Over the past few decades, there have been a couple of proposals to build cable cars up Doi Suthep mountain…and beyond. Each and every time this issue has been raised, loud and proud voices—Citylife’s and everyone interviewed here included—have vociferously opposed the idea. The issues with each proposal have ranged from early protests about unsightliness, the erosion of culture and eventually lack of transparency within the project to private interest and corruption.
Over the past two years, however, there has been a serious proposal by the Highway Department to expand the road up to Doi Suthep to a four-lane road, citing the increasing amount of daily traffic. This idea has alarmed many residents and environmentalists, as it requires the clearing of up to 15 metres of road on each side of the construction, which will likely do great damage to the already fragile ecosystem of the mountain range.
Honorary Austrian Consul Nikolaus Prachensky, after seeing a YouTube clip about urban mobility and roadways in Bogotá where cable cars replaced other forms of public transportation, had an idea and began discussions with recent Austrian Ambassador Ava Hager last year. He has since reached out to Austria’s—and arguably the world’s—premier rope-based transport manufacturer Dopplelmayr, to discuss the possibility of bringing the cable car system to Doi Suthep mountain.
“The first advantage of this type of transport is that it will cost a third of what it will to expand the road. The destruction to the local environment is negligible, as is the footprint. No street surface has to be torn up, just relatively small platforms which are less invasive, faster and much cheaper,” explained Prachensky to Citylife.
“If we want to look further and consider applying this system across Chiang Mai city, then it is only a tenth of the cost of the proposed subway,” he continued. “And can you imagine the tourist draw, seeing all of the wonderful sights of Chiang Mai by day and by night from above. Chiang Mai by night from cable cars would attract tourists from all over the world and become a massive boost to our current tired tourism industry.”
“One of the major points of contention from the earliest days of cable car protests was its impact on the beauty of the ancient city of Chiang Mai,” said Sakda Darawan, of Raks Mae Ping Group. “Honestly, that ship has long sailed. Only a handful of forever protesters now would go against a forward visionary idea such as this. Chiang Mai, if you look around, is no longer the pristine picture-perfect city of old, it has modernised, and we must too. Not just in terms of what we see and build, but in our vision and management.”
“In Bogotá their cable cars transport over 300,000 people per day, connecting two cities,” Prachensky continued. “This company Dopplemyer has built hundreds of systems across Asia and beyond and have even received approval from UNESCO, so these are not unattractive and damaging systems, but designed to blend in with the environment as all as help preserve it.”
“Chiang Mai has changed so much since the first proposal to connect the Night Safari to Doi Suthep by the government in 2013. Things were very murky in those days. The population has changed; the younger crowd is ready to welcome change. There are the conservative militants, the eternal antagonists, but I think that they are by far the minority voices these days, out of step with where the city is heading. Chiang Mai has changed, not for the better, and without control. So, I propose we now try to control its change, for a change!”
“The original proposal was 13.5 kilometres and was to serve only the tourists, not the public. Now that I have talked to Prachensky I have changed my mind. Climate change is a new factor since 2013, sustainability, pollution and so on, these are increasingly evident that we must act. This cable car concept will be 2.2 kilometres. This will be just from the foot of Doi Suthep to the top of the mountain. The road is 11 kms and takes half an hour. Imagine how many trees will be saved just from the construction alone. This concept now is for the public too. We will embed CSR initiatives, such as the cable car will have to bring garbage down from the mountains, it will bring children down to school daily, it will have to bring patients down to hospitals and provide medical kits, etc. If the public can use this with daily, monthly or annual passes, it will drastically reduce the number of cars on the road. Then you look even further and start looking at how to sell carbon credit from what is reduced each year. We have calculated that we can reduce car emissions and raise around six million baht per year. We have already calculated this. This money can go into helping to preserve the mountains, or be split with the Provincial Administration Organisation (PAO) or investors,” continued Sakda.
Both Pachensky and Sakda admit that there will be challenges, including the songtaew association, which relies heavily on their daily trade taking tourists up and down the mountain, but say that thy can work with the association to find then a new role shuttling people to the cable car base, which will help reduce need for parking space.
Prachensky and Sakda have been in talks to date with all relevant government bodies, from the PAO to the National Parks and Forestry Department, from central government ministries to local groups, and say that the voices are nearly unanimously in support. They have also been in talks with private companies who are excited to consider investing in full in the project or as a joint venture with government bodies. The next step, they say, is to conduct a poll and try to get the people on side.
“This is the pitch stage, the decision makers need to be assured that there won’t be thousands of people out on the streets in protest,” said Prachensky. “
You want the city to appear primitive perhaps in Lanna mind and soul, but not in how you manage the city. Management is another way you can reflect the Lanna spirit of cleanliness and welcome, real spirit of tidiness and hospitality,” added Sakda.
Facts:
On a typical day, Wat Phra That Doi Suthep sees roughly 3,500–4,000 visitors. According to a tourism overview, the temple receives about 120,000 visitors per month, which averages to around 4,000 per day.
If you consider the broader Doi Suthep–Pui National Park, which includes the temple, it had 328,659 visitors in 2019, averaging about 900 per day. Note: this figure covers the entire park, not just the temple. Source: Wikipedia
Photo credit: https://www.doppelmayr.com/
Doppelmayr
Founded in 1893, in Austria. It is a leading manufacturer of cable cars for urban transport and international material transport systems. As of 2023, the company group has completed more than 15,400 installations in 96 countries.
Urban Mobility Today, many countries use cable cars for urban transport, especially La Paz in Bolivia, which has the largest urban cable car network in the world. In Europe, cities such as London, Koblenz, and Bolzano use cable cars for both tourism and urban transport. Other examples include cities in Latin America, Asia (such as Hong Kong and South Korea), and Africa (Lagos and Constantine).
Recently, Paris is building its first urban cable car, called “CâbleC1”. This cable car is scheduled to open in 2025, this year, and will connect major municipalities in the city, providing a faster, more sustainable, and accessible alternative to road traffic.
Cable car ropeway systems are now highly regarded worldwide for their short construction times, low investment costs, low operating costs, small structural footprint, energy efficiency, high reliability and safety, high transport capacity, environmental friendliness, zero emissions and for being virtually soundless. In short, millions of people worldwide rely on cable cars daily for transportation.
Austrian Consulate
The Austrian Consulate believes that a cable car transport system would be beneficial for Chiang Mai, which has a high population density and is one of the top tourist cities in the country.
The idea is to propose a cable car system for the route up to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep as a priority, which would significantly reduce traffic congestion going up and down the mountain, reduce exhaust pollution significantly, reduce travel time from 30 minutes per trip to just 9.8 minutes, and reduce the distance from 11 km to just 2.2 km.
Cable car ropeway systems are now highly regarded worldwide for their short construction times, low investment costs, low operating costs, small structural footprint, energy efficiency, high reliability and safety, high transport capacity, environmental friendliness, zero emissions, and for being virtually soundless.
The road to Wat Doi Suthep should be kept as it is without tree cutting. Enlarging the road to a 4-lane highway could be like solving obesity by expanding the size of the pants! That will not solve the real problem! The wider the road, the more traffic and the worse impact on the trees and forest.
Therefore, with the cable car concept, the road itself will become a lovely road due to fewer emissions, and the forest will regain its healthy condition. This, of course, will make Doi Suthep even more sacred, along with the two famous temples, namely, Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep and Wat Phalat.
Why should the car parking area, the market area at the foot of Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep, or even Wat Phrathat Doi Suthep itself, not be as clean as Chiang Mai airport? I trust that while the development of the Doi Suthep cable car system is underway, a public participation program will be implemented, allowing everyone to contribute to making the temple area more managed, cleaner, and more attractive. Therefore, the visitors can enjoy everything once they step onto the first station until the destination station.
A car driving 30 kilometers (approximately 18.6 miles) per day will emit roughly 3.6 to 6.6 kilograms of carbon dioxide per year, depending on the vehicle type and fuel efficiency. A typical passenger vehicle emits about 4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, or about 12.6 kg per day. In a year, this car emits about 2.2 tons of carbon dioxide, multiply this 2000 cars/day = 4400 tons/years x 150 USD.
