The Future Of Chiang Rai.

dindong · August 19, 2012

What with all the developments and bye passes I wonder what Chiang Rai will look like in the future.

Just came across this bye pass map of Chiang Rai.

I hope they put roundabouts on it instead of traffic lights.This link is in Thai but you can translate it in Google Chrome.

http://www.enticcompany.com/chiangrai_web/web/html/map.html

http://www.enticcompany.com/chiangrai_web/web/html/home.html

Edited August 19, 2012 by dindong

jubby · August 20, 2012

I would have thought the section of the bypass they are working on to the east would have been enough but obviously not.

don't suppose it would be worth me putting in a bid for the tarmac Job. I could get some of those Guys back home who always offer to Tarmac your driveway with an Irish Accent over here. they'd do a better Job. The design must call for about a six inch surface of tarmac. I'd give them an inch and pocket the rest . They'd get half inch more than they are expecting on the finished Job. Everyones Happy. I could buy an Island in the Philiipines

The Tinkers would have a Job for life going round slapping a bucket of Tarmac in the Holes. not hard work really, no need to compact it , just let the vehicles compact it themselves. I have plenty of trees at home so I could provide all the brush wood you need to put at the side of the hole for good luck or whatever they put it there for. And I'd do all this work in the dry season instead of the rain season which would be considered controversial I know but I'd save a fortune , wouldn't need to spray the bitumen emulsion everywhere in a desperate attempt to keep the road open.

Although on second thoughts maybe I would open a Chain of Car wash places , do the work in the rain season, spray as much of that black <deleted> I can get my hands on and charge about 300 baht per vehicle to get it removed.

Edited August 20, 2012 by jubby

maidu · August 20, 2012

I can't see more than a horizontal strip of the map you posted. The by-pass hwy on the east side of town is a good idea. Some other things C.Rai City Fathers (more Chinese than Thai) have discussed:

>>>> train from Chiang Mai.

>>>> subway system (I bs not. I saw the proposed 2-D map at the planning dept.). A battery run trolley system would be better.

>>>> a hwy (and new bridge?) going around the west side of town. I dearly hope they don't build that. I have properties in that hilly region, and a hwy would be wrong for other reasons. Incidentally, the route goes straight from the new prison to the U in Bandu (is there a message in there somewhere?). One main reason that route is not being built is a member of Shinawatre clan owns property on the proposed route and he doesn't want the intrusion.

>>>> As far as I know, there is no discussion among officials re; alternative power, even tho there are many possibilities (solar, river, thermal, methane, etc). Similarly, I doubt there are serious talks about adding parks. Chiang Rai, like every other city in Thailand, has a paucity of parks and essentially no dedicated bicycle/jogging routes. There's much could be done, but the city elders can only think about commercial infrastructure. It's got to stink of money for them to consider it.

Edited August 20, 2012 by maidu

maidu · August 20, 2012

a word about the dam, east of town. It turns a multi-Km section of river in to a lake, with stagnant water and hyacinths - all the way to and beyond the 4 lane super Hwy bridge. The purpose of the dam is irrigation for (what else?) rice fields. Thai farmers have little capacity to think beyond growing that one crop, which is 99% starch, with little nutrition and low market value. Anyhow, the dam is not needed. Better to let the water flow naturally. The farmers will do alright without the excess water. They'd do even better if they tried growing crops with more market value.

dindong · August 20, 2012

Unlike the train to Chiang Rai, I am reliably informed that this road is going to happen.

villagefarang · August 20, 2012

It is anyones guess what Chiang Rai will look like in the future. Plans come and go so I put off judgement until I actually see what happens, but it can be fun to listen to people tell you the train will run through their land or what devastating effects development will have on Chiang Rai. I seem to remember a lot of gloom and doomers decrying the evils of Central Plaza. I figure you either embrace change and move on, or end up fighting a loosing battle.

toybits · August 20, 2012

Jubby, you mean like this one?

jubby · August 20, 2012

Looks a bit on the small side, I was expecting an awful lot of dosh from my Tarmac Scam. If the Tarmac doesn't work out I'm going to introduce brass rivets to Thailand for machetes and the like. I bought one about 10 years ago in the UK, cheap as chips about 5 dollars and the handle just won't fall off. got to be down to those Brass or copper rivets. Just imagine how many machetes there are in Thailand, I mean everyone must have 2 or 3 per household, and the handle comes flying off every 10 minutes and they fix it constantly as if its connected to the Wheel of Dharma in a constant Birth/rebirth cycle.

anyway, isn't the Forum chatty today. got to be a good thing, surely

mumbojumbo · August 20, 2012

Looks a bit on the small side, I was expecting an awful lot of dosh from my Tarmac Scam. If the Tarmac doesn't work out I'm going to introduce brass rivets to Thailand for machetes and the like. I bought one about 10 years ago in the UK, cheap as chips about 5 dollars and the handle just won't fall off. got to be down to those Brass or copper rivets. Just imagine how many machetes there are in Thailand, I mean everyone must have 2 or 3 per household, and the handle comes flying off every 10 minutes and they fix it constantly as if its connected to the Wheel of Dharma in a constant Birth/rebirth cycle.

anyway, isn't the Forum chatty today. got to be a good thing, surely

Who cares, we only have till Dec 21

jubby · August 20, 2012

Nah, thats been Called off. They found a Mayan Calendar early this year that goes well beyond the looming Doomsday. Bit of a pisser I know, but thats how these things go.

maidu · August 21, 2012

Unlike the train to Chiang Rai, I am reliably informed that this road is going to happen.

Which road? As I mentioned earlier, the map graphic only loads (for me) as a horizontal strip.

Do you mean the 'ring road' going east side (already partially built)? ....or the one proposed for west side of town?

maidu · August 21, 2012

One infrastructure improvement which would help Chiang Rai immensely is an overpass at the Hi-Ek near the King Mengrei statue. I have mentioned this before, but it's still needed as much now as ever.

Imagine a two lane overpass going from to-and-fro from about 300 meters south of the intersection (where there's a very wide part of the hwy, so it wouldn't be hard to build) - over the intersection to connect at about 200 meters north of the intersection (narrower, but do-able). Altogether about half a Km.

Here's what would happen with such an improvement:

All traffic going north or south would not have any stoplights at that large and always slow intersection.

All traffic going other directions or changing to side streets Would use a large 'roundabout' located under the overpass. NO TRAFFIC LIGHTS WOULD BE NEEDED THERE AT ALL!

Paris and Washington D.C. both have dozens of 'roundabouts' and they work rather well. Both city road networks were disigned by the same man, btw, but I don't know his name offhand.

maidu · August 21, 2012

Sorry to post so often, but wanted to add (regarding the intersection blurb, above):

I've estimated that each hour between 7 am and 11 pm, hundreds of vehicles run red lights at that Chiang Rai's busiest intersection by the Mengrei statue. Not dozens, hundreds! If you don't believe me, take a few minutes to observe the traffic there.

To project further, I estimate every hour, throughout the city, an average of 10,000 vehicles run red lights. You may wonder, "what's the big deal, it happens all over Thailand." Maybe so, but people can and do get injured and killed by such selfish behavior. Plus, it's rude to other drivers who are forced to accommodate law breakers, by waiting and/or weaving around the runners.

Not once, in the history of Chiang Rai, has anyone ever been busted for running a red light. If I'm wrong about that, let me know, thanks.

villagefarang · August 21, 2012

Reading your posts always brings a smile to my face as an image of Don Quixote comes to mind almost every time. I just can't figure out who your Sancho Panza might be. Always entertaining.

jubby · August 21, 2012

Unlike the train to Chiang Rai, I am reliably informed that this road is going to happen.

Which road? As I mentioned earlier, the map graphic only loads (for me) as a horizontal strip.

Do you mean the 'ring road' going east side (already partially built)? ....or the one proposed for west side of town?

you have to click on the first link. it'll show what appears to be a huge bypass well to the south, west and north of Chiang Rai.

should help your Ha yaek problem too.

you know people are only gonna pile trash under that Overpass your proposing, and you'll be the only one interested in clearing it up . Its sure to over stretch you

Edited August 21, 2012 by jubby

Meisgq · August 21, 2012

Roundabout in Thailand... Hahahahaha. Went through a roundabout in phuket near the pier a couple months ago - what a terrible idea.

Shawn

jubby · August 21, 2012

Reading your posts always brings a smile to my face as an image of Don Quixote comes to mind almost every time. I just can't figure out who your Sancho Panza might be. Always entertaining.

Its clearly Chang35baht

maidu · August 21, 2012

there's a small roundabout where the new glitzy clock tower is. It works moderately well. You can chuckle, but it appears Thais are actually slowing (almost stopping) to allow others the proper 'right of way' at that place. ....more so than they used to, several years ago.

In past years, when I stopped to enable pedestrians to cross, motorcycles would zip by both sides of me, full speed. In recent months, the motorcyclists don't seem to be as hell-bent for leather. Maybe there are some subtle changes for the better: in regard to Chiang Rai driving habits. ....maybe not: (half full or half empty, comes to mind).

p.s. even when I click on the map link in the OP, it still comes out as a horizontal strip of graphic.

Here's what will happen if they build a 'rim road' west of town:

>>> it will be slightly used. In other words, a big waste of money.

>>> They'll probably have to build a new bridge. ....or at least add another one alongside the existing one, by the prison.

>>> Builders will have to negotiate many hills which, as we know, entails massive amounts of scrapping and filling. Environmentally awful.

The ring road at the east of town should be sufficient. There's already a bridge there, It's all flat terrain, and it connects with the airport. To make it more efficient, its north end should swing NW to connect with the super Hwy. (I can't see map, so I don't know what the geniuses at the Roads Dept are planning to do).

If the city fathers do build another bridge, let's hope they get a better designer than the one who designed the new bridge, which goes by the police station. Admittedly, it's a good looking bridge, but they wound up using 3 times as much materials as they needed. Plus, though it appears to be two lanes each way, it's effectively one lane each way. If they had widened it by one or two meters, they would have had a decent two lanes going each direction. As it is, the outside lanes became wide motorbike lanes. Bad and wasteful design, sucking up a billion baht more on materials than needed - money which could have been more sensibly spent elsewhere.

dindong · August 21, 2012

Unlike the train to Chiang Rai, I am reliably informed that this road is going to happen.

Which road? As I mentioned earlier, the map graphic only loads (for me) as a horizontal strip.

Do you mean the 'ring road' going east side (already partially built)? ....or the one proposed for west side of town?

The loaded map is for the proposed road going west of the town.

http://www.enticcompany.com/chiangrai_web/web/html/map.html

maidu · August 21, 2012

Thanks for the map's URL. Interesting. Please send all details you have on the map: when it was proposed, how serious you think the city planners are, etc.

It will definately entail building a bridge, probably a four lane one. I am quite familiar with the section of C.Rai where the road would go over the Mae Kok river, and the hilly region north of there. I've secured two properties there, one is exactly between the D and the 10 on the map. The area north of where the bridge would cross is a flood plain, so about 2 to 3 km of the hwy would have to be elevated by 3 to 4 meters above grade. I have another property in Hoy Plakang, which will either be spitting distance from the hwy, or the hwy will ram right through it. If I was Thai, I'd probably be glad to have a major hwy running by my house, as the property value increases. To no one's surprise, I'm not Thai.

Actually, I'd heard of this hwy ten years ago, and even spoke with the surveyors who were plotting it out. I thought C.Rai fathers would have, by now, realized the folly of building it. But, no. What's next, a nuclear power plant at the old airport?

Edited August 21, 2012 by maidu

dindong · August 21, 2012

I am very happy with this plan especially if there will be no traffic lights on it.

The eastern ring road( where my property is near) is not going to help the congestion of traffic in Chiang Rai city in the future. Already there is a very long tail back of traffic every morning and evening in this area.

I am hoping that they will have something like this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_road

or this

Edited August 21, 2012 by dindong

maidu · August 21, 2012

That's interesting comparison. I resided in Washington D.C. until my 23rd year.

I know the beltway very well. It helps for regional traffic, but it's like trying to haul a ton of tacks in a plastic sack.

"No traffic lights on it?" Are you jesting? Thais don't know how to make roads without traffic lights every hundred meters or so. Not only that, they don't know about dedicated turn lanes (with arrow lights) which enable traffic to go both directions at once. If Bkk city planners knew about that, Bkk gridlock would be reduced by 20%.

And don't get me started with the long length of traffic lights, like the new one at the main police station. For each 5 minute cycle, there's about a minute with no vehicles going through. Added up, that's 288 minutes on an average 24 hr. cycle, where there's no traffic moving through the intersection - because of overly long traffic light sequence.

Edited August 21, 2012 by maidu

harrry · August 21, 2012

That's interesting comparison. I resided in Washington D.C. until my 23rd year.

I know the beltway very well. It helps for regional traffic, but it's like trying to haul a ton of tacks in a plastic sack.

"No traffic lights on it?" Are you jesting? Thais don't know how to make roads without traffic lights every hundred meters or so. Not only that, they don't know about dedicated turn lanes (with arrow lights) which enable traffic to go both directions at once. If Bkk city planners knew about that, Bkk gridlock would be reduced by 20%.

And don't get me started with the long length of traffic lights, like the new one at the main police station. For each 5 minute cycle, there's about a minute with no vehicles going through. Added up, that's 288 minutes on an average 24 hr. cycle, where there's no traffic moving through the intersection - because of overly long traffic light sequence.

I have yet to see even 5 seconds at lights with no vehicle going through.....even when the lights are red.

dindong · August 21, 2012

That's interesting comparison. I resided in Washington D.C. until my 23rd year.

I know the beltway very well. It helps for regional traffic, but it's like trying to haul a ton of tacks in a plastic sack.

"No traffic lights on it?" Are you jesting? Thais don't know how to make roads without traffic lights every hundred meters or so. Not only that, they don't know about dedicated turn lanes (with arrow lights) which enable traffic to go both directions at once. If Bkk city planners knew about that, Bkk gridlock would be reduced by 20%.

And don't get me started with the long length of traffic lights, like the new one at the main police station. For each 5 minute cycle, there's about a minute with no vehicles going through. Added up, that's 288 minutes on an average 24 hr. cycle, where there's no traffic moving through the intersection - because of overly long traffic light sequence.

I have yet to see even 5 seconds at lights with no vehicle going through.....even when the lights are red.

svenivan · August 21, 2012

I don't think many of us need to worry too much about this ringroad to the west of the city.

They started the one that goes on the eastern side of CR more than 12 years ago and they are not halfway done so far.

It will probably take another 10 years before that one is connected to the Superhighway both in the north and in the south.

And I don't think they will start with the other ringroad until the first one is finished and the second one will probably

take another 30 year to build.

The problem I see in Chiang Rai, beside that traffic is hardly moving in daytime, is there are no parking places.

We have probably 3 times more cars and motorbikes going to town today compared to 10 years ago and the only parkingplaces

that been created/built is around Big C and Central Plaza.

So people doubblepark everywhere and that does not help the speed of the traffic.

That is good for Big C and Central because people that want to go shopping prefere a place where they can park their car.

But not so good for the shops in the city.

When can we hope for a good system with public buses?

Another problem is that so many secondary and high schools are in the city and that cause a lot of problem

with all motorbikes and with parents in cars dropping and picking up their children.

tangaroa67 · August 21, 2012

It's difficult to view that the map on the bypass website as the image is cut into slices. I've saved it as a (6Mb) PDF to make it more user-friendly.

CEI Western Bypass

sceadugenga · August 21, 2012

double post

Edited August 21, 2012 by sceadugenga

sceadugenga · August 21, 2012

I don't think many of us need to worry too much about this ringroad to the west of the city.

They started the one that goes on the eastern side of CR more than 12 years ago and they are not halfway done so far.

It will probably take another 10 years before that one is connected to the Superhighway both in the north and in the south.

And I don't think they will start with the other ringroad until the first one is finished and the second one will probably

take another 30 year to build.

The problem I see in Chiang Rai, beside that traffic is hardly moving in daytime, is there are no parking places.

We have probably 3 times more cars and motorbikes going to town today compared to 10 years ago and the only parkingplaces

that been created/built is around Big C and Central Plaza.

So people doubblepark everywhere and that does not help the speed of the traffic.

That is good for Big C and Central because people that want to go shopping prefere a place where they can park their car.

But not so good for the shops in the city.

When can we hope for a good system with public buses?

Another problem is that so many secondary and high schools are in the city and that cause a lot of problem

with all motorbikes and with parents in cars dropping and picking up their children.

How true.

Good post Sven.

maidu · August 22, 2012

So people doubblepark everywhere and that does not help the speed of the traffic.

In Thailand, if you have a new looking car and leave your emergency lights flashing, then you're less likely to get a ticket for double parking. Of course, it also helps if the cops on the beat know you. Note: you're very much more likely to get a parking ticket if parked badly within a few blocks of the main police station. Guess why.

Also: I had all lug nuts taken off a front wheel of my beat-up pick up truck. It was parked by the Search & Rescue post, at the corner by the old bus station. A Tuk Tuk driver must have done it, perhaps thinking I was parked in a taxi space (I wasn't, and many other cars park there, on and off, daily). Plus, I noticed at least 10 empty spaces that day, along the tuk tuk stretch of street.

Luckily, I was driving slowly, when my front wheel came off. The truck ground to an immediate halt, and the loose wheel went rolling 60 meters down the street. It could have been much worse. I haven't even gone back to try and confront the Tuk Tuk drivers - wouldn't accomplish anything except make them angry and more vengeful. Some of them are friendly acquaintances of mine, actually. So it goes. Notch it up as another interesting experience of Chiang Rai.

dindong · August 22, 2012

Chiang Rai tastes the future

CHIANG RAI, 22 August 2012: This far north town is about to be invaded by a horde of commuter vans and tour buses, 27 August, as more than 1,700 secondary school teachers meet for the their annual conference.

“We are going to see traffic jams,” warned Dusit Island Resort’s general manager, Mana Chanhorm, “Already hotels are filling up and we are expecting a full-house for the week beginning 27 August.”

Visions of Chiang Rai’s narrow streets overrun by fleets of Toyota Commuter vans may stretch the imagination of the town’s residents who take pride in their town’s laidback lifestyle and the province’s Lanna culture.

Chiang Rai’s paddy field on the mountain

Just 220 km down the road is Chiang Mai, fast becoming a mirror of Bangkok with pollution, traffic jams, massive shopping malls and a profusion of urban entertainment.

In contrast, Chiang Rai tags itself “City of Artists”, noting that many of the country’s top artists settled here to get away from the hurly burly of the Thai capital and other commercially driven provincial towns.

But the arrival of 1,700 school teachers for their annual gig is an indicator that Chiang Rai is embracing change.

http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2012/08/chiang-rai-tastes-the-future/

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