This month issues about road conditions are once again prominent however we are pleased to report that after previous letters have been forwarded to the relevant authorities, rectification has followed. Here are the most recent comments.
How a bicycle can be stuck between concrete blocks Dear Sir / Madam, I had a serious bicycle accident in Thailand (Kao Thao) yesterday morning. Passing the railway crossing at Kao Thao, in the direction the Pranburi Forrest Park, the front wheel of my road bike came between two concrete slabs and got stuck. I fell and came face down with a huge smack to hit the road surface. A few seconds of being unconscious, a nose bruised and abrasions on my lip and chin and a painful knee followed but my skull was undamaged thanks to the my helmet. I had a CT scan in the hospital and fortunately no brain injury.
Had I not worn a helmet, I would certainly have had a skull fracture and probably worse. This morning another accident occurred!!! One of a group of cyclists, the Hua Hin Roadies, also hit the surface in exactly the same manner. He was taken to hospital by ambulance. It’s really a death trap and there are going to be more serious accidents here if nothing is done about it. I thought you should know about this, maybe you can realise some adequate action in this matter. Yours sincerely, (name withheld) Editor’s comments: It is clear from the contents of this reader’s letter and the photo forwarded, that there are serious engineering problems with this rail crossing.
The letter has now been forward to the relevant authorities for their attention. We also know the Lord Mayor is a bike rider. In the meantime be warned and don’t forget the helmet! Dear Editor, Whereas the Phetkasem road is re-done over and over again, even if there is no need to do this, the rest of Hua Hin is in a very bad shape: Broken roads, leaking water pipes, desolate power lines, etc. (see just a few examples below).
The condition of Hua Hin’s infrastructure has been irresponsibly neglected over years. This is the opinion of all resident ‘farangs’ I have been talking to. Local people just smile, knowing that they cannot do anything about. Experiences from African countries show, that local
roads are not maintained, because re-doing them in one big project after they are completely broken puts more money into the pockets of the bureaucrats. Since your aim is to make Hua Hin a better place we would appreciate your initiative to influence the bureaucrats responsible for this mess. Hua Hin has a new mayor and we are hopeful he will take up the challenge, which we shall support by any means. We have started to fix one road ourselves, privately.
If the municipality does not come up with a decent program to fix roads (especially around the Soi Hua Na area, where a lot of farangs live) we shall go public calling for a ‘Road Fixing Day’, inviting farangs, locals and the press. Best personal regards! Xango Editor’s comments: Dear Xango I’m not sure why you would think that Hua Hin has a new mayor. The current mayor, Khun Nopporn Vuttikul, has been in office since 2012. We hope that there will soon be a favourable response to your comments, although areas where many foreigners live should not be the criteria for increasing road maintenance. A ‘vigilante’ approach is unlikely to achieve the outcome you are seeking.
