Thai opinion: The nightmare infrastructure RUINING our holiday dreams

[webfact]

STREETWISE
The nightmare infrastructure RUINING our holiday dreams

BANGKOK: -- During any long holiday period we get endless news reports on traffic conditions, particularly on jammed roads leading to the north and the northeast.

The congestion is an indicator of several structural challenges that Thailand is facing.

First, ever since Bangkok was born 233 years ago it has been the centre of everything in Thailand - from mainstream schools and universities to government offices and big companies that are the main sources of sought-after jobs, whether white- or blue-collar. The status has gone uncontested for two centuries. Birthday celebrations for Bangkok are unmatched anywhere, including in Sukhothai, which we proudly tout as the first Siamese capital.

It's no surprise that with that status has come expansion. Bangkok is home to multinational and local companies, making it attractive to migrant workers from other parts of the country. Though the capital is officially home to 6 million people, each day an additional 6 million commute to work in Bangkok. Anywhere a road is cut, housing estates spring up, and there's often little thought given to public services.

This leads to the second challenge: traffic congestion. Given poor transport services, most families in Bangkok have at least one vehicle. A vast number of these vehicles heads towards the inner city in the morning then out again in the evening. On weekends, roads leading to shopping districts are jammed. Over long holidays, the jams simply move from the capital to the main roads leading to the provinces.

Easing the load on Bangkok by establishing new cities has been a dream of all governments. But the reality has remained the same: existing cities expanding in size. Housing estates mushroom along each new road as it is laid. Transport services remain poor and residents adopt the Bangkok way: Each family desires at least one vehicle.

In Khon Kaen, whose inner city was designed with just a few main roads for convenient transportation, the suburbs are swelling. Farmland is being turned over to residential and commercial developments. When the number of vehicles rises during a long holiday period, it can take some 40 minutes to travel from one end of the city to the other. The situation is the same in other big cities in the North and Northeast, like Chiang Mai and Nakhon Ratchasima.

A major part of the problem is poor public transport, both for the cities themselves and on the commuter routes between them. This needs to be tackled urgently, given the economic cost of transportation and growing concerns over climate change.

Thailand is a net oil importer. It looks absurd when vehicles jam kilometres of road linking Bangkok and Nakhon Ratchasima. The commute between the two cities is less than three hours on a normal day, but that can stretch to a painful eight hours during a holiday period.

Yesterday was a public holiday, lengthening the May Day break for public-sector workers from three days to five. Yet, as most private companies did not observe the holiday, most workers headed home on Sunday. On that day, it took six and a half hours to travel from Nakhon Ratchasima to Bangkok. Most of us are used to this. Whenever a driver complains about the jam, others just shrug. They complain too when they suffer a similar problem, but they also realise that a solution is just a pipe dream. History suggests that it takes a disaster to spark concerted and collective effort.

Traffic congestion steals time as well as money from our wallets. As oil prices are lower than in previous years, most of us focus our complaints on stolen time. But commuters and the government sector should not ignore the fact that fuel is being wasted in traffic jams, at a cost to the economy as well as the environment.

Stuck deep in the traffic between Nakhon Ratchasima and Bangkok on Sunday night, anyone lowering their windows would have noticed that birds were still chirping at 11pm. The red dots of brake lights blanketed half the vast highway, while few cars were heading in the opposite direction. At night, half the highway was dazzling with headlights from vehicles moving at just 10-20km per hour.

How long before the trees that line the highway succumb to the load of heat and fumes?

More immediate and tragic are the high casualties from road accidents. It is ridiculous that, every holiday period, a large number of police have to be moved from their everyday duties to monitor roads nationwide.

Last but not least, with plans in the pipeline for high-speed trains to connect Bangkok and major cities, we should be asking ourselves how we can put an end to the endless expansion of Bangkok. It is extremely difficult to solve problems already caused by the expansion. The situation will only get worse if we allow the urban sprawl to continue at its current rate.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/The-nightmare-infrastructure-RUINING-our-holiday-d-30259336.html


-- The Nation 2015-05-05

[halloween]

Why can't Thai cities be like London, or Sydney, even Brisbane? They don't have traffic congestion, or slow highway traffic during holidays, do they?

[clockman]

No long term planning, in anything. Just live for the day. Thainess, personified!

[SoilSpoil]

Healthy cities rise and grow along their infrastructural lines: roads, waterways, air traffic and rails. This is the way cities are planned and have grown organically in developed countries with effective local governance. First the road, than the development.

In Thailand, and other developing (aka 3rd world) nations, we see the opposite, first the development, then the road. There is corruption on all levels, no effective governance and just no planning. Bangkok's road to city surface ratio is among the worst in the world.

[trogers]

Why can't Thai cities be like London, or Sydney, even Brisbane? They don't have traffic congestion, or slow highway traffic during holidays, do they?

No. Most fly in and congest Thailand.

[trogers]

For 233 years, the population of the car grew from 1 to ____?

And we blame it on infrastructure. Ahhh...the beauty of human nature. It's all the fault of something or someone else.

[oneday]

Another valid practical problem for Prayut to tackle...are you listening Mr. P?

This hits home very hard to YOUR people...are you listening?

[topt]

Why can't Thai cities be like London, or Sydney, even Brisbane? They don't have traffic congestion, or slow highway traffic during holidays, do they?

No. Most fly in and congest Thailand.

You are joking aren't you? In the UK certain bank/public holidays are notorious for traffic jams if there is a hint of sunny weather. M4 and M3 (and corresponding A roads) out of London being two specific examples.

[Praematura]

Took this photo last night on the way home to Jomtien. Hundreds of Chinese busses everywhere. They lined the road between Jomtien and Pattaya bumper to bumper, it's so surreal.

[Suffinator]

Why can't Thai cities be like London, or Sydney, even Brisbane? They don't have traffic congestion, or slow highway traffic during holidays, do they?

I used to live and work in Central London. Once took me over 6 hours to travel 15km. Yes London has it's fair share of traffic problems which is why they introduced Congestion Charges ... it was designed to reduce traffic and increase revenue; the revenue part worked.

[Laughing Gravy]

Why can't Thai cities be like London, or Sydney, even Brisbane? They don't have traffic congestion, or slow highway traffic during holidays, do they?

I used to live and work in Central London. Once took me over 6 hours to travel 15km. Yes London has it's fair share of traffic problems which is why they introduced Congestion Charges ... it was designed to reduce traffic and increase revenue; the revenue part worked.

London has one of the best undergrounds in the world. admittedly over a 100 years old but very effective and covers nearly all parts of London. what is missing here is the infrastructure. U turns in the fast lane, police manning 4 way intersections, sometimes 15 minutes before lights are changed. All these factors and more make Bangkok and Thailand a nightmare to drive in. the poor roads don't help either. if Thailand started today to build and change the road system then you would see a difference in 20 years. With the way business is carried out here and everyone taking a cut, then I doubt things will ever change.

Many TVP claim Thailand is a developing country. I would disagree. the roads are just one example along with the politics of course. It seems things are getting worse nit better, sadly.

[upena]

Lots of problems listed. No solutions offered.

[trogers]

Why can't Thai cities be like London, or Sydney, even Brisbane? They don't have traffic congestion, or slow highway traffic during holidays, do they?

I used to live and work in Central London. Once took me over 6 hours to travel 15km. Yes London has it's fair share of traffic problems which is why they introduced Congestion Charges ... it was designed to reduce traffic and increase revenue; the revenue part worked.

London has one of the best undergrounds in the world. admittedly over a 100 years old but very effective and covers nearly all parts of London. what is missing here is the infrastructure. U turns in the fast lane, police manning 4 way intersections, sometimes 15 minutes before lights are changed. All these factors and more make Bangkok and Thailand a nightmare to drive in. the poor roads don't help either. if Thailand started today to build and change the road system then you would see a difference in 20 years. With the way business is carried out here and everyone taking a cut, then I doubt things will ever change.

Many TVP claim Thailand is a developing country. I would disagree. the roads are just one example along with the politics of course. It seems things are getting worse nit better, sadly.

And the next election would add a further million cars...

[marko kok prong]

I drove from Petchabun to Koh chang on sunday,back in early April this trip took around 9 hours,on sunday it took 12 and a half,horrendous traffic, i was lucky i only had to wait 2 hours for the ferry across,then drive to the south of the island on the narrow winding roads in the dark,dodging dozy backpackers and kamikazi Thai drivers coming the other way,not pleasant,a freind of mine from Kalasin arrived yesterday,the que to go back to the mainland was 16 kilometres long he told me,moral of the story,on Thai holidays do not travel.

[trogers]

I drove from Petchabun to Koh chang on sunday,back in early April this trip took around 9 hours,on sunday it took 12 and a half,horrendous traffic, i was lucky i only had to wait 2 hours for the ferry across,then drive to the south of the island on the narrow winding roads in the dark,dodging dozy backpackers and kamikazi Thai drivers coming the other way,not pleasant,a freind of mine from Kalasin arrived yesterday,the que to go back to the mainland was 16 kilometres long he told me,moral of the story,on Thai holidays do not travel.

Your first year of stay in Thailand?

Ask a vet like me of over 30 years.

I don't leave Bangkok during Thai holidays, not even to the airport.

And I don't eat out in the first 2 weekends of the month.

[swissbie]

Traffic congestions in Bangkok had been much worse 20 or 30 years ago. I can't say anything about BKK-Nakhon Ratchasima tough.

[trogers]

Traffic congestions in Bangkok had been much worse 20 or 30 years ago. I can't say anything about BKK-Nakhon Ratchasima tough.

Because there were no BTS and MTR then...

[ICECOOL]

Why can't Thai cities be like London, or Sydney, even Brisbane? They don't have traffic congestion, or slow highway traffic during holidays, do they?

No. Most fly in and congest Thailand.

You are joking aren't you? In the UK certain bank/public holidays are notorious for traffic jams if there is a hint of sunny weather. M4 and M3 (and corresponding A roads) out of London being two specific examples.

No city is going to cope with these public holiday situations. Getting the congestion down for the non holiday times should be the goal

[mike324]

"Yet, as most private companies did not observe the holiday, most workers headed home on Sunday. On that day, it took six and a half hours to travel from Nakhon Ratchasima to Bangkok."

I drove on Sunday Khao Yai to Bangkok, the road was not congested at all. Took 2.30 hours which was normal. In fact there was very little people traveling this long weekend, my guess is that they used up all their money during Songkran or that they already went back home just 2 weeks ago, no need to go back again. So during this long weekend, the road conditions was quite good, not sure what the author of the article was talking about. As for Songkran or New Years, it will take at least 6 hours for sure.

The solution to traffic jams is to have better rail system. Even with cars being so expensive here, people still drive because there is a lack of affordable public transportation that is fast and efficient. Thailand can benefit much from high speed trains, NOT bullet trains, just high speed that can reach 180-200km.

[Srikcir]

Traffic in Bangkok will get worse:

"During the next two decades 10 more bridges will be erected to span the mighty Chao Phraya. Expected to cost about THB50 billion, most of the new spans to cross the river in Bangkok, Pathum Thani and Nonthaburi provinces will begin construction in 2017 for completion by 2021." 2014-11-07

Bangkok will make Manhattan look empty.

[ikke]

Why can't Thai cities be like London, or Sydney, even Brisbane? They don't have traffic congestion, or slow highway traffic during holidays, do they?

London 8.6 million Inhabitants

Sydney 3.6

Brisbane 2.3.

Bankok 11 Million + 3 Million not registered in Bkk, + 6 million people working in Bkk, + 2 million tourist.... but if you like to compare apples with pears...

[trogers]

Traffic in Bangkok will get worse:

"During the next two decades 10 more bridges will be erected to span the mighty Chao Phraya. Expected to cost about THB50 billion, most of the new spans to cross the river in Bangkok, Pathum Thani and Nonthaburi provinces will begin construction in 2017 for completion by 2021." 2014-11-07

Bangkok will make Manhattan look empty.

But, but, but, what if they need to land a plane...?

[Benmart]

ImageUploadedByThaivisa Connect1430791133.413352.jpg

Took this photo last night on the way home to Jomtien. Hundreds of Chinese busses everywhere. They lined the road between Jomtien and Pattaya bumper to bumper, it's so surreal.

I live in a condo nearby. I've seen near misses when the buses heading towards Jomtien try to make the U-turn at the top-center of the photo, where the white car is making a U-turn.

When parked curbside, the buses block the view of Thrappaya Road for vehicles entering from side streets. A real hazard. Red and white stripes (no parking) mean nothing and the local "police" seem uninterested.

When someone is killed, most likely, the authorities will point fingers in all directions, except at themselves.

[toybits]

You ain't seen nothin yet. The worst is yet to come.

[Time Traveller]

I don't know who is Streetwise, obviously they were too embarrassed to put their own name to what is basically a complaint letter.

The answer is simple.

Move the capital out of Bangkok to a smaller city. USA did that. Brazil did that. Australia did that. Mynmar did that.

By moving government as well as ministries and public servants out of bangkok, you would almost immediately reduce the population in the city by 3 to 4 million. Over time, the new capital would attract more people as a 2nd commercial city for the country. But alas, the only leader who could actually get things built in this country - Thaksin - is gone.

Besides everyone else doesn't seem to mind the traffic jams since more and more people keep doing the same thing every long weekend. Who cares?

[Just1Voice]

There are 2 times a year I park my bike and just stay home. New Year and Songkran, along with the 3 days prior to, and following those two holidays.

It just ain't worth the risks.

[trogers]

I don't know who is Streetwise, obviously they were too embarrassed to put their own name to what is basically a complaint letter.

The answer is simple.

Move the capital out of Bangkok to a smaller city. USA did that. Brazil did that. Australia did that. Mynmar did that.

By moving government as well as ministries and public servants out of bangkok, you would almost immediately reduce the population in the city by 3 to 4 million. Over time, the new capital would attract more people as a 2nd commercial city for the country. But alas, the only leader who could actually get things built in this country - Thaksin - is gone.

Besides everyone else doesn't seem to mind the traffic jams since more and more people keep doing the same thing every long weekend. Who cares?

Can only happen after he and his minions bought over all those choice land. Recalling the cobra swamp...

[theguyfromanotherforum]

Why can't Thai cities be like London, or Sydney, even Brisbane? They don't have traffic congestion, or slow highway traffic during holidays, do they?

Because then you wouldn't be able to afford living here.

[LannaGuy]

the road works going to pattaya have taken years and i NEVER see anyone working there.... why???

[LannaGuy]

There are 2 times a year I park my bike and just stay home. New Year and Songkran, along with the 3 days prior to, and following those two holidays.

It just ain't worth the risks.

yup good advice - personally I leave Thailand for Philippines, Vietnam or Bali