We have seen it ourselves and were very disappointed to see so many old trees being cut to widen Thanarat Road starting at the interchange with Mittraphap. It seems we aren’t the only ones upset about it. The outcry from visitors and residents was enough that the project has been on the evening news and talk shows. Here is the scoop.
The first eight kilometers of Thanarat Road beginning at the Mittraphap intersection are being widened from two lanes to four. This required removal of many trees along the road, many of them beautiful flowering trees over 50 years old. Initial news reports had mistakenly said that the road would be made eight lanes wide.
One of the directors of the national park service made a statement that he wanted the natural atmosphere to be maintained around the park and that such a large road did not need to come all the way to the park entrance anyway. After all, there is no place for that many cars to go once they reach the park. There is a narrow winding two lane road that goes up the mountain and there are limits on the number of vehicles they allow in the park.
The local governor was interviewed and he said that the existing road is dangerous when there is heavy traffic on holiday weekends or when events are held in the area, so he approved the 69 million baht expansion project. It is true that there is heavy traffic along that stretch of road when, for example, Bonanza Ranch has a concert.
Hopefully the expansion project is kept to that first 10 km of Thanarat and the rest of the trip into Khao Yai and surrounding areas keeps its current feeling and canopy of trees along the road. The pace of development is brisk in the area so some road improvement is no doubt needed. You may also notice a new power substation under construction just past where the current road expansion ends; another sign of big things happening in the area is the need to bring in more power.