After weeks of dangerous corrugated roads just south of The Floating Market the thick resurfacing & tarring work now goes on apace.

Good news for motor cyclists

Ahhhhh but sadly and predictably there is nothing to warn vehicles and motor cycles that the newly-laid tar is still wet !

The result is not only ubiquitous black sticky splatter but also huge clumps of wet black tar visibly clinging to white motor cycles and white cars. Darker vehicles luckily do not show this.

High pressure hoses seem not to work (only removes the biggest lumps) and turps applied by hand is just one answer. Needs to be done quickly before the tar sets and hardens

Such thoughtfulness

Such lunacy

Such Thainess

Thanks for the heads up.

Yes solvent cleaner is the only way to remove tar and yes sooner rather than later is key.

They'll be loads of people disappointed when they step out of their cars ?

They'll be loads of people disappointed when they step out of their cars

And an equal number of happy car-valeting places.

i was told that the car shops cannot spend the necessary time to clean the cars by hand (their pressure hoses work like the normal consumer ones) ...... unless the owner spends the cash ! Solvents are required as Norman said.

Yes solvent cleaner is the only way to remove tar and yes sooner rather than later is key.

Turpentine works miraculous and I think even when tar has dried.

Stinks terrible. Use gloves.

Not only in Pattaya you will run into wet tar, but also in an upcountry village

Edited December 9, 201510 yr by KhunBENQ

Instead of using turpentine (I worry about the paint work too much) you can use the cheap baking margarine available for about 80 baht a pack from Tesco and other shops. Smear it on the tar, leave for 30 minutes and then wipe off with a cloth or decent kitchen paper. No gloves required.

useful tip Schondie however as you will know there are so many nooks and crannies within & around the underside of motor cycles that it would be difficult to do as you suggest. Even turps and a paint brush cant get into all those places (except by stripping the m/c down). A real pain in the butt. Cars much easier with larger more accessible panels

Of course I was concerned about using turpentine to the car surface so I tried it carefully.

I have a white Mazda 2 and absolutely no damage/traces.

Why did they leave the resurfacing so long? The road has been in an atrocious and dangerous state for possibly 6 months. Add in long stretches without lights (in particular in front of the Ambassador - a very busy crossing) and you have accidents waiting to happen. In the UK a local authority would be sued for substantial damages in such a case. Why do the contractors tear up such long stretches with all the inherent dust then disappear for 6 months?

same question ................... driving south from SiSaKet for about 100km a few weeks ago the road was nearly all being torn up and left in a similar unsurfaced condition. Amazing Thailand

I rode my bicycle down that stretch of Sukhumvit regularly and I had broke a few spokes off my wheels when the old surfaced was carved up into corrugated channels and left there,

for the last few months it was the northbound stretches around the public prosecutor's office

the past few weeks it was the southbound side...

when it was left carved up liked that the surface is slippery as hell and motorcycles are falling down regularly

in answer to MikeBell (#9) its because Contractor A is used to carve up the surface from x to y. Then Contractor B is employed at a later stage to resurface and ne're the twain shall talk

PRK888 - also because many contractors take on 2-3 jobs at a time and work at one for a month (or whatever) before moving all their equipment to the next job for a month, and so on. This happened in Bkk with a major feeder road I lived on - a disgraceful episode which cost the lives of a couple of motorcyclists (the local MP, Sansanee Nakpong, did nothing about it). One time, while forced to drive down this lunar landscape at 2km/h, the contractor stepped out in front of my car and pretentiously tapped the torn up road with his foot. I would have accelerated and run the jerk over, but it would have torn the wheels off my car.

Noon time Saturday - masses of wet tar being splashed from Huay Yai lights south towards Ambassador with outside lane being the only open lane.

Be advised

Now i have now met several owners who have paid through their nose to get the damn stuff off (one paid B1,000 for his Fortuner !)

Noon time Saturday - masses of wet tar being splashed from Huay Yai lights south towards Ambassador with outside lane being the only open lane.

Be advised

Now i have now met several owners who have paid through their nose to get the damn stuff off (one paid B1,000 for his Fortuner !)

Thanks for that useful report. Would you mind continuing to coat your car/bike with tar splashes and let us know when it's safe to come to Pattaya again!

A racist slur post has been removed

Mr Gmac - it is over 80kms to Koh Samet so could be some time and so be advised

Mr Gmac - it is over 80kms to Koh Samet so could be some time and so be advised

They're not doing all of it are they?