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  1. #1
    Thailand Expat misskit's Avatar
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    Moonwalking astronaut shames Khon Kaen into fixing road

    Moonwalking astronaut shames Khon Kaen into fixing road-6b540733-61be-4a8b-9453-43f851f9a4e7-jpeg

    You could spend the day at the district office, fire off angry tweets or collect some envelope cash for venal administrators.

    Or, in the case of one Khon Kaenite frustrated by an exquisitely potholed road, ditch the red tape and cosplay as an astronaut walking on the cratered surface of the moon.


    That’s exactly what a resident of Khon Kaen’s Huai Jod subdistrict did. Slipping on a helmet and white hazmat suit while gripping a Thai flag proudly/not proudly, he slowly strode through the road craters for a photoshoot which has been going viral.




    “Breaking news: A new planet discovered on Ban Huai Jod-Nong No Road, Huai Jod subdistrict, Kranuan district,” reads one video caption. “[We’re] waiting for the authorities who are responsible for this. Please share for the sake of the road to our homes.”

    The act was not an excuse for 33-year-old Chaluayjit Wansueb to have some fun, but to call out the local government for failing to repair the road, which appears to be pockmarked with potholes for what she said is a good 3 kilometers in her neighborhood.


    And it worked. Responding to the viral clips – which have made headlines and even television news – Somsak Jungtrakul, provincial governor, said he saw the videos and ordered repairs to the road.


    It’s the latest evolution in what’s become a time-honored way to shame municipalities into doing their jobs with a little humor.


    Back in 2016, a woman’s bath in a pothole in her hometown successfully embarrassed local authorities into repairing it to the tune of THB2 million (US$60,000).

    ‘New planet discovered!’: Moonwalking ‘astronaut’ shames Khon Kaen into fixing road | Coconuts Bangkok
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Moonwalking astronaut shames Khon Kaen into fixing road-6b540733-61be-4a8b-9453-43f851f9a4e7-jpeg  

  2. #2
    Thailand Expat helge's Avatar
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    Well done.

  3. #3
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    Klondyke's Avatar
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    Moonwalking astronaut shames Khon Kaen into fixing road-roman-road-jpg

  4. #4
    Making people dance. :-)
    Edmond's Avatar
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    ^ while both timeframes are slightly exaggerated. One by a few thousand years. The point is pretty true.

  5. #5
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    Farang Ky Ay's Avatar
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    Best way to get job done indeed, make a video on social platforms.

    Where I live, the mayor set up a Line group where inhabitants can be informed on current affairs (roadworks, electricity or water cuts etc) and also share their issues (potholes, clogged drains, more recently thefts etc). I find it quite convenient.

  6. #6
    Thailand Expat helge's Avatar
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    This piece of road is located in Kranuan, Khon Kaen, where I spent my Thai-time.

    I often asked,just to irritate the locals, why a stretch of road wasn't paved or maintained.

    Always the same answer:

    "The materials have been eaten !"



    Good way to explain corruption

  7. #7
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    ^ its same all over Asia and SE Asia. The funding gets allocated, the senior officials take a skim, the main contract boss takes a skim, the money finds its way to the local authority by which time it is 50% or less of the original sum, then another c25% will disappear and by the time any work gets done and they select the cheapest contractor and materials which usually can only pay for a veneer of asphalt which disappears during the first monsoon season. Back to pot holes and situation normal.

  8. #8
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    Klondyke's Avatar
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    On the other hand, it has to be admitted that in general, the roads in Thailand are in better conditions that somewhere in "developed" countries. You hardly find a laterite road, even in the last village. Surely, the outlook on the good earning of all the involved people is helping to the situation.

    But it does not exclude cases where the road is not properly maintained (after the original quality was compromised by corruption), case of the lazy kamnaan.

  9. #9
    Thailand Expat Fondles's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Klondyke View Post
    Moonwalking astronaut shames Khon Kaen into fixing road-roman-road-jpg
    Those roman roads, built for horse and buggy yeah..

    Doubt they would handle the traffic load of modern times.

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