Traffic Lights Turned Off, On The East Side

[fakename]

What is the idea of installing traffic lights, using them for a month, then turning them off? First it started on the bypass road, then beach road, then last month, on Soi Siam and Nongpure. Of course at first, there was the usual confusion, and impatient drivers cutting through the 7/11, but it did work a bit, but now the lights are turned off, and back to the old free for all. What is the purpose of all this? Does someone's brother in law have a company that installs traffic lights, or is it just the normal "not thinking"? Is there anything that is actually planned, or does someone just get a hair up their a$$ and decides to do something? At the end of Soi Siam, where the road curves around the lake, the traffic lanes were done three times, before they got it right, (almost right) one day painting the lines, next week, chipping the paint away, and then paint again. Even then, they had to install barriers, to keep the cars from taking a short cut.

Thats my rant for the day!

[patsfangr]

Don't feel like the Lone Ranger. This is a frequent rant of mine, as well.

Personally, I ascribe to the theory you presented on the traffic lights. It is pure "pork", as it's called in the USA. Blatant corruption in the form of giving contracts to relatives and/or supporters of those with the power to issue such contracts. Same with so many other infrastructure and construction activities.

Yes, it's clearly incompetence, in the case of something like the horrific road maintenance, lane painting included. But, IMO, what lies behind the incompetence is the assignment of contracts to unqualified companies due to the process noted above.

As for the traffic lights, remember that operating them is a cost that must be paid to the electric company - NOT to the "brother-in-law" who was paid to install them. So ... cut the cost of electricity. ... Oh. Sorry about the lights!

[jbrain]

I'm sure you don't want them to switch on the lights on the bypass road.

[Spoonman]

I'm sure you don't want them to switch on the lights on the bypass road.

I would prefer the lights back on rather than the idiots directing traffic talking on their phone for 10 minutes and forgetting to do their job, they can stick the whistle up their ass as well.

[jbrain]

I'm sure you don't want them to switch on the lights on the bypass road.

I would prefer the lights back on rather than the idiots directing traffic talking on their phone for 10 minutes and forgetting to do their job, they can stick the whistle up their ass as well.

I don't have an issue on the bypass whatever time of the day, as long as there are no whistlers at every cross section but the one at Nerm Plubwan, but I know that each time they switched on the lights there would be kilometers of queue in every possible direction.

Edited April 20, 2013 by jbrain

[Spoonman]

I'm sure you don't want them to switch on the lights on the bypass road.

I would prefer the lights back on rather than the idiots directing traffic talking on their phone for 10 minutes and forgetting to do their job, they can stick the whistle up their ass as well.

I don't have an issue on the bypass whatever time of the day, as long as there are no whistlers at every cross section but the one at Nerm Plubwan, but I know that each time they switched on the lights there would be kilometers of queue in every possible direction.

I actually found the lights to be OK, the issue was the morons who ignored them and then proceeded to block traffic.

[ROBINPATTAYA]

I travel from the lake down SSCC towards Suk. When the lights were working, I had a 99 second wait, then 24 seconds to travel through. The trouble is that the traffic banks up because the Thais don't have the presence of mind to get their car in gear & be ready to actually move with the traffic. There is usually a 10 metre gap between cars which only allows about 5-6 cars every light sequence so it usually requires 2 sets of lights to get through. Now the lights are turned off, the traffic moves well again with no hold ups or accidents to date.

I hope they stay turned off..........

[patsfangr]

The biggest problem with functioning traffic lights in Pattaya is that they haven't got a clue as to how to efficiently operate them! I've sat at the light at the Pattaya Tai - 3rd Road intersection for as long as 4-1/2 minutes between changes! NO traffic signal should ever remain red for longer than 1-1/2 minutes. In that time, even with the frustrating "slow starts" of Thai drivers, a large number of vehicles can pass through. Long red lights are the cause of grid-lock. Vehicles on the side roads cannot enter the main road, and the grid-lock begins. To keep traffic flowing as smoothly as possible in all directions, they should not have any light set to green for less than 30 seconds (for the low traffic cross roads); and none longer than 1-1/2 minutes (for the cross roads that have heavy traffic. I don't know where they get the idea that creating backups of 1/2 km or more is a GOOD thing!

[raro]

I wish they would switch them back on asap. I don't mind the waiting time but it was the first time in years that I felt safe crossing this intersection.

And yes, if they would finally learn how to operate these lights properly, it would be the icing on the cake.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Mobi]

It was always going to end like this, as the city officials knew full well when they approved the budget.

As with so many infrastructure improvement projects in Pattaya, like the installation of dozens of pedestrian crossing lights and currently the infamous Beach Road widening scheme, there is only one reason why this money is being spent.

Corruption - pure and simple.

You can all rant till you're blue in the face but money is only ever spent in Pattaya when there are kickbacks to be had, and as long as the city is run by the son of one of the most notorious criminals, that Thailand has ever known,(currently whiling away his days in a VIP room in hospital), nothing will ever change.

I knew from the first day those traffic lights on the Darkside were turned on that they would last about a month, and I was right, as usual.

My advice is to all those who get het up about these matters is to stop thinking about Pattaya in western terms and expecting things to happen in a civilised manner and start realising that this is still 'Deadwood' and criminals and corruption still hold sway.

I doubt much will change in my life time - but what the heck - I still love it!

[fakename]

Sure, the traffic backs up when the lights are on, and as Robin said, its because they cant figure out the light will change, so they are busy with checking the mirror out! Also, the timing could be improved. At the Nongpure intersection, traffic was backed all the way passed the over pass, I thought there was an accident, but just the lights. I think most Thai's have very important business going, and dont have time to wait for a stupid light, so they cut through the 7/11. then someone is coming from the other direction, so you have a traffic jam in the parking lot!

[morrobay]

Ask the person at city hall who got the kickback on these ridiculous lights. Must have been alot more than the bid for pedestrian overpasses, which is only solution for safe crossing.

[garvon]

The traffic in Pattaya always moves better when the lights are off - that is the simple truth. The installation of lights is an inconvenience for the vast majority of motorists and a convenience for the minority who cannot handle the normal situation.

We also have what some know as the green light syndrome where almost every driver takes at least five seconds to realize that the light has turned to green and then moves very slowly.

Agreed that you have to adapt and not get upset.

[fakename]

So should we "go back home", if we dont accept the traffic situation here? Of maybe at the very least, suggest to the mayors of London, New York, and other citys, to take out the traffic lights, because traffic moves better with the lights off? Did you mean that some of us are retarded, and we cannot adjust to the Normal situation? Of course the lights dont work, because everyone thinks they are smarter than the lights. The lights can be adjusted, so things run more smoothly, but it takes some one that is interested in traffic safety to do it.

But my original post was to ask why they are even installed, if they dont plan on using them.

[Mobi]

So should we "go back home", if we dont accept the traffic situation here? Of maybe at the very least, suggest to the mayors of London, New York, and other citys, to take out the traffic lights, because traffic moves better with the lights off? Did you mean that some of us are retarded, and we cannot adjust to the Normal situation? Of course the lights dont work, because everyone thinks they are smarter than the lights. The lights can be adjusted, so things run more smoothly, but it takes some one that is interested in traffic safety to do it.

But my original post was to ask why they are even installed, if they dont plan on using them.

They were installed for the purposes of corruption - pure and simple. I know it is difficult for many from the west to get their minds around this, but it has forever been thus in the LOS.

Today I stopped by Nongprue market near the crocodile farm turn off, and had to move on because there was a truck and some labourers dumping little piles of earth and tar along the side of the road. They were levelling out the areas just off the road where people park their cars when they go shopping in the market.

Fair enough if the area was covered in deep pot holes - but it wasn't.

The ground was pretty flat and eminently park-able.

So why all this effort?

Only one reason - Nongprue district authority have some remaining budget to spend, so one of their officers knows someone who knows someone who provides a truck and few Cambodian labourers for next to nothing.The bill going into the district authorities will no doubt be ten times the real cost. Its the way it works here.

Even infrastructure projects that actually benefit the public - like new roads, and bridges are only ever given the go ahead because of the kick backs to be had by those in power (and their cohorts).

Without kick-backs there would never have been any progress in this fair land.

Strange but true....

[Mobi]

The traffic in Pattaya always moves better when the lights are off - that is the simple truth. The installation of lights is an inconvenience for the vast majority of motorists and a convenience for the minority who cannot handle the normal situation.

We also have what some know as the green light syndrome where almost every driver takes at least five seconds to realize that the light has turned to green and then moves very slowly.

Agreed that you have to adapt and not get upset.

100% spot on.

It works here because a vast majority of motorists are quite happy to 'give and take' without resorting to road rage every time they think someone has the effrontery to cut them off. Sure there are always a few are <deleted>, but for the most part people let you cut in, and don't get stressed out when motorists weave their way around and through lines of traffic. No one blows their horns and everyone waits patiently for their turn to take the lead at an uncontrolled road junctions.

For 99% of the time it works fine and the traffic keeps flowing and the lines of traffic are relatively small except at the height of the rush hours.

When they first opened up the local 'bi-pass' roads that run parallel to the rail lines there was wailing and gnashing of teeth at all the pile ups at the junctions. But this was only because the locals were unused to the new roads and it took time for them to familiarise themselves with these new junctions to be negotiated in time honoured fashion.

Then just as everything started to work quite smoothly, corruption stepped in and they put traffic lights at every junction form Chaiyapornwithee to Kow Talow and beyond.

The result ?

Total chaos ensued and traffic lines were so long that it could take you up to an hour to get through them.

Within a few weeks they were turned off and everything went back to normal, but every now and then some of them were turned on again for varying periods, during which time the traffic jams reappeared.

It may not be a perfect system and it won't work anywhere - certainly not in the west where drivers are far more aggressive and would never allow the give and take in the way they do in Pattaya. (How many times have I gently eased my way into or across a long line of busy traffic on a main road in Thailand and thought to myself that if I was in the Uk, I would have sat there all day waiting for some kind motorist to give way)

Even in Bangkok motorists are much more aggressive and and as a result most road junctions need to have functioning traffic lights.

But here in Pattaya, live and let live, don't get angry at other road users as many of them don't know any better and simply learn from their peers, be prepared for the unexpected, drive slowly and even if you have the occasional bump, nobody is going to get hurt. For the most part the traffic keeps moving and everyone is happy.

One day it will all change - but hopefully not in my life time...

[lucjoker]

those light served the intended purpose.

namely,to make a lot of money on the contract.

Once this was achieved,turn the lights off,because they were not needed and cause more waiting.

[Spoonman]

those light served the intended purpose.

namely,to make a lot of money on the contract.

Once this was achieved,turn the lights off,because they were not needed and cause more waiting.

Actually they are needed, they just need to be policed correctly.

[Asiantravel]

The traffic in Pattaya always moves better when the lights are off - that is the simple truth . The installation of lights is an inconvenience for the vast majority of motorists and a convenience for the minority who cannot handle the normal situation.

We also have what some know as the green light syndrome where almost every driver takes at least five seconds to realize that the light has turned to green and then moves very slowly.

Agreed that you have to adapt and not get upset.

And do your sentiments equally apply to lights at the pedestrian crossings along Beach Road? Last high season fortunately, there were no pedestrian fatalities that I am aware of, although I did witness an old lady (foreigner) sprawled all over the road in front of Royal Garden Plaza after she had been struck by a motorcycle speeding along the lane nearest the beach as she tried to safely cross at what is meant to be a pedestrian crossing.

Crossing beach Road safely is impossible at night time if you are crossing from the eastern side to the West side i.e if you are trying to cross over to the beachside because firstly it is more difficult to judge the speed of the vehicle in the dark and secondly every time a slow baht bus approaches they totally obscure your vision as to what is very likely to be approaching very fast in the far lane.. It's Russian roulette every time, including lunatic coach drivers, and sooner or later there will be a fatality.

Edited March 24, 2014 by Asiantravel

[Pattaya Pat]

It was always going to end like this, as the city officials knew full well when they approved the budget.

As with so many infrastructure improvement projects in Pattaya, like the installation of dozens of pedestrian crossing lights and currently the infamous Beach Road widening scheme, there is only one reason why this money is being spent.

Corruption - pure and simple.

You can all rant till you're blue in the face but money is only ever spent in Pattaya when there are kickbacks to be had, and as long as the city is run by the son of one of the most notorious criminals, that Thailand has ever known,(currently whiling away his days in a VIP room in hospital), nothing will ever change.

I knew from the first day those traffic lights on the Darkside were turned on that they would last about a month, and I was right, as usual.

My advice is to all those who get het up about these matters is to stop thinking about Pattaya in western terms and expecting things to happen in a civilised manner and start realising that this is still 'Deadwood' and criminals and corruption still hold sway.

I doubt much will change in my life time - but what the heck - I still love it!

Out of interest, what do you 'love' exactly?

[Mobi]

It was always going to end like this, as the city officials knew full well when they approved the budget.

As with so many infrastructure improvement projects in Pattaya, like the installation of dozens of pedestrian crossing lights and currently the infamous Beach Road widening scheme, there is only one reason why this money is being spent.

Corruption - pure and simple.

You can all rant till you're blue in the face but money is only ever spent in Pattaya when there are kickbacks to be had, and as long as the city is run by the son of one of the most notorious criminals, that Thailand has ever known,(currently whiling away his days in a VIP room in hospital), nothing will ever change.

I knew from the first day those traffic lights on the Darkside were turned on that they would last about a month, and I was right, as usual.

My advice is to all those who get het up about these matters is to stop thinking about Pattaya in western terms and expecting things to happen in a civilised manner and start realising that this is still 'Deadwood' and criminals and corruption still hold sway.

I doubt much will change in my life time - but what the heck - I still love it!

Out of interest, what do you 'love' exactly?

'Deadwood'...a lot more exciting than Basildon or Barnwell....

[Robroona]

The lights at the SSCC-Nongprue junction have been working for the last few days at least. Could be improved somewhat in regards to to timing, but probably a lot safer than before.

As for the lights at the by pass crossings, it was obvious from day one what would happen here. Horrendous either way, switched on or off.

My pet hate at traffic lights is the huge build up of motor cycles in front of cars when the lights are at red. They take forever to move and then only a few cars struggle through. Just last week, at the SSCC -Sukhumvit junction, there so many motor cycles piled up that no one could turn left onto Suk with the green filter on.

[Langsuan Man]

I travel from the lake down SSCC towards Suk. When the lights were working, I had a 99 second wait, then 24 seconds to travel through. The trouble is that the traffic banks up because the Thais don't have the presence of mind to get their car in gear & be ready to actually move with the traffic. There is usually a 10 metre gap between cars which only allows about 5-6 cars every light sequence so it usually requires 2 sets of lights to get through. Now the lights are turned off, the traffic moves well again with no hold ups or accidents to date.

I hope they stay turned off..........

So true and if you don't believe it go to the DLT office and watch them fail the reaction test when getting their licenses. Every time I take that test 90% of the Thais have to take it again and again till they pass, whereas most farangs pass it first time around

Seriously this delay even happens at intersections that have the countdown timers that tell them in seconds how long it will be till the light changes but they still are not ready when it suddenly changes

[Pattaya Pat]

It was always going to end like this, as the city officials knew full well when they approved the budget.

As with so many infrastructure improvement projects in Pattaya, like the installation of dozens of pedestrian crossing lights and currently the infamous Beach Road widening scheme, there is only one reason why this money is being spent.

Corruption - pure and simple.

You can all rant till you're blue in the face but money is only ever spent in Pattaya when there are kickbacks to be had, and as long as the city is run by the son of one of the most notorious criminals, that Thailand has ever known,(currently whiling away his days in a VIP room in hospital), nothing will ever change.

I knew from the first day those traffic lights on the Darkside were turned on that they would last about a month, and I was right, as usual.

My advice is to all those who get het up about these matters is to stop thinking about Pattaya in western terms and expecting things to happen in a civilised manner and start realising that this is still 'Deadwood' and criminals and corruption still hold sway.

I doubt much will change in my life time - but what the heck - I still love it!

Out of interest, what do you 'love' exactly?

'Deadwood'...a lot more exciting than Basildon or Barnwell....

Would have to agree with that. I'm not far from Basildon myself, originally The place is a dump :-)