Protesters paralyse South traffic

Protesters paralyse South traffic

PRACHUAP KHIRI KHAN – Large numbers of motorists are being forced into a traffic bottlneck on the two-lane Bang Saphan–Nong Hat Thai road used as a detour around the main highway, Phetkasem Road, which has been closed by rubber protestors since Sunday.

A motorcyclist manages to pass through a blockade on the Phetkasem Highway, which has been blocked with trees by rubber and plam planters since Sunday afternoon. Cars and trucks and are being forced to use a detour along a two-lane local road, resulting in a bottleneck. (Photo by Thiti Wannamontha)

The sudden influx of automobiles, large load vehicles in particular, has caused one of the bridges on the passage to sag, worsening the already heavy traffic congestion.

Road accidents that occurred on the route throughout last night also contributed to the severe traffic jam.

Krissada Muadnoi, a official at Bang Saphan bus terminal, said it now takes public buses operating in the area four additional hours to get to their destinations.

Some public vans were also undergoing repairs after their tyres were punctured by road spikes deployed by the demonstrators.

More than 3,000 rubber and palm oil farmers from various southern provinces closed both the inbound and outbound lanes of the main Phetkasem Road, the man South highway,  at kilometre marker 415 in tambon Chang Rak of Bang Saphan Noi district on Sunday afternoon in their campaign for a rubber price hike.

They said the government had ignored their demands that the price of unsmoked rubber sheets be guaranteed at 100 baht/kg and palm oil at six baht/kg.

Deputy Prime Minister Pracha promnok, Interior Minister Charupong Ruangsuwan and Deputy National Police Chief Worapong Chiewpreecha travelled from Bangkok to negotiate with the protest group’s representatives, but they were unable to reach any agreement.

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