I not see water seeping through the tunnel ceiling during rainy times.

Let's see first or they able to complete the underpass in Phuket town. Not very promising with a contractor who has now to pay fine 2 M thb per day until it is completed.
( where are these 2 Million thb per day going too?)

Posted by Kurt on December 2, 2015 11:03

Instead of building toll booths which are only going to add to backing up already chaotic traffic patterns here..why just just inpose an annual car tax to car owners on the island to be paid on their annual registration renewal

Posted by sky on December 2, 2015 11:39

Whatever the cost it is essential. The lives that will be saved alone make it worthwhile. Tolls are fine but the gates can be a bottleneck. With so much of the traffic commercial could they not install an electronic tag system. Don't know how the numbers stack up but worth a look. Can't wait till it is finished.

Posted by Davemc60 on December 2, 2015 12:18

The video strangely omits the inevitable bike and sidecars, tucks with brake failures, weaving tuktuks, and light flashing airport taxi and fortuna drivers.

Without those items it can hardly be credited as any kind of realism.

Posted by LivinLOS on December 2, 2015 12:25

I believe I've seen a similar video before somewhere.

What I can't understand is why nobody is even considering, once again, a much cheaper and quicker option.

Lower the top of the hill by, say, 30 meters and use the excess soil to fill in the following valley going towards Patong.

The most difficult part would be to support the surrounding mountain sides to prevent collapse. Drive along the west coast and you can see everywhere how this is successfully done.

This would lower the gradient significantly, be cheap and quick to do.

Biggest downside I can think of would be the inevitable disruption to traffic.

Since there are quite a few readers with proper engineering expertise, can anyone comment on my suggestion and perhaps point out something I've missed ?

Posted by Herbert on December 2, 2015 12:57

Is this story about the same Phuket as yesterday's tunnel seepage and last week's lovely picture of the lights reflected in the waters in the Central corner tunnel?

Posted by juswunderin on December 2, 2015 16:29

Editor makes a good point about on the level being uplifting hereabouts. I guess I'll have to go back to the idea I put out a few months ago that the tunnel be opened with a tuk tuk demolition derby.

Posted by juswunderin on December 2, 2015 18:13

To me the highlight of the video is at the halfway point where the camera turns round to come back again and a "flyover to nowhere" can clearly be seen. This seems to be the whole issue with the tunnel, where does the road end up on the Patong side. As suggested before, it would make much more sense to come out of the hill on prabharamee road at the junction with third road which would give traffic a clear run down behind jungceylon and on towards kata.

Posted by Discover Thainess on December 2, 2015 23:03

Whatever, mr Editor. Fact is that just digging a hole for a underpass ( not a tunnel) seems to give so much thai problems, problems not occur abroad, that we have to think twice to continue this disasters elsewhere on Phuket.

Posted by Kurt on December 2, 2015 23:16

You've got to love how the camera 'car' overtakes everything in sight in both the left and right lanes. No one can deny that that's realistic.

Posted by Sam Wilko on December 3, 2015 11:11