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I was looking at the national highway (non-motorway) network of Thailand. It seems that most 1/2 digit highways have been widened to four lane roads. These are mostly at-grade roads with lots of rural development and access along them, but they are still four lane roads, most of those on a relatively straight alignment in flat terrain. I wonder what kind of travel times you can get on them. Most of them seem to have been widened in recent years.
Even roads like Highway 12, 23 or 24 are (almost) entirely widened to 4 lanes. These are not on the core route network.
Thai road planning must be somewhat difficult due to the lack of major cities outside of the Bangkok region. In most countries you would prioritize routes between major cities, but Thailand has no major cities outside of Bangkok. The rural areas are densely settled, but they lack major population centers. Most provincial capitals are small, Thailand has a population of 69 million but only has 12 cities with a population over 100,000 with half of those being in the Bangkok metropolitan area.
Even roads like Highway 12, 23 or 24 are (almost) entirely widened to 4 lanes. These are not on the core route network.
Thai road planning must be somewhat difficult due to the lack of major cities outside of the Bangkok region. In most countries you would prioritize routes between major cities, but Thailand has no major cities outside of Bangkok. The rural areas are densely settled, but they lack major population centers. Most provincial capitals are small, Thailand has a population of 69 million but only has 12 cities with a population over 100,000 with half of those being in the Bangkok metropolitan area.
Thailand Road
