Hua Hin road resurfacing in general

[404cameljockey]

There is a discussion here about Soi 94 roadworks, but in general resurfacing seems done completely haphazardly.

My Thai friend had hoped that after the mayoral re-election was over there would be concentration on this matter with funds properly allocated to the worst roads.

The small soi beside Smorprong school (BanTonmai Coffee is in the soi) wasn't in very bad repair but it has been completely resurfaced end to end. Yet the soi which connects this to the Black Mountain Road (where Hua Hin Tennis is situated) had been completely ignored. Most of it is in terrible repair and the road edges are dangerously eroded. My friend sustained a very serious leg injury there early last month, her motorbike hitting a road edge which had just crumbled away; the injury will take many weeks of slow recovery.

Poor Thai people live in shacks along a small part of the soi (the rest is houses and shops), I have no idea if this is part of the reason it's being ignored, but it's a useful cut through (rat run) and is just as heavily used as the repaired road it connects to, even a little more.

This is a single example of the poor allocation of road repair resources but it has affected my life and hers in a major way.

[Big Boy]

It never ceases to amaze me that when a section road has been repaired, there is very little effort to join the old and new sections smoothly. There is often a small step from one surface to the other.

[buksida]

Where we are further south, the last few meters of repaired roads are usually left in their old shit state due to the 10% that has been skimmed off the budget for the project.

[404cameljockey]

The road up to Black Mountain used to look like a war zone ten years ago, careful driving was required, shocking for a road which led from HH to the international championship golf course. It was all finally repaired within the next couple of years with the exception of a stretch about 30 meters long around the bend west of Da Vinci School. After heavy rain it was awful in a small car, like a lot of the road used to be.

It was between two different administrational areas and neither accepted responsibility for it. Idiocy that they wouldn't even talk to each other to cooperate? Maybe three years ago someone repaired it, and it's seamless with the road either side. It can be done!

[caller]

If you look at soi 94, then you have to consider corruption getting in the way of its completion.

I cite a road in Korat as evidence. If anyone knows the area, we are talking of the widening of the road, a few years back, off of route 224, where Lotus is on the corner, with home pro opposite, in the area of Hua-Talay.

This used to be a single lane either side, but was extended to two lanes either side, in effect, to use the inside land as a service lane. It all started well enough on what was a long stretch of road, basically with a reddish sand being laid, to start with. There were small restaurants all along this road, as well as shops, houses etc. And it was a pain when the wind whipped up, as the road was still in use whilst the work was ongoing, and and by the time I got home further down the road, the car was covered in a fine layer of sand. I quickly learnt there was no point cleaning it, as when I did, the next day it was in the same state.

Anyway, eventually that phase of the job was completed, so naturally, everyone expected the next phase to start. But nothing happened, so the sand still got whipped up, and it took a brave person to eat alongside the road when it did. Still nothing happened. Then one day, as I drove home, all the hardware needed to complete the works, had disapppered.

It got to the stage where it became a hazard, businesses were being affected, a couple of schools weren't always opening and still nothing changed. By all accounts lots of complaints were being made, it made the local news, and clearly someone had to provide answers, but no-one did. What eventually emerged, was the the official controlling the funds, I believe a local mayor, had demanded a bigger kickback before releasing any more funds for the next stage of works, and the company undertaking the work refused, based on the fact they already had a deal in place. They had both dug their heels in, presumably 'face' played a part, until the provincial governor intervened, and having done so, the work resumed and was duly completed.

Sound familiar? Work starting, then stopping for no obvioius reason? It's not necessarily a case of funds running out.

[buksida]

Sound familiar? Work starting, then stopping for no obvioius reason? It's not necessarily a case of funds running out.

Corruption is endemic here and is why simple road repairs and projects take years and years to complete. This can be seen on the highway heading south, where they're building massive flyovers when a simple set of traffic lights would suffice (and even slow down the Bangkok speed freaks) as I posted here: https://www.huahinforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=42907

Somebody is making a packet out of these dubious road projects.

[STEVE G]

There is a discussion here about Soi 94 roadworks, but in general resurfacing seems done completely haphazardly.

My Thai friend had hoped that after the mayoral re-election was over there would be concentration on this matter with funds properly allocated to the worst roads.

The small soi beside Smorprong school (BanTonmai Coffee is in the soi) wasn't in very bad repair but it has been completely resurfaced end to end. Yet the soi which connects this to the Black Mountain Road (where Hua Hin Tennis is situated) had been completely ignored. Most of it is in terrible repair and the road edges are dangerously eroded. My friend sustained a very serious leg injury there early last month, her motorbike hitting a road edge which had just crumbled away; the injury will take many weeks of slow recovery.

Poor Thai people live in shacks along a small part of the soi (the rest is houses and shops), I have no idea if this is part of the reason it's being ignored, but it's a useful cut through (rat run) and is just as heavily used as the repaired road it connects to, even a little more.

This is a single example of the poor allocation of road repair resources but it has affected my life and hers in a major way.

A friend of mine used to live on that soi you mention above and there is something about it that it never seems to be taken care off.
I don't know if it falls outside of anyone's responsibility or what it is but it's been like that for 20 years.

[HHTel]

I've been following the progress on Soi 94.
Here in Nongkhai there's a strange goings-on re road resurfacing.
In general, the majority of the roads here are in good shape.

A dual carriageway passes my house. Not a busy road and it's concreted to a perfectly good standard.

A couple of weeks ago the silence was broken by 'roadworks'. The next few days was taken up by laying tarmac on what is a perfectly good concrete road.

WHY?