New Street Lights On Pattaya Nua

[Dorkers]

Pattaya Nua - about 1.5km, now has brand new street lights in the middle of the road - 10 metres apart. I make that 150 new light posts.

Me thinks... kick backs per light?

The practicality of the design is a shocker with protruding sheets of metal at head height for any motor cycle driver and also if a car were to hit them at any speed they would just cut into a car panel like a knife through butter. Dolphin sculptures all swimming their way to the roundabout are on the top of each post to distract you from looking at the road. There are powder coated nicely in blue but you can already see scratches all over the paint work from their installation.

I am all for beautifying the streetscape but to me these do little but add to the clutter. To me,'less is more' would have been a better policy in this case.

Ironic as well that on the middle of the road you have new 'neat' lights and then have a look at the posts on the outside lanes which are the stock standard tangle of cables.

Lets hope the 'Street Lights of Death' don't take any casualties soon.

[ChangFai]

More than North Road has been done with this silly Dolphin lamp posts.

Everything south of the Bali Hai is also another area that has been done.

And more to come.

[vtjforyou]

Love this country and its nice people, even with corruption it's still developing !

[Bagwan]

Love this country and its nice people, even with corruption it's still developing !

Love this country and its nice people, even with corruption it's still developing !

But the big question is "Into what"?

[toenail]

Amazing isn't it? How the city council can come up with some new projects without giving the decisions much thought. The "Disney" dolphin street lights are suppose to add some "class" to the city but the curved ribbons of steel seem to be a danger point...then the basket ball size bulbs hanging-- how long will it take before they are busted? I saw the lights "on" the other night and not all were working on them. The mayor also takes credit for the numerous pedestrian walk lights; yet, these lights are turned off on the weekends-- and when they do work, many of the car and motor bikes do not stop for the red pedistrian lights. Another project with good intentions (about 9 years ago) was to have a walkway along Wongamat Beach. I think it took over two years to build but no thought about maintenance or how high the tide would be during the year. Now it is mostly a eroded eye sore. (Maintenance is not in the vocabulary of these expensive projects).

Another plan without much thought is the widening of Beach Road which will take three meters of the narrow Beach Road promenade. The only attractive part of Pattaya is the tree line walkway along Pattaya Bay and the city wants to cut down some of the trees, make the parkway even smaller in order to take care of the weekend traffic . They could create an extra lane now by NOT allowing parking, food stalls, and such along the the left lane.The Pattaya Bay walk-way was re-done eight years ago and it looked nice. The problem with it looking worn out (and in some areas a slum area) is that the city never budgets for maintenance. They wait for things (such as their sidewalks) to totally fall apart and then re-do the whole project. An example of this is the fountain at the end of Pattaya Klang along Beach Road. The city is complaining that pedistrians are using the empty fountain as a garbage bin... The fountain cannot be fixed until the budget for re-doing the Beach Road walk-way is started next year. (DUH)

Edited April 22, 2012 by toenail

[rafval]

speaking of street lights the ones on the beach have gone out, perfect for tripping over a bolt encrusted old lamp stump in the dark, or for mugging

[pauljones]

Widening the beach road?

They will have to cut down the trees and make the place even less attractive.

Who wants to bet this new lane will be rented out to vendors?

[FarangBuddha]

You handle is quite fitting...did you not even notice that the wavy sculptured elements of which you speak do not enter the plane of traffic?! I mean, contrary to popular perception here on T-V, Thais are not that daft. I drive this road to and from almost daily, and in the right lane too, and have yet to loose the roof of my SUV

Edited April 22, 2012 by FarangBuddha

[pipo1000]

You handle is quite fitting...did you not even notice that the wavy sculptured elements of which you speak do not enter the plane of traffic?! I mean, contrary to popular perception here on T-V, Thais are not that daft. I drive this road to and from almost daily, and in the right lane too, and have yet to loose the roof of my SUV

Ever considered that motorbikes or cars,and that applies especially for Thailand,may get of their track due to certain traffic circumstances?As the OP said those steel sculptures are at head height and right above the concrete road border.It will take only very little distraction for a motorbike or car to get in touch with them,for a motorbike driver this can be fatal.

[FarangBuddha]

You handle is quite fitting...did you not even notice that the wavy sculptured elements of which you speak do not enter the plane of traffic?! I mean, contrary to popular perception here on T-V, Thais are not that daft. I drive this road to and from almost daily, and in the right lane too, and have yet to loose the roof of my SUV

Ever considered that motorbikes or cars,and that applies especially for Thailand,may get of their track due to certain traffic circumstances?As the OP said those steel sculptures are at head height and right above the concrete road border.It will take only very little distraction for a motorbike or car to get in touch with them,for a motorbike driver this can be fatal.

You can try to save the op all you want but you have completed twisted around what was said. The wavy elements were described as "protruding" presumably into the roadway (why else would they be dangerous) presenting a hazard to traffic. Even the swimming dolphins were deplored for supposedly distracting drivers. Now, if one is in the habit of driving up over the curb and onto the traffic medium, then yes, there are dangers in this approach...like the lighting poles and street signs that have always been there. And as for the Dolphins, I was taught to keep my eyes on the road when driving a vehicle...and again, if one is in the habit of ignoring this and gazing at interesting sights while driving one is more likely to end up in an accident.

Edited April 23, 2012 by FarangBuddha

[pipo1000]

You handle is quite fitting...did you not even notice that the wavy sculptured elements of which you speak do not enter the plane of traffic?! I mean, contrary to popular perception here on T-V, Thais are not that daft. I drive this road to and from almost daily, and in the right lane too, and have yet to loose the roof of my SUV

Ever considered that motorbikes or cars,and that applies especially for Thailand,may get of their track due to certain traffic circumstances?As the OP said those steel sculptures are at head height and right above the concrete road border.It will take only very little distraction for a motorbike or car to get in touch with them,for a motorbike driver this can be fatal.

You can try to save the op all you want but you have completed twisted around what was said. The wavy elements were described as "protruding" presumably into the roadway (why else would they be dangerous) presenting a hazard to traffic. Even the swimming dolphins were deplored for supposedly distracting drivers. Now, if one is in the habit of driving up over the curb and onto the traffic medium, then yes, there are dangers in this approach...like the lighting poles and street signs that have always been there. And as for the Dolphins, I was taught to keep my eyes on the road when driving a vehicle...and again, if one is in the habit of ignoring this and gazing at interesting sights while driving one is more likely to end up in an accident.

The lightning poles are normally in the middle BETWEEN two roadways,in this case the steel elements are at head height right above the curb which is actually part of a roadway.

[PattayaParent]

You handle is quite fitting...did you not even notice that the wavy sculptured elements of which you speak do not enter the plane of traffic?! I mean, contrary to popular perception here on T-V, Thais are not that daft. I drive this road to and from almost daily, and in the right lane too, and have yet to loose the roof of my SUV

Ever considered that motorbikes or cars,and that applies especially for Thailand,may get of their track due to certain traffic circumstances?As the OP said those steel sculptures are at head height and right above the concrete road border.It will take only very little distraction for a motorbike or car to get in touch with them,for a motorbike driver this can be fatal.

You can try to save the op all you want but you have completed twisted around what was said. The wavy elements were described as "protruding" presumably into the roadway (why else would they be dangerous) presenting a hazard to traffic. Even the swimming dolphins were deplored for supposedly distracting drivers. Now, if one is in the habit of driving up over the curb and onto the traffic medium, then yes, there are dangers in this approach...like the lighting poles and street signs that have always been there. And as for the Dolphins, I was taught to keep my eyes on the road when driving a vehicle...and again, if one is in the habit of ignoring this and gazing at interesting sights while driving one is more likely to end up in an accident.

The lightning poles are normally in the middle BETWEEN two roadways,in this case the steel elements are at head height right above the curb which is actually part of a roadway.

The ones I saw there yesterday are in the central median between the roads and don't protrude into the road.

[ARGUSEYE]

The workmanship of these idiotic lights is very low even by Thai standards. The welding looks like done by tapioka farmers. Those lights within the salty sea air (Bali Hai to the light house) will be rusting away in no time.

[pauljones]

Nice try but there are just too many & it looks jam packed with all the other poles/clutter/cables along that road.

Less is more in this case. Should have planted some nice shrubbery.

It may have been a better idea to tastefully place a few of these, here and there in key tourist areas.

[Dorkers]

Ha Ha, I will retract my original statement that the steel is protruding out into the road.

It is less than a foot from the roadway where the traffic is. In fact, they have even rotated the design at the Tesco U-turn because they can't fit it in the median strip due to it's width!

One Minor nudge into a bike would see the driver wearing the post and the sheet of metal protuding from the post would heighten their injuries. Like wise if a car was to hit a post, the steel design would certainly not lessen the impact damage, it would increase the damage.

The design is impractical in terms of safety for a light post. Full stop. Especially considering their proximity to the roadway.

Edited April 23, 2012 by Dorkers

[happyaussie]

Amazing isn't it? How the city council can come up with some new projects without giving the decisions much thought. The "Disney" dolphin street lights are suppose to add some "class" to the city but the curved ribbons of steel seem to be a danger point...then the basket ball size bulbs hanging-- how long will it take before they are busted? I saw the lights "on" the other night and not all were working on them. The mayor also takes credit for the numerous pedestrian walk lights; yet, these lights are turned off on the weekends-- and when they do work, many of the car and motor bikes do not stop for the red pedistrian lights. Another project with good intentions (about 9 years ago) was to have a walkway along Wongamat Beach. I think it took over two years to build but no thought about maintenance or how high the tide would be during the year. Now it is mostly a eroded eye sore. (Maintenance is not in the vocabulary of these expensive projects).

Another plan without much thought is the widening of Beach Road which will take three meters of the narrow Beach Road promenade. The only attractive part of Pattaya is the tree line walkway along Pattaya Bay and the city wants to cut down some of the trees, make the parkway even smaller in order to take care of the weekend traffic . They could create an extra lane now by NOT allowing parking, food stalls, and such along the the left lane.The Pattaya Bay walk-way was re-done eight years ago and it looked nice. The problem with it looking worn out (and in some areas a slum area) is that the city never budgets for maintenance. They wait for things (such as their sidewalks) to totally fall apart and then re-do the whole project. An example of this is the fountain at the end of Pattaya Klang along Beach Road. The city is complaining that pedistrians are using the empty fountain as a garbage bin... The fountain cannot be fixed until the budget for re-doing the Beach Road walk-way is started next year. (DUH)

First I heard of beach road widening. That would be a crying shame and solve nothing. It's volume and flow which is the problem. Not width of one road. If they widen the problem won't go away. I'm no town planner but perhaps these suggestions would be simpler and cheaper;

Stop parking along beach road (probably not possible with mafia ruling the roost), stop coaches loading and offloading passengers, stop beach vendors loading and unloading their goods, manage baht bus movements (how, no idea). But whatever they do, I hope they don't loose one of Pattayas nicest assets.

[pauljones]

Amazing isn't it? How the city council can come up with some new projects without giving the decisions much thought. The "Disney" dolphin street lights are suppose to add some "class" to the city but the curved ribbons of steel seem to be a danger point...then the basket ball size bulbs hanging-- how long will it take before they are busted? I saw the lights "on" the other night and not all were working on them. The mayor also takes credit for the numerous pedestrian walk lights; yet, these lights are turned off on the weekends-- and when they do work, many of the car and motor bikes do not stop for the red pedistrian lights. Another project with good intentions (about 9 years ago) was to have a walkway along Wongamat Beach. I think it took over two years to build but no thought about maintenance or how high the tide would be during the year. Now it is mostly a eroded eye sore. (Maintenance is not in the vocabulary of these expensive projects).

Another plan without much thought is the widening of Beach Road which will take three meters of the narrow Beach Road promenade. The only attractive part of Pattaya is the tree line walkway along Pattaya Bay and the city wants to cut down some of the trees, make the parkway even smaller in order to take care of the weekend traffic . They could create an extra lane now by NOT allowing parking, food stalls, and such along the the left lane.The Pattaya Bay walk-way was re-done eight years ago and it looked nice. The problem with it looking worn out (and in some areas a slum area) is that the city never budgets for maintenance. They wait for things (such as their sidewalks) to totally fall apart and then re-do the whole project. An example of this is the fountain at the end of Pattaya Klang along Beach Road. The city is complaining that pedistrians are using the empty fountain as a garbage bin... The fountain cannot be fixed until the budget for re-doing the Beach Road walk-way is started next year. (DUH)

First I heard of beach road widening. That would be a crying shame and solve nothing. It's volume and flow which is the problem. Not width of one road. If they widen the problem won't go away. I'm no town planner but perhaps these suggestions would be simpler and cheaper;

Stop parking along beach road (probably not possible with mafia ruling the roost), stop coaches loading and offloading passengers, stop beach vendors loading and unloading their goods, manage baht bus movements (how, no idea). But whatever they do, I hope they don't loose one of Pattayas nicest assets.

They could make the beach road 6 lanes and it would be gridlock. Too many bottlenecks.

Reduce the lanes, plant more gardens and prohibit automobiles completely during the day. Open a bike lane/ shuttle lane and let deliveries happen after 2AM.

Construct large parking lots near 3rd road and run free electric shuttles to the beach. Hire a professional taxi /shuttle service.... and get rid of 90% the umbrella/chair concessions & all the jetskis.

Put the new goofy dolphin lights along the beach and take out those gigantic, blinding stadium lights.

Edited April 24, 2012 by pauljones