Theppraya Road Construction

[kicking]

It's been years of construction now and the road is still a disaster. I wonder how many more lives will be lost here before the project is complete. Usually there are between three and six people working on the road every day, and sometimes there are none. Why don't they put more workers on the project?

Can anyone enlighten me? Don't like to get down on Thailand but this is a goddamned disgrace. I guess it would be funny if it weren't so tragic...

[Thaifan2]

They have actually made more progress this year than any other .Could be completed by the end of this year .Keep your fingers crossed .

[SantiSuk]

Goodness knows where all those tourist baht go in Pattaya. Here in the so-called backwoods of Issaan they seem to have enough money to throw up another 20k of dual carriageway out of Ubon every year. Pretty good quality roads too.

Mind you I have never believed that all of Isaan is poor - it's a two speed economy with many rich rice farmers/landowners who like to keep the poverty myth going to keep under the radar and then a load of poor peasants.

[sotsira]

They have actually made more progress this year than any other .Could be completed by the end of this year .Keep your fingers crossed .

The last report i read from City Hall was that they will complete the road this April 2010!

[Spalpeen]

Normal construction practice everywhere in the world is that the contractor signs up tp a contract with a penalty clause. He has, say, 52 weeks to get it finished. If he finishes early he gets a bonus, if he runs late he loses money for every week over. As someone who worked in construction for many years I would dearly love to know how the Thappraya Rd. job has been managed.

It reminds me of the words of a Percy French song :

"Are ye right there Michael, are ye right?

Do ye think that we'll be home before tonight?

If we aren't, sure begorrah, well be comin' home tomorrah,

And we might now Michael so we might."

[Jonathanpattaya]

It is still an absolute disgrace even though the Northern section is finally showing signs of completion.

[barryofthailand]

We were in Pattaya last Dec, and stayed at the Roof Garden inn on Thapraya Road. Very nice hotel for 600 Baht a night, but no car park and every morning had to dust the car off. Now we are going back to Pattaya again this month, and staying in town instead of Jomtien due to the Construction. Businesses has lost lots of money due to construction delays.

Barry

[Spalpeen]

Thappraya Rd. construction : "Hey Boss, you know that wall beside where we were digging the big hole......"

[doggie888888]

Silly people...it's intentional. In case anyone starts getting ideas that Pattaya is a functional city with an effective and efficient administration, this unfinished road is to remind everyone that we are firmly in a third world cowboy town. We can't build roads within reasonable timeframes but hey we can sure give you a good <deleted> in short time or long time, up to you.

Other real cities may complete airports, subway systems, skyscrapers and other engineering feats in shorter timeframes but only Pattaya can be proud of this unfinished road...it is Pattaya's iconic symbol. So folks, set your standards and expectations low, and you will never be disappointed living in Pattaya

[wpcoe]

Thappraya Rd. construction : "Hey Boss, you know that wall beside where we were digging the big hole......"

Just this afternoon I noticed that wall. Did it just happen?

[Spalpeen]

Thappraya Rd. construction : "Hey Boss, you know that wall beside where we were digging the big hole......"

Just this afternoon I noticed that wall. Did it just happen?

Thursday, I think. At first I thought they undermined the foundations of the wall. Then I remembered that the wall probably didn't have any foundations.

Finally I realised that they had failed to appease the spirits of Thappraya Rd..

Actually, this has nothing to do with local standards. Believe me, this sh!t happens everywhere. I've heard the line "Hey boss, you know...." far too many times not to know what comes next.

[manarak]

and every morning had to dust the car off.

hmm... are you concerned with loss of face or something?

why do you dust the car off?

[ZZZ]

Obviously this construction is taking a long time to ensure that the work done is of top class and to best practices. This will provide us with a first class road without pot holes for many years to come.

(well, at least for a few months until they decide that they should have buried the unsightly power cables while they were at it and dig it up again)

[MZurf]

and every morning had to dust the car off.

hmm... are you concerned with loss of face or something?

why do you dust the car off?

He dusts his car off because it is full of dust. What has that got to do with loss of face???

[gmac]

and every morning had to dust the car off.

hmm... are you concerned with loss of face or something?

why do you dust the car off?

He dusts his car off because it is full of dust. What has that got to do with loss of face???

Yes, a serious problem actually. When I was living in Jomtien and using my car only about once a week the dust build up on occasion made it almost impossible to see out of the windscreen. The only face saving involved would be from the impact on the air-bag when you had an accident if you tried to drive without first cleaning it off!!

[manarak]

LOL, good answer!

[PattayaParent]

We were in Pattaya last Dec, and stayed at the Roof Garden inn on Thapraya Road. Very nice hotel for 600 Baht a night, but no car park and every morning had to dust the car off. Now we are going back to Pattaya again this month, and staying in town instead of Jomtien due to the Construction. Businesses has lost lots of money due to construction delays.

Barry

How do you know it's delayed? Have you seen the construction schedule?

[prospero]

We were in Pattaya last Dec, and stayed at the Roof Garden inn on Thapraya Road. Very nice hotel for 600 Baht a night, but no car park and every morning had to dust the car off. Now we are going back to Pattaya again this month, and staying in town instead of Jomtien due to the Construction. Businesses has lost lots of money due to construction delays.

Barry

How do you know it's delayed? Have you seen the construction schedule?

The road is scheduled to be completed so that it will link directly to the PATTAYA MONORAIL which will connect seamlessly to the HIGH SPEED TRAIN FROM THE AIRPORT.

[barryofthailand]

We were in Pattaya last Dec, and stayed at the Roof Garden inn on Thapraya Road. Very nice hotel for 600 Baht a night, but no car park and every morning had to dust the car off. Now we are going back to Pattaya again this month, and staying in town instead of Jomtien due to the Construction. Businesses has lost lots of money due to construction delays.

Barry

How do you know it's delayed? Have you seen the construction schedule?

The road is scheduled to be completed so that it will link directly to the PATTAYA MONORAIL which will connect seamlessly to the HIGH SPEED TRAIN FROM THE AIRPORT.

Very funny. not in our lifetime.

Barry

[PattayaParent]

We were in Pattaya last Dec, and stayed at the Roof Garden inn on Thapraya Road. Very nice hotel for 600 Baht a night, but no car park and every morning had to dust the car off. Now we are going back to Pattaya again this month, and staying in town instead of Jomtien due to the Construction. Businesses has lost lots of money due to construction delays.

Barry

How do you know it's delayed? Have you seen the construction schedule?

The road is scheduled to be completed so that it will link directly to the PATTAYA MONORAIL which will connect seamlessly to the HIGH SPEED TRAIN FROM THE AIRPORT.

Very funny. not in our lifetime.

Barry

Don't speak too soon Barry. Haven't you seen the billboard along that stretch of road with a picture of the monorail on it???

[craigt3365]

I just noticed that billboard. I'll believe it when I see pigs fly....or baht buses disappear!

[WaatWang]

Thappraya Rd. construction : "Hey Boss, you know that wall beside where we were digging the big hole......"

...

At first I thought they undermined the foundations of the wall. Then I remembered that the wall probably didn't have any foundations.

Finally I realised that they had failed to appease the spirits of Thappraya Rd..

Spalpeen - LMAO!! That's exactly it!

I live further down Thappraya Road and often walk there. What I find is also funny about this project are the nice sidewalks alongside. Going up Thappraya there are big piles of the tiles they'll (eventually) use for the sidewalks, but many of them are already broken. And the further down Thappraya Road you go (where the sidewalks have already been installed), you will start to see more and more big sink holes with weeds growing out of them. One of the motorbike taxi stands actually fixed the sinkhole in front of Family Mart on their own, which I thought was quite enterprising. But by the time the construction teams finish the road, they will need to go back and (hopefully) repair a lot of these sidewalk issues as well.

[Sabre]

I would dearly love to know how the Thappraya Rd. job has been managed.

I suspect when you found out, you would wish you hadn't.

Nothing screams corruption and mismanagement like the words 'road+construction+chonburi'.

[Sabre]

Obviously this construction is taking a long time to ensure that the work done is of top class and to best practices. This will provide us with a first class road without pot holes for many years to come.

(well, at least for a few months until they decide that they should have buried the unsightly power cables while they were at it and dig it up again)

Funny, but now you sound exactly like some of the cowboy property developers that inhabit the region.

[Basil B]

I suspect there are a few people who have a vested interest in stretching the job out because when/(IF) they finish their employment prospects will be slim with that project on their CV.

Edited March 15, 2010 by Basil B

[chillibilly]

I agree that the construction of the road basically represents how things are planned out in Pattaya. True, other cities in Thailand are not like this. And yes, the mayor stated a few months ago that it would be completed by April which seemed possible.

The city authorities should put a big sign up "advertising" the construction company that is doing the road. This is done in other countries...it is taken as a compliment by the road construction company that was chosen to do a government project (they bid for the job) . Also the companies usually have a due date to complete construction or they have to pay a fine per day... I guess this isn't done in Thailand -- they run out of money and ask for more instead...

Does anyone know the name of the company that is going the road construction so we can sent them "thank you's" ?

[Spalpeen]

The sad fact is that the present road works end near the News Cafe. If they ever get it finished they'll just start on the next section which runs from there down by the Hanuman Statue and on round to the new road behind the immigration office. On present form that will take at least another ten years.

After that I expect them to start on the Pattaya monorail and the tunnel to Hua Hin.

[gmac]

The sad fact is that the present road works end near the News Cafe. If they ever get it finished they'll just start on the next section which runs from there down by the Hanuman Statue and on round to the new road behind the immigration office. On present form that will take at least another ten years.

After that I expect them to start on the Pattaya monorail and the tunnel to Hua Hin.

One of the most annoying things is that the road doesn't actually just stop at the Hanuman Statue. There is a gap there and it restarts by the Bangkok Bank just past the top of Soi 5 (Immigration Soi) and runs for a few hundred metres before ending again at a brick wall! There is also further construction at intervals going along parallel to the Beach Road towards Soi Chaiyapreuk with sections of uselessly completed road broken by walls which presumably enclose areas where negotiations are still proceeding for the purchase of the land.

If they had concentrated on one section at a time the Road between Pattaya and Hanuman Statue could have been completed months ago and work on the further sections commenced as and when the land was available.

[Thaifan2]

The sad fact is that the present road works end near the News Cafe. If they ever get it finished they'll just start on the next section which runs from there down by the Hanuman Statue and on round to the new road behind the immigration office. On present form that will take at least another ten years.

After that I expect them to start on the Pattaya monorail and the tunnel to Hua Hin.

One of the most annoying things is that the road doesn't actually just stop at the Hanuman Statue. There is a gap there and it restarts by the Bangkok Bank just past the top of Soi 5 (Immigration Soi) and runs for a few hundred metres before ending again at a brick wall! There is also further construction at intervals going along parallel to the Beach Road towards Soi Chaiyapreuk with sections of uselessly completed road broken by walls which presumably enclose areas where negotiations are still proceeding for the purchase of the land.

If they had concentrated on one section at a time the Road between Pattaya and Hanuman Statue could have been completed months ago and work on the further sections commenced as and when the land was available.

Yes !..what he said !

[chillibilly]

...So who is doing the road planning and construction of this ??4 year project? No one seem to know the name, ph no. or the address. Could it be some high school project or something ? It doesn't seem to be done by professionals? (Was it a relative of someone that usually does private driveways?)