Motorists can zip down new Pattaya-Map Ta Phut motorway for free until Aug 31

[webfact]

Motorists can zip down new Pattaya-Map Ta Phut motorway for free until Aug 31

By THE NATION

 

 

The Highways Department will open the extended section of Motorway No 7 (Pattaya-Map Ta Phut) on May 22 and allow motorists to use the section for free until the end of August, director-general Sarawut Songsiwilai said on Sunday.

 

“Motorway No 7 connects Bangkok to Banchang district in Rayong and is part of the department’s 20-year strategic plan to develop the interprovincial motorway network,” he said. “It currently ends at Pattaya. The extended section will now run from Pattaya to Map Ta Phut in Rayong.”

 

Sarawut explained that the 32-kilometre extended section comprises three toll booths – at Huai Yai, Khao She On and Map Ta Phut districts.

 

“The cost of the project was Bt17.78 billion, comprising Bt6 billion for land expropriation and Bt11.78 billion for construction. The extended section was 100 per cent financed by profit from toll fee collections on Highway 7 and Highway 9,” he said.

 

“From May 22, the public can use the section for free starting at the U-Tapao toll booth. After August 31, the toll fee for Motorway No 7 will be Bt25-130 for four-wheel vehicles, Bt45-210 for six-wheel vehicles and Bt60-305 for other vehicles.”

 

“The Bangkok-Banchang Motorway No 7 is an important route that completes the transportation network in the Eastern Economic Corridor and will connect existing and future marine and air transportation routes,” he added. “It will also promote inter-border trade with neighbouring countries, reduce traffic congestion on main highways and drive the local economy.”

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30388028

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-05-18

 

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[cooked]

<deleted>.

WHERE is the f***ing map?

[uwe_rayong]

 

1 hour ago, cooked said:

<deleted>.

WHERE is the f***ing map?

 

[FRM-BKK]

4 hours ago, cooked said:

<deleted>.

WHERE is the f***ing map?

There is no “f***ing” map !!

Map-Tha-Put is the name an area in Rayong.

The original poster meant that the new road, from Pattaya to Map-Tha-Phut will open on ...... etc. etc ...

Hope you feel better now ????.

[Benmart]

4 hours ago, cooked said:

<deleted>.

WHERE is the f***ing map?

Glad I don't know you.

[CanadaSam]

The previous (highway 36 I believe) route took less than an hour, how long does this new highway take, does anybody know?

[HashBrownHarry]

24 minutes ago, Benmart said:

Glad I don't know you.

I'm glad i don't know you.

[pineapple01]

12 minutes ago, CanadaSam said:

The previous (highway 36 I believe) route took less than an hour, how long does this new highway take, does anybody know?

Same.

[Kerryd]

11 minutes ago, CanadaSam said:

The previous (highway 36 I believe) route took less than an hour, how long does this new highway take, does anybody know?

If you are going to the U-Tapao airport, then this route should get you there much quicker as the 36 angles off more to the East, above Rayong and then you'd have to come back West to the airport. 

The main purpose of it (the addition) is to make travel to/from that airport quicker. The authorities want to reduce the amount of (air) traffic at Suvarnabhumi so they have been upgrading U-Tapao and the roads leading to/from it in the expectation that more flights will start going there and that people in Isaan (as well as Chon Buri, Rayong, Chantaburi, Trat, ect) will use U-Tapao instead of Suvarnabhumi.
 

[Kerryd]

Guess y'all should have been buying bars in Ban Chang a couple years ago ! With more flights going in/out of U-Tapao, new/upgraded roads leading from Isaan and all those sweet, innocent farm girls looking for work, Ban Chang could overtake Pattaya as the #1 destination for old, fat, nearly broke "hansum men" in the future !

[Almer]

6 hours ago, cooked said:

<deleted>.

WHERE is the f***ing map?

There is no map, and i doubt you can rely on google maps yet, don't worry its a straight road you wont get lost, ah perhaps you will.

[Almer]

1 hour ago, Kerryd said:

If you are going to the U-Tapao airport, then this route should get you there much quicker as the 36 angles off more to the East, above Rayong and then you'd have to come back West to the airport. 

The main purpose of it (the addition) is to make travel to/from that airport quicker. The authorities want to reduce the amount of (air) traffic at Suvarnabhumi so they have been upgrading U-Tapao and the roads leading to/from it in the expectation that more flights will start going there and that people in Isaan (as well as Chon Buri, Rayong, Chantaburi, Trat, ect) will use U-Tapao instead of Suvarnabhumi.
 

I don't think to much air traffic will be an issue until 2021/2

[Kerryd]

6 minutes ago, Almer said:

I don't think to much air traffic will be an issue until 2021/2

Well, they did start planning and building all this before the virus outbreak.

If I recall, they were looking at something like 30 flights a day (or more) going in/out of U-Tapao once the upgrades were done. Mostly international (kind of like Phuket).

But yeah, it'll probably be awhile before the airport (and the new highway) get used to their fullest.

[DrTuner]

In a normal country I wouldn't have to ask but .. is that road then finally ready? Or do you need a 4wd to drive through unfinished patches.

[Don Mega]

2 minutes ago, DrTuner said:

In a normal country I wouldn't have to ask but .. is that road then finally ready? Or do you need a 4wd to drive through unfinished patches.

The actual road surface is finished.

[spiekerjozef]

Is this the new Buriram race circuit ?

[HashBrownHarry]

2 hours ago, Kerryd said:

Well, they did start planning and building all this before the virus outbreak.

If I recall, they were looking at something like 30 flights a day (or more) going in/out of U-Tapao once the upgrades were done. Mostly international (kind of like Phuket).

But yeah, it'll probably be awhile before the airport (and the new highway) get used to their fullest.

30 flights from where, China?

[Kerryd]

1 minute ago, HashBrownHarry said:

30 flights from where, China?

Maybe. The article wasn't specific but it seemed that they were expecting a lot of the traffic to be going to or coming from Isaan, which is why they are also doing all those upgrades on the 36.

It didn't quite make sense to me as going from Isaan to Bangkok would still be more direct than going from Isaan to Rayong (and visa-versa).

Maybe they were thinking of shunting a lot of the regional air traffic to U-Tapao ? Stuff from Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia maybe ? 

If they were thinking of sort of turning it into a "Chinese" hub, then the new highway addition would make the bus trip from U-Tapao to Bangkok a lot quicker. (I mean where else would they be going ? If they were flying in to U-Tapao they'd either be going to Pattaya or Bangkok most likely.)

[Venom]

12 hours ago, webfact said:

The Highways Department will open the extended section of Motorway No 7 (Pattaya-Map Ta Phut) on May 22 and allow motorists to use the section for free until the end of August

Oh really?  Thank you so much for your kindness! 

[couchpotato]

6 hours ago, pineapple01 said:

Same.

The end of Highway 36 and the end of the new motorway extension go to completely different places...36 to Rayong and 7 extension to BanChang.

 

The road that is basically parallel to the new motorway extension and goes from 36 to BanChang/Airport/Sattahip is 331. I can get from 36 to BanChang in approx 20-25 minutes. So at a guess the new motorway should take no more than 15 minutes.

[Mulambana]

7 hours ago, Kerryd said:

old, fat, nearly broke "hansum men" in the future !

In search of a bride 10,000 miles away from home for marriage visa.

[cooked]

14 hours ago, Benmart said:

Glad I don't know you.

Agreed.

In ALL these so called journalistic efforts (Bangkok transport for instance, opening new motorways), they never bother to insert a map. I didn't know where this road goes to although I go to Chonburi / Pattaya several times a year. I now see that I will probably use it next time I go down there. I could do an internet search and after say 30 minutes, find the map so kindly supplied above. However that isn't my job.

Last time I found a map of the projected motorway to Korat, it was in Thai and of such bad resolution that I could hardly use it. 

 

[cooked]

14 hours ago, FRM-BKK said:

There is no “f***ing” map !!

Map-Tha-Put is the name an area in Rayong.

The original poster meant that the new road, from Pattaya to Map-Tha-Phut will open on ...... etc. etc ...

Hope you feel better now ????.

I feel better now that I have seen a MAP. I didn't know where Map Tha-Phut is (or only vaguely) and I wanted to know if and where there there were exits that I could use.

[baansgr]

12 hours ago, Kerryd said:

Well, they did start planning and building all this before the virus outbreak.

If I recall, they were looking at something like 30 flights a day (or more) going in/out of U-Tapao once the upgrades were done. Mostly international (kind of like Phuket).

But yeah, it'll probably be awhile before the airport (and the new highway) get used to their fullest.

If the road was for mostly the airport...the road goes from BKK to Rayong........why would Bangkokians travel all that way when they already have two International/Domestic airports on their doorstep...

[Kerryd]

9 minutes ago, baansgr said:

If the road was for mostly the airport...the road goes from BKK to Rayong........why would Bangkokians travel all that way when they already have two International/Domestic airports on their doorstep...

I don't think it was about "Bangkokians" at all. It was about diverting some of the air traffic that currently goes into Bangkok, to places outside of it, to ease the strain on Suvarnabhumi (and maybe DMK too).

The way it read before (a few years ago at least), was they were hoping that a lot of passengers going to/from Isaan would use the U-Tapao airport instead of Bangkok. That can orchestrated by deciding what airlines/routes will use U-Tapao. That was also why they were making improvements to highway 36 (and the 331 with the overpass going in at Amata City for example).

If they do decide to use U-Tapao as a "Chinese hub", then getting those tourists to/from Bangkok would be easier with the new road while still reducing the air traffic at BKK.

Before, if you were sending a bus load of tourists from Bangkok to U-Tapao, they'd (normally) come down the 7 to Pong, then take the exit ramp to the 36, then probably take the 331 until it hits the #3, then go to the airport.
Now they can stay on the 7 right down to Ban Chang, take a right onto the #3 and then 4 kms later turn left into the airport.

Going the other way, busloads of tourists could make a near straight shot into Bangkok much quicker and easier on the new route, or some could turn off towards Jomtien or take the next exit into Pattaya.

I was thinking that it might also reduce the traffic on the 36 and 331 but if it does work like they originally planned, then there will be in increase in the number of people going to/from Isaan and most of them probably wouldn't be travelling on a toll road if they could help it.

Still, a lot of traffic will be on the new road regardless so it should help. 

Oye ! Is that what the new overpass they are making down in Rayong is for as well ? To make it easier for traffic to get to/from the airport from the 36 ? 

We rode past there the weekend before last. I saw the overpass construction but didn't pay any attention to it. Don't recall quite where it was but it did seem like it was going towards Ban Chang.

 

[overherebc]

18 hours ago, Kerryd said:

Guess y'all should have been buying bars in Ban Chang a couple years ago ! With more flights going in/out of U-Tapao, new/upgraded roads leading from Isaan and all those sweet, innocent farm girls looking for work, Ban Chang could overtake Pattaya as the #1 destination for old, fat, nearly broke "hansum men" in the future !

Ban Chang already has more bars than it needs and most of the 'young ladies' in them have been in them since the late 90's. ????????????

[Kerryd]

14 minutes ago, overherebc said:

Ban Chang already has more bars than it needs and most of the 'young ladies' in them have been in them since the late 90's. ????????????

More bars than it needs......now.

However, with the new highway, the improved highway and the upgraded airport, Ban Chang (and surrounding area) might become more popular with the tourists and "young ladies".

I was told some years ago that most of the girls there were office and factory workers from the surrounding area. If those upgraded highways and the airport result in more traffic coming into Ban Chang (tourists and Thais travelling to/from Isaan) then there could be opportunity for even more bars to open.

I guess it's been about a year since I was last there. Even then, I think there was just 3 of us, we stopped at one place, had some food and then rode home. It was mid-afternoon and there wasn't many "staff" at any of the bars yet (it would have been a Sunday afternoon). 

Of course, Ban Chang is also in a different province than Pattaya and maybe the governor there has a different attitude about some things.
Beaches for instance. 

[overherebc]

17 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

More bars than it needs......now.

However, with the new highway, the improved highway and the upgraded airport, Ban Chang (and surrounding area) might become more popular with the tourists and "young ladies".

I was told some years ago that most of the girls there were office and factory workers from the surrounding area. If those upgraded highways and the airport result in more traffic coming into Ban Chang (tourists and Thais travelling to/from Isaan) then there could be opportunity for even more bars to open.

I guess it's been about a year since I was last there. Even then, I think there was just 3 of us, we stopped at one place, had some food and then rode home. It was mid-afternoon and there wasn't many "staff" at any of the bars yet (it would have been a Sunday afternoon). 

Of course, Ban Chang is also in a different province than Pattaya and maybe the governor there has a different attitude about some things.
Beaches for instance. 

I haven't been in a bar on the 'strip' for years. Used to have lunch in the Camel now and then.

Ref your Chonburi/Rayong Gov' point there is a different attitude, has been for a while. One previous owner of the Camel decided on having a couple of pole dancers and I think it lasted about a week before the word came down, on the lines of 'stop, this isn't Pattaya'.

Re tourists, my feeling is they will be more likely to use the bars owned/run by locals on the beach areas. 

All the expat bars charge the same prices for beer by agreement 80 baht/small beer ( Cartel? ) while the locally owned/run places charge 90 for a large beer.

A lot of the expat bars I see are road side with continuous noise/dust/exhaust etc while customers try to enjoy a 'quiet' beer.

Just my view.

[Kerryd]

10 minutes ago, overherebc said:

I haven't been in a bar on the 'strip' for years. Used to have lunch in the Camel now and then.

Ref your Chonburi/Rayong Gov' point there is a different attitude, has been for a while. One previous owner of the Camel decided on having a couple of pole dancers and I think it lasted about a week before the word came down, on the lines of 'stop, this isn't Pattaya'.

Re tourists, my feeling is they will be more likely to use the bars owned/run by locals on the beach areas. 

All the expat bars charge the same prices for beer by agreement 80 baht/small beer ( Cartel? ) while the locally owned/run places charge 90 for a large beer.

A lot of the expat bars I see are road side with continuous noise/dust/exhaust etc while customers try to enjoy a 'quiet' beer.

Just my view.

Admittedly it's not for everyone, just like Walking Street isn't for everyone. Different strokes for different folks. Plenty of places along the beaches in Rayong (which seem to be open, unlike in Pattaya).

One constant though is progress. Never seems to stop. Evidence of that is the topic at hand (the new highway addition - not the bars in Ban Chang). 
That progress usually goes hand in hand with things like "increased population" which of course means "increased employment" and "increased demand" for all manner of things, from restaurants to bars to shopping centers.

I mean, isn't that the story of Pattaya in fact ? A sleepy little fishing village that started to be used as an R&R destination during the Vietnam war. Increase in visitors (mainly lots of hungry, thirsty and horny soldiers) leading to an increase in bars, hotels, restaurants, accommodation buildings, laundrys (etc etc). As things progressed, more and bigger of the same were built (and so on and so on) until we get to where we are today. 

And it's not stopping. Terminal 21 is a new addition and there's the (perennial) talk of some kind of LRT to link Pattaya to Bangkok (with the main aim being to move more tourists between the two destinations quicker).

The area around Ban Chang will probably start seeing a lot of progress in the near future (5-10 years), especially if the move to divert more (air) traffic to U-Tapao is a success. People will naturally start to gravitate towards it seeking employment and/or business opportunities.
And bars/restaurants tend to be the easiest places to start up (or find employment in for some people).

 

[overherebc]

4 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

Admittedly it's not for everyone, just like Walking Street isn't for everyone. Different strokes for different folks. Plenty of places along the beaches in Rayong (which seem to be open, unlike in Pattaya).

One constant though is progress. Never seems to stop. Evidence of that is the topic at hand (the new highway addition - not the bars in Ban Chang). 
That progress usually goes hand in hand with things like "increased population" which of course means "increased employment" and "increased demand" for all manner of things, from restaurants to bars to shopping centers.

I mean, isn't that the story of Pattaya in fact ? A sleepy little fishing village that started to be used as an R&R destination during the Vietnam war. Increase in visitors (mainly lots of hungry, thirsty and horny soldiers) leading to an increase in bars, hotels, restaurants, accommodation buildings, laundrys (etc etc). As things progressed, more and bigger of the same were built (and so on and so on) until we get to where we are today. 

And it's not stopping. Terminal 21 is a new addition and there's the (perennial) talk of some kind of LRT to link Pattaya to Bangkok (with the main aim being to move more tourists between the two destinations quicker).

The area around Ban Chang will probably start seeing a lot of progress in the near future (5-10 years), especially if the move to divert more (air) traffic to U-Tapao is a success. People will naturally start to gravitate towards it seeking employment and/or business opportunities.
And bars/restaurants tend to be the easiest places to start up (or find employment in for some people).

 

All true.

A lot of land/houses bought/being bought with BBK money. Until Covid the nice big house almost next door always had a family from BBK at the weekends. Many other examples around as well. New roads/motorway make that easier.

As you say 5/10 years will be the timescale. No get rich quick prospects at the moment I reckon.

Prices asked for 'on the beach' properties 10/15/20,000,000 not unusual but not many being sold.

Know one guy paid 8 mil for a condo 4/5 years ago and now can't even get 6 mil for it.