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Story by Wandee Suntivutimetee
Photos by Photography staff
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In the year 2000 alone, road accidents numbered a 37,868 incidents in Bangkok, equivalent to 104 accidents per day. In that same year, 179,000 pollution-inhaling Bangkokians were diagnosed with respiratory problems. Serious crimes totaled 1,033 cases that year, averaging 3 cases per day; homicides totaled 275 cases, averaging 3 homicides every 4 days. Drug-related cases reached a chilling total of 53,455, averaging 146 cases a day. The statistics highlight the fearsome intensity of big city congestion and malaise at its best. Is Bangkok today really all that livable? Pollution, crime, drugs... constantly testing our mental stability and physical health, and increasingly making us wary of our surroundings, effectively isolating us from one another. What are the chances of finding that caring human touch that big cities so characteristically lack? |
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"Before, we felt that Bangkokians simply had no kindness in them. People whose fences were practically attached didn't even know each other. But after ten years of our show, that understanding has changed. Every time we've asked for a helping hand, we've always received full cooperation. When the building collapsed in Khorat, and we reported on the shortage of blankets for wrapping the corpses, people immediately called in to offer donations. When we reported that there was no equipment available to search through the remains for bodies, someone called in to donate his company's equipment for use at the site. We have been more than happy to serve as mediator, communicating kindness from one person to the next." |
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After four months on the air, the phone calls received by a popular traffic monitoring radio station on F.M. 100 totaled over 400,000 calls. At full capacity, however, the station was only able to answer 40,000 calls within that time frame. The radio station was in popular demand as clearly expressed by the flood of calls in its first few months on air - it seemed to be exactly what Bangkok listeners needed. But what was more unforeseen was the honest and selfless kindness displayed by Bangkokians during times of distress. Perhaps that is all Bangkokians, and inhabitants of any big city, need - the opportunity to find a way closer to one another, a way to surmount the negativity of social ills.
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