Protest planned over recent Central Pattaya Road closures and changes

[webfact]

Protest planned over recent Central Pattaya Road closures and changes



PATTAYA: -- Many business operators are facing financial ruin and motorists, especially those who use roads in the East side of Pattaya, are angry at the road closures and changes made which are designed to move traffic away from the Central Pattaya Underpass Construction site.

The reality of the changes, which are expected to last at least 800 days during the period of construction, have led to some business owners deciding to shut their businesses, only 24 hours after the changes have come into force.

One of the worst affected areas is Soi Siam Country Club from the train track down to the Sukhumvit Road which is now almost traffic-free due to the closure of the intersection on the Sukhumvit Road and now only allows traffic to flow one-way from the Sukhumvit Road.

The business owners along this stretch of the Siam Country Club Road have been posting their feelings on Facebook as have other motorists who are angry at the increased levels of traffic at the railroad junctions along the East side of Pattaya at peak times.

Full story: http://www.pattayaone.net/pattaya-news/173477/fake-police-arrest-go-go-bar-worker-in-south-pattaya/


-- Pattaya One 2015-02-27

[oneday]

The Pattaya city planning department has no training on how to do construction so it affects the public as little as possible. You do it step by step, at night, while only blocking one lane at a time at most. If you have to block more lanes then you provide alternate routes that go directly around the affected area and make these alternate routes clearly marked. Has anyone every seen clearly marked detours in this country. Sometimes, but more often not.

Totally destroying businesses for something like this absolutely horrendous. My heart goes out to all these families whose lives will be ruined.

[hound]

I own a condo just South of Pattaya Klang, off of Sukhumvit, The thought of having this situation for 3 years makes me want to move. The one-way at Soi Khao Noi and closure at Soi Siam Country Club makes things that much worse.
I think this will make it almost impossible to sell until the roads are open again.

Thai engineers take no thought of the effect their decisions have on others. Instead of closing the intersection for a short time while that part of the road is affected, they close the intersection well before there is a need due to construction at the intersection. I expect that, like other construction sites I have seen, there will be many days when no work at all is going on at that site.

It is extremely frustrating!!!

.

.

.

I know... if I don't like it, I should just go home.

[Kerryd]

Umm - the link in the OP goes to a story about a male go-go worker getting ripped off by fake police.

This one works better ( )

http://www.pattayaone.net/pattaya-news/173483/protest-planned-over-recent-central-pattaya-road-closures-and-changes/

Edited February 27, 2015 by Kerryd

[bassman]

Protests in Pattaya, hope they keep it down to 4 participants or less, would hate to see any needlessly arrested. Also remember, no sandwiches, pamphlets, t-shirt giveaways, book reading or hunger game salutes.

[Anthony5]

Since yesterday they also closed off the stretch of Central road between 3rd road and Sukhumvit if you come from beach road or driving Northbound on 3rd road. This forces all traffic towards Sukhumvit to go over Pattaya Nua, as if that road isn't overloaded by coaches for years already.

[jacko45k]

I took an alternative route into town last night to avoid the construction and detours, going via Nua and Beach Rd.

Very very busy on Nua, not helped by tourist coaches stopping to drop off people and parking along its length, surely parking should be suspended to widen the available roads... although of course this will affect businesses without parking available. There is also a market on Beach Rd which means it would be faster to walk than take any vehicles.

This is 3 years of misery.

[Langsuan Man]

You think that maybe part of the problem is not enforcing parking restrictions; like double parking at a curve ?

[sungod]

Wouldn't an overpass be quicker and cheaper to construct?

[guzzi850m2]

Yes it looks like the next 800 days (scheduled sooooo) will be a nightmare for us residents.

hound post #3, I fell for you my man, I really do. You will just have to learn to live with it, as you said, not possible to sell now unless you are willing to take a great loss.

Hopefully it will be much better when they are done.

[guzzi850m2]

Wouldn't an overpass be quicker and cheaper to construct?

I would think so.

Perhaps some protestors will suggest that to the major but now they already started so too late.

[smedly]

I am trying to imagine what is going on here, I was on pattaya Klang on Wed and was able to drive up to Sukhumvit and turn left - is this now not possible as some have said from 3rd road to Sukhumvit on pattaya klang is closed - can't see how that is possible or practical - if the Sukhumvit road end is closed then just put up a sign indicating as such - no need to close it

[Anthony5]

I am trying to imagine what is going on here, I was on pattaya Klang on Wed and was able to drive up to Sukhumvit and turn left - is this now not possible as some have said from 3rd road to Sukhumvit on pattaya klang is closed - can't see how that is possible or practical - if the Sukhumvit road end is closed then just put up a sign indicating as such - no need to close it

Since yesterday you can only enter pattaya klang from city side if you drive southwards on 3rd road. They have blocked it off with concrete barriers for traffic coming from other directions. The sukhumvit end is still same as before, that you can only turn left.

I also don't see the logic in their yesterday actions.

[Kerryd]

It's not like anyone hasn't known this has been coming for awhile now. They should have been protesting the proposed detour plan before the first barricades went up on the Suk. It was rather obvious from day 1 that there was going to be an issue with traffic flow, as there always is whenever this is a major construction project.

I actually thought the detours had been put in place a couple weeks ago and was surprised the last time I went down Khao Noi and straight on to Sukhumvit. Getting back may be an issue in the future though !

Hard to believe it's going to take them 800 days for this.

In the mid-80s (yeah, 30 years ago) the Coquihalla highway in BC was extensively upgraded. Phase 1 took 20 months (so about 600 days) and included:

a) 120 kms of upgraded, resurfaced highway expanded to 2-3 lanes each way through mountainous terrain;

18 highway interchanges, 38 bridge and overpass structures, 19 vehicle underpasses and 50 pipeline crossings were built along the route;

c) From top to bottom, crews experienced every single type of weather condition known to man. With a summit reaching 1,244 metres tall it wasn’t uncommon for it to be snowing at the summit and be sunny at the base.

Of course it cost a fair bit (got to love those Union over-time rates) but a large portion was paid off by installing toll-booths (but you can ride motorcycles on it as well) ! Toll booths collected almost 99.6% of the total cost in the 20 years they were installed (although originally they were only meant to recoup the costs involved with completing the work early so that the highway would be open in time for Expo 86).

Oh well, nothing we can do about it anyways. 4 years from now we'll probably be looking at an unfinished trench full of swampy water and fish, running down the middle of the over-crowded main highway, while reading about how a new contract has been let to finish the work that was supposed to have been done by the company hired to finish what the original company never did. Then there'll be a new proposal to scrap the tunnel idea altogether and install overpasses (and of course, a Mono-rail ! Say it with me - Mono-rail ! MONO-rail ! MONO-RAIL !!!!)

[DPGumbypgh]

Logic TIT

[dabhand]

As mentioned by other posters, an overpass down the railway line, with links to the motorway at the north end and Sukhumvit at the south end, would have taken all the through traffic away from the congested routes.

Impact of the construction would have been limited with work being undertaken on a section by section basis. With the mooted railway upgrade this could have been integrated with the overpass construction and ensured disruption was kept to a minimum.

This current abortion of a project is merely 'improving' one junction on Sukhumvit and causing massive disruption over a wide area. Absolute nonsense.

[oneday]

I am trying to imagine what is going on here, I was on pattaya Klang on Wed and was able to drive up to Sukhumvit and turn left - is this now not possible as some have said from 3rd road to Sukhumvit on pattaya klang is closed - can't see how that is possible or practical - if the Sukhumvit road end is closed then just put up a sign indicating as such - no need to close it

I was up there a couple of days ago to buy some bedding from that bedding store in the 45 degree short-cut road on the north side at this intersection. I didn't even notice the entire intersection was blocked until I left the store. It was blocked at least for traffic coming from 3rd road to get on Sukhumwit. People had to go through the short-cut to get onto Sukhumwit so I'm sure that was a real nightmare for many people.

They just don't have very bright people working for the city or these same people could care less about everybody who lives in their city getting back and forth from home to work to stores. Driving is this city will be quite miserable for the next 3 years. I'm sure glad I'm going home early 2016 and I'm glad I ride a bike around this city.

[Langsuan Man]

My question is how can there be any protests anywhere in this country under the current military rule that prevent more than 5 persons gathering for any purpose ?

[WitawatWatawit]

It's not like anyone hasn't known this has been coming for awhile now. They should have been protesting the proposed detour plan before the first barricades went up on the Suk. It was rather obvious from day 1 that there was going to be an issue with traffic flow, as there always is whenever this is a major construction project.

I actually thought the detours had been put in place a couple weeks ago and was surprised the last time I went down Khao Noi and straight on to Sukhumvit. Getting back may be an issue in the future though !

Hard to believe it's going to take them 800 days for this.

In the mid-80s (yeah, 30 years ago) the Coquihalla highway in BC was extensively upgraded. Phase 1 took 20 months (so about 600 days) and included:

a) 120 kms of upgraded, resurfaced highway expanded to 2-3 lanes each way through mountainous terrain;

18 highway interchanges, 38 bridge and overpass structures, 19 vehicle underpasses and 50 pipeline crossings were built along the route;

c) From top to bottom, crews experienced every single type of weather condition known to man. With a summit reaching 1,244 metres tall it wasnt uncommon for it to be snowing at the summit and be sunny at the base.

Of course it cost a fair bit (got to love those Union over-time rates) but a large portion was paid off by installing toll-booths (but you can ride motorcycles on it as well) ! Toll booths collected almost 99.6% of the total cost in the 20 years they were installed (although originally they were only meant to recoup the costs involved with completing the work early so that the highway would be open in time for Expo 86).

Oh well, nothing we can do about it anyways. 4 years from now we'll probably be looking at an unfinished trench full of swampy water and fish, running down the middle of the over-crowded main highway, while reading about how a new contract has been let to finish the work that was supposed to have been done by the company hired to finish what the original company never did. Then there'll be a new proposal to scrap the tunnel idea altogether and install overpasses (and of course, a Mono-rail ! Say it with me - Mono-rail ! MONO-rail ! MONO-RAIL !!!!)

You're amazing! To know all this means you must have the winning lottery numbers as well.

:)

[Kerryd]

It's not like anyone hasn't known this has been coming for awhile now. They should have been protesting the proposed detour plan before the first barricades went up on the Suk. It was rather obvious from day 1 that there was going to be an issue with traffic flow, as there always is whenever this is a major construction project.

I actually thought the detours had been put in place a couple weeks ago and was surprised the last time I went down Khao Noi and straight on to Sukhumvit. Getting back may be an issue in the future though !

Hard to believe it's going to take them 800 days for this.

In the mid-80s (yeah, 30 years ago) the Coquihalla highway in BC was extensively upgraded. Phase 1 took 20 months (so about 600 days) and included:

a) 120 kms of upgraded, resurfaced highway expanded to 2-3 lanes each way through mountainous terrain;

18 highway interchanges, 38 bridge and overpass structures, 19 vehicle underpasses and 50 pipeline crossings were built along the route;

c) From top to bottom, crews experienced every single type of weather condition known to man. With a summit reaching 1,244 metres tall it wasnt uncommon for it to be snowing at the summit and be sunny at the base.

Of course it cost a fair bit (got to love those Union over-time rates) but a large portion was paid off by installing toll-booths (but you can ride motorcycles on it as well) ! Toll booths collected almost 99.6% of the total cost in the 20 years they were installed (although originally they were only meant to recoup the costs involved with completing the work early so that the highway would be open in time for Expo 86).

Oh well, nothing we can do about it anyways. 4 years from now we'll probably be looking at an unfinished trench full of swampy water and fish, running down the middle of the over-crowded main highway, while reading about how a new contract has been let to finish the work that was supposed to have been done by the company hired to finish what the original company never did. Then there'll be a new proposal to scrap the tunnel idea altogether and install overpasses (and of course, a Mono-rail ! Say it with me - Mono-rail ! MONO-rail ! MONO-RAIL !!!!)

You're amazing! To know all this means you must have the winning lottery numbers as well.

Possibly ! They may be written on the underside of the various unfinished overpasses, interchanges and expressways that dot the country. Some are etched on the all those torn-up sidewalk stones, beside the crumbling roadways and lost in the plugged sewers.

I mean after all, this wouldn't be the first (or second, or third) time a contract was let for a job, that had to be let again (and again) before the work was finally completed, would it ?

(I think we actually had a thread running about that once on TV, something about how many times a certain project had to be re-contracted over the course of a couple years. Was that the Walking Street one, or the waste-water one, or the flood one ?)

[balo]

I'm happy I live close to Na Jomtien , I can do my shopping at Makro and don't have to think about driving up Sukhumvit . . Better to take the baht bus from beach rd if you're heading to Central.

Edited February 27, 2015 by balo

[alocacoc]

At least, Pattaya Klang is still reachable by Sukhumvit coming from South.

[cup-O-coffee]

City planning? Oxymoron.

City Engineers? Irony.

I am sure that some of these Thais have an idea of what to do to to make things better... it's simply that the mere thought of enforcing their ideas makes fear grip their soul. The thought of upsetting someone sends their minds into a state of shock that locks down all sensory and physical function.

Culture.

FACE.

Better to keep tossing the hot potato and give the impression that one is actually doing something. Avoid avoid avoid and just make it through the day and go to the temple to pray that the problem takes care of itself. Maybe that is the compelling factor of their religion.

Edited February 27, 2015 by cup-O-coffee

[Anthony5]

Every day at the end of school I pick up my son from school in Soi Korpai and we go to universe gym on Sukhumvit opposite Soi SSCC.

As of lately this has become a real problem. Normally I drive back to Pattaya Tai through the Soi where Vientane restaurant is located. Recently it is not possible anymore to turn right towards Sukhumvit anymore.

Going through Soi Korpai itself is also not possible because of the concrete barriers there.

Going over 3rd road and then turn onto Pattaya klang is since yesterday also not possible anymore, because the right turn is blocked.

So if I go all the way to Pattaya Nua, then turn right on Sukhumvit I;m not able to make a U-turn at the SSCC junction where the gym is located, nor can I at the Klang junction, and have to drive back almost the whole way to Pattaya Tai to make a U-turn.

I haven't measured it yet, but going from Soi Korpai all the way to Pattaya Nua, then again all the way back to Pattaya Tai, and then U-turn again all the way back to SSCC, cost me an extra 20 km every day just to reach the gym.

Edited February 27, 2015 by Anthony5

[Orac]

Every day at the end of school I pick up my son from school in Soi Korpai and we go to universe gym on Sukhumvit opposite Soi SSCC.

As of lately this has become a real problem. Normally I drive back to Pattaya Tai through the Soi where Vientane restaurant is located. Recently it is not possible anymore to turn right towards Sukhumvit anymore.

Going through Soi Korpai itself is also not possible because of the concrete barriers there.

Going over 3rd road and then turn onto Pattaya klang is since yesterday also not possible anymore, because the right turn is blocked.

So if I go all the way to Pattaya Nua, then turn right on Sukhumvit I;m not able to make a U-turn at the SSCC junction where the gym is located, nor can I at the Klang junction, and have to drive back almost the whole way to Pattaya Tai to make a U-turn.

I haven't measured it yet, but going from Soi Korpai all the way to Pattaya Nua, then again all the way back to Pattaya Tai, and then U-turn again all the way back to SSCC, cost me an extra 20 km every day just to reach the gym.

Can you not go through Big C Extra from 3rd rd through to yumee then onto Klang again?

[petercool]

A Thai bashing post removed. Please read the forum rules.

[Asiantravel]

I am trying to imagine what is going on here, I was on pattaya Klang on Wed and was able to drive up to Sukhumvit and turn left - is this now not possible as some have said from 3rd road to Sukhumvit on pattaya klang is closed - can't see how that is possible or practical - if the Sukhumvit road end is closed then just put up a sign indicating as such - no need to close it

　

A Thai person was telling me yesterday that the owner of one popular restaurant on Klang near Foodland told her she was previously taking in about 100,000 baht per day but has now seen this suddenly drop to 10,000 per day!

Edited February 27, 2015 by Asiantravel

[Langsuan Man]

The problem is that you cannot see any drop in business since the massive traffic is hiding the downturn in sales. Sure Pattaya looks busy but that is just because everyone is trying to get to the shops. How folks who live on the dark side can get to Foodland is a mystery to me

If there is a Chamber of Commerce or a Thai equivalent then they had better get off their ass and hire a private security company to handle traffic since it is obvious that the Pattaya Police or Highway Patrol can't be bothered

[brewsterbudgen]

Every day at the end of school I pick up my son from school in Soi Korpai and we go to universe gym on Sukhumvit opposite Soi SSCC.

As of lately this has become a real problem. Normally I drive back to Pattaya Tai through the Soi where Vientane restaurant is located. Recently it is not possible anymore to turn right towards Sukhumvit anymore.

Going through Soi Korpai itself is also not possible because of the concrete barriers there.

Going over 3rd road and then turn onto Pattaya klang is since yesterday also not possible anymore, because the right turn is blocked.

So if I go all the way to Pattaya Nua, then turn right on Sukhumvit I;m not able to make a U-turn at the SSCC junction where the gym is located, nor can I at the Klang junction, and have to drive back almost the whole way to Pattaya Tai to make a U-turn.

I haven't measured it yet, but going from Soi Korpai all the way to Pattaya Nua, then again all the way back to Pattaya Tai, and then U-turn again all the way back to SSCC, cost me an extra 20 km every day just to reach the gym.

When did the cut through from soi Korpai to Tai (via the Vientiene Restaurant) close? I used it on Wednesday. A major pain in the arse for me too but doesn't seem to be connected to the main project?

Edit: could you go the opposite way down Korpai and then left on Thepprasit to Sukhumvit? I did that easily on Thursday.

Edited February 27, 2015 by brewsterbudgen

[Anthony5]

Every day at the end of school I pick up my son from school in Soi Korpai and we go to universe gym on Sukhumvit opposite Soi SSCC.

As of lately this has become a real problem. Normally I drive back to Pattaya Tai through the Soi where Vientane restaurant is located. Recently it is not possible anymore to turn right towards Sukhumvit anymore.

Going through Soi Korpai itself is also not possible because of the concrete barriers there.

Going over 3rd road and then turn onto Pattaya klang is since yesterday also not possible anymore, because the right turn is blocked.

So if I go all the way to Pattaya Nua, then turn right on Sukhumvit I;m not able to make a U-turn at the SSCC junction where the gym is located, nor can I at the Klang junction, and have to drive back almost the whole way to Pattaya Tai to make a U-turn.

I haven't measured it yet, but going from Soi Korpai all the way to Pattaya Nua, then again all the way back to Pattaya Tai, and then U-turn again all the way back to SSCC, cost me an extra 20 km every day just to reach the gym.

When did the cut through from soi Korpai to Tai (via the Vientiene Restaurant) close? I used it on Wednesday. A major pain in the arse for me too but doesn't seem to be connected to the main project?

Edit: could you go the opposite way down Korpai and then left on Thepprasit to Sukhumvit? I did that easily on Thursday.

I think they close it only late afternoons as they close it with steel barriers connected with a cord between, same as they do at the Big C exit.

I noticed today they have now also permanently closed the U-turn at the bus station on Nua road, and have at the traffic lights also put 2 plastic barriers to prevent people to make a U-turn there.

I actually wonder how the Bangkok bus now get in the bus station, since a bus is too large to make a u-turn anywhere down the road, so probably he has to go down all the way to the dolphin roundabout.

Also people that have to be at a business south side of Nua road will probably have a problem, since they can't make a u-turn anywhere on Nua anymore.