Seeing double! Tak locals wonder what's going on after signs appear twice

 

Picture: Sanook

 

Seeing double! Locals wonder what's going on after signs appear twice

 

Locals in the north west of Thailand could be forgiven for thinking they had suffered from a little overindulgence in the demon drink.

 

Either that or they feared they were literally going round the bend.

 

They were left seeing double after identical road signs appeared in the Ruam Thai Pattana sub-district of Phop Phra district, Tak.

 

The original ones were perfectly OK but new ones had appeared all the same. 

 

There were signs for wiggly roads, bends, gradients and T-junctions - all doubled up. 

 

What was this scandalous waste of public funds?, they demanded.

 

The answer is not yet apparent. Sanook reported they were yet to receive an explanation from the state authority responsible for such matters.

 

Source: Sanook

 

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Typically Thai, workers do not even know what the signs they are planting are for.

Oun and Tik discussing the signs they were assigned to post:

 

Tik:   Well, Oun. What if the driver only has one eye? How's he going to see this if it's on the left

        and he hasn't a left eye?

Oun: Good point! I never thought of that.

 

 

Tak highways official explains why the locals were "seeing double"

 

Picture: Sanook

 

Sanook followed up on the "Amazing Thailand" story about  perfectly good road signs being replaced with new ones in the Phop Phra district of Tak in northwest Thailand.

 

The locals thought they were going round the bend after seeing two lots of gradient, T-junction and wiggly bend signs in their area.

 

Local roads and highways official Thongchai Chomphanorm (whose surname means admiring conservation) said it was all perfectly simple. 

 

His department had hired a contractor to replace lots of signs that had been in situ for years. Many of them had faded and were broken. 

 

Thongchai said that the contractor had yet to take down the old ones. 

 

He would hurry them along.

 

This explanation seemed to fly in the face of earlier reports that the old signs were perfectly alright leading the locals to suggest it was one big waste of public money.  

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2020-06-22

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

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Source: Sanook

3 minutes ago, webfact said:

This explanation seemed to fly in the face of earlier reports that the old signs were perfectly alright leading the locals to suggest it was one big waste of public money. 

the new guys were connected with other new guys and they all split the new pie; nothing to do with what is needed by the public

This has come up before and the subject even contains the same content in discussion.

Yes, the contract is given out to replace the signs.

Process unknown as to how that need is surveyed. Maybe a handy database  with pictures?

Group 1 goes and installs the new ones.

Group 2 ( or maybe  group 1 again ? ) comes later and removes the old ones. (they are the ones with the more obvious digging marks around them ! )

Necessary or not it is what happens.

 

 

 

 

My brother is a signwriter & I owed him a favour.

You know how it goes

Unbelievable - I have heard of "double vision" but this hilarious!!

 

The workers were told to put up the new signs.  No one told them to take the old ones down.

The old signs look all fine...I see many more signs in need of a replacement without any action so far.

 

They have also built a second u-turn under the Thai-Belgium bridge on Withayu intersection coming from Silom in BKK. Yes, I am wondering why and who made money out of it. Both u-turns are in use since then.

At least it makes them take notice.

Two signs or not Tak is a fine riverside town.  I most always stop there en route to Chaing Mai.  Inexpensive rooms, fine food and good people.  Try it.

 

2 hours ago, Thailarry said:

Two signs or not Tak is a fine riverside town.  I most always stop there en route to Chaing Mai.  Inexpensive rooms, fine food and good people.  Try it.

 

It is indeed, but the signs in question are on a road near the border with Myanmar about 120km away. I have happened to travel along the aforementioned road, from Waley up to Umphang (on the way back I took the local shortcut through Burmese territory).

3 hours ago, Mak25 said:

The old signs look all fine...I see many more signs in need of a replacement without any action so far.

 

They have also built a second u-turn under the Thai-Belgium bridge on Withayu intersection coming from Silom in BKK. Yes, I am wondering why and who made money out of it. Both u-turns are in use since then.

Maybe that was a deliberate design? The more roads, the better. Bangkok is severely lacking in proper city planning and road surface area. It has improved over the years, but has a long way to go before everything is done. An article from last year (in Thai) mentioned the city is going to upgrade or construct 203 new roads in the city over the coming years. Hope that actually happens.

16 hours ago, Borzandy said:

Typically Thai, workers do not even know what the signs they are planting are for.

Method in the madness, Thai drivers always ignore the first sign, this is hoping they notice the second one !

Even IF the signs need to be replaced  -whats the logic in replacing the poles not just the sign?

so let's replace signs that are NOT broken

 

but there is little money for education, health, ...

the thing I noticed was the 8* gradient signs. There's no way that stretch of road is 8% gradient, more like 2 - 3% gradient. Also the only gradient signs I've seen in LOS are ALL 8% even on roads that are far steeper, 15%, 25% etc.

1 hour ago, TigerandDog said:

the thing I noticed was the 8* gradient signs. There's no way that stretch of road is 8% gradient, more like 2 - 3% gradient. Also the only gradient signs I've seen in LOS are ALL 8% even on roads that are far steeper, 15%, 25% etc.

I've been on said road. It's very flat with a very minor incline as you say. However, further up you do get very steep inclines, as you go from 200 or 300m in elevation (which is the elevation of the area where the photo was taken) all the way up to 1300m+ (I think possibly even 1600m) as you wind your way up to Umphang.