A victory was achieved this week for those hoping to stop a major construction project on the banks of Bangkok’s Chao Phraya River. The government wants to build an elevated promenade along both sides of the river in order to allow people to walk along the water; however, the project would also result in evictions of entire riverfront communities and pose environmental dangers to boot. But now the World Monuments Fund has added the Chao Phraya River to its 2018 World Monuments Watch list, which designates sites around the world that are under threat in some way. Yossapon Boonsom, managing director of landscape architectural practice Shma Company, who also heads up the civil society group Friends of the River, says he hopes the designation will prompt the government to slow down and undertake a thorough environmental and economic impact assessment of the project. “Being included on the watchlist enables us to renew conversations and further dialogue with the government and the public,” he says. And as a wave of new architects and designers reinvigorates the river’s warehouses and neighbourhoods, this is a good moment to press pause on the grand project.