Dept Wants To Build Five Motorways In Thailand

[ratcatcher]

In 1997, the Cabinet approved the department's 20-year master plan to construct 13 inter-provincial highways totalling 4,150 kilometres and with nationwide coverage. However, only two routes were constructed - Bangkok-Chon Buri and the Outer Ring Road.

The department held a public hearing on the inter-provincial highways yesterday and the findings will be used to adjust the project's master plan and development plan.

So, nothing north of Korat then.

Korat?... Korat? <deleted>, what's north of Korat?

Ain't that Red Shirt country where they grow rice and there's lots of farmers? Who needs motorways up there? Pave the dirt roads, that's OK but motorways.. my God! Can't have the E'tans racing along and burning out their two stroke engines can we?

Got to deal with the important areas first like more motorways down to the eastern seaboard. so hi-sos and expats can get to their getaway condos in Pattaya even faster.

Edited August 6, 2011 by ratcatcher

[hammered]

Walter Bau going to be bidding for the projects?

[ginjag]

In 1997, the Cabinet approved the department's 20-year master plan to construct 13 inter-provincial highways totalling 4,150 kilometres and with nationwide coverage. However, only two routes were constructed - Bangkok-Chon Buri and the Outer Ring Road.

The department held a public hearing on the inter-provincial highways yesterday and the findings will be used to adjust the project's master plan and development plan.

So, nothing north of Korat then.

Korat?... Korat? <deleted>, what's north of Korat?

Ain't that Red Shirt country where they grow rice and there's lots of farmers? Who needs motorways up there? Pave the dirt roads, that's OK but motorways.. my God! Can't have the E'tans racing along and burning out their two stroke engines can we?

Got to deal with the important areas first like more motorways down to the eastern seaboard. so hi-sos and expats can get to their getaway condos in Pattaya even faster.

What happens to be north-including Korat, is the three biggest cities outside of BKK thats all, + a few red shirts and buffalo's and Majority nearly of Thai population. Some folks should get out more.

[ratcatcher]

In 1997, the Cabinet approved the department's 20-year master plan to construct 13 inter-provincial highways totalling 4,150 kilometres and with nationwide coverage. However, only two routes were constructed - Bangkok-Chon Buri and the Outer Ring Road.

The department held a public hearing on the inter-provincial highways yesterday and the findings will be used to adjust the project's master plan and development plan.

So, nothing north of Korat then.

Korat?... Korat? <deleted>, what's north of Korat?

Ain't that Red Shirt country where they grow rice and there's lots of farmers? Who needs motorways up there? Pave the dirt roads, that's OK but motorways.. my God! Can't have the E'tans racing along and burning out their two stroke engines can we?

Got to deal with the important areas first like more motorways down to the eastern seaboard. so hi-sos and expats can get to their getaway condos in Pattaya even faster.

What happens to be north-including Korat, is the three biggest cities outside of BKK thats all, + a few red shirts and buffalo's and Majority nearly of Thai population. Some folks should get out more.

Can you spell FACETIOUS?.

[ToffeEFCpower]

Walther Bau is looking for some new contracts haha

[ginjag]

In 1997, the Cabinet approved the department's 20-year master plan to construct 13 inter-provincial highways totalling 4,150 kilometres and with nationwide coverage. However, only two routes were constructed - Bangkok-Chon Buri and the Outer Ring Road.

The department held a public hearing on the inter-provincial highways yesterday and the findings will be used to adjust the project's master plan and development plan.

So, nothing north of Korat then.

Korat?... Korat? <deleted>, what's north of Korat?

Ain't that Red Shirt country where they grow rice and there's lots of farmers? Who needs motorways up there? Pave the dirt roads, that's OK but motorways.. my God! Can't have the E'tans racing along and burning out their two stroke engines can we?

Got to deal with the important areas first like more motorways down to the eastern seaboard. so hi-sos and expats can get to their getaway condos in Pattaya even faster.

What happens to be north-including Korat, is the three biggest cities outside of BKK thats all, + a few red shirts and buffalo's and Majority nearly of Thai population. Some folks should get out more.

Can you spell FACETIOUS?.

Can't even say it

[softgeorge]

Why don't they look at the MAIN road that runs from Bangkok to Chiang Mai / Chiag Rai.OK the Bangkok part of the road is good but when you get off the new 3 - 4 lane road that was built maybe 5 years ago, the rest of the roads can be down to one lane because of the constant deterioration of the roads.I suppose they don't build "good" roads because there is more money to be made by repairing them.

I have to agree the road around the Tak area is a bloody disgrace and a fatality waiting to happen. The road is full of pot holes and patches.

[ginjag]

Why don't they look at the MAIN road that runs from Bangkok to Chiang Mai / Chiag Rai.OK the Bangkok part of the road is good but when you get off the new 3 - 4 lane road that was built maybe 5 years ago, the rest of the roads can be down to one lane because of the constant deterioration of the roads.I suppose they don't build "good" roads because there is more money to be made by repairing them.

I have to agree the road around the Tak area is a bloody disgrace and a fatality waiting to happen. The road is full of pot holes and patches.

agreed, what road you have is in between a track and a tacky road to Tak

[SantiSuk]

The obvious answer is that they should be combined road/rail projects. Much cheaper than having two parallel running projects with all that land planning and construction being combined in one. Would mean a longer time period but overall much cheaper.

A rail link that is not significantly faster than road will never be economic. They have to be high speed (160kph +) to encourage people to upgrade from the buses (you will never convert drivers that have good usable cars) and downgrade from the airlines.

There will always be a place for all three forms of transport in a choice-based society

[Chang_paarp]

I wonder who will bid on the construction contract? Bet there will be a risk premium in the quotes.

Be interested to see the terms of payment in the contract.

[x5david]

Why don't they look at the MAIN road that runs from Bangkok to Chiang Mai / Chiag Rai.OK the Bangkok part of the road is good but when you get off the new 3 - 4 lane road that was built maybe 5 years ago, the rest of the roads can be down to one lane because of the constant deterioration of the roads.I suppose they don't build "good" roads because there is more money to be made by repairing them.

They don't build "good" roads because they obviously don't know how. Every road I have travelled here, including ones recently completed, are already crumbling....they would probably like to get the Germans to help with this series of motorways....GOOD LUCK!

[Tomtomtom69]

Agree with the last post. For all those people saying there is no need for highways to link up to north-eastern Thailand etc. well they are at best a little naive. Firstly, about a third of the country lives in that region, and secondly the cities are at least as developed and have as many people with cars as any other cities in Thailand. Udon, Khon Kaen and Nakorn Ratchasima (Korat) are some of the largest cities in the country! Similarly, a large proportion of Bangkok's workforce that work in hotels, restaurants, taxi drivers, manual laborers etc. come from Isan and thus there is a lot of traffic on those roads! I have seen traffic jams as far north as Khon Kaen (fortunately in the direction opposite to which i was travelling) and heavy traffic all the way to the Lao border near Nong Khai after the end of the Songkran festival. On any given day there is as much traffic as on any other major highway in Thailand, if not more...

However, the need to consider building highways of an expressway/motorway type up to Chiang Mai (possibly Chiang Rai aswell) / down to the Malay border in addition to the road up towards Nong Khai (and others aswell) are equally important and should be given consideration. Therefore, I think given increasing regional interconnectivity, there is an increased need to connect not only Thailand's major cities with each other and Bangkok via a fast and safe expressway system, but also linking Thailand to its neighbors. China has already opened the "Bangkok-Kunming expressway" via northern Laos, but looking more closely at the roads on this route you will find an actual expressway system only from Kunming down to Jinghong (Chiang Rung), followed by construction works on an extension that will soon go all the way to the Lao border, meaning that within the next year or two only the Chinese section of this road can be termed an "expressway". This is followed by an all weather 2-way road that while much improved from the old track, is still hardly an expressway, though it does cut down travel times significantly compared to earlier days (nowadays 5-6 hours is all that is needed to travel between the Thai and Chinese borders). On the Thai side a 2-way road takes you from Chiang Khong (Thai-Lao border) to Chiang Rai or Phayao, and once in one of these cities a 4-lane highway connects to Bangkok, but again this is not an expressway! The next closest expressways are only found again starting on the outskirts of Bangkok. Therefore, given China's intentions to link South-Western China with seaports in Thailand and other parts of SE Asia via a new high-speed railway and improved road links, the next steps would be to actually build actual expressways of the type seen only in Bangkok and surrounding areas (and Malaysia/China) with the farthest reachest of the country thus improving travelling times and links with neighboring countries.

In terms of high-speed rail, this has been talked about many times recently (just watch the news here in Thailand!) Plus there are plenty of articles online. The Kunming-Vientiane high-speed railway is set to begin construction this year (or has already started, not exactly sure) and is supposed to be complete by 2015, though it may take longer than this (according to some sources). A link from Vientiane to Bangkok is also set to begin construction, with lines to Chiang Mai and the Malay border also being considered. So there you go. This is the 21st century and Thailand is already quite developed, and the importance of links to neighboring countries and China can not be underestimated. China will likely become the largest investor, source of tourists/expats, trading partner and source of interest for Thai companies in the future, so thinking of upgrading roads/rail in only a local sense as has been suggested well, is just no longer relevant.

] ratcatcher, on 2011-08-06 14:21:24, said: (Korat?... Korat? <deleted>, what's north of Korat?

Ain't that Red Shirt country where they grow rice and there's lots of farmers? Who needs motorways up there? Pave the dirt roads, that's OK but motorways.. my God! Can't have the E'tans racing along and burning out their two stroke engines can we?

Got to deal with the important areas first like more motorways down to the eastern seaboard. so hi-sos and expats can get to their getaway condos in Pattaya even faster.)

This type of response (above) is both ignorant and totally out of touch with the 21st century reality of where Thailand stands both in a local and a regional sense. Also...last time I checked virtually all roads in Thailand were paved; I've been to the most isolated Isan villages and apart from some small local roads, practically all public roads are paved and have been paved for years now. Even the CIA's world factbook confirms this, they list only a couple of hundred kms of road in Thailand as being unpaved, therefore around 98%+ are paved.

Edited August 8, 2011 by Tomtomtom69

[transam]

Haven't they got to pay for the ones the Germans built 10 years ago first.

[Tomtomtom69]

x5david

They don't build "good" roads because they obviously don't know how. Every road I have travelled here, including ones recently completed, are already crumbling....they would probably like to get the Germans to help with this series of motorways....GOOD LUCK!

Forget Germany...these days China can provide the funding and technology etc. needed to get major infrastructure projects going. Plus they won't add conditions for repayment like the Germans have done in the case of the Thai 737 that is not being allowed to leave Munich's airport...if it's in China's interests, they'll provide almost everything, even labor. Without a doubt, China is likely to play an ever increasing role in improving Thailand's infrastructure (starting with the proposed high-speed railway from Nong Khai to Bangkok).

Edited August 8, 2011 by Tomtomtom69

[DMC1]

Why don't they look at the MAIN road that runs from Bangkok to Chiang Mai / Chiag Rai.OK the Bangkok part of the road is good but when you get off the new 3 - 4 lane road that was built maybe 5 years ago, the rest of the roads can be down to one lane because of the constant deterioration of the roads.I suppose they don't build "good" roads because there is more money to be made by repairing them.

I have to agree the road around the Tak area is a bloody disgrace and a fatality waiting to happen. The road is full of pot holes and patches.

agreed, what road you have is in between a track and a tacky road to Tak

say that 10 times in a row - sounds like a train!

[ratcatcher]

Agree with the last post. For all those people saying there is no need for highways to link up to north-eastern Thailand etc. well they are at best a little naive. Firstly, about a third of the country lives in that region, and secondly the cities are at least as developed and have as many people with cars as any other cities in Thailand. Udon, Khon Kaen and Nakorn Ratchasima (Korat) are some of the largest cities in the country! Similarly, a large proportion of Bangkok's workforce that work in hotels, restaurants, taxi drivers, manual laborers etc. come from Isan and thus there is a lot of traffic on those roads! I have seen traffic jams as far north as Khon Kaen (fortunately in the direction opposite to which i was travelling) and heavy traffic all the way to the Lao border near Nong Khai after the end of the Songkran festival. On any given day there is as much traffic as on any other major highway in Thailand, if not more...

However, the need to consider building highways of an expressway/motorway type up to Chiang Mai (possibly Chiang Rai aswell) / down to the Malay border in addition to the road up towards Nong Khai (and others aswell) are equally important and should be given consideration. Therefore, I think given increasing regional interconnectivity, there is an increased need to connect not only Thailand's major cities with each other and Bangkok via a fast and safe expressway system, but also linking Thailand to its neighbors. China has already opened the "Bangkok-Kunming expressway" via northern Laos, but looking more closely at the roads on this route you will find an actual expressway system only from Kunming down to Jinghong (Chiang Rung), followed by construction works on an extension that will soon go all the way to the Lao border, meaning that within the next year or two only the Chinese section of this road can be termed an "expressway". This is followed by an all weather 2-way road that while much improved from the old track, is still hardly an expressway, though it does cut down travel times significantly compared to earlier days (nowadays 5-6 hours is all that is needed to travel between the Thai and Chinese borders). On the Thai side a 2-way road takes you from Chiang Khong (Thai-Lao border) to Chiang Rai or Phayao, and once in one of these cities a 4-lane highway connects to Bangkok, but again this is not an expressway! The next closest expressways are only found again starting on the outskirts of Bangkok. Therefore, given China's intentions to link South-Western China with seaports in Thailand and other parts of SE Asia via a new high-speed railway and improved road links, the next steps would be to actually build actual expressways of the type seen only in Bangkok and surrounding areas (and Malaysia/China) with the farthest reachest of the country thus improving travelling times and links with neighboring countries.

In terms of high-speed rail, this has been talked about many times recently (just watch the news here in Thailand!) Plus there are plenty of articles online. The Kunming-Vientiane high-speed railway is set to begin construction this year (or has already started, not exactly sure) and is supposed to be complete by 2015, though it may take longer than this (according to some sources). A link from Vientiane to Bangkok is also set to begin construction, with lines to Chiang Mai and the Malay border also being considered. So there you go. This is the 21st century and Thailand is already quite developed, and the importance of links to neighboring countries and China can not be underestimated. China will likely become the largest investor, source of tourists/expats, trading partner and source of interest for Thai companies in the future, so thinking of upgrading roads/rail in only a local sense as has been suggested well, is just no longer relevant.

] ratcatcher, on 2011-08-06 14:21:24, said: (Korat?... Korat? <deleted>, what's north of Korat?

Ain't that Red Shirt country where they grow rice and there's lots of farmers? Who needs motorways up there? Pave the dirt roads, that's OK but motorways.. my God! Can't have the E'tans racing along and burning out their two stroke engines can we?

Got to deal with the important areas first like more motorways down to the eastern seaboard. so hi-sos and expats can get to their getaway condos in Pattaya even faster.)

This type of response (above) is both ignorant and totally out of touch with the 21st century reality of where Thailand stands both in a local and a regional sense. Also...last time I checked virtually all roads in Thailand were paved; I've been to the most isolated Isan villages and apart from some small local roads, practically all public roads are paved and have been paved for years now. Even the CIA's world factbook confirms this, they list only a couple of hundred kms of road in Thailand as being unpaved, therefore around 98%+ are paved.

It seems that both you and Ginjag have totally missed the point I was making. Perhaps I should have written SATIRE in red. I was being facetious or perhaps sarcastic. I am well aware of the vast number of people living in Isan and the fact that past governments have paid less attention to this important and densely populated region while building motorways in other areas. I am also aware that Thailand in general has a very good highway infrastructure.

The points you both made are very valid but I was merely trying to make a point about skewed priorities by governments..

[metisdead]

A reply to a post which was a quoted post has been removed as the act of replying to the post altered the quoted text in such a manner as to change the statement made by the originator of that post. To reply to a specific part of a post, learn to use the Insert quotation feature.

30) Do not modify someone else's post in your quoted reply, either with font or color changes, added emoticons, or altered wording.

[ginjag]

Why don't they look at the MAIN road that runs from Bangkok to Chiang Mai / Chiag Rai.OK the Bangkok part of the road is good but when you get off the new 3 - 4 lane road that was built maybe 5 years ago, the rest of the roads can be down to one lane because of the constant deterioration of the roads.I suppose they don't build "good" roads because there is more money to be made by repairing them.

They don't build "good" roads because they obviously don't know how. Every road I have travelled here, including ones recently completed, are already crumbling....they would probably like to get the Germans to help with this series of motorways....GOOD LUCK!

IDEA--instead of getting the antique submarines from the Germans, use the money to get the Germans to make the roads ?????? also sell the scrapped(or should have been) aircraft carrier and use that money-or get the bib to hand over ALL the revenue obtained at road checks to help fund the road program.......... next