Holiday Weekend Traffic Chaos hits Pattaya

PATTAYA:--Pattaya and the rest of Thailand are enjoying a 4 day weekend as Buddhists prepare for the start of Lent. Many appear to have chosen Pattaya as their favored destination to enjoy the weekend and because of that traffic congestion was widespread.

Traffic and Highway Police struggled to cope with the influx of vehicles and many roads including the Main Sukhumvit Road, Tepprasit Road, South Pattaya Road, Central Pattaya Road and North Pattaya Road were car parks for most of Saturday and Sunday.

Roads commonly used as a short cut to avoid the busy main road into and out of Pattaya were also blocked. Minor road accidents were widespread and manual control of traffic lights at key junctions by Traffic Police appeared to cause extra traffic problems instead of improving traffic flow.
Full story:http://www.pattayaone.net/pattaya-news/96221/holiday-weekend-traffic-chaos-hits-pattaya/

-- Pattaya One 2013-07-22

Traffic Police caused extra problems! That seems highly unlikely!

Yes, yes, lowest form of wit, acknowledged

Pretty dead here in Bangkok but seeing the tailbacks on the elevated and ring road as I headed out Saturday morning, kinda knew it was going to be a stinker...

Sent from Android please excuse errors in type or judgement

Trouble in paradise. Personally, I believe that there should be a separate visa system for the autonomous region known as Pattaya. Only single men and women should be granted access, plus bar staff, moto drivers, and street food vendors. Married people, with or without children, should not be banned from entry and shuttled down to Phuket.

I'm gutted - had to cancel golf today for fear of a 3 hour traffic jam to get there, only to find that every Thai golfer and his soi dog chose today to clog up the course.

Traffic Chaos hits Pattaya

O.M.G. hope the buidings are still standing and no-one got injured

Who? What? Where? I've been for a wander along 2nd road and down on to beach road. Doesn't seem any different from an average day.

Suk is jammed. Was a mess around Klang yesterday afternoon, and as you head out of town...near Ban Amphur. Completely stopped there. A parking lot.

Took me 15 minutes to get from Tai to Klang, heading north on suk , yesterday around 2pm.

The beach down here in packed with Thai families. Neat to see them out having fun. Great morning as the tide is way out.

Suk is jammed. Was a mess around Klang yesterday afternoon, and as you head out of town...near Ban Amphur. Completely stopped there. A parking lot.

Took me 15 minutes to get from Tai to Klang, heading north on suk , yesterday around 2pm.

The beach down here in packed with Thai families. Neat to see them out having fun. Great morning as the tide is way out.

I'm staying home today, yesterday driving was a nightmare.

At 3pm it took me 30 minutes to get from the level 4 parking in Central Festival to the ground floor. Another 40 minutes to get from there to Phratamnak via Sai Soong, Klang, and Sai Saam. I'd expect it to be as bad today if not worse than yesterday.

The only possible chance for traffic to flow is if the BIB decide to spend the day gathering cash contributions rather than trying to control the traffic lights. I had lunch one day at the café on the corner of Klang and Sai Saam. Traffic jammed for 45 minutes.

Then the cop at the controller scored 6 Indians with no helmets on 3 bikes. As he stopped them he flicked it to auto and hey presto - in less than 10 minutes the traffic was flowing in all directions. He got his cash contribution from the Indians and returned to the controller - in less than 5 minutes, traffic jammed in every direction. Go figure.

Edited July 22, 201312 yr by Gsxrnz

Enjoy all your long weekend everyone! Well when you get out of the car ! 555

I hope this will relax late Tuesday afternoon (my planned arrival by car)

Didn't the marathon take it's extra toll?

Edited July 22, 201312 yr by KhunBENQ

Just drove into Pratumnak from Pinklao (West Bangkok, Tonburi side) in 1:45 minutes - Outer Ring, Elevated quite reasonable but local roads are a bit of a mare and 3rd road is a dog with fleas...

There was plenty of fair warning re this holiday weekend and the expected traffic chaos. Living in East Pattaya, traffic has been normal and I get into town and run my errands, have a coffee, and get in my gym workout and am back home by noon so no problems.

Went to Makro from Sukhumvit 73 and from Makro to Power Buy around 11 a.m..........busy but not chaotic.

On Friday however, when I returned from Mukdahan taking the #2, there was a real exodus Bangkok-outbound.

Suk is jammed. Was a mess around Klang yesterday afternoon, and as you head out of town...near Ban Amphur. Completely stopped there. A parking lot.

Took me 15 minutes to get from Tai to Klang, heading north on suk , yesterday around 2pm.

The beach down here in packed with Thai families. Neat to see them out having fun. Great morning as the tide is way out.

I'm staying home today, yesterday driving was a nightmare.

At 3pm it took me 30 minutes to get from the level 4 parking in Central Festival to the ground floor. Another 40 minutes to get from there to Phratamnak via Sai Soong, Klang, and Sai Saam. I'd expect it to be as bad today if not worse than yesterday.

The only possible chance for traffic to flow is if the BIB decide to spend the day gathering cash contributions rather than trying to control the traffic lights. I had lunch one day at the café on the corner of Klang and Sai Saam. Traffic jammed for 45 minutes.

Then the cop at the controller scored 6 Indians with no helmets on 3 bikes. As he stopped them he flicked it to auto and hey presto - in less than 10 minutes the traffic was flowing in all directions. He got his cash contribution from the Indians and returned to the controller - in less than 5 minutes, traffic jammed in every direction. Go figure.

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HILARIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm working with some Thai's right now. They hired me as a consultant.

They absolutely ignore everything I say & I speak half decent Thai. Never going to change them.

I just try to go with the flow & smile a lot.

I stayed in last holiday weekend..

My wife was trying to get me to go to Surin........"No thanks. You go have fun up there honey."

Edited July 29, 201312 yr by Rimmer
Quotes fixed

Just think, in a hundred years, there will be stories of how the Buddhist celebrated lent, by a strange ritual of getting in their cars, and driving down Sukhumvit. It will become a great pilgrimage, and at the end of the ordeal, all will meet in the holiest place of all, Pattaya!