Traffic jams on Rama II Road blamed for Hua Hin's decline

[PeteC]

Thanks both of you. Yes, I remember that trip report and photos and I thought that area was along the coastal route in question.

[HHTel]

some interesting temples, one in the shape of a boat.

I used to pass that daily. On the back road from Cha-Am to Petchaburi (I used to teach in Rajabhat University). The one time I visited while UK family were here, the temple was flooded!!! Something lacking in the 'boat design'.

[Big Boy]

Photo from 2013

20131210_145105.jpg (66.72 KiB) Viewed 3273 times

[caller]

Photo from 2013


20131210_145105.jpg

That's not the one I'm thinking of. It's this one:

the-wat-nok-pak-ta-le-or-ship-temple-in-the-ban-laem-district-near-the-city-of-phetchaburi-or-phetburi-in-the-province-of-phetchaburi-in-thailand-t-2C456CF.jpg

(141.23 KiB) Downloaded 692 times

[Big Boy]

Oh wow, I've not seen that one before - I'll have to find it.

[PeteC]

A medium long read giving the history of the Rama II debacle.

A clogged artery

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/sp ... ged-artery. (Charts)

[Big Boy]

5 decades - it's worse than I imagined

[Nereus]

A medium long read giving the history of the Rama II debacle.

A clogged artery

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/sp ... ged-artery. (Charts)

The delays are attributed to the contractors financial difficulties………..

Absolutely! The former health minister was not getting regular grease payments!

[PeteC]

When was there any road there at all that served as a substitute for the coastal road(s) we've been talking about. I would think that when Rama IX began his reign his way to Hua Hin was along that coastal road only. Perhaps after WWII the idea for a larger and more direct highway began.

[Nereus]

When was there any road there at all that served as a substitute for the coastal road(s) we've been talking about. I would think that when Rama IX began his reign his way to Hua Hin was along that coastal road only. Perhaps after WWII the idea for a larger and more direct highway began.

I believe that was the main reason for building a train line?

https://www.huahintoday.com/hua-hin-new ... y-station/

110th anniversary of first train to arrive at Hua Hin Railway Station

Built in the reign of King Rama VI the original station was completed in 1910 before being rebuilt in 1926 by Prince Purachatra Jayakara, the former commander of the Royal State Railways of Siam.

[PeteC]

There we go, thanks Nereus. The dots are beginning to connect. I've never checked but I would think Route #4 was originally built not that far away from the already existing train tracks from Bangkok to at least Hua Hin.

[Nereus]

Here is what Wiki has to say:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rama_II_Road

Rama II Road was built during the government of Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn with a total budget of approximately 419 million baht and was officially opened on 1 April 1973. It was named "Rama II" in honor of King Phutthaloetla Naphalai (Rama II) of the Chakri dynasty, who was born in present-day Samut Songkhram Province.[1]

And this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phet_Kasem_Road

Phet Kasem Road

Phet Kasem Road (Thai: ถนนเพชรเกษม, RTGS: Thanon Phet Kasem, pronounced [tʰā.nǒn pʰét kā.sěːm])[1] or Highway 4 (Thai: ทางหลวงแผ่นดินหมายเลข 4, AH2) is one of the four primary highways in Thailand, along with Phahonyothin Road (Highway 1), Mittraphap Road (Highway 2), and Sukhumvit Road (Highway 3). At 1,274 km, route 4 is the longest highway in Thailand.

The construction of the road was finished in 1950 and was named "Phet Kasem" on December 10, 1950 in honour Luang Phet Kasemwithisawasdi (Tham Phetkasem), formerly the seventh director deputy general of the State Highways Department. Before that, it had been called "Bangkok–Khlong Phruan Road" (ถนนกรุงเทพ–คลองพรวน). Luang Phet Kasemwithisawasdi was the royal scholar of the State Railway Department (now State Railway of Thailand). He studied civil engineering in England and returned to work for the State Railway Department and then transferred to the State Highways Department. Phet Kasem Road was built during the period when Luang Phet Kasemwithisawasdi was the deputy director general of the State Highways Department. The road was named under the policy of the government of Major General Por Phibunsongkhram who named the road after the chief engineer who supervised the construction and gave the instructions.

[Nereus]

It is also interesting to note that during the 2nd WW the Japanese landed on the east coast well to the south of Bangkok, because there was no road from the capital to the south. (Singora as it was then called) Songkhla now.

[Big Boy]

I believe that was the main reason for building a train line?

Is that correct though because the train line from Samut Sakhon to Samut Songkhram is stand alone. The main line goes inland a bit e.g. Bangkok to Hua Hin trains pass through places such as Ratchaburi.

[Nereus]

At the risk of going off topic, although it is still the same road today, the following just shows how it was back then.

In 1955 / 1956, 6 young university undergraduates from the UK made an overland trip from London to Singapore in two Land Rovers. Incidentally, Sir David Attenborough sponsored part of it from his role at the BBC.

At that time there was no complete road from Thailand to Malaya and Singapore. The then existing road followed the railway down the east coast to Chumpon, and then cut across the Isthmus to Ranong, where it finished!

From there existed about a 100 mile “gap” through the jungle.

Although recent construction had started to build a road from Ranong, aiming to join up at a place further south called “Takua Pa”, only a survey track existed for the most part for only about 30 miles, the rest of it just an elephant track through the jungle.
They eventually were able to force their way through, and then on to Malaya, as it was then called, and on to Singapore.

That road today is highway 4, and anybody that has driven it to or from the Phuket end will have followed in their tracks at some point.