Armed with spray paint, parents get Thai officials to do their job

[webfact]

Armed With Spray Paint, Parents Get Officials to Do Their Job
By Khaosod English


The mock crossing painted by students' parents in front of Muang Surat Thani School in Surat Thani province. The writing says "This is a zebra corssing," 29 July 2015.

SURAT THANI — After months of filing fruitless petitions, parents of high school students in southern Thailand shamed officials into painting a crosswalk in front of the school in a single day - by spray-painting their own mock zebra crossing.

Photos of the mock crosswalk, which was drawn with white spray paint that also spelled out "THIS IS A ZEBRA CROSSING," surfaced on social media yesterday and quickly went viral.

Locals told reporters that the crosswalk was a painted by parents of students at Muang Surat Thani School who have repeatedly urged local authorities to paint a zebra crossing on the road to increase pedestrian safety.

At around 2 pm, city workers arrived at the site and finally painted the official crosswalk. The operation was accomplished within several hours.

Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1438172677&typecate=06&section=


-- Khaosod English 2015-07-30

[NongKhaiKid]

Now all they have to do is get motorists to stop !

[Somtamnication]

Now all they have to do is get motorists to stop !

Paint a cop!

[Ricardo]

Now all they have to do is get motorists to stop !

Paint a cop!

... or perhaps a 'sleeping policeman' , a small hump across the road, to encourage motorists to slow down to a safer speed ?

[Brit_Doggie]

Or maybe a pelican crossings so the students can stand and watch a red light for hours as is the case with all the others.

[jerojero]

Good for them! Stupid government officials.... Make them repeated walk across that street. Pedestrian Crossing would be erected immediately!

[aussieinthailand]

Saving face, OOOPPPPPSSSSSS to late

[davehowden]

Zebra Crossings give a false sense of safety here as most drivers seem to not know what they are for in their endless "me first" attitude, plus anyone who does stop is likely to get rear ended.

How about a crossing warden with a big gun at the times that the kids come out of school.

Edited July 30, 2015 by davehowden

[clockman]

People power, great to see!

[jacko45k]

Zebra crossings don't do much here, they should have written 'This is an overhead crossing' which may have had better results.

[kartman]

Now all they have to do is get motorists to stop !

Paint a cop!

... or perhaps a 'sleeping policeman' , a small hump across the road, to encourage motorists to slow down to a safer speed ?

Or they will reason speeding up and flying after hitting it will save tyre wear therefore money like no lights in the dark or monsoon downpours

[hkt83100]

Zebra crossings don't do much here, they should have written 'This is an overhead crossing' which may have had better results.

There is an overhead crossing in front of a school in Kathu, Phuket. The kids use it to cross the road in the shadow below the bridge, I hardly ever have seen anybody walking up the stairs, cross the road in safety, and walking down again. Stairs are inconvenient and too exhausting for the Cookie-Run generation to use them.

Edited July 30, 2015 by hkt83100

[dean008]

Waste of time, they need pedestrian controlled traffic lights that can be operated no more than once every five minutes. The little darlings can then cross in safety and traffic is not stopped every few seconds by some little brat

[razer]

Put speed bumps at zebra crossings

[hkt83100]

Waste of time, they need pedestrian controlled traffic lights that can be operated no more than once every five minutes. The little darlings can then cross in safety and traffic is not stopped every few seconds by some little brat

The little darlings will push the button, wait for about 10 seconds, get bored and cross the road at red (pedestrian's) light. After 4:50 the lights will turn red for the vehicles and nobody is there to cross. Guess how long any driver will obey the red light... It will work as long there are at least 50 meters high powered electric fence up and down along the road, which is turned off and folded down automagically (!) when the walking light turns green.

[bluebluewater]

I've said many times on this forum: If you want to get something done in Thailand do "something" with a roadway. In this case they painted it and it got them what they needed.

BLOCK a road and see how fast things get done!

[WhizBang]

Why bother? Thai drivers don't stop anyway.

[choff56]

Put speed bumps at zebra crossings

Then it would be called a camel crossing.

[Krataiboy]

They need some lollipop ladies and gents. Must be lots of old timers looking to earn a few baht and the gratitude of vulernable kids and their worried parents

[masquerade]

Hope this catches on around the country, defiance in silence. Next we will have a statement from the man telling everybody that there will be a military crackdown on this unsavoury behaviour.

[sawati]

"Put speed bumps at zebra crossings"

"Waste of time, they need pedestrian controlled traffic lights that can be operated no more than once every five minutes. The little darlings can then cross in safety and traffic is not stopped every few seconds by some little brat"

"Now all they have to do is get motorists to stop !"

How long you been here?

[Cpkt8]

Well done parents!

[falangjim]

Good for the parents! Why do Thais have to resort to this just to get their government officials to do their jobs? More of this, please!

[Just1Voice]

Collapsible metal spikes across the road in both directions. Then put a responsible adult to control the switch. When kids want to cross, a button is pushed to turn the light yellow. Push button a second time, the spikes come up. Once the kids have crossed, the spikes go down. I guarantee that would stop people from the "me first" attitude and driving though the cross walks.

[circusman]

Now all they have to do is get motorists to stop !

Paint a cop!

... or perhaps a 'sleeping policeman' , a small hump across the road, to encourage motorists to slow down to a safer speed ?

Or they will reason speeding up and flying after hitting it will save tyre wear therefore money like no lights in the dark or monsoon downpours

Could you not come up with something better than that comment ?

[Bluespunk]

They need some lollipop ladies and gents. Must be lots of old timers looking to earn a few baht and the gratitude of vulernable kids and their worried parents

The only people I ever see at crossings are central bang na security guards trying to stop people using the zebra crossing and just waving traffic on.

The only way to cross is to ignore them and cross on masse.

Their concern is not for pedestrians but just to keep the traffic flowing.

[yooyoo]

1. As if zebra lines and pedestrian crossings in Thailand have any affect on Thai drivers!

[Thaddeus]

Collapsible metal spikes across the road in both directions. Then put a responsible adult to control the switch. When kids want to cross, a button is pushed to turn the light yellow. Push button a second time, the spikes come up. Once the kids have crossed, the spikes go down. I guarantee that would stop people from the "me first" attitude and driving though the cross walks.

I've been saying that for years.

Signs, lights and lines in the road of any colour are either not understood or completely ignored in the ongoing quest of 'me first'..

Burst a few tyres, the message may get across.

I would also advocate spring loaded metal spikes that fold down if you are in the right lane going in the right direction, but take out all four wheels if you are not.

[Artisi]

They need some lollipop ladies and gents. Must be lots of old timers looking to earn a few baht and the gratitude of vulernable kids and their worried parents

It will be one way to reduce the aged population, 5 extra points for a lollipop oldie.

[billd766]

My sons school has a pedestrian crossing and to ensure that the traffic stops there is a policeman on duty mornings and evenings.

It works the same in my local village with traffic cones and a duty policeman. Been like it for years.