BANGKOK – As the nation prepares for the jubilant celebration of His Majesty the King’s 7th cycle birthday, various municipal and national governing bodies have hastily proposed to rename all or nearly all existing structures in the kingdom after the revered monarch to mark the occasion.
Having already renamed the Industrial Ring Road Bridge to be the Bhumipol Bridge 1 and Bhumipol Bridge 2, and renaming Sukhumvit Soi 16 to “We Love The King” Boulevard, the Bangkok Municipal Administration had proposed renaming three additional streets and one klong to honor His Majesty on the auspicious occasion of his 84th birthday.
However, once the proposals were made public, the national government added its own proposals for king-named structures, including the renaming of the Asia Highway to the King Highway, and the renaming of the San Saep canal to the “Klong Rama 9.”
Within a few days these proposals were not only unanimously approved in Parliament, but elicited more proposals from district governments throughout the greater Bangkok area as well as upcountry.
As of December 5, even-numbered Sukhumvit sois 2-100 in Bangkok will be re-named “Soi Bhumipol 2” through “Soi Bhumipol 100,” while odd-numbered sois will be named “Soi 9 June 1946/1” through ““Soi 9 June 1946/99”.
The Bangkok-Chonburi Motorway will be renamed the Bhumipol Motorway, and the 2nd stage expressway system will be known as the King’s Expressway. The Chalong Rat Expressway will be renamed the Rama IX Expressway, not to be confused with Rama IX boulevard, which runs beneath the Si Rat Expressway, which will be renamed the Rama IX Motorway.
The Memorial Bridge, Krungthep Bridge, and Sathorn-Thonburi bridges will be renamed the Great King Bridge, Dhammaraja Bridge, and Guiding Light Bridge, respectively, to avoid confusion with the existing Rama IX Bridge and Bhumipol Bridges 1 and 2.
Thanon Phattanakarn, Udom Suk Road, and Phet Kasem Road will be renamed “We Love The King Road,” “Long Live The King Road,” and “Obey The King Road” respectively. The sois on all three boulevards will be renamed accordingly.
The entire districts of Dusit, Wattana, Bang Rak, Bang Chak, and Laksi will be renamed the Bhumipol Districts 1-5, with more to be added later if the districts of Suan Luang, Sam Wa, and Rak Noi choose to vote for the change, as is expected. The main roads in these districts, along with major khlongs, schools, and bridges, will also be renamed after His Majesty the King in some way to be determined later.
At least 16 of the Chao Praya’s piers will also be named King’s Pier, with a number system to be added later to help tell them apart. The BTSC also announced that it will be renaming about half of its Skytrain stations to honor His Majesty the King in some way, including renaming Siam Station to “Heart of the Thai People Station” and changing Sala Daeng station to simply be called “King’s Corner.”
To assist with the changes in signage, maps, official documents, and tourist information, a budget of ฿1.2 billion has been set aside by the government, with the work being subcontracted out to Rama IX Holdings PCL, a subsidiary of the Crown Property Bureau, in non-public bidding.
According to the government’s estimates, a full 80% of the capital city’s infrastructure will be officially and unofficially named after the king by the end of the December 5 celebrations.
In related news, the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology warned the public that criticizing the name changes could be in violation of the Computer Crimes Act, and recommended that any discussion on Facebook that expressed preference for the old names not be shared or “liked.”
