The appeal for donations was initially posted on Patong Development Foundation’s Facebook page last week and today (Nov 4) received some noteable support by being shared by Phuket Info Center, a Facebook page operated by the Phuket Governor’s Office and used for important public announcements.
“Because this land is owned by the private sector, not by the government, the government’s money cannot be used to repair or build this road. Therefore, the private sector asks for donations for the construction of the road to facilitate travel for people and tourists,” the Patong Development Foundation said in its publication in English.
Donations for the construction of the alternative route to the top of Patong Hill can be sent directly into the foundations’ bank account. Details are as follows:
- Account Name : Foundation Patong Development
- Account No. 837-0-18479-0 (Krungthai Bank)
The Patong Development Foundation, founded by Patong prominent business person Preechawude ‘Prab’ Keesin, has already itself donated B300,000 to the government to facilitate the creation of the alternative road (read here).
The initial budget and land for construction were provided by Tiger Kingdom Phuket and Mr Prab personally as well as other people “through Bangla Road Entertainment Entrepreneurs Club and the Patong Development Foundation”, Mr Preechawude explained.
The alternative route should start from behind the Patong Go-Kart Speedway on Phra Barami Rd in Kathu and go up to the Chao Pho Suea Shrine at the top of the hill.
The road will be about 2.5 kilometres long. Construction is expected to be completed within two weeks. Then the road will be open for public use, though at least part of it will be running through privately owned land.
“We are now entering the high season, when businesses in the Patong area and the local economy are expected to be active again after having to stagnate until the town almost became abandoned during the COVID-19 crisis,” Mr Preechawude said, explaining his reasons.
“Patong can’t miss this opportunity. This year’s high season is everyone’s hope. This alternate road is like seizing an ‘opportunity’ that is slipping away, to get it back into our hands again,” he added.
Mr Preechawude became the first prominent business figure to publicly draw attention to the possible threats to the future of Patong’s economic recovery after the collapse of the main road over Patong Hill on Oct 19 (read here).
As of Nov 4, only motorcycles were allowed to travel to Patong from Kathu past the damaged section of the road. All cars, vans, buses, and trucks had to go either through Karon or through Kamala with both routes suffering from heavy traffic congestions (read here).