3TV9lxEdwQpUuh_r_Nm56dmpx
3. Accessibilities Installation Tracking sheet for BTS 23 stations https://drive.google.com/open?id=1U6yghc-EzeRFzjN-kQnMCrawzh0Z5l5D
4. Thailand Accessibility Update 2019 https://drive.google.com/open?id=1CT2xxn3UnbBTeeQRiraZN-sejw8nWBcY