Repairs beggar belief

I would like to bring to your attention the resurfacing of part of Rama III Road that bridges over the railroad tracks south of Klong Toey market.

Though this stretch had been resurfaced just months ago, it has again rapidly become covered with large potholes. And about a week or so ago, a futile and incompetent attempt was made to ‘‘repair’’ the many holes (some perhaps 10 or 20 centimetres deep). I say futile and incompetent because within about a week of these ‘‘repairs’’ being made, the same holes had reappeared.

Here are some uncomfortable facts about the resurfacing and the subsequent road ‘‘repairs’’.

1. The road surface was better before the resurfacing than it is at present.

2. The quality of the work performed by the contractor was decidedly substandard. 3. The government officials responsible for overseeing/inspecting this work clearly failed to perform their duties adequately.

Based on these facts, it seems quite clear, albeit unsurprising, that an unqualified or fraudulent contractor, probably associated with, if not directly owned by some ‘‘influential’’ person, was chosen to do this job.

And presumably a large portion of the funds intended to perform this work ended up lining the pockets of various politicians/ government officials/influential parties before the work even commenced.

And that the contractor, probably due to a combination of a lack of funds provided to do the job properly, not to mention looking to ‘‘squeeze’’ their own extra ‘‘profit’’ from this job, purchased substandard materials and applied them in a substandard manner.

As this roadwork is almost right in the Bangkok Post’s backyard, maybe a little investigative reporting is in order.

DAVID V FURMAN