On 7 June 2022, Mrs. Arunee Hiam, Director of Development Promotion and Coordination Division, Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA), attended the 5th Joint Coordinating Committee (JCC) meeting of the Project for Improving Traffic Congestions in Bangkok through the Establishment of Model Area Traffic Control (ATC) System, a collaboration between TICA, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The meeting’s objective is to update the current progress and discuss way forward for the project.

The meeting acknowledged overall progress of the project, which aims to develop and install ATC system throughout Bangkok. Furthermore, both sides approved BMA’s proposal to allocate additional budget to make sure that available budget covers every activity over the entire period of the project, which is extended to August 2023 due to the COVID-19 pandemic earlier.  Moreover, the meeting discussed the needs for the skill development to work on the project in order to acquire the most of the project and effectively utilise such technology. Therefore, they agreed to conduct a training program on ATC system and traffic management in Japan in February 2023. The training program also aims to adapt the Japanese traffic congestion management as a guideline to improve traffic condition in Bangkok effectively.

Area Traffic Control, or ATC, is the system that detects real-time traffic condition. This technology will provide traffic information to Bangkok Traffic Control Center to analyze the traffic condition data to control the timing for traffic signals in the area. The system is subjected to be fully installed throughout Bangkok by the first quarter of 2023, and the trial of manual operation will take place by middle of 2023, with Samsen, Tuek Chai Intersection, and Soi Phahon Yothin 2 as the project's pilot scheme.