National—
On February 27th, 2024, Mr. Suriya Juangroongruangkit, the Thai Minister of Transport, vowed to improve the traffic quality on Rama 2 Road before the Songkran Festival.
The Rama 2 Road construction was delayed by 10% as the contractors were affected by COVID-19, causing them to lack liquidity, and they could only construct at night to avoid traffic congestion. As of press time, 10 contracts were started from February 1st, 2022, to January 2025. However, COVID-19 was a reason that they had to extend the construction to June 2025, according to Suriya.
The Thai Department of Highways was ordered to take measures against the delayed construction by using a merit-score system. It was reported that as a penalty, the contractors who fell below the criteria could not attend the next government bidding, said Suriya.
Meanwhile, during the Songkran holidays from April 12th to 16th, Suriya issued an order to contractors to suspend construction activities which was believed to alleviate the traffic congestion.
Moreover, the Department of Highways was assigned to study a road expansion from Rama 2 to Wang Manao Subdistrict, Pak Tho District, Ratchaburi Province, and a road from Nakhon Pathom to Cha-am, Phetchaburi. It was believed that after the road expansion finishes, traveling from Bangkok to Hua Hin, Prachuap Khiri Khan, will be less than two hours, remarked Suriya.
However, the endless construction on Rama 2 has been ongoing for more than 50 years, it was called a seven-generation road by Thai people. It was first constructed in 1970 before extending to more lanes and building an elevated highway until the present day, TPN noted.
This article originally appeared on our sister website The Pattaya News.
