webfact Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 Lack of pedestrian bridge cited as monk killed on busy Angthong road By The Nation An elderly monk was struck and killed by a pickup truck in Angthong on Monday morning – while crossing the road where a pedestrian flyover was knocked down in an accident last year. The death of Phra Dej Kitwibul, 75, of Wat Mathurostiyaram, prompted residents and fellow monks to urge that the pedestrian bridge be rebuilt. Police said the monk was making his alms rounds and crossing over to the Bangkok-bound lane of the Asia Highway at 5.30am when the pickup driven by Watchara Kaewmanee, 43, travelling at 100 kilometres per hour, struck him. The driver said the monk appeared so suddenly that he couldn’t stop or take evasive action in time. Abbot Phrakrhu Phisal Kunapinan said monks had to cross the busy road every morning to collect alms, risking their lives, ever since a bulldozer accidentally brought the pedestrian bridge down last year. Resident Jiraporn Panthuwong, 39, said local people, factory workers and students also faced grave risks crossing the road and pleaded for the bridge to be rebuilt. Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30336833 -- © Copyright The Nation 2018-01-22 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robblok Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 I would think that the people responsible for the destruction of the should be responsible for the cost of rebuilding the flyover. Why has nothing been done.. seems it takes a death.. and to get shamed in the news for anything to happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petermik Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 RIP to the elderly gentleman,even when pedestrian bridges are provided many choose to ignore them unfortunately..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billd766 Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 Many times driving north on the route 32 I have seen pedestrians cross 2 lanes of frontage road, 4 lanes of high speed traffic, climb over the central reservation barrier and then do the same on the other side of the road. Meanwhile the pedestrian bridge is some 2, 3, 400 metres away. I have driven up the 3ed lane at 110km/h while cars and minibuses go past like I have the brakes on. It has improved a lot over the years and many of the U-turns have been blocked and overpasses installed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkidlad Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 Yeap. I have a BTS line being built outside my home. Most of the footbridges have been taken down. You gotta find a designated spot to cross. And I can assure you, it's not safe. I feel bad for the elderly and people with young kids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kotsak Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 The majority of pedestrians behave the same way as the drivers, always prefering the shortest and convenient (for them) way. The bloody flyover is just above their heads and still prefer crossing the streets illegally, I see it all the time in Bangkok.. There is simply no hope for this lot.. In the case of the OP, I understand that the flyover may have prevented his death but even if it existed, the majority of the people would have prefered the usual shortcut (to their next lives). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robblok Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 58 minutes ago, billd766 said: Many times driving north on the route 32 I have seen pedestrians cross 2 lanes of frontage road, 4 lanes of high speed traffic, climb over the central reservation barrier and then do the same on the other side of the road. Meanwhile the pedestrian bridge is some 2, 3, 400 metres away. I have driven up the 3ed lane at 110km/h while cars and minibuses go past like I have the brakes on. It has improved a lot over the years and many of the U-turns have been blocked and overpasses installed. True i have seen the same thing people going over the road while a pedestrian bridge was close. But we never see the amount of people taking those bridges and how far they walk to take them so I can't say they are never used. They should at least be there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thian Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 46 minutes ago, rkidlad said: . I feel bad for the elderly and people with young kids. They should move to a moobaan where it's all much better to live. At dusk and dawn they all go outside for some excercise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shady86 Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 Waste of funds to build pedestrian bridges as I hard see people using it. They still prefer to risk their lives instead of wasting energy going up bridges and walking few hundred meters to the nearest bridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardColeman Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 48 minutes ago, shady86 said: Waste of funds to build pedestrian bridges as I hard see people using it. They still prefer to risk their lives instead of wasting energy going up bridges and walking few hundred meters to the nearest bridge. Be fair, have you actually seen how far some of those brides are away ? Nearest one for me to cross to get across the main road in Pattaya is about 1 km+ either way. It's very very tempting to risk the road crossing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuktuktuk Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 On the highways coming into and out of Khon Kaen the pedestrian bridges almost never get used. Most of them are near schools or where buses/sonthaews drop the kids off. I cringe when I see little ones running across the highways. I've never seen a fatality, but close calls all the time. Thai culture tolerates unsafe conditions that were eliminated long ago in western countries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tifino Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 a walkover bridge, lightly used by ped'commuters; would be perfect for the Monks to use for Alms collection. Followers could safely line the bridge, and all be peaceful, calm, and even a few meters up closer to heaven the only thing, apart from laziness, to scare people from using the bridge; is if little motorcycle starts using it as a shortcut from blocked off U-Turns (I'm ignoring where some are stepped instead of ramped) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluespunk Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 4 hours ago, webfact said: The driver said the monk appeared so suddenly that he couldn’t stop or take evasive action in time. Yeah, 'cause 75 year olds tend to be very fast movers. Pop up out of nowhere all the time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamuraii Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 old guy could have entered out into street from a big car parked on the side, giving the driver no hope of reacting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shady86 Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 Be fair, have you actually seen how far some of those brides are away ? Nearest one for me to cross to get across the main road in Pattaya is about 1 km+ either way. It's very very tempting to risk the road crossing.I drive regularly and I actually see people risking their lives to cross roads where zebra crossings or bridges are 1 or 200 meters away. Maybe they think traffic jam will save their lives but some rather wait 10 mins for clear traffic rather than walking to nearest bridge minutes away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wavemanwww Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 20 minutes ago, shady86 said: 2 hours ago, RichardColeman said: Be fair, have you actually seen how far some of those brides are away ? Nearest one for me to cross to get across the main road in Pattaya is about 1 km+ either way. It's very very tempting to risk the road crossing. I drive regularly and I actually see people risking their lives to cross roads where zebra crossings or bridges are 1 or 200 meters away. Maybe they think traffic jam will save their lives but some rather wait 10 mins for clear traffic rather than walking to nearest bridge minutes away. zebra crossings ? Every time I visit Thailand I say to my Thai wife, "waste of paint". :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tifino Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 9 minutes ago, wavemanwww said: zebra crossings ? Every time I visit Thailand I say to my Thai wife, "waste of paint". :-) maybe should modify the pattern, and colour; for the bars to appear like cold steel jail cell bars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coulson Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 2 hours ago, Bluespunk said: Yeah, 'cause 75 year olds tend to be very fast movers. Pop up out of nowhere all the time... At 100kmph, everything comes out of nowhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wavemanwww Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 1 hour ago, tifino said: maybe should modify the pattern, and colour; for the bars to appear like cold steel jail cell bars They could post a copper box with a shotgun but still drivers would ignore pedestrians, As I say, "waste of paint" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussieroaming Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 7 hours ago, robblok said: I would think that the people responsible for the destruction of the should be responsible for the cost of rebuilding the flyover. Why has nothing been done.. seems it takes a death.. and to get shamed in the news for anything to happen. Or insurance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midas Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 The driver will have an awful lot of merit making to do for the rest of his life Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluespunk Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 48 minutes ago, coulson said: At 100kmph, everything comes out of nowhere. That was my point, it wasn't the monks fault Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coulson Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 22 minutes ago, Bluespunk said: That was my point, it wasn't the monks fault Not entirely his fault, but he did decide to cross a highway full of Thai drivers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluespunk Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 Just now, coulson said: Not entirely his fault, but he did decide to cross a highway full of Thai drivers. I'm still not blaming the victim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coulson Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 5 minutes ago, Bluespunk said: I'm still not blaming the victim. I blame the bridge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldlakey Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 15 minutes ago, coulson said: I blame the bridge Bridge AWOL, even if not jaywalking definitely not sensible, 75 year old, a Thai driver not a good mixture as its turned out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammieuk1 Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 Paint all zebra crossings red it will save on water washing the blood away as no one ever stops for one RIP to the poor monk another casualty of inept driving . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonmarleesco Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 9 hours ago, webfact said: Resident Jiraporn Panthuwong ... pleaded for the bridge to be rebuilt. I'm surprised they had one in the first place. Thonglor is a main thoroughfare (shortcut) between Sukhumvit and Petchaburi, and with a large residential community, including numerous children, yet there isn't - and to my knowledge, never has been - a pedestrian bridge anywhere along its length. Yet with reasonably adequate lighting - when they work - from bog-standard street lights, the BMA decided it could afford to spend funds on erecting (and not all that competently, at that) innumerable Victorian-style lampposts, again the length of Thonglor (and on several other roads) which are never, ever switched on. Perhaps they could knock down the excess lights, flog them for scrap metal, and spend the money on safety, with the erection of at least one, but preferably three or four, pedestrian bridges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Orton Rd Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 Surely it's his 'karma' no need for blame, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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