Asia Highway Watch

[jpatokal]

Just back from a 1600-km road trip around Malaysia, and once again I was quite amazed by the high quality of the expressway and highway construction in the country. And it's "only" 1600 km from Singapore to Bangkok, so:

Have there been or are there any serious plans to upgrade the roads between the Malaysian border and Phetchaburi or the road from Nakhon Sawan to Chiang Mai to "real" dual-lane separated expressways? I know that this is a part of the Trans-Asian Highway (http://203.150.224.53/page.arcview.php3?clid=6&id=96965&usrsess=1), but I don't expect my atlas to look like this (http://www.unescap.org/tctd/ah/routemap.htm) anytime soon.

BTW, http://www.eta.or.th/ on this page (http://www.2bangkok.com/2bangkok/MassTransit/express.shtml) is broken...

[Wisarut]

Khun Japatokal,

Expressway Authority of Thailand got the new website at http://www.eta.co.th/

Well, Expressway Authority is virtually a subsidiary of Ch Karnchang PCL (http://www.ckplc.com/) though ... since this company holds so many Expressway concession in their hands.


Well, even the existing road linking BKK with Malaysia (Phetkasem Road - Highway 4 for western side connecting at Chang Lone Checkpoint and Highway 41-42 for eastern side connecting at Sugai Kolok) need to get some upgrading due to heavy damage from heavy truck driving.

Highway 4, Highway 41 and Highway 42 are CONSIDERED as a part of Asian Highway since 1959 ..... Same thing can be said to Phaholyothin Road (Highway 1), Sukhumvit Road (Highway 3), and Mittraphab Road (Highway 2). Better contact with Highway Dept (www.doh.mot.go.th/ ) for this matter.

I'm not so sure if Escap has counted Rama 2 Highway (Highway 35), Bang Na - Bang Pakong Highway (Highway 34)
and Vibhavadee Rangsit (Highway 31) into Asian Highway yet ...

No North-South Motorway yet ... If so, it would be about 2000+ km long -> not just 1600 km long though .... The area from Phetburi to Chumpon is REALLy narrow ... as you have known before ... Probbaly, it would need to free 100000 prisoners from total 350000 prisoners around Thailand to do this jobs in addition to 30,000 workers from Ch. Karnchang and another 30,000 workers from Italian Thai Development (http://www.italian-thai.co.th) , 20,000 workers from Sino Thai Engineering (www.stecon.co.th/ )... 20,000 workers from Kampheng Phet Vivat (www.kpv.co.th/) and 20000 workers from VICHITBHAN CONSTRUCTION (www.vcbgroup.com/)
You could imaging how chaostic would become unless the stringent organization has been stritly imposed.

For the case of Northern section from Uttaradit to Chiang Mai or Even Chiangrai, I'm not so sure ... even though the new Chiangmai - Lamphun road would have to be constructed.

[jpatokal]

So I was up in Chiang Mai last weekend, and noticed that there's some pretty heavy construction on Highway 107 north of Mae Rim, up to Mae Taeng and the turnoff west towards Mae Hong Son. It appears that the entire road is being expanded from two lanes into four lanes with a concrete divider between the two, an expressway in all but that fact that anybody and their water buffalo can still get on and off anywhere they like.

The work was going on pretty haphazardly even by Thai standards though. In some places all four lanes were done and in use, but there were guys squatting by the roadside casting the concrete separator with trucks zooming past at 100+ km/h on both sides. In some places four lanes and separator were ready but only half was in use. In some places two lanes were spanking new but the other two were a potholed mess. In some places they were still widening the road foundation. In some places... well, you get the idea, think of a permutation and you'll find it!

Right before Mae Taeng there's also an equally massive but completely new four-lane road being built from scratch in the middle of a rice field, snaking off to the hills. I can only presume this is some sort of bypass, but the sheer scale just seems a little odd. Could this be a part of the pan-Asian highway or something... to Myanmar!? :confused:

[Yappofloyd]

The work was going on pretty haphazardly even by Thai standards though. In some places all four lanes were done and in use, but there were guys squatting by the roadside casting the concrete separator with trucks zooming past at 100+ km/h on both sides. In some places four lanes and separator were ready but only half was in use. In some places two lanes were spanking new but the other two were a potholed mess. In some places they were still widening the road foundation. In some places... well, you get the idea, think of a permutation and you'll find it! Could this be a part of the pan-Asian highway or something... to Myanmar!? :confused:
Yes the OHS laws here really do need to come into the 20th century let alone the 21st! In Australia you cannot drive past any road construction gang more than 25km even if they are only working on a small pothole. However, of course here the construction comp.'s view is that these guys are expendable (many probably migrant workers) and you can always pay off the police is someone gets killed due to poor safety management.

Anyway, don't knnow about the pan-Asia Highway in this area but here are the links to the site if you have time to research, map (http://www.unescap.org/ttdw/common/TIS/AH/maps/AHMapApr04.gif) and info (http://www.unescap.org/ttdw/index.asp?MenuName=AsianHighway). Khun von. Hir. will undoubtedly know...

[GWR]

Forum on highway
Published on November 15, 2007

Representatives from 30 countries, 10 international organisations and the private sector will gather tomorrow in Bangkok to attend a forum designed to promote investment in the Asian Highway Network.

The Asian Highway Investment Forum will be held at the UN Conference Centre in Bangkok two years after an agreement on the Asian Highway Network came into force.

About 12,000 kilometres - 8.51 per cent - of the 141,000km highway remains to be upgraded.

Participants will explore investment opportunities in member countries and different approaches to financing the Asian Highway.

The agreement, which was negotiated and concluded under the auspices of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (Escap), has so far been signed by 28 countries, 21 of which have ratified it. Parties to the agreement are obliged to bring those sections of the highway in their territories into conformity with the classification and design standards defined by the agreement.

A 2005 Escap study estimated that while about US$25 billion (Bt846 billion) had already been committed to upgrading the highway, there remained a shortfall of $18 billion.

Most of the upgrades took place in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.

So far, all sections of the Asian Highway in 13 countries - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Georgia, Iran, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey and Uzbekistan - meet the minimum standards set by the agreement.

In Thailand, about 350km of the Asian Highway have been upgraded to between four and eight lanes, mainly covering the routes from Bangkok to Chiang Rai in the North and Bangkok to Hat Yai and Songkhla town in the South.

The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/11/15/business/business_30056121.php

I'm still trying to figure out that final comment. My information is that most of the Bangkok to Hat-Yai route is still 4-lane. And I suspect that same is also true of much of the route from Bangkok to Chiang-Rai. Indeed, does that much of it really need to be 8-lane?