Prachuap Khiri Khan’s Bt9.6m bicycle lane ends up as roadside parking space

[lvr181]

10 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Reading this OP, I can only say, the number of different ways that this story is TYPICALLY THAI boggles the mind!

But not unexpected.

[gerritkaew]

maiby some education about rules when giving a driving license will help?

[Bsdk]

19 hours ago, OZJAY said:

Are thai’s dropped on their head at birth? The things I read on here on daily basis are unreal. Can’t use the other bike lane in Hau Hin either, due to motor bikes & sidecars zooming up and down all day every day. What’s wrong with these clowns!! 

I wrote a e-mail to tessabahn last year, still no answer

[metisdead]

An offensive troll post has been removed. 

[off road pat]

22 hours ago, mercman24 said:

typical answer*nothing can be done about it* how about putting up a NO PARKING sign idiot, then clampimg them

"Nothing can be done about it " means we will not do anything because our cars are there too....!!!

[hotchilli]

Roads, lanes, tarmac, concrete it's all the same to Thais, don't expect logic to apply, cycle lanes, bus lanes, taxi lanes and the rest is for the use of all & not segregation... it's THAILAND !!

Roads are a free-for-all no laws apply !!!

[fred110]

Looks like there is room on the sidewalk to ride.

[Ctkong]

21 hours ago, OZJAY said:

Are thai’s dropped on their head at birth? The things I read on here on daily basis are unreal. Can’t use the other bike lane in Hau Hin either, due to motor bikes & sidecars zooming up and down all day every day. What’s wrong with these clowns!! 

Basically Thai authorities are not really into promoting cycling. They just want it to look good on paper letting the world know they are into eco friendly pursuit. They couldn’t care less about global warming . Not in their turf. 

[PaDavid]

3 hours ago, natway09 said:

Taking the easy way out......

But I agree, Thailand is just not & never will be a safe place for cyclists

Not necessarily true. It depends where you cycle. In my neck of the woods, riding solely on country roads, with little traffic, is probably as safe as anywhere in the world

[Golden Triangle]

Rumour control has it that a cycle lane is to be built around Mabprachan Lake on the outskirts of the city, it will, by all accounts be separated from the main roads similar to the video loaded earlier, I guess it won't be too long until motorcycles, samlors and maybe the occasional 4 wheel drive will find their way onto it. There is no hope for this country at times.  

[Ctkong]

When the stomach is full and all basic needs as well as other not so basic needs are met, then maybe, maybe, the Thais would consider those eco friendly projects.... but currently, it is still far from their ‘get rich’ mindset. 

My 2 cents worth, l have many Thai friends both wealthy and upper middle class. Most drive luxury cars but none cycle at all ! Cycling as an ecofriendly option or healthy choice never enter their mind at all. Funny enough, my wealthy German friend drive a Benz S600 when traveling  but uses a push bike when going to office. He cycle to office then changed into his office attire after a shower in his office. Worlds apart in outlook. 

Edited October 31, 2018 by Ctkong
Missing words.

[Ctkong]

Sad reality is that thailand is not ready for bicycle lanes ...it is mainly foreigners cycling in bigger towns and cities. Rural Thailand has no problem with somchai cycling in the sticks. 

Even so called ecofriendly Singapore do not have many bicycle lanes . It seems bicycling is not high up in their list . Same scenario in other ASEAN countries.

Maybe the hot weather really has something to do with it. 

Edited October 31, 2018 by Ctkong

[Vacuum]

4 hours ago, cycolista said:

They did that here in Nong Khai, The villagers removed the posts.

Probably sold them as scrap metal.

[fdimike]

Same problem here in Udon Thani.  The only solution is to build a concrete curb alongside the bike lane to seperate the vehicles from the cyclists.  That has been done here and has worked on those parts protected by the solid concrete curb.  Signage of any sort is a total waste of money as drivers just ignore them sort of like they do with traffic signals.

[moe666]

What does any intelligent person think when there isn't enough parking for the dcars on the road and some guy wants to build a bike lane

[moe666]

3 hours ago, Ctkong said:

Sad reality is that thailand is not ready for bicycle lanes ...it is mainly foreigners cycling in bigger towns and cities. Rural Thailand has no problem with somchai cycling in the sticks. 

Even so called ecofriendly Singapore do not have many bicycle lanes . It seems bicycling is not high up in their list . Same scenario in other ASEAN countries.

Maybe the hot weather really has something to do with it. 

There are a lot of thais who bicycle

[fullcave]

Project complete $-)) Next project.$-)) 

[Phatbeets]

Its not even true that it wasen't used as its the most common way to get to Ao Manao and plenty of Thais and tourists were using it at the beginning. Shame cause it added a lot flair to the city. But the fact that everybody needs to have a big car (even if they cant afford one) + the lack of common sense, egoism and corruption in this country will always hinder any kind of progress.

[MaxYakov]

On 10/30/2018 at 6:44 PM, Katia said:

I love how they're like "the project isn't worthy because cyclists don't use it.  The fact that they don't because they can't because cars are parked there is irrelevant."

It's probably more useful for vehicle parking than for cycling. The cyclists can mix it up on the road with motor vehicles at their own risk of life and limb as is usually the case. As a cyclist in urban (central) Bangkok, I never trusted cyclist lanes that did not have a solid vehicle barrier that would be highly unlikely to be penetrated by most motor vehicle types. The ones with barriers do not usually stop motorcycles and vendors from interloping, however.

 

I usually cycle on the sidewalks (aka pavements) because it's cooler there and I usually have a curb as some protection from out-of-control or purposely interloping motor vehicles. Never heard of a cyclist getting killed or even injured by a motor vehicle, motorbikes excepted, while cycling on a sidewalk. Many Thai cyclists, particularly the lotto vendors, are sidewalk users for both commuting and shopping - I see them all the time. The BMA has made some rudimentary provisions (signs and painted symbols) for having the sidewalks shared by cyclists and pedestrians.

Edited November 6, 2018 by MaxYakov

[Katia]

Oh, cycling on Bangkok streets made me nervous, too.  Cycling on the sidewalk would have been impossible, though.

 

I don't know how they feel about it in Thailand, but in the U.S. you'd have all the people whinging about "bicyclists don't belong on the sidewalk!!"  Yes, well, I and my bike that might, together, weigh 150 pounds soaking wet and having a top speed of maybe 15 mph IF I'm really hauling it, sure as hell don't belong on a road anywhere near two-ton hunks of metal traveling at 35-45+ mph, either... but nobody quite seems to comprehend that.  (And if the pedestrians would remember, as they so rarely do in any country, that they get HALF of the sidewalk and the persons they're sharing it with get the other HALF, there would not be problems.)

[MaxYakov]

14 hours ago, Katia said:

Oh, cycling on Bangkok streets made me nervous, too.  Cycling on the sidewalk would have been impossible, though.

 

I don't know how they feel about it in Thailand, but in the U.S. you'd have all the people whinging about "bicyclists don't belong on the sidewalk!!"  Yes, well, I and my bike that might, together, weigh 150 pounds soaking wet and having a top speed of maybe 15 mph IF I'm really hauling it, sure as hell don't belong on a road anywhere near two-ton hunks of metal traveling at 35-45+ mph, either... but nobody quite seems to comprehend that.  (And if the pedestrians would remember, as they so rarely do in any country, that they get HALF of the sidewalk and the persons they're sharing it with get the other HALF, there would not be problems.)

I don't know why you say that cycling on the sidewalk "would have been impossible". I and many others do it all the time. Actually, I do a hybrid of sidewalks and road travel but I've very careful to only "borrow" the road for short distances when the sidewalks are too busy or don't exist and, ideally, when I deem it to be relatively save such as when the traffic is gridlocked or when I'm sure high-speed, oncoming traffic is not going to be a threat.

 

I watch cyclists traveling down my rather busy, fast and narrow two-lane soi when one third of the way into the traffic lane. They are actually an obstruction to cars which have to pass partially in the opposite lane creating a potential accident situation. These cyclists are oblivious to the trouble the are causing cars, trucks and even motorbikes and the risk they pose for themselves from distracted, tired or drunk drivers. Most cyclists have the good sense not to try going down Sukhumvit Road one third into the left-hand lane. That would indicate a much higher level of obliviousness or a death wish.

 

I go out of my way to avoid that situation on my soi by being off the road and cutting through the Ocean Tower parking alley in order to avoid traveling on my relatively dangerous soi so that I can use the relatively wide and much safer sidewalks along Rachada Phisek road. I'll often travel against traffic on Rachada Phisek so I can, like a pedestrian would, watch traffic coming toward me rather than have my back to traffic (even though I have and religiously use a mirror on my bicycle).

[Katia]

24 minutes ago, MaxYakov said:

I don't know why you say that cycling on the sidewalk "would have been impossible". I and many others do it all the time. Actually, I do a hybrid of sidewalks and road travel but I've very careful to only "borrow" the road for short distances when the sidewalks are too busy or don't exist and, ideally, when I deem it to be relatively save such as when the traffic is gridlocked or when I'm sure high-speed, oncoming traffic is not going to be a threat.

 

I watch cyclists traveling down my rather busy, fast and narrow two-lane soi when one third of the way into the traffic lane. They are actually an obstruction to cars which have to pass partially in the opposite lane creating a potential accident situation. These cyclists are oblivious to the trouble the are causing cars, trucks and even motorbikes and the risk they pose for themselves from distracted, tired or drunk drivers. Most cyclists have the good sense not to try going down Sukhumvit Road one third into the left-hand lane. That would indicate a much higher level of obliviousness or a death wish.

 

I go out of my way to avoid that situation on my soi by being off the road and cutting through the Ocean Tower parking alley in order to avoid traveling on my relatively dangerous soi so that I can use the relatively wide and much safer sidewalks along Rachada Phisek road. I'll often travel against traffic on Rachada Phisek so I can, like a pedestrian would, watch traffic coming toward me rather than have my back to traffic (even though I have and religiously use a mirror on my bicycle).

Most places it can be hard to walk on the sidewalk, let alone ride a bike, with the bad condition of the sidewalk, vendors, trees and fire hydrants and all manner of things taking up the sidewalk, pedestrians, etc.

 

(Actually taking up a good portion of the lane is usually recommended for cyclists, so cars aren't tempted to try to pass and hence run them off the road or smush them up against cars/trees/fences/whatever on the side.)

[MaxYakov]

1 hour ago, Katia said:

Most places it can be hard to walk on the sidewalk, let alone ride a bike, with the bad condition of the sidewalk, vendors, trees and fire hydrants and all manner of things taking up the sidewalk, pedestrians, etc.

 

(Actually taking up a good portion of the lane is usually recommended for cyclists, so cars aren't tempted to try to pass and hence run them off the road or smush them up against cars/trees/fences/whatever on the side.)

There are many quite usable sidewalks in central Bangkok, or even in the suburbs. Often, depending on the location, they are empty of traffic of any kind even pedestrians. I use them all the time. Yes, there are occasional obstructions so I call this type of cycling "urban obstruction" cycling as opposed to "mountain or road biking"k for example.

 

Who is recommending that a cyclist take up a good portion of  a motor vehicle road lane so that cars are not tempted to pass?

 

This is an inconsiderate and extremely dangerous practice in any country and probably the biggest contributor to getting cyclists killed by inattentive motorists. It violates common road sense and is certainly NOT PRACTICED by many (or any) cyclists commuting on Sukhumvit Road or on any road for that matter. I'm sure all of the cyclists would laugh out loud at the notion of doing it. It's tantamount to saying "Let's go out into the road and obstruct traffic today with our bicycles". Driving too slowly for traffic even in a motor vehicle in my country can get you a ticket or a warning.

 

There are very few long-term parked cars on Sukhumvit Road, but there are often taxis and other vehicles pausing along the curb. You are absolutely correct about the risk of getting "smushed" against something on any road or even hit by a passing vehicle as you are passing a obstacle like a parked vehicle. This is where mirrors and real-time evasion tactics (not to get hit or smushed) used by the alert cyclist who must maintain situation awareness to do so - including going to the sidewalks if they are available.

 

I got "smushed" by a bus against a carelessly parked car on Sukhumvit Road one morning and I was forced to bail off the bike. The bus decided to make a rapid lane change cutting me off when I was abreast of the parked car. I was injured and we all (bus driver, parked car owner/driver and myself) ended up at the Lumphini police station giving our stories. The bus company's insurance agent was much more interested in any potential damage to the bus than to my upper arm injury. I was quite lucky there wasn't any closely following traffic to nail me after I bailed off the bike.

 

Too many cyclists don't even have mirrors and I suspect many cycle around in a state of semi-consciousness and an attitude of arrogant impunity until something knocks them into hospital or eternity. Cyclists and pedestrians and other inferior vehicles (scooters, skateboards, etc) should not even be attempting to share the road with much faster, less maneuverable and potentially deadly motor vehicles.

Edited November 7, 2018 by MaxYakov

[Katia]

21 hours ago, MaxYakov said:

Who is recommending that a cyclist take up a good portion of  a motor vehicle road lane so that cars are not tempted to pass?

All taken from the first two pages of Google results for "how to safely ride bicycle on road":

 

Scroll down about halfway: https://antranik.org/how-to-ride-your-bicycle-safely-on-the-street/

 

https://cyclingsavvy.org/road-cycling/

 

Scroll down to "Riding Technique": https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/riding-traffic.html

 

Scroll down almost halfway: https://greatist.com/fitness/bicycle-safety-101

 

Scroll down about 1/3 of the page: https://www.citylab.com/life/2017/05/urban-cycling-how-to/526500/

 

 

21 hours ago, MaxYakov said:

Cyclists and pedestrians and other inferior vehicles (scooters, skateboards, etc) should not even be attempting to share the road with much faster, less maneuverable and potentially deadly motor vehicles.

You're preaching to the choir.  Read my previous post again.

Edited November 8, 2018 by Katia