Long fight to prevent Route 304 expansion ends in loss: Thailand

[webfact]

Long fight to prevent Route 304 expansion ends in loss
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Route 304 - which cuts through two World Heritage national parks in Nakhon Ratchasima and Prachin Buri provinces - will be expanded under the supervision of the junta, the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP) said yesterday.

Expanding the road from two to four lanes will be done through tunnels at two locations inside the Khao Yai and Thaplan natonal parks, between kilometre markers 26 and 29 and 45 and 57 respectively, so wildlife will no longer be affected or killed by traffic, said ONEP secretary-general Kasemsan Jinnawaso.

Department of Highways director-general Chatchawal Buncharoenkij said the approval was good news as the ruling National Council for Peace and Order realised the project's importance for the welfare of wildlife.

The department has sought a Bt2.9-billion budget for the project and is ready to begin construction immediately, he said.

The Highways Department and wildlife agencies have been in dispute during the past three years over the proposed expansion, with the latter raising concerns over the welfare of wildlife and the former raising concerns over the frequency of accidents and human fatalities stemming from vehicles hitting animals.

A senior NCPO official yesterday visited the ONEP and approved the expansion, with the tunnels at two locations incorporated.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Long-fight-to-prevent-Route-304-expansion-ends-in--30239406.html


-- The Nation 2014-07-25

[AGareth2]

about time

dangerous road

not just the wildlife that is getting killed

hope it is done in a ecologically friendly way

[blogger]

that road through the national parks is one road i vowed never to go on. just toooo many bus kills over a long time on that road. these are the ones that actually do make the news.

while they are in the region a 4 lane all the way to the Cambodian border is also top priority and well overdue,

Edited July 25, 2014 by blogger

[Luk Mhee]

To preserve wildlife, as well as human life, perhaps one should consider an elevated road of say about 4 meters, where ever necessary, a few million more but perhaps worth it in the long run. To have only two gate-way tunnels have been tried by meny prominent game reserves in Africa and does work unless they are about 500 meters wide and near a watering hole.

[LennyW]

They have Eco-bridges over the expressways in Singapore, basically a road sized bridge but laid with grass and trees so the animals cross in safety.

[Traveling Sailor]

To preserve wildlife, as well as human life, perhaps one should consider an elevated road of say about 4 meters, where ever necessary, a few million more but perhaps worth it in the long run. To have only two gate-way tunnels have been tried by meny prominent game reserves in Africa and does work unless they are about 500 meters wide and near a watering hole.

In the "paper that cannot be quoted", there was an article about this, with pictures of the stretch of proposed overhead road and two tunnels. The pictures showed the overhead road and the tunnels carrying road traffic, which makes perfect sense to me. However, the written article talked about ways to get the animals to use the tunnels. This type of Thai reporting insures that I still don't know what the real proposal is. Building a tunnel for animals seems dumb to me. Getting the road traffic either 4 meters above or in a tunnel below ground level sounds smart.

[Dublin]

I hear the train a comin', It's rolling round the bend, And I ain't seen the sunshine since I don't know when,
I'm stuck in Folsom prison, and time keeps draggin' on... Don't hold your breath boys, and don't forget to shut the gate on the way out of the tunnel, Dang is that an Elephant , "Oh stupid farang how Elephant get in tunnel" BANG

[Jeremy50]

I have lived in rural Thailand for 10 years and have yet to see a wild animal smaller than an elephant or bigger than a rat.

The picture of bears and big cats crossing the bridge isn't fooling me. They are all long dead.

It will just be another place for people to dump their rubbish.

[Dibbler]

Great, this means that UNESCO will now go ahead with their listing of the Dong Phayayen - Khao Yai World Heritage Area as "Endangered" which will result in a massive loss of face for the Thai government and loss of technical support and funding opportunities which in turn will impact protection of these areas. More importantly, this will result in an ultimatum to rectify the impact of the road immediately or risk losing the Listing altogether. As Thailand now faces economic sanctions for failing to stem illegal ivory trade, this is a double whammy that should have been predicted, and demonstrates the government's clueless attitude to international agreements, and law and order in general. A decade ago, Thailand could once have been a leader in environmental conservation. Instead it's squandered that opportunity and now appears to be a rogue state on environmental issues in ASEAN because of serial inept leadership. I hope NGOs and donor agencies are taking notice here. Investments in training and developing capacity for conservation are better spent in Cambodia and Myanmar where governments at least have people with appropriate higher degrees in non colour-coded positions of influence in the environmental and forestry sector who want to make a difference.