Khao Lak officials bemoan the dangerous roads along coastal Phang Nga

[snoop1130]

 

With Khao Lak the chosen location for a new airport to serve Phuket and other neighbouring provinces, attention is turning to road safety in the coastal town. Thai PBS World has a detailed report examining the issue and the reasons behind the high number of incidents each year.

 

The new airport, called the Andaman International Airport for now, will be located to the east of Kok Kloi town, just 10-15 minutes north of Phuket. The new Thai PM has visited Phuket twice over the past month to endorse the major infrastructure project in Phang Nga.

 

By the end of 2023, Khao Lak will have welcomed some 2 million tourists, generating some 10 billion baht in tourism revenue. However, foreigners continue to die on Khao Lak’s roads each year due to issues such as a lack of lighting, poor driving and local drivers speeding.

 

By Peter Roche

Caption: PHOTO: Flickr/Tony Withers

 

Full story: Phuket GO 2023-10-09

 

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[Mavideol]

36 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

foreigners continue to die on Khao Lak’s roads each year due to issues such as a lack of lighting, poor driving and local drivers speeding.

that's not specific to Khao Lak but all over Thailand due to their poor roadsite infrastructure and bad drivers

[SuperSaiyan]

15 minutes ago, Mavideol said:

that's not specific to Khao Lak but all over Thailand due to their poor roadsite infrastructure and bad drivers

 

Well the curvy and hilly and dark (no lights) road at the entrance of Khao Lak from the south is a bit unique in that aspect (well except the Patong entrance over the hill and Patong <-> Bangtao, but its not a "highway") and it could lead to a lot of bus accidents coming from the airport, especially if it's slippery due to rain. But obviously they kinda exaggerating. 

 

Edited October 9, 2023 by SuperSaiyan

[2long]

I've ridden motorbikes and driven cars in Bangkok for over 20 years, and consider myself to be confident and capable. But every time I rent a scooter in Khao Lak I'm slow careful and spend more time looking in my mirrors than looking forwards.

The road is lethal, and has recently been made worse when it was widened.

[tkramer]

It is NOT the dangerous roads...it is the Dangerous Drivers...

 

Let's get things straight here...

 

[KhunLA]

Came back through that way a couple weeks ago, and there is nothing dangerous about those roads.  Actually they're quite nice, and was pleasure to drive on.   From Krabi, through Phang-nga, and up the coast pass Ranong.

 

Been on most of the major roads in that province, quite nice & enjoyable.

 

Only thing dangerous are the idiots that don't obey the traffic laws.   Easily avoidable, though something you can't fix as ...

 

... you can't fix stupid

[hotchilli]

12 hours ago, 2long said:

I've ridden motorbikes and driven cars in Bangkok for over 20 years, and consider myself to be confident and capable. But every time I rent a scooter in Khao Lak I'm slow careful and spend more time looking in my mirrors than looking forwards.

The road is lethal, and has recently been made worse when it was widened.

Roads can be challenging, but that can be altered with a little driver patience.

[nobodysfriend]

18 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

However, foreigners continue to die on Khao Lak’s roads each year due to issues such as a lack of lighting, poor driving and local drivers speeding.

Just as everywhere else ...

Btw ... the construction of the new , highway like 4 lane road between Phuket and Takuapa was terminated just last year .

The author of this article does not have a clue .

Edited October 10, 2023 by nobodysfriend

[pagallim]

Over recent years, there have been major upgrades to dual carriageway status for the roads betweek Khok Kloi/Thai Muang/Khao Lak.   The density of traffic on these roads is also very light compared to Phuket/Phang Nga/Krabi.

[SunsetT]

57 minutes ago, pagallim said:

Over recent years, there have been major upgrades to dual carriageway status for the roads betweek Khok Kloi/Thai Muang/Khao Lak.   The density of traffic on these roads is also very light compared to Phuket/Phang Nga/Krabi.

This is exactly the problem; Thailand has great roads but Thais are not taught how to use them. The better the roads which encourage faster driving the greater the carnage.