Roll Call: Surviving Tunnel Flooders

[JSixpack]

 

Roll Call: Surviving Tunnel Flooders

 

The horror. The unspeakable. The elephant in the room ignored. The Non-Flooded Tunnel.

 

Time to get it out into the open, now that rainy season's behind us, and wonder: what's happened to our poor Flooders? They've gone totally silent on the topic of the tunnel after all the hundreds of—hee hee!—sneers, cartoons, and puerile jokes. Hee hee.

 

It seems some Flooders did in fact lose the will to live when it became clear the tunnel wouldn't flood. I mean, they've entirely disappeared. One may hope that after a period spent in drunken stupors, staring at the walls of their cheap rooms, they were able to gather themselves together sufficiently to board a plane home. In some cases, though, I fear the worst. The other losers, The Flyovers and The Roundabouters (who may of course be Flooders as well), have indeed had to swallow a bitter pill. But they'll probably survive on a diet of occasional sneers about tea money.

 

CASE STUDY: VICTIMS OF TVFPNCS

 

Background: For more than a decade now, The Authorities and private developers of Pattaya have flouted with impunity the TVF Central Planning Bureau with unauthorized construction. The Bureau operates on a strictly "needs" basis; nothing has been needed since around 1994. Any new construction therefore leads to vicious outbreaks of the dreaded TVF Poster New Construction Syndrome (TVFPNCS) among our forum members.

 

For you noobs, TVFPNCS has five stages:

 

1. Puzzlement
2. Disbelief; "no need"
3. Derision; doom prediction
4. Hate (disappointment)
5. Acceptance.

 

And so it was with The Tunnel. Stage 3 typically lasts the longest. We heard that  there's no need for a tunnel, it's useless, it's a "bodge job," Thais can't construct a tunnel, it'd collapse, it'd flood, it wouldn't be finished for at least 5 years, they've run out of money, it's a disaster, blah blah. Let's hear from some of those stricken:

 

On 12/24/2015 at 7:13 PM, Basil B said:

Will it be of benefit to the users of the Sukumvit?

Well let's see if it ever gets completed first...

On 12/25/2015 at 11:35 AM, 2fishin2 said:

Tunnel will be a disaster. The only thing is does is funnels all that traffic into a more congested area on either side of it. How do I know? The phuket tunnel.

On 2/28/2016 at 12:32 PM, Seizetheday said:

I don't think anyone really believes it's going to be finished on time. I'd be surprised if it's finished within 5 years.

On 6/27/2017 at 7:45 AM, Kerryd said:

All this for a short little tunnel that basically just bypasses one intersection and probably won't do a thing to reduce the amount of traffic at that intersection any ways.

On 7/6/2017 at 1:20 AM, gk10002000 said:

 .  this will be a disaster.  just wait for some real rains and flooding, the water that is now probably seeping below adjacent building foundations, under the roadways, etc

On 9/6/2017 at 8:32 AM, AlQaholic said:

For once, I think those tunnels are pretty nice, good job. Only question is why did it have to take so bloody long to build just one of them? Second question is; what is it for? There is no apparent benefit from building the tunnels other than having the opportunity to put a shitload of decorative stuff on top of it?

Notable were the affirmations of Thai stupidity in comparison to one's own high intelligence. One member has now turned out to be a Chinaman after all. IQ? Not clear how much lower than 70:

 

On 12/22/2015 at 3:40 PM, lonewolf99 said:

If this project is finished in less than 5 years to quote Roy Keane - I am a Chinaman....

They appear to be doing it the cheap way. You dig a channel then put a roof on it with vertical vents for fumes. There is no tunneling equipment.

Since they are using the same line and going below the level of the old storm drain, even if you have an IQ of less than 70 you realise there is one route for heavy rain.

1

But the largest group of trolls ace Tunnel Engineers were The Flooders. We had countless witty highly creative jokes about submarines, amphibious vehicles, scuba equipment, drivers driving underwater etc. Hee hee! Flooders even had a number of innocent posters here convinced the tunnel would be having huge pumps running full-time. I won't bother to repeat the hundred or so silly flooding jokes; this original cartoon by member onemorechang sums them all up. The ducky represents the average mentality of the Flooder, I suppose.

 

As the rainy season went on, the lack of flooding was SO puzzling and disturbing

 

 

that some, like jilted lovers, resorted to dreamy scenarios where it was impossible that the tunnel not flood, like during a tsunami. Or there was the comforting thought that at least the Pattaya Tai tunnel would be flooded. Heh heh. At last the poor Flooder might feel vindicated and superior.

 

On 10/18/2017 at 10:45 AM, Techno Viking said:

ohhh I have no doubt it could flood, would need about 2000mm of rain in an hour to do it though.

SWIMMERS AGAINST THE TIDE

 

A tiny band of rational posters early realized that Thais could build tunnels (same as they did in Chiang Mai or Bangkok), pointed out that the site is on a hill and therefore couldn't flood, and predicted success for the tunnel. Among those we might mention JSixpack, KittenKong, NanLaew, bkkjames, craigt3365, Don Mega, Sunak, marinediscoking (Early In Award Winner), Robroona, and sandmike. These were derided as the "its built on top of a hill crew."

 

 

There were some amusing exchanges as some experts were unwilling to accept that water's propensity to flow downhill would dash their hopes and rubbish their ace engineering assessments:

 

On 3/3/2017 at 1:30 AM, gk10002000 said:

So just where exactly is the water that flows into the tunnel or that is diverted around the tunnel going to go?  I bet it won't be long before some serious ground subsidence happens as water seeps down

 

On 3/3/2017 at 6:47 AM, NanLaew said:

Same places that water goes to now; bottom of the hill on either side.

TUNNEL SUCCESS

 

As TVF Posters are quick to whinge about anything from haircuts to runny fried eggs, the curious lack of whinging about The Tunnel attests loudly to its success. After it was finished, a few posters did dare note the improvement wrought:

 

On 9/8/2017 at 11:32 AM, Kaoboi Bebobp said:

Yesterday was my first pass over the tunnel using the lights from SSCC on my journey to Klang. I live off NPW and had decided to go up to Siam to make the left turn onto Sukhumvit and then to Klang.  No southbound traffic on Suk at Soi Siam as the left-turn arrow was green. No drama sliding over to the right-turn lanes. A bit of a wait for the passage to Klang. Almost no top-side traffic, but lots of tunnel traffic. Exactly as hoped. 

 

On the way back, not much northbound top-side traffic. Again, a completely drama-free shift to the right-turn lanes for Soi Siam. Definitely more traffic on Siam than there used to be during the tunnel construction. 

 

It all works for me. A big relief such that I may just stay on the Dark Side now.

 

On 9/8/2017 at 10:11 AM, William Osborne said:

definitely helps when coming from East pattaya into town.... nice to come onto Sukumwit and see it empty...

 

BUT WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

 

What's worrisome now is the utter silence of our (former?) ace road construction, tunnel, urban planning experts . . . the Flooders, the Flyovers, the Roundabouters . . . except for the odd residual verbal tic of "flyover" popping up at random now and then, usually followed by a muttering of "tea money." Now, isn't it only proper that a group so utterly wrong and proven so silly would step up with an admission and apology for promulgating nonsense? Well, not here, eh. Face saving is far more important among TVF posters than among Thais.

 

It does appear, however, that, one way or the other, they've all reached Stage 4 (Disappointment) or 5 (Acceptance) of their TVFPNCS. So it was with (to name most of the biggies) CentralFestival, Big C Pattaya Klang, the Promenade, Harbor Mall, and the Pattaya - Hua Hin ferry—will be soon with Terminal 21.

 

But let's hear from them today, if they aren't too depressed or worse to answer.

 

Where are they now, johng, Techno Viking, onemorechang, Borzandy, petermilk, chickenlegs, thaibeachlovers, reenatinnakor, donkeykong, Stargrazer9889, lonewolf99, Justgrazing, jimmyyy, gk10002000, tomwct, BigBadGeordie, fforest1, KhunKenAP, Litlos, IAMHERE, burgdawg, LennyW, DD13, fred Kubasa, Seizetheday, Basil B, Langsuan Man, biggles45, and darksidedog—to name a few? Surviving?  I've asked one to report the results of his concerted "watching" this "bodge job" but it seems he just can't bring himself to talk about it.

 

[johng]

2 hours ago, JSixpack said:

Where are they now, johng,

I'm watching the snow in London.....

Having driven trough the tunnel I agree it is quite unlikely to flood as they got it right and built it slopping down the hill...the South Pattaya junction still floods so entry /exit can still be a problem.

[londoedan]

TLDR

[cornishcarlos]

Wonder how long it took the Op to put that together ?? 

Obviously not much else going on for him !! You can have a differing opinion but why go to that amount of trouble to try to get your point across ??

Each to their own I guess...

[jacko45k]

Some of the points made are still valid.

The tunnel only gets you to the next delay a little easier. 

As I ride a motorcycle mostly it doesn't help me too much. It is easier to get into Klang since it opened, about as easy as it was before the construction started. The one time I was in my car and I thought I would save time, they had closed the damned thing and I was stuck in mayhem for ages.

Hard to evaluate as traffic congestion is forever increasing!

[craigt3365]

Excellent post!  Love it.

[Rimmer]

A couple of flames have been removed.

Don't like the post then move on but do not leave your comments on here for others to read and for mods to clean up.

[Thaidream]

The cost of the tunnel was 5 times what the cost of  an overpass would have been. The tunnel  took 2 years to  build and the overpass could have been done in 6 months with the same results. Traffic would actually flow better and the encroaching side roads blended into traffic flow much easier

The tunnel  was built for obvious reasons- you be the judge

[smotherb]

3 hours ago, cornishcarlos said:

Wonder how long it took the Op to put that together ?? 

Obviously not much else going on for him !! You can have a differing opinion but why go to that amount of trouble to try to get your point across ??

Each to their own I guess...

Some people like to prove their point instead of just spouting. It takes more time and more brainpower.

[lou62]

2 hours ago, craigt3365 said:

Excellent post!  Love it.

 

 

Agreed, great post and funny.

[Suradit69]

4 hours ago, cornishcarlos said:

Wonder how long it took the Op to put that together ?? 

Certainly it took longer than it takes Thai bashers to spew their mindless nonsense.

 

4 hours ago, cornishcarlos said:

You can have a differing opinion

Yes, but facts are less pliable.

[stropper]

well done , like you i am sick of the negitivivity by the pattaya stool sitters

[Enoon]

9 hours ago, smotherb said:

Some people like to prove their point instead of just spouting. It takes more time and more brainpower.

 

No, some people like to spend a lot of time constructing barely veiled invective.

 

Very little of it proved anything about its notional subject.

 

But all of it proved plenty (not that anymore such proof was needed) about the obsessive dedication (to his lonely mission) of its author.

 

"Brevity is the soul of wit"

                   W Shakespeare.

 

 

 

 

 

[ThaiBob]

I'll admit I had my doubts about this project but the proof is in the pudding and the finished product was worth the disruption. I like the design and the traffic flows so smoothly, it is certainly a time saver (and no motorbikes!). Not the most cost efficient but I'm glad they did it. Bite my tongue now, but I was originally suggesting something like the Thai-Belguim flyover on Rama 4 in Bangkok. 

 

[smotherb]

14 hours ago, Enoon said:

 

No, some people like to spend a lot of time constructing barely veiled invective.

 

Very little of it proved anything about its notional subject.

 

But all of it proved plenty (not that anymore such proof was needed) about the obsessive dedication (to his lonely mission) of its author.

 

"Brevity is the soul of wit"

                   W Shakespeare.

 

 

 

 

 

Your Shakespearian quote is as off-base as you post--I don't believe the the OP was trying to be witty and whether or not he proved anything is in the minds of each reader.

[JSixpack]

What we have here is lame flame. Rather than report it I'll have a laugh. We may have both posts deleted, however, which would be understandable.

 

17 hours ago, Enoon said:

No, some people like to spend a lot of time constructing barely veiled invective.

 

First, the issue my time is totally irrelevant. You're merely resorting to personal attack because though you don't like my post, you have no rebuttal or anything useful to say.

 

Second, there's no "veiling" of anything, certainly of invective. You'll need to learn to use words more precisely, Shakespeare.

 

Quote

Very little of it proved anything about its notional subject.

 

As smotherb points out,

 

3 hours ago, smotherb said:

Your Shakespearian quote is as off-base as you post--I don't believe the the OP was trying to be witty and whether or not he proved anything is in the minds of each reader.

 

In eagerness to flame, you've mistaken the entire rhetorical mode of the post. Normally that would be awfully embarrassing for a Shakespearean scholar, but in this case . . . er . . . . And that disposes of the irrelevant "wit" quotation as well. Was A Modest Proposal "witty?" It's funny though.

 

But then you didn't really understand what the subject is anyway. Duh.

 

All points raised in the OP are well-documented with quotes from the members. The only thing in doubt is the survival of the Flooders. Only one of them mentioned has verified his existence and--shock--admitted the Thais did a good job with the tunnel. Now that's rare and admirable. We may assume the others just hate to admit foolishness and bigotry.

 

Quote

But all of it proved plenty (not that anymore such proof was needed) about the obsessive dedication (to his lonely mission) of its author.

 

I hope you found that little fantasy comforting. You have no idea what you're talking about.

 

But I'll throw you this bone: most things I do, I do at least as thoroughly as they deserve. That's proven quite successful for me. (I won't boast.) The Tunnel biz dragged on for YEARS with hundreds of posts and there's a lot of nonsense to laugh at there. That is, for me to laugh at. I don't really care who else does. If some do, then great. If not? Too bad for you.

 

And as my propensity to write longer posts is a convenient target for attack by sore losers, I've already addressed it briefly in the About Me section of my profile. I might mention also I have a lot of good writing/editing tools at my disposal, such as the web editor I used to write my post in, web scrapbook for easy collection of snippets, and a great clipboard manager for clipping, organizing, and power pasting in. (Hence the series of Flooder posts are in FIFO order.)

 

So I can probably whip out several pages in the time it takes you to strain your bowels and squeeze out one.

 

I am sorry I have had to write you such a long letter, but I did not have time to write you a short one.

     --Blaise Pascal
 

[gk10002000]

On 12/10/2017 at 6:29 PM, cornishcarlos said:

Wonder how long it took the Op to put that together ?? 

Obviously not much else going on for him !! You can have a differing opinion but why go to that amount of trouble to try to get your point across ??

Each to their own I guess...

It was a pretty senseless run on rant by the OP.

[JSixpack]

20 minutes ago, gk10002000 said:

It was a pretty senseless run on rant by the OP.

 

You would think so, wouldn't you? To paraphrase Mandy Rice-Davies.

 

I so enjoyed your Tunnel posts, some of the best really. So now you've verified your survival of the Non-Flood. But you ready to man up yet? Still watching carefully those building foundations?

[smotherb]

11 minutes ago, JSixpack said:

What we have here is lame flame. Rather than report it I'll have a laugh. We may have both posts deleted, however, which would be understandable.

 

 

First, the issue my time is totally irrelevant. You're merely resorting to personal attack because though you don't like my post, you have no rebuttal or anything useful to say.

 

Second, there's no "veiling" of anything, certainly of invective. You'll need to learn to use words more precisely, Shakespeare.

 

 

As smotherb points out,

 

 

In eagerness to flame, you've mistaken the entire rhetorical mode of the post. Normally that would be awfully embarrassing for a Shakespearean scholar, but in this case . . . er . . . . And that disposes of the irrelevant "wit" quotation as well. Was A Modest Proposal "witty?" It's funny though.

 

But then you didn't really understand what the subject is anyway. Duh.

 

All points raised in the OP are well-documented with quotes from the members. The only thing in doubt is the survival of the Flooders. Only one of them mentioned has verified his existence and--shock--admitted the Thais did a good job with the tunnel. Now that's rare and admirable. We may assume the others just hate to admit foolishness and bigotry.

 

 

I hope you found that little fantasy comforting. You have no idea what you're talking about.

 

But I'll throw you this bone: most things I do, I do at least as thoroughly as they deserve. That's proven quite successful for me. (I won't boast.) The Tunnel biz dragged on for YEARS with hundreds of posts and there's a lot of nonsense to laugh at there. That is, for me to laugh at. I don't really care who else does. If some do, then great. If not? Too bad for you.

 

And as my propensity to write longer posts is a convenient target for attack by sore losers, I've already addressed it briefly in the About Me section of my profile. I might mention also I have a lot editing tools at my disposal, such as the web editor I used to write my post in, web scrapbook for easy collection of snippets, and a great clipboard manager for clipping, organizing, and power pasting in. (Hence the series of Flooder posts are in FIFO order.)

 

So I can probably whip out several pages in the time it takes you to strain your bowels and squeeze out one.

 

I am sorry I have had to write you such a long letter, but I did not have time to write you a short one.

     --Blaise Pascal
 

Yes, please do not boast, especially about someone misunderstanding.

[JSixpack]

On Monday, December 11, 2017 at 9:57 AM, Thaidream said:

The cost of the tunnel was 5 times what the cost of  an overpass would have been. The tunnel  took 2 years to  build and the overpass could have been done in 6 months with the same results. Traffic would actually flow better and the encroaching side roads blended into traffic flow much easier

The tunnel  was built for obvious reasons- you be the judge

 

Your case has not been ignored but given every consideration in the OP.

 

The other losers, The Flyovers and The Roundabouters (who may of course be Flooders as well), have indeed had to swallow a bitter pill. But they'll probably survive on a diet of occasional sneers about tea money.

 

the Flyovers, the Roundabouters . . . except for the odd residual verbal tic of "flyover" popping up at random now and then, usually followed by a muttering of "tea money."

 

 

[NanLaew]

I wonder if any of the original "Central Festival's Falling Down" crowd became "Flooders"?

[gk10002000]

9 hours ago, JSixpack said:

 

You would think so, wouldn't you? To paraphrase Mandy Rice-Davies.

 

I so enjoyed your Tunnel posts, some of the best really. So now you've verified your survival of the Non-Flood. But you ready to man up yet? Still watching carefully those building foundations?

Oh my goodness.  What are you on about now?  So many silly assumptions, and hasty generalizations.  Going back months and pulling people's posts?  Sad life.  As for the building foundations, and street foundations, give it time. 

[JSixpack]

10 hours ago, gk10002000 said:

Oh my goodness.  What are you on about now? 

1

 

What gives you the idea I've changed the topic in any way?

 

Quote

So many silly assumptions, and hasty generalizations.  Going back months and pulling people's posts?

 

 

Yes, our Flooders such as yourself made a lot of silly assumptions (esp the one about water not flowing downhill) and hasty generalizations, as noted: 

 

We heard that  there's no need for a tunnel, it's useless, it's a "bodge job," Thais can't construct a tunnel, it'd collapse, it'd flood, it wouldn't be finished for at least 5 years, they've run out of money, it's a disaster, blah blah.

 

And it took months for the rainy season to end so that all those silly assumptions and hasty generalizations could be definitively debunked and laughed at. Otherwise, the reply would merely have been "rainy season's not over yet!!!"

 

Seems you're the only Flooder still clinging to silly assumptions and hasty generalizations. But maybe more will weigh in. Give it time, eh.

 

Quote

As for the building foundations, and street foundations, give it time. 

 

 

But your contention was the building & street foundations are going to collapse from water "flowing into the tunnel" or "diverted" around the tunnel."

 

On 3/3/2017 at 1:30 AM, gk10002000 said:

So just where exactly is the water that flows into the tunnel or that is diverted around the tunnel going to go?  I bet it won't be long before some serious ground subsidence happens as water seeps down

 

Even though you were told that the tunnel's on a hill, water won't flow into the tunnel, and there's no "diverting" 'cause the water just flows as it always did from that hill. Hence if buildings & streets were going to collapse, they'd have collapsed many years ago. So, logically, why should we have to "give it time?" What difference will that make?

 

But the evidence you required initially is already in. You said we'd only need to wait for some "real rains and flooding."

 

On 7/6/2017 at 1:20 AM, gk10002000 said:

 .  this will be a disaster.  just wait for some real rains and flooding, the water that is now probably seeping below adjacent building foundations, under the roadwa

 

And we've already had those. As predicted by the tiny band of Non-Flooders, nothing happened.

 

So what's going to change to cause the "disaster?" How much longer do we need to wait for your "disaster?"

[Jai Dee]

A deliberate baiting troll post has been removed from this thread.

[JSixpack]

On 12/11/2017 at 7:54 PM, ThaiBob said:

I'll admit I had my doubts about this project but the proof is in the pudding and the finished product was worth the disruption. I like the design and the traffic flows so smoothly, it is certainly a time saver (and no motorbikes!). Not the most cost efficient but I'm glad they did it. Bite my tongue now, but I was originally suggesting something like the Thai-Belguim flyover on Rama 4 in Bangkok. 

 

 

Excellent! You as a Flyover and johng as a Flooder are the only two of those named (probably 1/3 of the total) to man up and admit some wrong thinking in the past and the success of the Tunnel, which is affirmed by the deafening silence about it since it opened. When I go past the area on Suk I always note how much better traffic flows there now.

 

 

One other Flooder weighed in but evidently is still clinging to hope of predicted future disaster. Secretly, many of our Flooders may be doing the same I suppose. Good luck with that.

[maxpower]

[guzzi850m2]

What a funny topic from our man in Pattaya, JSixpack.
That gave me a good laugh

Sent from my SM-C710F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[JSixpack]

On 12/15/2017 at 4:57 AM, guzzi850m2 said:

What a funny topic from our man in Pattaya, JSixpack.
That gave me a good laugh

 

 

'Tis to your credit you're too intelligent to be a Flooder. The responses to your question were good examples of  how those commentards would treat a simple request for information, for example with this bit of brilliant wit:

 

On 11/22/2016 at 2:22 PM, guzzi850m2 said:

Can somebody tell me where this underpass is leading?

 

 

On 11/22/2016 at 6:01 PM, petermik said:

It starts at one end then finishes at the other,quite simple really when you think about it