PHUKET: Residents in northern Phuket are blockading the main road to Phuket's south after a local Muslim woman was killed by a pickup at Phuket's most notoriously dangerous curve.
Traffic was slowed to a crawl at the curve on Thepkasattri Road, marked by the turnoff to Yacht Haven Marina, known as the Baan Ko Ean corner.
A second multiple crash at the Bypass t-intersection with Thepkasattri Road after 8pm caused more traffic chaos closer to Phuket City.
Earlier, residents of Baan Ko Ean expressed anger after a pickup lost control at the curve and, it is believed, crashed into a motorcycle, killing the 47-year-old female rider.
The road was blocked about 5.30pm and has yet to be properly cleared, reports said. Police are diverting traffic around the blockade.
Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Samgkaosutthirak was at the scene talking to residents last night. A meeting has been scheduled for Provincial Hall in Phuket City at 10am tomorrow.
A policeman confirmed that the road had been partially blocked since 5.30pm, with traffic diverted around the protest.
Before the curve was fitted with a large and costly safety barrier and made safe some years ago for all but the fastest-travelling vehicles, trucks would occasionally burst through barriers and drop into the village street below.
Residents say the corner is still not safe and more than one local has died there.
Over the years, Ko Ean residents have been known to remonstrate severely with people who injure locals while driving too fast through the village.
Blockades are the form of ''local island law'' used when residents of villages on Phuket believe there has been an exceptional lack of justice.
Phuket Road Department Director Aroon Snea told Phuketwan this evening that the curve had been made safer in 2006, following the death of a local child in a crash there.
He said that even with the improved safety barrier, the curve should be taken at 60kmh, although some motorists tended to take it faster.
Rain was believed to have been falling when the crash occurred tonight.
After 8pm, a multiple pileup near the Toyota Pearl showrooms on the Bypass Road t-intersection - the Bang Khu intersection - slowed inbound traffic heading for Phuket City even further.
Traffic was slowed to a crawl at the curve on Thepkasattri Road, marked by the turnoff to Yacht Haven Marina, known as the Baan Ko Ean corner.
A second multiple crash at the Bypass t-intersection with Thepkasattri Road after 8pm caused more traffic chaos closer to Phuket City.
Earlier, residents of Baan Ko Ean expressed anger after a pickup lost control at the curve and, it is believed, crashed into a motorcycle, killing the 47-year-old female rider.
The road was blocked about 5.30pm and has yet to be properly cleared, reports said. Police are diverting traffic around the blockade.
Phuket Vice Governor Somkiet Samgkaosutthirak was at the scene talking to residents last night. A meeting has been scheduled for Provincial Hall in Phuket City at 10am tomorrow.
A policeman confirmed that the road had been partially blocked since 5.30pm, with traffic diverted around the protest.
Before the curve was fitted with a large and costly safety barrier and made safe some years ago for all but the fastest-travelling vehicles, trucks would occasionally burst through barriers and drop into the village street below.
Residents say the corner is still not safe and more than one local has died there.
Over the years, Ko Ean residents have been known to remonstrate severely with people who injure locals while driving too fast through the village.
Blockades are the form of ''local island law'' used when residents of villages on Phuket believe there has been an exceptional lack of justice.
Phuket Road Department Director Aroon Snea told Phuketwan this evening that the curve had been made safer in 2006, following the death of a local child in a crash there.
He said that even with the improved safety barrier, the curve should be taken at 60kmh, although some motorists tended to take it faster.
Rain was believed to have been falling when the crash occurred tonight.
After 8pm, a multiple pileup near the Toyota Pearl showrooms on the Bypass Road t-intersection - the Bang Khu intersection - slowed inbound traffic heading for Phuket City even further.
What happened to the speed bumps that were installed a few years ago? I travel almost daily around that corner and the speed bumps have either been removed or reduced to almost negligible effect
Posted by Simon Luttrell on November 20, 2011 20:23