Public utility tunnels proposed in Thailand

BANGKOK, May 21 (TNA) - The Thai government has been urged to build public utility tunnels to cater domestic electricity, water and phone networks. The proposal was aired Monday, the first day of the World Tunnel Congress 2012 hosted by Bangkok from May 21-23 in which about 1,200 relevant engineers, city developers and scientists from 60 countries participate. Suchatchawee Suwansawasdi, head of underground construction and tunnels of the Engineering Institute of Thailand who is the chief organizer of the congress, said that half of the world population now live in urban areas and the proportion should further rise to 70 per cent by 2050. Suchatchawee noted that the use of underground structures would, therefore, help Bangkok, which have been expanding fast, to cope with natural disasters, and that the idea appeared to be worthwhile because underground public utility systems normally have longer lifetimes, citing that Canada now has the world's biggest underground city and South Korea has a subway system stretching up to 500 kilometers long, compared to only 20 kilometers long in Thailand although it should be at least 100 kilometers long. The international forum's chief organizer proposed that the Thai government put the idea of utility tunnels on the national agenda and the Thai Ministry of Interior take leading roles in the development, pointing out that underground structures would be relatively safe from bad weather, flooding and earthquakes and underground reservoirs and tunnels were being built to protect cities from flooding, acknowledging that Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital, is among the cities applying the idea. (TNA)