Deforestation the Highway Department's latest 'crime'
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The Department of Highways deforestation team is out in force again, this time along Petchkasem Highway at Khao Lak in Phang Nga.
As I write this, the last stand of mature trees between Bangniang and Bang La-on is being cut down, removing a green buffer between the two villages and extending what has become a denuded, desolate highway through this resort area.
The department appears to have no appreciation of the amenity value of its assets and little understanding that different road configurations are needed to suit different situations. Meanwhile its “improved” roads are often of substandard design, as evidenced in Khao Lak. Instead of doubling the traffic lanes from four to eight through the built-up area, what is needed are more parking space and improved facilities for pedestrians – decent footpaths, not the narrow, badly constructed strips that are swiftly encroached upon by shops. The concept of “traffic calming” in built-up areas, whereby local traffic and pedestrian activity is given precedence over through traffic, which is diverted or forced to slow down, is unheard of in Thailand.
Time for a comprehensive update of the Highway Department’s design standards, I feel.
Nigel Pike
Phang Nga
