Patong Hill open to all vehicles

Kathu Municipality announced the full reopening of the road through a post on Facebook late yesterday afternoon (Dec 19). “All kinds of vehicles are allowed to travel - come and go,” the post said.

Noting “Kathu-Patong Road, the road of effort and patience”, Kathu Municipality urged motorists “to use the route with caution”.

Publicly announcing the road reopening yesterday allows Kathu officials to claim that the repairs were conducted in exactly two months, following the landslide that devastated the road on Oct 19.

owever, provincial officials did not announce the full reopening of the road until 3:25pm today (Dec 20), through a post on Facebook by the Phuket office of the Public Relations Department (PR Phuket).

The reopening of the road followed Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew inspecting the repairs to the road and the embankment yesterday evening, said the PR Phuket report.

The repairs to the embankment and the road are nearly 100% complete. “Just a little more work” needs to be done. “Only a few details of the work remain”, the report added.

Regardless, “all kinds of vehicles are allowed to pass,” the PR Phuket report confirmed.

The work that remained comprised ‘finishing touches’, namely the installation of a guardrail along embankment side of the edge of the road. The outer lane is currently reserved for construction vehicles completing the work.

Completing the project made travel for local residents and tourists convenient, “because this period is during the festivals, including the New Year festival and is considered the high season of Phuket, in which there will be more tourists traveling in Phuket”, the report said.

“People who drive on the roads in the area are asked to drive carefully and strictly follow the traffic rules,” the report concluded.

The reopening of the road to all traffic follows Transport Minister Saksayam Chidchob inspecting the work underway on the hill on Dec 2, when the work was reported to be 70% complete..

Following Mr Saksayam’ visit, Phuket officials announced that the goal was to fully reopen the road by Christmas Day.