OP-ED: Make Bangkok disabled friendly .

The story of a young, visually impaired woman and her four-legged companion and guide dog went viral when it hit social media earlier this month.

In the clip, the 22-year-old woman, named Kirin “Sai” Techawongtham, was accompanied by a black Labrador named Luther. Together, they rode the BTS Skytrain and went to the Bangkok Art and Cultural Centre (BAAC), among other places. Their story has also captured the mainstream’s media’s attention.

Luther was trained by a US-based foundation called Guiding Eyes for the Blind, which assigned him the task about two years ago, when Ms Kirin was studying at Hendrix College in Arkansas.

The problems started when Ms Kirin brought Luther to Thailand last December. She and her family learned the bitter truth that most public places such as shopping centres, restaurants and others had closed their doors to the pair, as the operators see Luther as a pet, not a guide dog. Such practices violate the law on disabilities that plainly states that guide dogs are a tool for the blind and are allowed anywhere that is accessible to the public.

In an interview with the Bangkok Post, Ms Kirin said, “Thai society has no idea about guide dogs” and added that most Thais are not aware that Luther, who accompanies her everywhere she goes, is actually on duty.

The duo’s struggle shows how Thai society has very little idea of what people with disabilities want and need.

This is the reason Ms Kirin started a webpage called “My Name is Luther” in a campaign to encourage society to adopt the right attitude about people with disabilities (PWDs).

To begin with, sympathy isn’t what they need.

As Ms Kirin’s father and Bangkok Post columnist Wasant Techawongtham, rightly pointed out in his recent column, what people with disabilities need are “the right environment, opportunities and tools to help them realise their full potential and be independent”.

Such an environment requires the right attitude on the part of state officials responsible for city design to accommodate people with disabilities, including the blind and those in wheelchairs.

But now, while some business operators have learned about the issue, it appears the officials still lack that knowledge or attitude.

Bangkok governor Aswin Kwanmuang is among those ignorant officials. When asked by reporters about Ms Kirin’s ability to access city parks and buildings with Luther by her side, he drew a shameful blank.

The governor said he “had assigned his legal team to look into the existing laws” to see if the duo, or Luther to be exact, could be allowed to enter such public spaces. The answer will be known by Aug 5.

Such a lame answer shows the governor knows very little about the country’s prior commitment to eliminating discrimination against this group of people in accordance with the UN convention on the rights of people with disabilities. Thailand is a state party to the 2008 convention and there should be no excuses and no foot-dragging in observing their rights.

Pol Gen Aswin’s vision — or lack thereof — about observing the rights of PWDs, explains why this group of people has been neglected by the city’s administration. Take, for instance, the issue of elevators at the BTS Skytrain stations, which PWDs are struggling to convince train operators and city administrators to improve, both in treatment and accessibility. Despite their efforts, several stations are still not fully accessible.

Another example of poor infrastructure are the sidewalks that remain mostly unfriendly and without ramps to enable those wheelchairs to commute freely. Several sidewalks are rugged and challenging, even to able-bodied people. The attempt to fit some pavements with braille bricks was ineffective because city workers had no understanding of the function of those special bricks and installed them in the wrong places, rendering them useless.

Several pavements are occupied by motorcycle taxis and street vendors, as well as structures like the poorly designed pedestrian flyovers that obstruct the movement of people on the sidewalks below, for example.

Such poorly constructed structures are a result of the poor mindset that strips people with disabilities of their rights and an opportunity to develop themselves in order to be able to live on their own, without the help of family and charity, and maintain careers in accordance with their potential.

Instead of having to look to the law to decide if Ms Kirin and Luther are able to enter public spaces or not, the Bangkok governor should already know that he and his officials have the obligation to fulfil the commitment that Thailand has made to the international community, by serving the duo and other PWDs better, making the city friendlier, and recognising their rights.