Commuters Have Been Asked To Avoid Using Certain Routes As Many Foreign Monarchs Will Return To Their Countries Today

[Jai Dee]

Commuters have been asked to avoid using certain routes as many foreign monarchs will return to their countries today

The Spokesperson of the Royal Thai Police, Pol. Lt. Col. Acharawit Suphanpesaj, would like to ask members of the public to avoid commuting on the routes where foreign monarchs will travel to return to their countries.

Pol. Lt. Col. Acharawit said several foreign monarchs have already headed off to their countries following the celebration of the 60th Anniversary of His Majesty the King’s Accession to the Throne last night. However, he said many royal guests are scheduled to depart from Thailand today.

The routes to be closed periodically today include Viphawadi-Rangsit Rd, Sukhumvit Rd, Ploenchit Rd, Wireless Rd, Phra Ram IV first and second-level expressways, Phra Ram I Rd, Rajaprarop Rd, Ratchadamri Rd, and certain courses on Phaholyothin Rd. The general public has been advised to avoid these routes today.

Meanwhile, security and police officers are providing maximum security to the visiting monarchs.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 14 June 2006

[The Coder]

I always wonder if VIP's revel in the inconvenience they create for others. I wonder as their motorcade goes by if they feel hundreds of thousands of people should be inconvenienced because they themselves are so just so important. I wonder if they revel in preempting the world cup and forcing people to watch them on TV and missing the games.

After all, there are plenty of simple ways to avoid this like helo's for transport, choosing non densely populated areas for meeting places, and choosing not to do things during a world cup game. It's almost as if they want to create maximum inconvenience to the greatest possible number of people to convince themselves how important they are. For starters, I would like to see each VIP required to pay a fee to cover the police overhead and inconvenience created to others; maybe something like 5 million baht per motorcade that goes into road improvements, eliminating toll booths, and the like. In short, each motorcade would be required to be priced such that it enhanced convenience in the long run.