Dong Tan Beach Rd

[bradiston]

Just last night, travelled north - south, Pratamnak Soi 5 to Jomtien Beach Rd, about 2220 hrs. All clear, no sign of imminent closure. Coming back, maybe 2240 hrs, road open at Jomtien end, but Soi 5 end closed! ???????????? Oh for heaven's sake, I don't believe it! No signs up warning you at Jomtien end. There's a set of steps you can use to bypass the gates rather than go all the way back. It's a bit precarious but doable.

 

Just to warn people.

 

I'm going to have a word with plod anyway. Sort yourselves out, can't you?

Edited August 8, 2023 by bradiston

[scubascuba3]

That's kinda normal here, they tell you road closed once you get there, no advance warning.

 

I did read that Soi 5 gate was to be left open 24\7

[bradiston]

4 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

That's kinda normal here, they tell you road closed once you get there, no advance warning.

 

I did read that Soi 5 gate was to be left open 24\7

Yes, I remember a poll was set up to gauge support for 24/7 opening but I never saw any result. Seems there was quite a lot of opposition. I'll make some polite enquiries.

[Henryford]

They shouldn't allow car traffic along that beach road. Should be a pedestrian area.

[Olmate]

30 minutes ago, Henryford said:

They shouldn't allow car traffic along that beach road. Should be a pedestrian area.

 Why? Plenty of wide levelfootpath there, shaded beach too.

[scubascuba3]

4 hours ago, Henryford said:

They shouldn't allow car traffic along that beach road. Should be a pedestrian area.

During the recent public holidays it was gridlocked, couldn't move or pass even on a motorbike, the solution is no cars or make it one way

[Guderian]

3 hours ago, Olmate said:

 Why? Plenty of wide levelfootpath there, shaded beach too.

Only from the Dongtan police box to the lifeboat station. From there, all the way to Soi 5, there's no footpath at all. And if there's traffic in both directions it's not a friendly place for pedestrians.

[Olmate]

2 hours ago, Guderian said:

Only from the Dongtan police box to the lifeboat station. From there, all the way to Soi 5, there's no footpath at all. And if there's traffic in both directions it's not a friendly place for pedestrians.

You can head up thru waterpark from the boat shed perhaps or onto the beach, to Soi 5,

[bradiston]

2 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

During the recent public holidays it was gridlocked, couldn't move or pass even on a motorbike, the solution is no cars or make it one way

I'm biased in that I live off Soi 5 so it's a great route to Jomtien. But I only ride a scooter, so a compromise for me might be only allow scooters. ???? I also see dedicated song thaew ferrying people to and from one particular restaurant. They could allow only a song thaew service running up and down it for beach, restaurant and other access. It's parking that causes the congestion.

 

Park 'n Ride on Jomtien 2nd road? The whole of Pattaya is chockers with traffic.

Edited August 9, 2023 by bradiston

[stevekrabi]

I always found it odd that 2 way traffic was allowed on there. Not sure how I ended up in that area I think I was just exploring... Any good bars around there? Might jog my memory lol

[dddave]

23 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

During the recent public holidays it was gridlocked, couldn't move or pass even on a motorbike, the solution is no cars or make it one way

One way would create it's own mess, overloading Pratumnak 5 intersection with Pratumnak Rd which is bad enough already. Cars would have no other way to get back no matter which direction the "One-Way" ran.   The only good solution would be strict no parking enforcement along the non-beach side of Dongtan Beach Rd. but that will never happen.

[bradiston]

4 hours ago, dddave said:

One way would create it's own mess, overloading Pratumnak 5 intersection with Pratumnak Rd which is bad enough already. Cars would have no other way to get back no matter which direction the "One-Way" ran.   The only good solution would be strict no parking enforcement along the non-beach side of Dongtan Beach Rd. but that will never happen.

There's not much parking on that side. There'd be no way through if there was. Today for some reason there was very little traffic.

 

I was down at immigration today, so I visited the police station to ask why both gates aren't shut at 2200 hrs, which is when they're supposed to shut. Just let vehicles out after that, so people don't waste time and effort having to turn back at Pratamnak 5. Not us, it's City Hall, they cried and made some fairly rude gestures. Ah, right. It's not the police's business to lock and unlock the gates. Now I understand. But they did say they'd pass on my suggestions, which was nice.

 

But of course it would mean staffing the gates for maybe 30 minutes each end, every night and unlocking in the morning. Well they have a guy up the Soi 5 end who does just that, but not at the other end. They'll spend heaven knows how much ripping up Beach Road AGAIN to lay some drains, but only one gatekeeper.

Edited August 10, 2023 by bradiston

[jacko45k]

On 8/9/2023 at 12:06 PM, scubascuba3 said:

During the recent public holidays it was gridlocked, couldn't move or pass even on a motorbike, the solution is no cars or make it one way

Bangkok drivers..... you can tell when they are in town as they make it difficult for the bikes to worm their way through to the front.