"Concerned residents raise complaint about dangerous junction

‘Traffic police only there to look for trouble’

Suchada Tupchai,



Pattaya Mail reporters on 18 October went to survey the intersection between Thepprasit and Thappraya roads, on the main route leading into Jomtien Beach, after receiving a complaint from members of the public calling themselves “Good citizens that want Pattaya remembered with fondness by tourists”.



In a letter to the press the group stated that the reason for their writing was to urge concerned government agencies to carry out their duties because the public is greatly inconvenienced by the constant failure of the traffic lights at the intersection. When the lights are in operation, traffic police officers are seen carrying out their duties diligently, but when the lights fail there are no traffic police officers in sight. This creates havoc for the many vehicles in the area, especially in the morning and the evening rush hours and is the cause of a lot of accidents.



Reporters went to the intersection during the morning rush hour and there were no police officers present. It was nerve wracking to watch, especially as it was raining. Once the rain had stopped and the roads had dried up they were covered in a layer of sand demanding even more care while driving.



Upon interviewing road users, one motorcycle driver said that he called this intersection ‘’the test of the will” as it is like a fight to get through and accidents occur frequently. It is a rare occurrence to see a traffic police officer. When you do see officers around they are only there to give out tickets for traffic regulation violations, like failure to wear crash helmets. Sometimes the police box is turned into a rest area for pedestrians. “It doesn’t create a good image,” said the motorcyclist....."



Both at this intersection and also at the major Second Road and South Pattaya Road - by the school - have had the traffic lights out for over a couple of weeks now. The danger seems to be having them on and off so that drivers are never sure what is going on.



I have not seen any accidents at the Theprasit/Tapphaya road intersection and I live just across from there. I am not at all sure if the traffic lights help or hinder the flow.



 

'I have not seen any accidents at the Theprasit/Tapphaya road intersection and I live just across from there. I am not at all sure if the traffic lights help or hinder the flow.' (wowpow)



There was an experiment somewhere - Denmark, Sweden? - where a town did away with all its traffic lights for a while.  They found that the traffic flowed better and that there were fewer accidents.  The reason was presumably because people realised they had to pay more attention.  Not sure whether this logic applies in Thailand though, where lucky charms swinging from the rearview mirror seem to replace the boring need to pass a driving test.