Hopewell pillars coming down | Bangkok Post: news

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Hopewell's pillars ousted by Red Line

Abandoned project's columns to be razed

Published: 1 Feb 2013 at 00.12
Online news: Transport

The concrete pillars of the abandoned Hopewell mass transit project will be demolished for a new railway on the same route.

End of the line: These concrete pillars and beams of the abandoned Hopewell mass transit project along northbound railway tracks in Bangkok will be dismantled soon to pave the way for the construction of the Red Line electric railway from Bang Sue to Rangsit of Pathum Thani. The picture was taken from a camera mounted on a remote-controlled helicopter. (Photo by Sithikorn Wongwudthianun)

The clearance of the pillars will cost about 200 million baht.

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DonAleman
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Discussion 30 : 02 Feb 2013 at 11.5730
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When,exactly, are Macau/Las Vegas gamblers betting on the first pillar being officially removed,not any that simply fall over but "removed". Big money betting on 10 + years if, everything goes according to Thai normal schedule !
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pquinlan
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Discussion 29 : 01 Feb 2013 at 19.4429
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D15: Chatichai Choonhaven was the PM responsible for this particular blight.
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englishbob
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Discussion 28 : 01 Feb 2013 at 18.0628
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Disc26 Genii - Why?
Do try to keep up... Government incompetence and corruption and delays in purchasing the land.

By the way, three members of that government are government ministers now (including Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm)... Funny how that name keeps coming up, isn't it? And never with a positive story, is it?
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donduck
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Discussion 27 : 01 Feb 2013 at 17.4227
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jacksprat, why does Thaksin have to be in every conversation? He had NOTHING to do with Hopewell in any form. What next, Thaksin was the reason it took so long to free the slaves? Thaksin was the secret Burmese spy at Ayutthaya? For goodness sake - The Hopewell project was formed, paid for and finished long before Thaksin was a politician or had any political influence. There are at least six events in Thailand since the fall of the Lanna kingdom that are not Thaksin's fault. Maybe seven, unless you count the cold weather.
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genii
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Discussion 26 : 01 Feb 2013 at 17.2626
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Hopewell (Thailand) Co of Hong Kong's Hopewell Holding failed to complete the original project.

WHY?
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jacksprat
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Discussion 25 : 01 Feb 2013 at 16.0325
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"And which Govt party/PM was the one approved the Hopeless project?" The Chart Thai Party led by PM Chatichai Choonhawan. In 2001 Chart Thai formed a coalition government with Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai.
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donduck
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Discussion 24 : 01 Feb 2013 at 14.4624
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jacksprat, yes indeed. And in the 7-plus years since that report of that study done nine years ago, the only thing that has happened is ... um,... a bunch of those 50-year pillars fell down. Isn't that a little bit of a problem?
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Vune
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Discussion 23 : 01 Feb 2013 at 13.5423
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I really hope we won't see abandoned tracks of high speed trains in a decade due to corruption happening today.
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lambert
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Discussion 22 : 01 Feb 2013 at 12.5922
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To those who wondered about Italians' involvement with constructions in Thailand (apart from the fact that Italian-Thai is now 100% Thai), please be informed that almost all the hydro-power dams in Thailand, such as Srinakarin Dam, Sirikit Dam, Pakmun Dam, Chiewlarn Dam, etc. were built by an Italian contractor for EGAT. Apparently, they are good not only at cooking and design,but also at building as well, thanks to their Roman ancestors!
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jacksprat
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Discussion 21 : 01 Feb 2013 at 11.5421
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Daily News, 27 June 2005: "OTP has studied the strength of the 500 Hopewell pillars with a 30 million baht study and found that most of Hopewell pillars are good for use for the red line commuter. However the Airport Link has started so the Hopewell pillars can be used from Phayathai to Donmuang via Bangsue and Bangsue to Makkasan, but the pillars at Klongtan Station must be removed. The demolition of Hopewell pillars at Klongtan would waste about 50-60 million baht even though this structure could be used for at least 50 years. It would save about 1 billion baht if all Hopewell pillars could be used instead of demolishing them."
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Hopewell pillars coming down | Bangkok Post: news

Hopewell's pillars ousted by Red Line

Abandoned project's columns to be razed

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