Patong Beach Road Clearway

[LivinginKata]

Extract from today's Phuket Gazette

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Patong beach road to become ‘clearway’

From next high season, the busy Patong beach road (Thaweewong Rd) will be free of parked vehicles, leaving traffic to flow along the popular beachfront, says Patong Deputy Mayor Chairat Sukkabal.

PATONG: Patong Deputy Mayor Chairat Sukkabal on April 2 announced that from next high season no parking will be allowed along the busy beach road.

“Taxis will be allowed on Thaweewong Rd only to drop off passengers,” K. Chairat told a press conference at Phuket Provincial Hall.

“Tuk-tuks and hawkers are currently taking up all the parking spaces along the beach road, leaving tourists with no place to park. We will provide more parking spaces and change traffic regulations to force all cars to park on the new road, away from the beach,” he said.

The new road he was referring to was Phang Muang Rd, the new road being built parallel between Nanai Rd and Rat-U-Thit 200 Pi Rd, which is expected to be completed before the next high season.

unquote

Does anyone really believe that the Tuk Tuk mafia and car/bike rental guys will stop cluttering up the beach raod.... I really don't think so. too much tea money ending up in offical's pockets.

And that new road... ho hum, still waiting after 2 years now. Getting worse rather than better. I see no end in sight...

[ozymandious]

hmmmm it always struck me that there's hardly any parking because it's all taken up by car and motor bike for hire and 'black taxis'

Some times i do get a random spot her or there and I always feel that I'm getting the stink eye from taxis for taking up "their" waiting location.

how about something like a parking meeter with a 10B a 1/2 hour charge or you get the boot (or chain and padlock as it is here) and you have to march down to the police box to pay your fine to have it removed?

RE Tuk Tuks not bad during the day time but a total street congeste at night. Here's a crazy idea, posted Tuk tuk ques and the rest have to rove unless in a designated tuk tuk que location.

[jts-khorat]

Does anyone really believe that the Tuk Tuk mafia and car/bike rental guys will stop cluttering up the beach raod.

This will not happen in a thousand years; tuk tuks cluttering up the beach road all along the red and white border every night (often directly in shouting distance to traffic police). As this is so clearly against the law, it could be stopped immediately. Since it has not, ergo, it most likely never will.

[Boater]

Even on the odd occasion i have had to stop along either beach road or second road, i have always been told 5 Mintues MAX as this for TAXI and TUK TUK!

[slackula]

It's a great idea,but totally unworkable.

Last year the tuk-tuks brought Patong to a complete standstill several times protesting the one-way system, sadly I imagine the protests against this will be much worse.

[MMR]

Here's a crazy idea, posted Tuk tuk ques and the rest have to rove unless in a designated tuk tuk que location.

That makes way too much sense...

never gonna happen

[donna]

It's a great idea,but totally unworkable.

Last year the tuk-tuks brought Patong to a complete standstill several times protesting the one-way system, sadly I imagine the protests against this will be much worse.

gotta say i agree with you there slackula. (is that a first? )

[slackula]

It's a great idea,but totally unworkable.

Last year the tuk-tuks brought Patong to a complete standstill several times protesting the one-way system, sadly I imagine the protests against this will be much worse.

gotta say i agree with you there slackula. (is that a first? )

LMAO, I just *knew* a thread related to tuk-tuks would bring you out!

/skype me when you aren't busy - I have gossip!

[geriatrickid]

It's a great idea,but totally unworkable.

Last year the tuk-tuks brought Patong to a complete standstill several times protesting the one-way system, sadly I imagine the protests against this will be much worse.

hmm, had a nice walk on the beach pondering something earlier today and observed that the traffic still goes 1 way. So that would suggest the tuktuk bullies didn't get their way.

If the local gov't pulls this off, I will be impressed, except that it will mean that traffic will speed up. Will definitely require stop lights or pedestrian signals otherwise alot of people will be splattered.

[Super Hans]

Quite why Beach Rd isn't entirely pedestrianised is utterly beyond me.

[LivinginKata]

Quite why Beach Rd isn't entirely pedestrianised is utterly beyond me.

Because it is such a huge money earner for Tuk Tuks, Taxis, vehicle rentals, etc etc. And now the other road (other way) out front of Juncylen is completely cluttered with Tuk Tuks, Taxis............................. etc etc.

Edited April 9, 2008 by LivinginKata

[LivinLOS]

Quite why Beach Rd isn't entirely pedestrianised is utterly beyond me.

So the one way system would run through ???

Really there isnt enough roads in Patong for losing that one too.. And to be honest I dont even think it has a crazy level of foot traffic crossing it..

[chiang mai]

I think that at a minimum, owners of open top sports cars must be banned from driving along Beach Road.

[IgnacioE]

Quite why Beach Rd isn't entirely pedestrianised is utterly beyond me.

So the one way system would run through ???

Really there isnt enough roads in Patong for losing that one too.. And to be honest I dont even think it has a crazy level of foot traffic crossing it..

My take from this is that all parking will be banned on the Beach Road. There are already horizontal parking spots on the left side with islands of soil (which I don't know will be torn out or not) so I am assuming that the right side of the road will be parking-free, which would from the south up to Soi Bangla.

I too wonder what problem this is solving. There's already a nice walk path all along the beach road which seems to be underpopulated at night, so what's the point? Do they think that families and disco ducks will be tripping the night fantastic more on beach road if parking is banned?

And to perhaps an off-topic issue, I haven't seen any grand benefits from the circular one-way system. It's a lot harder to cross the road as a pedestrian. But the look on a Phuket Town taxi-motocycler face when I force him to the right side of the road on the side streets is priceless :-)

I'm going to put this in my "Phuket Fantasy Plans" database.

[taxin]

Yeah I can actually see this happening. But all it will mean is the tuk tuks, taxis and car hire touts will find somewhere else to park. Stopping them from parking in one spot and moving them to another wont help. The problem is tuk tuks, there are simply too many of them and they are not being utilised.

The only way to eliminate traffic is to reduce the amount of Tuk Tuks that are allowed on the roads in Patong at any one time, problem is this is too late now. Unfortunately the Tsunami happened at the wrong time of the day when there was not a lot of them parked on the beach road, which was a shame. And even the ones that did get trashed were repaired and back on the road in no time, i.e. the ones that are now blue & yellow.

What the authorities should do is bring a law in demanding that all Tuk Tuks operate like the Pattaya style Songtaews. This would mean going round in a circle (which is possible since the introduction of the one way system) and picking up & dropping off people for a set 10 baht, oh and 5 baht for Thais of course

At least this way they are moving and not parked up at the side of the road 95% of the time. At the end of the day they cant be earning any money sitting at the side of the road !

Downside to this would be the motorbike taxis who will not like it. They rely on the Thais who wont pay the extortionate amounts that tuk tuks charge.

On the other hand the new road will help, it will just take a bit more time before its ready. They have already started laying it starting from the north end near the Esso garage.

[geriatrickid]

tonight, a tourist police car was clearing away the parked tuk tuks with horn and siren on the beach road from Bangla towards the muslim cemetary. I kid you not, there were no tuk tuks parked there for long.

last night the real police again enforced the 2 am bar closings in the paarts of Patong. 2nd time I have seen that this week.

I was on my way back from dinner and was surprised to see people that looked like real cops with serious faces going into the bars and then watching the bars close, I stuck around to see for myself.

[donna]

as silly as it may sound to some, but i do think that a 'tuk tuk rank' is the best way to go. i dont know if it would work in practice, but in theory its the best idea in my opinion.

they could queue up the hill towards baan yin dee and be on call to the rank. easy on the tuk tuks as they dont even have to start their engine to get down the hill, and they can save that 50 satang in petrol that would break their bank.