@Tom
 

Correct, Sir. Very good description.

Danke Niels, actually I used to work at Ekkamai and lived at Pahonyothin Soi 8 before moving to Saigon. So I used that road every day to get home from work as you can acess Asok-Din Daeng road and subsequently Viphavadi - Rangsit Road by making a U-turn directly after the Ratchadapisek Flyover. ;)

Yes the Sri Ayuttaha flyover over Phaya Thai has started construction a few weeks ago much to the annoyance of the Foreign Ministry Building workers in the area who didn't want it.

I am a bit confused about this as the site immediate NW of rail/Ratchda intersection in some 300m south of the Rama 9 right of way, is very large and cleared with no noticable (in the night) road allignment on the site near Ratchada rd. However, there are lots of large pre-fab drainage pipe connections that one would expect to be used for such roadworks. So perhaps you mean the site depot for this project and I just couldn't see the new road for where I passing? Guess I should check it out during the day....

The flyover linking Th. Ratchaprarop / Th. Si Ayutthaya to Makkasan / Pracha Songkhro is a part of the 'Chaturathit Project' (pronounced as 'Ja-tu-ra-tit', meaning "4 directions") which was royally initiated by HM The King many years ago.

The project is udertaken by the BMA's Public Works Dept (PWD).

Section A: Expansion of Th. Si Ayutthaya from Th. Ratchadamnoen Nok ("Phra Rup Ro Ha" Intersection) to Th. Sawankhalok ("Saowani" Intersection)... completed (Phra Rup Ro Ha = King Rama V Statue... this is the intersection's official name)

Section B: from Th. Si Ayutthaya / Th. Ratchaprarop ("Mo Leng" Intersection) to Pracha Songkhro Intersection via Bueng Makkasan... completed (bueng = pond)

Section C: from Bueng Makkasan to Th. Asok - Din Daeng... completed

Section D: from Th. Asok - Din Daeng to Th. Rama IX (close to MRTA's main entrance), running below the 2nd-stage expressway (Si Rat)...under construction (to be finished this year)

It should be noted that the following flyovers:

Si Ayutthaya Intersection
Ramkhamhaeng Instersection
Phaya Thai Intersection

are all considered parts of the Chaturathit Project.

Another flyover built exclusively for out-bound traffic running parallel to Si Rat expressway close to the MRTA / Maxx Hotel crossing Th. Rama IX is also a part of this project and was open to traffic long ago.

All these will create a 6-lane (3 for each direction) road network running in the East-West direction where straight-heading traffic can move uninterrupted at various intersections using flyovers (like a semi-expressway) while vehicles turning right (or sometimes left) will have to wait for the trafffic signal.

Once this is completed, you can drive from Th. Rama IX off Mu Ban Seri (Seri Estate / Wat Thung Seri) straight to Saowani Intersection / Th. Sawankhalok (close to Chitralada Palace / Highway Police HQ) without passing through a single traffic signal. (Also without paying a toll)

more information about this project can be found here (BMA's PWD website - in Thai language)

Currently, the construction going on as part of this project is found off Th. Asok - Din Daeng and it is limited to small areas under or lying next to the Si Rat expressway. If we find a construction around Th. Asok - Din Daeng which is not found immediately next to the expressway viaduct, it is very likely that such construction is not a part of the Chaturathit Project.

On the other hand, constructions for the Airport Rail Link project will also take place off Th. Asok - Din Daeng, but it will not be found immediately next to the expressway viaduct / ramp. The construction site for the Airport Rail Link project off Th. Asok - Din Daeng would be right next to the eastbound railway track where Th. Kamphaeng Phet 7 is.

I hope this might provide some clue. But I can't confirm if the construction being discuessed here is for the Airport Rail Link project because I haven't seen it for myself and I don't really know its exact location. (I will visit the Asok - Din Daeng area once I'm back to Thailand to see for myself)

Thanks for the info, Khun Zoowatch!

To get back to the original thread topic, i.e. the Airport Link:

One month has passed, and still no progress on the road closure........ looks like SRT will be getting trouble with the contractors! That's worrying, especially when you consider that the NASA problem has been solved so quickly (though at a high cost to SRT) and construction should commence ASAP. What is going on here? Is it really just about a silly dispute with the Traffic Police concerning responsibilities (and/or possible kickbacks)???

Does anyone have a map of this?

The Enforcer!

Yes it is strange as one would expect that the B.Grimm (as well as TRT) group would want to make a big PR opp. of start of construction. Perhaps there are other problematic SRT leases and/or there are protracted negotiations going on with the traffic police. After all the Makkasan police don't have the best professional reputation (Note: should I 'be moved to an inactive post' in the next 48 hrs don't expect a police investigation!).

Seriously, I think the site that we are all talking about is probably not related to the start of Airport Link construction but doesn't mean it won't be. The north part obviously is related to the above mentioned 'Chaturathit Project' but in the south part, in the area nearest the rail right of way & Th. Ratchada. (& remember it is a very large site all the way up to Rama 9) the fence is old and nearly falling down, the signs are old and nothing new which would infer a new construction depot but perhaps still related to the road project (however, again I went past at night).

Anyway, we are all keen to know when construct. will start and really one of us needs to call the construction comp. to find out & perhaps someone to go there and talk with the workers to find out about this site. Of course we are all busy but next time your driving past on Ratchada. if you have a few mins & speak some thai.....

The SRT road closure announcement which I relinked (#61) above obviously hasn't been updated but is there an update on the ntbr site????

something is happening though.....
 

Yesterday night I saw they have started to build some temporary workers' housing at the corner of Phetburi Soi 47 and the Local Road...... a two-storey shack with a big sign saying STECON in front.

When you go east on New Phetburi, then turn left into the Soi Sunwichai area, cross the railway and turn right onto Kamphaeng Phet 7, it's on your left - that's the western end of the "Sports Land" that will be used for the construction of the Airport Link Depot. Before there were some small huts and advertising boards at that corner, but apparently they cleared the land not long ago (I pass there very often) and put the housing for the Sino-Thai workers on it.

Thanks K. ncr, so I guess the construction will probably start soon. I hope there won't be any delay in this project.....but I'm not that optimistic about it though.

Careful ... you'll acqused of cynicism!

The Enforcer!

Uh..oh....

No, but I could send you a screengrab of a satellite image if you give me your email address (send me a Private Message).

Ok confirming Khun ncr's info, I stopped by in the heat of the day yesterday and checked this site out and it is the construction site for the Airport Link Terminal. The site has been cleared of culverts and other materials that were there previously most likely related to the 'Chaturathit Project'.
They, (STECON), are doing site layout prep. work. Not many workers on site, and not all thai workers, and no one wanted to chat with a crazy farang walking around in the hot sun who speaks bad thai!
I took some photos and will post later tonight and link them.

Cheers K. Yappofloyd! I'm looking forward to seeing the pictures. :) Now let us all hope that it will be finished on schedule...and there will be no cost overrun!! :)

So where are those pics, Khun Yappofloyd?

By the way, and I went to the mentioned STECON workers' housing in Soi Sunwichai (actually it's rather a 3 storey office building, as I found out) on Saturday and took some photos there. Will probably send them to Ron soon.

^ yes sorry but have been in transit. Skyscraper is down at the moment so I've had to post these on tinypic and then link them;

1) First shot is taken from the 'station' platform on the eastern line (west of Th. Ratchada.) looking towards Rama IV but it is completely out of focus (Hence it is titled 'A political promise of clarity'),
2) Shot two is of the sign at the entrance on Th. Ratchda. but it is also out of focus (it was a hot day and I would like to blame the traffic fumes!!),
3) Shots 3 , 4 , 5 and 6 are essentially duplicates of two views taken from an 'abandoned' building, although occupied with some street kids, across the road.

The shots are thankfully clear due to the fact I was out of the heat and perhaps due to the influence of the fumes emanating from whatever the kids were sniffing...

Anyway, they give you an idea of the site and there was not a lot happening there last Friday. Eastern Line of the right and Rama IX to the left (not that I took a shot looking that way for some reason). There is only one KOBI style container office but many more foundations pegged out, so I'm sure in a few weeks it will look more like a big constrution site. This site had many culverts and other material just a couple of weeks ago so it has been cleaned up quick.

In shots 4 & 6 you can see the end of the Makkasan rail yards with some rolling stock on the right at the back of the shot. The left side has a large swimming pool for the workers or perhaps storage for water if things really get bad. My my understanding most of the Airport Link Terminal or CAT will be built in the area on the left where to the klong/pond and the airspace over the line but I coule be quite wrong about this?

These shots were quick ( don't be fooled by the lack of traffic as it was heavy) so someone taking some more in month or so once things are under way would be good. Also, if one of the skyscraper users could cut and paste this post sometime (with the links) onto the thread there I would be much appreciated (as I probably won't be posting for a while).

SOMETHING's happening.
 

I've been commuting on the SRT line between Makassan & Huamak. While I don't know if any of this is related to the Airport link, there does seem to be some sort of construction going on along the line near the Khlong Tan station and between the Khlong Tan and Huamak stations. There are also some dormatory like buildings that were built recently opposite the Huamak station. I don't know if they are related to the Airport link, but they look a lot like temp. worker's housing.

Well, SRT seems to decide to construct the Depot at Kong Tan first before going further .... :) :D

Now, SRT has decided to used 25 KV AC Power on
the electrified Suvannabhum Airport Link as well as the Red Line
Commuter networks (Rangsit - Mahachai and Talingchan - Suvannabhum Airport) and their extensions (Rangsit - Ban Phachi, Talingchan - Nakhon Pathom, Lad Krabang - Chachoengsao, and Mahachai - mae Klong) .

here are them pics...
 

Sorry it took so long, but now I finally found out how to host them (with the help of Yappofloyd). So here they are:

1. announcement to squatters that they have to leave the land within 30 days (from 30 July 2004)

2. looking south from the Soi Sunwichai area towards Kamphaeng Phet 7 / New Phetburi; in the foreground is the plot east of the STECON building.

3. the STECON office building (Charn Issara II in the background)

4. back side of the office building

5. close-up; a sign on the door said "Suvarnabhumi Airport Rail Link and City Air Terminal Project". They also had some pickup trucks with the same title on the windscreen.

6. looking east towards Union Tower and Charn Issara II

7. they will have to go...

8. eastern end of Khlong Tan Station platform

9. what's the meaning of this newly erected sign? AL = Airport Link?

Have to take some more pics around there! (Unfortunately last time my batteries were finished before I could take shots from the south and east and of the 'Sports Land' to be used for the Airport Link depot construction.)

Now, Than Setthakij has shown City Air Terminal at Makkasan as well as the plan for the area ... Fortunately, the would NOT fill up Makkasan Lake ... but setting up the new Purajat Jaiyakorn near Makkasan Station is totally NUT because the patients could NOT tolerate the expressdwya nearby ... even with noise protection ....

Furthermore, the New Makkasan terminal wil have a ring monorail to pick up the passengers at Pratoo Nam for those who shop around Panthip and
Pratoo Nam, Nana (near Bumrung Rat Hospital)

Too bad, Makkasan MUST be Move to Ban Phachi to Nong Pladuk :mad: :(

Okay, te Map of the proposed Makkasan Center along wiht the Monorial Ring is here
http://www.rotfaithai.com/files/newmakkasan1.jpg

I hope everything will go according to plan. It will take 4 or 5 years to build the whole airport link, right K. Wisarut?


Sorry if you have answered this question before, right now I just don't remember when it will be finished.

Makkasan Plans
 

Kindly contributed by that 'Young Phenomenon' Khun Wisarut:-
http://www.angkor.com/2bangkok/2bang...1&postcount=88
Khun Wisarut's QUOTE:-
Now, Than Setthakij has shown City Air Terminal at Makkasan as well as the plan for the area ... Fortunately, the would NOT fill up Makkasan Lake ... but setting up the new Purajat Jaiyakorn near Makkasan Station is totally NUT because the patients could NOT tolerate the expressdwya nearby ... even with noise protection ....

Furthermore, the New Makkasan terminal wil have a ring monorail to pick up the passengers at Pratoo Nam for those who shop around Panthip and
Pratoo Nam, Nana (near Bumrung Rat Hospital)
UNQUOTE
Yes, they are in Thai. I've been on the outlook foe English maps of Makkasan for a long time.
http://www.rotfaithai.com/files/newmakkasan1.jpg

Chaturathit
 

Here is a downsized QuickBird satellite image, approximately 1:5000 scale. Copyright of DigitalGlobe.

Running across the top is Rama IX Rd and, a little bit below, Khlong Samsen.

In the center the Si Rat expressway (with extensive toll plaza) from Din Daeng to Ramkamhaeng and Lat Krabang, ultimately becoming the Chonburi Motorway.

At the bottom you'll find Kamphaeng Phet 7 and the Eastern Railway (not really visible at this resolution) and a stretch of New Phetburi. The temple in the lower right is Wat Uthaitharam. Next to it you can also see the red/white mast of TV channel 11. Finally, on the far right you can see part of the curving RCA.

At the left is the eastern end of SRT's Makkasan area with the lake. Asoke Stop is located at the intersection of Kamphaeng Phet and Asoke/Ratchada. This is where Yappofloyd took his photos and the CAT (City Air Terminal) construction will be started. By the way, when I passed there two days ago, I could see some heavy machinery parked on the wasteland, and also one of those typical wood/corrugated iron roof worker's housings going up. (Note: the site for the airport link depot with the STECON office is outside the image, another 1.5 km down Kamphaeng Phet, near Khlong Tan Station.)

The parallel road east of the toll plaza, running north towards the three-way Or Sor Mor Tor (MCOT) intersection, is called Phet Uthai Rd (I think). Where it passes under the expressway you will notice not only the on-/off-ramps, but also some new elevated lanes (still under construction on the northern side) bulging out, then following the expressway more closely over Bueng Makkasan, continuing westwards to Ratchaprarop and Sri Ayutthaya Rd. That's the Chaturathit Project mentioned by Tom and Zoowatch.

This (not particularly good) map might provide some badly needed overview.

thanks for the comprehensive explanation. where did you manage to get that particular image from? if it is included in some software, is it available for purchase online to people residing outside of Thailand?

Well, I work for a company that is a DigitalGlobe reseller for Thailand..... If you want to purchase QuickBird imagery, you can basically do that from anywhere, for any area of interest. Only problem is, the minimum order size is 25 sq.km, which will cost you something in the 25,000 Baht bracket for this type of imagery (60-cm colour; less for 60-cm b/w or 2.4-m colour).

It is generally not sold in such small subsets, or in downsampled or compressed form (JPEG). The standard format is GeoTIFF, each pixel having a coordinate. 4 bands (Blue, Green, Red, Near-Infrared, in this order), 16-bit format, i.e. most simple image processing software cannot handle it. The bottom line being: this is not simply an image, it is data that can be processed and used to create value-added products. (Same goes for competitor IKONOS/Space Imaging.)

Nil, how often do they update those sattellite photos?
and thanks for the project update.

This map shows part of the monorail running parrallel to Khlong Saen Saep!!!
It would be an interesting experience riding the monorail and watching the long tail boats below. Although the potential visual amenity impact on the canal environment is another matter.

Well, that largely depends on customers' needs/orders. As we are talking about commercial satellites with small footprints here (as opposed to something like Landsat with scenes 185x185 km in size), they cannot provide a complete coverage of the earth, much less regularly revisit the same location. Imaging is probably 95% demand-driven (with lots of competition between orders!) --- and not following a fixed schedule, or aimed at adding areas to the archive for possible future sales ('speculative tasking' in DigitalGlobe jargon).

So it's impossible to give a general answer to your question. But for Bangkok, you can expect new imagery of parts of the city at least every few months.

'sports land' pix
 

As mentioned on 2Bangkok (scroll down to 14 December 2004), the depot for the Airport Link will be constructed on a piece of land across Kamphaeng 7 Road from Khlong Tan Station. This plot actually belongs to SRT, but has been used (by BMA?) for recreational purposes - they have a (dusty/muddy) football field, basketball courts, a playground and a gymnastics trail. It has been agreed that this land will be returned to SRT, and BMA therefore needs to set up a new sports facility elsewhere. The location is just 300-400 m away, namely under the flyover at Ekkamai Nuea intersection (where the extended Soi Ekkamai -- or Pradit Manutham Rd -- passes over New Phetburi towards Rama IX and, ultimately, Ram Inthra). The empty space under/next to the bridge had in fact always been used by young people who used to play football, basketball and takraw there at any time of the day (or night). Now since many months, it has been closed off, and workers have begun construction of something (first of all, a perimeter wall), but the final shape of the project remains sketchy:

For orientation purposes again - view from Union Tower to the northeast, with the old 'sports land' behind the Hopewell Pillars. The red roofs belong to Khlong Tan Station. And a view along New Phetburi to the east, with Ekkamai Nuea intersection in the background (both from August 2004, pre-construction).

Last glimpse at the sports land 1, 2 - looking southwest from near the elevated road in the first picture above.

View from a pedestrian bridge over New Phetburi to the west (Charn Issara II in the background, Union Tower background right). The construction site for the new sports facilities on the left, in front of the bridge (you can see the pink wall).

Sign under the bridge. It reads something like this:

"Project for the construction of a public park and sports facility named in honour of HM Queen Sirikit's 72nd birthday celebrations......

client: BMA, through Huai Khwang district office
contractor: Nawan Limited Partnership
budget: 9,969,750 Baht
construction period: 24 September 2004 - 20 June 2005
construction time: 270 days"

Not sure what this is going to be: 5, 6

More to the left, near Khlong Saen Saep, they built this pedestal, but nothing has been placed on it yet.

Detail of the wall before it was painted pink.

On the other (western) side of the bridge: 9, 10

Note: just for clarification, the depot construction has no started yet (in fact they had organized some kind of fair on the sports land the last few nights), but as mentioned/shown earlier, STECON has set up quarters at the opposite (western) end of the sports land stretch.

The 'Slash & Burn' School of Architecture
 

Thanks for the pics. They really do make for depressing viewing. The propensity of urban man to waste resources on ugly architecture never ceases to amaze me.

Anything specific that you're alluding to? To me, it just looks very much like the standard Bangkok urban mess.
(By the way, I love this city. Seriously.)

Nothing concrete!
 

No. Just the whole idea that nature can be improved on with more concrete and trash.

Khun GWR, although there are universal good design principles it is indeed unfortunate that the ubiquitousness of bad architecture, generally motivated by rapcious developers wanting quick profits, trancends cultural, political, social and geographic boundaries.
Somehow we generally all think of ourselves as being more civilised and enlightened than our ancestors of long ago. The ongoing rampage ofnthe senses by developers pushing bad designs without much thought of the human space must surely highlight that many ancient civilisations left an enduring design legacy of good design. Of course, it has to be said that generally slaves were used in the construction of the ancient architectural icons and many were made for the personal vanity of the elite. Sadly, the practice still remains today, in a sense, even in downtown Bangkok!

That being said and trying to keep some relevence to this thread, I do think that the rendering of the CAT looks ok.

Back to the sports land....
 

Here are some more shots that might give a better overview of the whole thing (refer to post 87 and post 97 in this thread).

1 View from the roof of Phetchavej Hospital along Kamphaeng Phet 7 and the Eastern Railway to the West (main highrises from front to back: Best House Apartments - Tararom Business Tower - Charn Issara II). Behind the bridge (=northern continuation of Ekkamai towards Rama IX: Pradit Manutham Rd) are the Hopewell Pillars and (to the right of Kamphaeng Phet) the "sports land".

2 Adjoining view to the left: Ekkamai Nuea Intersection and the new sports facilities under construction (behind and to the right of the giant billboard, extending under the bridge).

3 Full-res subset of picture 1: The STECON office building can be seen at the distant end of the sports land/bareland stretch, just in front of the highrise (Soonvijai Condo).

So are they going to demolish those Hopewell pillars around Rama IX area. I remember seeing those giant pillars with 3-4 levels of viaduct support.

Hope that ONLY usuable pillars will be demolished, NOT all the puillars as as to fit the design of AEC which imitate BTS Skytrain :mad: :(

^yeh same here. I hope they make good use of the old pillars. Hopewell's pillar were supposed to carry the tollways on the top as well, so they are designed to carry more weight than just elevated rail tracks.

Khun Wisarut, I am confused "...ONLY usuable pillars will be demolished,...". I am not sure if this is a typo or your usual wit. Of course perhaps only in Thailand would the usuable pillars be demolished thus requiring further funds to build new ones!

I was looking back on the thread thinking that we had gone over the Hopewell pillar issue but perhaps on another thread or forum. I had thought that the announcements had been that the Don Muang ones were being kept after the Uni (which one?) survey and that the eastern rail pillars were all being demolished even though we all assume that they are ok. Remember the OTP line confirg, map on the web shows the type of viaducts that will be required.

Can someone confirm what is going on with the pillars or is it still uncertain?