Residents furious 20 million baht rest area on Thailand Riviera Road abandoned

Residents are up in arms about a motorway services station and rest area that has been abandoned on the Thailand Riviera Road in the southern province of Chumphon.

The Riviera Road was part of a government project in 2009 which tried to level up the coast of the southern provinces of Thailand and make it a must-visit destination for tourists across the world, just like the French Riviera and Italian Riviera.

The plan was for the road to connect five provinces, including Samut Songkram, Phetchaburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Chumphon, and Ranong. About 476 kilometres out of 1,500 kilometres were completed and the whole route was expected to be finished by 2023.

The area in the Pak Klong sub-district, Pra Tiw district of Chumphon, is part of the Thailand Riviera project that was constructed to provide facilities and a rest area for tourists and locals travelling on the road. But the area has been abandoned for years. The bathroom and toilet areas are filthy and a plague of Hymenoptera (dangerous bees or wasp-type flying insects) has taken over the place.

News Channel 8 reported the rest area construction was finished around 2013. They added that the place was abandoned in 2017.

The 8,000-square-metre rest area includes a large car park, five pavilions, one shop, four abandoned restaurants, and male and female bathrooms. Every building is suffering from construction faults and cracks. The hives of Hymenoptera or sawflies can be found in every corner of the building.

Khaosod visited the area yesterday for pictures. They found two foreign tourists sheltering from the rain. One reporter tried to warn the tourists about the sawflies before being a victim himself and getting stung.

Another two passing Thai travellers visited the rest area to use the restroom but they left without using the restroom because it was too filthy.