Annual Fair......Traffic

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parrot
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Annual Fair......Traffic

Post by parrot » November 29, 2019, 3:07 pm

The annual fair at Tungsrimeuang officially begins on 1 Dec. But the flower/plant vendors are out in force around the park and traffic is already gumming up. The worst times for traffic are anytime over a weekend, on any holiday between 1-12 Dec, most any day at lunch time, and pretty much anywhere on surrounding streets of the park. Other than the traffic, enjoy!



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parrot
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Re: Annual Fair......Traffic

Post by parrot » December 2, 2019, 1:48 pm

Dec 5 is Father's Day, Dec 10 is Constitution (sic) Day. Schools, banks, civil servants generally have the day off. There's another major parade scheduled for 5 Dec to make traffic even worse.

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Re: Annual Fair......Traffic

Post by joepai » December 2, 2019, 1:59 pm

parrot wrote:
December 2, 2019, 1:48 pm
Dec 5 is Father's Day, Dec 10 is Constitution (sic) Day. Schools, banks, civil servants generally have the day off. There's another major parade scheduled for 5 Dec to make traffic even worse.
Don't forget the holiday on the 10th just to makes things worst :irked:
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Re: Annual Fair......Traffic

Post by Drunk Monkey » December 2, 2019, 2:28 pm

Arrived back in Udon last night around 7pm and the traffic on the KK highway was very heavy well before the ring rd intersection , choked up all the way into town , today was in the town center early n again really bad in most places .. done n dusted by 10an and back out to the Gallery for lunch n back to the relative calm of Nadee n my office recliner where i took a snooze with Jilly mi Jack Russel who also commented on how bad the traffic was.

Its that time of year i suppose.

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Re: Annual Fair......Traffic

Post by Stoeger » December 3, 2019, 1:33 am

Believe it or not, UT has a government office labelled "Traffic Control Division"! Somebody needs to visit them and respectfully ask "what do you people really do"? Apparently, effective "traffic management" must not be one of their responsibilities!

I think everybody will agree that the red light at Prajak Road and Soi Nongbua is one of the worst offenders! It is a very short green and causes a traffic jam both ways many hours of the day! The main artery into/out of UT is "Prajak Road" and should have the priority over sidestreet Soi Nongbua with a longer green light! Some Thais on scooters simply run through it (on red) without waiting several light changes to go east or west! Over many years in UT, this light has wasted countless liters of diesel fuel and quality time for the wife and me! Do the city "planners" care? Hell no! Multiply our 0-1 kilometers per mile by thousands of vehicles and you have a huge, unnecessary waste of fuel every day!

UT needs to bring themselves into the 21st century and create viable traffic control solutions! Such as better timed traffic lights, use of reversible and fixed one-way lanes and streets to quickly expedite traffic into and out of the city and improved police traffic law enforcement (all laws, not just helmet offenders)! I realize how bad Thai drivers are (voted #1 worst in the world) so any changes will probably result in stupid, confused and totally non-compliant drivers who will continue to be "me first, selfish and in a big hurry" kind of people (at our expense)! Unfortunately, with this attitude will come more accidents! What scares me (and I'm fearless) is the advent of possible legalization of pot (ganja) in Thailand! I support it being used for "medical purposes" to relieve pain! However, adding it to the diet of significant Thai/Foreign drivers who routinely drink whisky, beer and moonshine (low kow) and you have a recipe for disaster! These irresponsible drivers have no problem getting on the road, day or night (sometimes without lights), speeding and/or breaking other laws right along with the rest of us! We all know who is usually at fault if a Thai hits a falang vehicle! Many times, the Thai driver will run away; they WIN, we LOSE! For example, a Tuk-Tuk driver recently slammed into the back of our Fortuner driven by my wife (she is a armed Police Captain/Airborne Ranger)! When she stopped and exited our SUV, the Tuk-Tuk dude sped down a back alley and disappeared! Welcome to Thailand!

Finally, because of tens of thousands of motorcycles, there is very little curb space to park a car or truck especially around Central Plaza! For example, all of us falangs know that the UT Immigration Office has very little parking spaces because shoppers and shop owners use them up! My wife took me there last year and we parked next to a building wall out of the way, not blocking traffic with no "NO PARKING SIGNS" posted! When we came back to the car, the right front wheel was BOOTED! Once again, welcome to Thailand!

UT has a long way to go to fix their traffic congestion, driver attitudes, lack of parking, crumbling infrastructure, spotty law enforcement, crime and corruption issues! I have been coming to UT for 19 years and any progress in those areas seems somewhat without measure! If there are any real improvements, it is like "watching a glacier move"! For sure, I know that I will never be able to change Thailand! It is what it is!

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Re: Annual Fair......Traffic

Post by Drunk Monkey » December 3, 2019, 2:34 am

Agree ..but we will.not see any great improvements in our lifetime or our kids lifetime for sure .. blame the system . coruption .. and the Thai love of festivals ..

The locals do seem to be more sabai sabai with cronic n constant nose to tail.traffic jams .. less agitated than expats but who knows ..

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Re: Annual Fair......Traffic

Post by Khun Paul » December 3, 2019, 7:51 am

Although parking and the traffic can be bad to almost impossible, if you know Udon, there are ways to circumnavigate the problems by changing your route and / or time of travel , We expats have the luxury of NOIT having to go the same time as everyone else and we can WALK, something many locals seem to have forgotten how to do . We do not need to park right where we are going, as a walk often can allow you to park safely and with little or no problems . Thais will spend a long time to find a parking space near to where they wish to go, you only have to study the Big C car-park to see that, they go round and round until in a place nearer to the entrance is found then they park.

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Re: Annual Fair......Traffic

Post by Doodoo » December 3, 2019, 3:40 pm

"Believe it or not, UT has a government office labelled "Traffic Control Division"! Somebody needs to visit them and respectfully ask "what do you people really do"? Apparently, effective "traffic management" must not be one of their responsibilities!"

"Somebody needs to"
Away ya go then and when you find out give us an update.

Thanks for the help Stoeger

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Re: Annual Fair......Traffic

Post by Khun Paul » December 3, 2019, 4:16 pm

You are of course assume they will use LOGIC, in that case nowt will be done.

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Re: Annual Fair......Traffic

Post by Doodoo » December 3, 2019, 4:23 pm

KP I assume your comment is asking me "You are of course assume they will use LOGIC, in that case nowt will be done."

If so please ask Stoeger as he is the one who will be approaching Traffic Control with the question and observations

Thanks

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Re: Annual Fair......Traffic

Post by Stoeger » November 29, 2021, 9:20 am

Since I have been locked down in Florida from April 2019 and I think you live in UT, why don't you go find out what the Udon Thani Traffic Control Division really does?

Then, you can let all of us on Udon Map know exactly how they fantasize about what a good job they're doing to keep traffic flowing through the city! Ask them about traffic light synchronization and alternating one-way streets to quickly move traffic in or out of the city during peak periods! Question them why smaller side streets seem to have the same red light duration as the red lights on the major arteries that they intersect?

I must admit that it is scary to think that Thai driver's could adapt to change lanes (3 going west into the city each morning) and then, reversed to (3 lanes going east out of the city every afternoon)! One accident either direction and you have one or more blocked lanes which defeats the purpose!

Ask Traffic Control if they think the traffic light at Phosi Road (Hwy 22) and Soi Nongbua is perfectly timed? In the last six years, my wife and I have wasted hundreds (maybe thousands) of liters of diesel fuel inching along (going east or west) during 3 or more light changes! This is just one example!

Of course, many of the Thai "twist and go" crowd just run the red light since the Police are usually not hiding behind a telephone pole or crouched inside a trash barrel! Anywhere in the city, color "red" for Thais is not the same as color "red" for us!

Add to that the St.Mary's School fiasco on the north side of Phosi Road in the afternoon going east out of town and you usually won't get where you are going on time! Hard to believe that a huge, ever-expanding Catholic school is allowed that much leverage in a 93% Buddhist country and can block several lanes of a busy road into and out of the city 5 days a week! I don't want to know how much tea money to the police is changing hands but, I have heard a bribe may be necessary to get your kid in their class!

Welcome to Thailand, the Land of Smiles (except for those persons stuck in traffic or asked for a "donation")!

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Re: Annual Fair......Traffic

Post by Drunk Monkey » November 29, 2021, 9:48 am

The a ual Tungsrimaung festival is upon us .. nevermind covid lets pack is as many food furniture and flower stalls n stands as we can n close - block roads for this esstential.yearly event ..suffice to say i thought i may be scaled down tbis year again but nope is as big as ever n i just got caught up.in the road carnage

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Re: Annual Fair......Traffic

Post by tamada » November 29, 2021, 9:56 am

Phosi @ Nongbua has much improved since they closed an inbound lane either side on Phosi for some sort of tunnel.

Phosi @ St Mary's has much improved since Covid shuttered schools.
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Re: Annual Fair......Traffic

Post by stereolab » November 29, 2021, 12:13 pm

The new tunnel and underpass does however mean you can get to the city snarl ups, much quicker.

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Re: Annual Fair......Traffic

Post by Drunk Monkey » November 29, 2021, 12:33 pm

I really hope the TSM festival doesnt become a covid hotspot .. the way its set up and the huge number attending over so many days makes it a covid cluster dream world...social distancing along with hand washing and properly wore masks etc will be very difficult to adhere too.

Will give it a wide berth this year... that part of town is really nasty now traffic wise.

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Re: Annual Fair......Traffic

Post by tamada » November 29, 2021, 12:42 pm

Last year, I loaded up the charabanc and I dropped the herd off at a point that I deemed 'close enough' and went back home. At a pre-arranged time, I picked them up at a pre-arranged location. It pays to have at least one of the herd who knows about GPS and Google Maps and how to use them. I think we need to thank Food Panda and GRAB for that quantum leap.

Stressless for me but the important bit was THEY all had fun.

However, I reckon Mrs tam will put the foot down this year and avoid it as I am fairly sure that omicron will be detected in Thailand around 07:28 this coming Wednesday or around tea-time on Thursday.
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Re: Annual Fair......Traffic

Post by rick » November 30, 2021, 11:55 pm

Stoeger wrote:
November 29, 2021, 9:20 am

Add to that the St.Mary's School fiasco on the north side of Phosi Road in the afternoon going east out of town and you usually won't get where you are going on time! Hard to believe that a huge, ever-expanding Catholic school is allowed that much leverage in a 93% Buddhist country and can block several lanes of a busy road into and out of the city 5 days a week! I don't want to know how much tea money to the police is changing hands but, I have heard a bribe may be necessary to get your kid in their class!
Well, no issue with traffic outside the school for the last year! But to be fair, there is also another school the other side of the road which also adds to the traffic. Also the traffic is little better once you are past the school. Just too many cars these days, but for those who know the back roads, you can avoid a lot of the jams.

There has been continuous road works for the last year at the Soi Nong Bua junction, with little sign of progress. That is the worst traffic issue.

As for bribery to get a place, never heard of it at St Mary's, we had no problem getting our daughter in. Don Bosco, lots of stories.....

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Re: Annual Fair......Traffic

Post by tamada » December 1, 2021, 6:44 am

rick wrote:
November 30, 2021, 11:55 pm
Stoeger wrote:
November 29, 2021, 9:20 am

Add to that the St.Mary's School fiasco on the north side of Phosi Road in the afternoon going east out of town and you usually won't get where you are going on time! Hard to believe that a huge, ever-expanding Catholic school is allowed that much leverage in a 93% Buddhist country and can block several lanes of a busy road into and out of the city 5 days a week! I don't want to know how much tea money to the police is changing hands but, I have heard a bribe may be necessary to get your kid in their class!
Well, no issue with traffic outside the school for the last year! But to be fair, there is also another school the other side of the road which also adds to the traffic. Also the traffic is little better once you are past the school. Just too many cars these days, but for those who know the back roads, you can avoid a lot of the jams.

There has been continuous road works for the last year at the Soi Nong Bua junction, with little sign of progress. That is the worst traffic issue.

As for bribery to get a place, never heard of it at St Mary's, we had no problem getting our daughter in. Don Bosco, lots of stories.....
There's an even bigger school of no particular religious persuasion in the heart of west downtown that causes even greater traffic havoc than St Mary's, Mariepithak and Don Bosco combined. It's been doing that for decades already. A smaller, busy but similarly non-aligned one opposite the entrance to the airport is benefitting from an unreasonably wide, new boulevard replete with traffic lights.

I suggest our "CDR USN-retired" needs to get out and about more.
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Re: Annual Fair......Traffic

Post by parrot » December 3, 2021, 6:26 pm

Just a reminder......long holiday weekend, Tungsrimeuang Fair. The Chinese Foundation parade will happen tomorrow as well.....usually from the temple across from Nongbua market, weaving their way through the statue circle, down Phosri, to the fairgrounds. If you've never seen the parade, it's worth the time. If you're heading into town, top up your tank beforehand!
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Re: Annual Fair......Traffic

Post by semperfiguy » December 3, 2021, 7:46 pm

Went to the fair today. They were turning the unvaxed away at the gate this morning. Have to show proof of at least one jab to enter.
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