Is Thailand Choking Itself To Death?

[watcharacters]

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Yesterday the Missus and I headed off to our bank. WE found the bank parking lot was completely full. I told her it was fine with me if we parked a block away from the bank and walked back. WE found virtually no place to park on the street. I'd never really paid attention in the past but I saw then that not only were all places on the street taken but cars and trucks had formed a secondary area on the street to park which blocked in the cars next to the curb.

The Missus headed off to a different branch of the bank.

Thinking about this I wondered about what plans are being made to accommodate the increase in auto traffic in LOS. I know our local city had a fairly substantial parking garage that the powers that be decided could better serve the city if it was torn down and more retail and hotels were put in its place.

Are some cities making plans for the inevitable increase in congestion due to the greater number of vehicles on the road?

[chris2004]

You don't say which city you are in but in Pattaya the situation is getting dire. They are building thousands of new condos and many hotels but are making NO improvements to the road infrastructure. It is very difficult to get about by car and on holidays the place almost comes to a halt. I stick to my bike which just about allows me to get around and park.

[yourauntbob]

I am not looking forward to seeing what its like in 10 years. They seem to have no concept of planning a head on this issue.

[FunFon]

No there is very little concept of city planning, there are so many agencies with overlapping jurisdictions in effect the government doesn't have any effective authority.

They will continue to just muddle along and let the people deal with the crises as they arise.

And the more fundamental issue is that there's not much incentive for anyone to actually serve the public interest. In fact you can say in Thailand it isn't really the government's job to look after the needs of the public, the country as a whole, more like a multi-level self-enrichment franchise scheme.

Edited March 28, 2013 by FunFon

[jocko]

I am not looking forward to seeing what its like in 10 years. They seem to have no concept of planning a head on this issue.

Planning ?

Land is so expensive in the popular places leaving a area for parking is not in the planning to get a return on the land price the development has to have as many units as can fit in what kills me is when you see a artist impression of new builds there is parking, trees, grass. pavements outside your apartment but the finished build is nothing like that.

To see good planning have a look at Singapore they limit the car parking but back that up with excellent public transport

Too late for LOS now methinks

Shame

[farang000999]

They will eventually just make it expensive to drive by putting electronic tolls all over the cities ala Singapore. This will in turn push people into less developed regions of the country.

Edited March 28, 2013 by farang000999

[FunFon]

They will eventually just make it expensive to drive by putting electronic tolls all over the cities ala Singapore. This will in turn push people into less developed regions of the country.

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That would be excellent, especially if they used the funds raised to extend/improve public transportation to/from/within those areas.

Hard to imagine something so logical actually being implemented here, they don't even cap the number of taxis allowed to operate here.

[Time Traveller]

Yes, everyone should give up driving their cars just so you can keeping driving yours. OR, you could quit complaining and move somewhere where there is less people and cars.

[daveh]

Yes, everyone should give up driving their cars just so you can keeping driving yours. OR, you could quit complaining and move somewhere where there is less people and cars.

This reminds me of the saying, "You are not stuck in traffic, you ARE traffic."

[MrWorldwide]

I raised this several years ago on another board, and the consensus was that BKK simply isnt sustainable. It will reach a point where you spend more time in gridlock than doing anything else in a 24-hour period : for some folk, that is already reality in cities like Manila and Jakarta. I dread my first day back in Jakarta, however good the nightlife may be.

Welcome to the future.

[Stradavarius37]

I think David Carradine would say yes!

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

It's chaos and lack of planning.

Isn't BKK likely to be underwater in a few decades anyway?

I think people are just angling to not be the underwater ones by climbing on top of the others.

[FunFon]

Isn't BKK likely to be underwater in a few decades anyway?

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Well that will help the congestion problem anyway, look for personal submarines becoming all the rage. . .

[Potosi]

Ingenious city planning meets smart car owners in oversized pick ups. Hope you gonna be stuck on Beach Road all day long soon.

[watcharacters]

Ingenious city planning meets smart car owners in oversized pick ups. Hope you gonna be stuck on Beach Road all day long soon.

Care to explain what you mean, please?

I think this thread's been a friendly offering of opinions and mostly void of the usual TV aggression and negativity. I don't understand your post.

[FunFon]

Care to explain what you mean, please?

I think this thread's been a friendly offering of opinions and mostly void of the usual TV aggression and negativity. I don't understand your post.

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I would say it's a combination of sarcasm and a belief that the topic's an attack on his beloved Pattaya.

In my experience best to just let the incomprehensible posts lie, sometimes such posters wake up the next day in a more coherent frame of mind, but usually not.

Edited March 29, 2013 by FunFon

[aussiebebe]

In answer to the OP - yes, Thailand's roads are getting visibly busier. I live in Samut Prakan (just south of Bangkok) and at present the BTS line is being extended south from Bearing, contributing to the congestion (three-lane roads are narrowed to two for construction). I expect that when completed congestion will be alleviated, even with all the new cars.

The BTS is amazing; for me even getting on at Bearing is a short taxi ride, but once on it's a pleasant 40baht ride to downtown Bangkok - it's life-changing and the new line will improve traffic. In my opinion, the best thing the government could do is build free parking lots by the BTS to encourage motorists to park and ride - I'd do that to get to Bearing but there is nowhere to park.
Elsewhere in Samut Prakarn, they are widening Srinakarin Road (which starts in Bangkok and has the malls Seacon Square and Paradise Park on it), so yes the government is taking steps to improve traffic flow.
Other steps I'm aware of:
* in Thailand trucks have to travel on certain roads only at night; everyday when driving home along Srinakarin I see cops pull over and fine trucks for driving during the day - this has been in effect for years and is a good congestion-buster - I think I read in Time that New York is considering similar measure to improve congestion without deliveries being made during the day where possible.

* new mono-rail lines are being built - one in Samut Prakarn - to link with the airport.

[Pacificperson]

The number of cars globally has passed one billion and is forecast to exceed 2.5 billion by 2050. There is no urban area that is not suffering from this plague.