Knowledge Bangkok Cycling Week 21 December 2023 Cycling News The Dutch Embassy in Bangkok organized a Cycling Week full of activities to promote the use of the bike in Thailand’s capital. The Dutch Cycling Embassy took part in the various activities including multiple bike rides through the busy streets of Bangkok. Experts from the Thailand Walking and Cycling Institute and Café Velodome took us on a bike ride. They showed us the many different aspects of Bangkok, from the busy main roads to the backstreets of Chinatown. During the bike rides, we experienced all the opportunities to create a more livable and cycle-friendly city. Even though the streets are bustling, it is amazing to see the city from a bike-perspective. Many streets are designed to favor car-use, whereas they actually tell us another story. Streets with restaurants, shops, and hotels should be designed for people walking around and enjoying being there. Redesigning these streets is possible and can be done rather quickly when it is part of the overarching network planning. During one of the bike rides, the Governor of Bangkok, the Deputy-Governor and the Director of the Traffic and Transportation Department joined the group of 35 stakeholders. They are very engaged in facilitating more cycling infrastructure and creating livable streets. When people are cycling together, it sparks interesting conversations and people come up with the most creative ideas. This bike ride was no exception and many ideas to improve cycling in Bangkok were exchanged. To conclude a week full of cycling activities, the Embassy organized a screening of ‘Together We Cycle’ in the garden of the residence of the Ambassador. Many visitors arrived by bike which showed us how extensive the bike community in Bangkok is. After the documentary we held a Q&A session about how we can apply lessons learned in the Netherlands to the context in Bangkok. All these activities together showed us how willing Bangkok and its residents are to improve the cycling culture. We are looking forward to continuing the collaboration with Bangkok!