Roads torn up throughout Pattaya - Do they ever repair them?

[Thomas J]

I have now been in Pattaya for 2 years.  During that time, I have seen numerous roads including major ones like Sukhumit ripped up.  Huge ditches marked with only a few security cones that if you accidently drove into you likely would face serious injury or death.  Particulaly that would be true if the person was on a motorcycle.  What is the story?  They seem to be very active with ripping the streets apart but then they remain in that torn up condition it seems like indefinitely. 

[darksidedog]

You will generally see very bad road problems repaired after a series of nasty accidents, which normally require at least one death or involvement of someone from an important family. There was almost a crater on Kaonoi for a long time. A half senior copper hit it one night in the rain and was badly scraped. Fixed the next day surprise, surprise!

People who dig stuff up here, don't see providing a safe road surface afterwards as part of their job.

Add the absolute lack of coordination between any of the road crews here, who should patch things up and its the perfect storm for long term danger.

Go slowly, expect a serious drama round every corner and you will get through.

Fixing the roads surfaces is not foreseeable in the near future. Or the long term future either thinking about it.

[CharlieH]

Moved to Pattaya forum

[Banana7]

There is little or no coordination between utility organizations. I've seen the electric company dig up the road, lay cables and then resurface the road. A month later the water supply company  will dig up the road and do something to the pipes and resurface the road. Then the sewer department will do the same. Next comes the traffic light department.  Then the road department comes to repair the pavement because it's cracked and falling apart. Then back to the electric company because somebody broke the cable, while repairing the water supply, traffic light cables, sewers or some other underground utility.

 

Usually the completed road repair looks great upon completion, but 2 years later, the road needs repair again. Like most things in Thailand, it looks beautiful on day 1 but it's not a quality job/product and needs to be replaced quickly again.  On it goes, never an end.

 

Also there seems to be a shortage of road marking paint for lines. Many places, the lines are not visible. Even after resurfacing a road, it can take a year until the lane lines and other markings appear. Keeping in Thai tradition, the new lines disappear 2 years later, and rarely reappear.

 

[jacko45k]

Nope, they just tear them up and leave them........

Wait for the next group to come along or some pipes to be delivered. Having 10x10x10 holes open in the middle of the road is of no consequence..... until the barriers are moved as needed elsewhere. 

[Gsxrnz]

Bureaucratic corruption, waste, re-work and over expenditure (by quantum) is no different in Thailand to any western country.  The difference is that in  the west, our bureaucrats have learned to waste more of our money much more efficiently and look better while doing it. 

 

 

[Henryford]

What annoys me as much are the pavements. On the stretch of pavement near Tuk Com they installed nice new pavement stones months/years  ago but left a 1 foot gap near the kerb unfinished.  Looks like they will never finish this job so people can trip over the gap for years to come.

[actonion]

The more they spend  on road signs,  paint ,  and other necessary  equipment for road safety , the less they have to put  in their pockets..

[seajae]

we had the roads in our area dug up over 2 years ago to lay new drain pipes, they have yet to fix them back up, still just filled with sand that keeps washing away or compacting, maybe its the thai way of making more profit by not finishing the job, no one in the govt seems to care about it

 

[Gsxrnz]

The real answer to the conundrum is that the cost of labour in Thailand is exceedingly cheap. Not only cheap in and of itself, but especially cheap compared to the cost of capital expenditure and utilization thereof.

 

They are facing the Industrial Revolution question - at what point do they replace labour with machinery/automation, and proven methods that avoid continual maintenance.   Societally speaking it is more beneficial to spend X million baht over a long period utilising labour and known faulty methodology and materials, than invest say 10 times as much in capital and get the job done (arguably) once. The capex would go on to create even further replacement of labour as it needs to pay back the investment over time.

 

This new efficiency and expenditure shift in any particular sector would create labour supply/demand shifts  across the country that would ultimately lead to a  western utopian system of high taxes and government handouts.

 

There's a reason you don't see too many automatic road making machines, forklifts, self-service fuel stations, self-service supermarket checkouts, or struggle to find service staff at a department store.

Edited July 18, 2021 by Gsxrnz

[Thomas J]

2 minutes ago, Gsxrnz said:

The real answer to the conundrum is that the cost of labour in Thailand is exceedingly cheap. Not only cheap in and of itself, but especially cheap compared to the cost of capital expenditure and utilization thereof.

They seem to have unlimited funds to rip up the streets but precious few to actually restore them once ripped up.  Case in point just outside Bangkok Hospital Pattaya there has been a section of road ripped up for months.  Another area is along Sukuvit as you travel South towards the Ambassador Hotel complex in Pattaya.  That section of road has been torn up for many kilometers for months.  You see nothing being done to actually repair it.  Why tear it up, if you are not ready for the repair crews? 

[NCC1701A]

corruption. 

[jacko45k]

4 minutes ago, Thomas J said:

They seem to have unlimited funds to rip up the streets but precious few to actually restore them once ripped up.

I would love to know how they get paid for their work.... one would expect a large percentage to be held back until the job was completed... and restoration done. I suspect they get a sizeable portion when they start work, and get into the cheap smash and wreck and dig stage....the rest of the work is expensive, needs hardware they haven't got,  so they don't bother about it.

[Card]

You should see the road running through Walking St. Big holes covered with metal sheeting every 10 metres. Nobody around. A great opportunity to fix it.

[thailand49]

Infrastructure is the best way to obtain government funds, skimming off the top for these officials is a why of life. 

[millymoopoo]

On 7/17/2021 at 9:27 PM, Thomas J said:

Huge ditches marked with only a few security cones

Security cones....? What, do they have some in Thailand, must only be in Pattaya..!

If you think that's bad don't go travelling in Isaan.

Perfectly good road, go around the corner and huge potholes everywhere, if you're lucky maybe a few of them will have a 'stick' as a marker.

And they stay like that for years.

Other areas that have had potholes for a long time progressively get wider as motorists take an ever widening berth around the holes, which creates more, to which they go even wider, and eventually the road becomes 3 or 4 times wider than original.

That's if there is space. If there's not it becomes a real mess, 3kmh zone.

[bkk6060]

Can't agree entirely with the OP.

Beach Road is new, widened and resurfaced.

Same recently Pattaya Tai and Pattaya Nua.

Going across the top Pratumnak hill all new.

Some recent completed improvements in Jomtien.

Several other new or ongoing projects.

I agree they are slow in finishing, but to say there are no infrastructure improvements being completed is false.

Edited July 19, 2021 by bkk6060

[jomtienisgood]

On 7/17/2021 at 8:55 PM, darksidedog said:

You will generally see very bad road problems repaired after a series of nasty accidents, which normally require at least one death or involvement of someone from an important family. There was almost a crater on Kaonoi for a long time. A half senior copper hit it one night in the rain and was badly scraped. Fixed the next day surprise, surprise!

People who dig stuff up here, don't see providing a safe road surface afterwards as part of their job.

Add the absolute lack of coordination between any of the road crews here, who should patch things up and its the perfect storm for long term danger.

Go slowly, expect a serious drama round every corner and you will get through.

Fixing the roads surfaces is not foreseeable in the near future. Or the long term future either thinking about it.

This will all improve with the upcoming new ' Pattaya Sandbox Castle ' 5555 

[AlQaholic]

This reminds me of an old communist Russia era joke;

A man walks down the street in Moscow, he notices two men at work. As he observes the men working, he becomes profoundly confused by their activities. One man digs a whole in the ground, and then another man fills it in again, this goes on every 10 meters or so along the road. The observer finally have to satisfy his curiosity, he walks up to the two men and asks "what are you doing, why are you digging holes in the ground and then filling them again?, this is meaningless". One of the men answers "Well you see, we are just doing the job we were told to do, Another guy, Boris, he's sick today, he is the one who plants the trees".

[elgenon]

Why bother if no one there? 555

[jomtienisgood]

26 minutes ago, elgenon said:

Why bother if no one there? 555

For future generations??? 555

[johng]

23 hours ago, Thomas J said:

Another area is along Sukuvit as you travel South towards the Ambassador Hotel complex in Pattaya.  That section of road has been torn up for many kilometers for months.  You see nothing being done to actually repair it. 

They are widening it to what looks like will be a 10 lane motorway !

 

[jomtienisgood]

9 minutes ago, johng said:

They are widening it to what looks like will be a 10 lane motorway !

 

Preparing the new arrivals. 5555

[Cake Monster]

On 7/17/2021 at 8:55 PM, darksidedog said:

You will generally see very bad road problems repaired after a series of nasty accidents, which normally require at least one death or involvement of someone from an important family. There was almost a crater on Kaonoi for a long time. A half senior copper hit it one night in the rain and was badly scraped. Fixed the next day surprise, surprise!

People who dig stuff up here, don't see providing a safe road surface afterwards as part of their job.

Add the absolute lack of coordination between any of the road crews here, who should patch things up and its the perfect storm for long term danger.

Go slowly, expect a serious drama round every corner and you will get through.

Fixing the roads surfaces is not foreseeable in the near future. Or the long term future either thinking about it.

Apparently, acording to my Missus, there are different Gangs for different Work.

One Gang will come along and open up the Road.

Another will actually do the work required ( water , Electric Etc ) 

and a Third gang will come along and make good the repair.

With all the Roads and Walk ways being dug up everywhere, its not a good thing for Tourism.

[jomtienisgood]

29 minutes ago, Cake Monster said:

Apparently, acording to my Missus, there are different Gangs for different Work.

One Gang will come along and open up the Road.

Another will actually do the work required ( water , Electric Etc ) 

and a Third gang will come along and make good the repair.

With all the Roads and Walk ways being dug up everywhere, its not a good thing for Tourism.

What tourism??? 55555

[Cake Monster]

2 hours ago, jomtienisgood said:

What tourism??? 55555

Maybe what I should have said  was " any possible Tourism "

[LongTimeLurker]

On 7/17/2021 at 8:27 PM, Thomas J said:

I have now been in Pattaya for 2 years.  During that time, I have seen numerous roads including major ones like Sukhumit ripped up.  Huge ditches marked with only a few security cones that if you accidently drove into you likely would face serious injury or death.  Particulaly that would be true if the person was on a motorcycle.  What is the story?  They seem to be very active with ripping the streets apart but then they remain in that torn up condition it seems like indefinitely.

You've been here 2 years, welcome to my experience for the last 25 years.

 

Don't expect it to change.

[LongTimeLurker]

On 7/17/2021 at 9:56 PM, Banana7 said:

Also there seems to be a shortage of road marking paint for lines. Many places, the lines are not visible. Even after resurfacing a road, it can take a year until the lane lines and other markings appear. Keeping in Thai tradition, the new lines disappear 2 years later, and rarely reappear.

It's not a lack of road marking paint that's the problem, it's that they don't use the high quality UV resistant and reflective road paints that are available.

 

They will last for a decade and provide reflection at night.

[jomtienisgood]

6 minutes ago, LongTimeLurker said:

You've been here 2 years, welcome to my experience for the last 25 years.

 

Don't expect it to change.

The only, not positive, change being the bars are closed and the girls gone....

[LongTimeLurker]

7 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Can't agree entirely with the OP.

Beach Road is new, widened and resurfaced.

Same recently Pattaya Tai and Pattaya Nua.

Going across the top Pratumnak hill all new.

Some recent completed improvements in Jomtien.

Several other new or ongoing projects.

I agree they are slow in finishing, but to say there are no infrastructure improvements being completed is false.

They're digging up Pattaya Tai again.

 

And digging up Pratumnak Hill again as well.

 

And they never did properly fix the road after that newly laid water main raised up at the traffic light junction at Sugar Hut, there's a definite bump as you go over it still.