|
Property owners file complaint about zoning laws
Ariyawat Nuamsawat
Hotel and apartment building owners concerned that zoning
laws are eroding their rights have presented an open letter to the member of
parliament for Chonburi, Chanyuth Hengtrakul, for submission to the Ministry
of Interior.
 Apartment
owners representative Somjai Jeerapat submits the unsealed letter to
Chanyuth Hengtrakul, member of parliament for Chonburi, to act as their
representative to take up the matter with the government.
The letter, handed over on April 22 at the Sophon Cable
TV Pattaya Company, criticises plans for Pattaya City that were gazetted in
2003. These plans, based on original 1975 legislation that maps out Pattaya
City and surrounding districts and sub-districts, sets out coloured zones
that designate the purpose of land usage.
The areas concerned are in Pattaya City, Banglamung and
Sattahip districts, and Nongplalai, Naklua, Pong, Nongprue, Huay Yai and
Na-Jomtien sub-districts.
Owners say that the zoning limits what they can do with
their land, and consequently eradicates their rights of ownership. They say
that coloured zoning is not appropriate for real situations.
Some areas classified as yellow zones, for less densely
populated districts, already have hotels, apartments and condominiums. Brown
zones, indicating an area designated as residential, have business premises
that should have been part of the business zones. The east side of the
Pattaya-Naklua Road, from Soi Phothisarn to Soi Naklua 13, and the east of
Pattaya Third Road, are crowded with entertainment establishments and hotels
yet are designated brown zones instead of the red zone that is for
commercial districts.
The letter from the owners says that because of inappropriate city
planning, the arrangement of zones came from inaccurate surveys and from the
city not listening to land and property owners about their intended usage.
Bar owners urged to follow operating regulations
Ariyawat Nuamsawat
Some 300 bar owners met with Pattaya and Banglamung
officials at city hall on April 25 for a briefing on the current status of
laws governing their business activities.
The meeting was conducted by Mayor Niran
Wattanasartsathorn, Chonburi MP Chanyuth Hengtrakul, Banglamung District
Chief Worawit Saisupatanapol, and Pattaya Police Superintendent Pol Col
Somnuk Changate.
Bar owners have fiercely protested against the 2004
legislation that forces all venues to close at 1 a.m., but they are being
urged to follow the current licensing and operating times if they are to be
amended later.
(L to R)
Pattaya Police Superintendent Pol Col Somnuk Changate, Banglamung District
Chief Worawit Saisupatanapol, Chonburi MP Chanyuth Hengtrakul, and Mayor
Niran Wattanasartsathorn told around 300 bar owners that they must strictly
adhere to the laws governing their business activities.
Chonburi parliamentary member, Chanyuth Hengtrakul called
for cooperation from bar owners under the government’s social order
campaign to help bring about the necessary changes that relax the
regulations for tourist centers.
“The main aim is to stop minors from using such venues
and reduce drug problems. It is only through cooperation that we make things
better, specifically from the government’s point of view when it comes to
operating times in tourist cities like Pattaya,” said Chanyuth.
Chanyuth went on to say that the government is aware the
regulations have caused hardship to many business owners. As a
representative of the people he has taken the issue up with the prime
minister and deputy minister of the interior, and at Thai Rak Thai party
meetings, citing a large drop in the number of visitors to the region and
the loss of billions of baht in revenue.
“The party has received notice of the difficulties
being faced by the people and have said that the policy is in the best
interest of social development but if it causes undue hardship to many, they
are able to petition the government to change the legislation. This is the
main role of an MP to act on behalf of the people,” said Chanyuth.
“Somchai Suntornwat, deputy interior minister will
inspect Pattaya in May to view the situation first hand. The need for
businesses to strictly follow the law, such as operating hours and having
the correct licenses is needed. As for increasing the operating hours or
concerning zoning, this will be reviewed and possibly changed on a national
level in the future,” said Chanyuth.
Mayor Niran stressed the need for business owners to
adhere to the licensing laws. “Under the current legislation all bars must
apply for licenses to operate; however, there are still many that have not
yet started the process. When government officers inspect any establishment
these documents must be produced. In the case where that is not so, the
owner will be arrested. Hence the need for everyone to understand the
situation from those issuing the licenses,” said Mayor Niran.
Operating licenses must be applied for at the district
office and are granted providing the venue can satisfy the government
requirements.
Worawit Saisupatanapol, Banglamung district chief,
addressed the meeting concerning the regulations pertaining to local bar
operators.
“Under Section 3 (4) of the January 13, 2004
legislation all bar owners must submit documentation when applying for a
license. The Banglamung office has issued over 575 licenses with more than
40 still under consideration. The problem is that many businesses, although
approved, have yet to collect their documents from the administration. This
may well be due to the registration fees,” said Worawit.
As stated by the district chief, registration fees for
bar licenses are gauged on the venue’s area. For those with an area of up
to 100 sq metres the fee is 10,000 baht. Those of between 100 and 300 sq m
pay a fee of 30,000 baht. For venues over 300 sq m the fee ranges from
50,000 to 60,000 baht.
“There also those venues which have not had licenses approved, such as
those outside the specified zoning, ant there are other problems. There are,
however, still many venues with applications still under consideration due
to the case-by-case basis nature that yet to receive the relevant
documentation,” said the district chief.
Snake in the grass devours villagers’ chickens
Patcharapol Panrak
Villagers were regularly losing chickens from their
chicken coops. Their first thoughts were that thieves were stealing them.
Most of the vanished fowl were fighting cocks and expensive Thai chicken
breeds. One owner tried to snare the thief by buying another chicken and
placing it in the coop, then laying in wait. During the stakeout the
villagers discovered that it was not a thief at all, but a python that came
slithering quietly from a thicket.
Chalor Hormchan, 54, from Village No 4 in Sattahip
sub-district, who has lost many of his chickens, has asked the Rotchana
Thammasathan Sattahip Security Foundation to catch the python and free it in
a different wilderness area. He said he didn’t want to see the snake
killed because he didn’t want to be sinful.
The python might satisfy its taste for chickens by
finding other coops, but experienced fowl breeders express doubts that a
python would do this. Anyone losing chickens might bear in mind that not all
snakes are reptiles.
Dusit appoints new personnel and training manager
Kannikar
Pongcharoen
Chatchawal Supachayanont, general manager of Dusit
Resort, Pattaya Hotel recently announced the appointment of Kannikar
Pongcharoen as the hotel’s new personnel and training manager.
Kannikar held executive positions and has had extensive experience in
human resource management with major companies in the east coast, such as
Thai Spring Fish, Ebro Valves Thailand, Thainox Steel and Honeywell Systems
Thailand. Prior to joining the Dusit Resort, Pattaya Hotel, she was personal
and administration manager at Thai spring Fish, Rayong.
Reporting from 54th PATA Annual Conference - Call to stand united
IATA director-general and CEO, Giovanni Bisignani, has
issued a challenge for IATA and PATA to bring tourism stakeholders together
and communicate more effectively with one another so that the industry is
better prepared for crises.
He said eminent threats such as the bird flu should be a
wake-up call for stakeholders to plan coordinated action. But the future was
in no way guaranteed and credibility was fragile, he added. Stakeholders
must continue to make the bond stronger.
Bisignani also shared the pressing issues confronting the
aviation industry. “It is no secret that the air transport industry is
going through its most difficult period. The value proposition is changing,
people expect to fly cheaply and globally, airlines’ yield has dropped 10
per cent in the last five years. “More people than ever are flying – 1.8
billion last year – but we have never lost as much money,” he said.
Although profitability was slowly returning, with Asia-Pacific airlines
being strongest continued high oil prices are a challenge. “We need
quickly to become a low-cost industry and we must change fast,” Bisignani
said. (TTG Asia)
Miss Universe to the rescue with pageant in Thailand
Thailand’s private sector is throwing its weight behind
the upcoming Miss Universe Pageant, with Boon Rawd Brewery adding US$2.5
million to the $6.5 million the government laid out for the right to host
the event this year.
The country is banking on the May 30 event to mend its
post-tsunami tourism fortunes and inject more than US$75 million into the
economy.
Thai Airways International is making a significant
contribution in terms of air tickets for event VIPs and media, and Sofitel
Central Plaza and Dusit Thani Hotel have been selected as hosts.
Tourism Authority of Thailand guest relations section
chief and coordinator of the event, Kittipong Prapattong, said the return on
the investment would come in terms of boosted tourist arrivals, both during
the event and afterwards following positive media exposure.
“More than 10,000 fans and 1,000 international media
members are expected to follow the 88 contestants as they participate in
pageant events in more than ten locations around the country, including
Bangkok, Pattaya, Hua Hin, Kanchanaburi, Ayutthaya, Chiang Mai, and
Sukhothai, starting from May 12,” he said.
Worldwide media coverage for Thailand will include a 12-minute
documentary promoting tourism to be shown during the airing of the actual
pageant, which will be held at IMPACT Arena on May 30. (TTG Asia)
Phuket spa sector fails
to recover from tsunami
Much has been made of the speed with which the southern
island of Phuket has managed to pick itself up after the December tsunami,
but in one vital sector of the local tourism industry, operators are still
struggling desperately to find customers.
According to Chamrern Lakthan, one of the province’s
spa operators, nearly all the local spa industry’s customers have
disappeared following the tsunami, and operators now acknowledge the fact
that they cannot expect their businesses to be profitable in the near
future.
Instead, he says, they are focusing on providing
employment for people affected by the tsunami, particularly local people
made unemployed by the disaster. (TNA)
DPM unveils plans for Thai ‘Riviera’
Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam recently laid out
ambitious plans for Thailand to have its very own ‘Riviera’ stretching
from Petchaburi to Sam Roi Yot, but stressed that environmental
considerations had to come first before the project could be given the green
light.
Wissanu, who took part in discussions with senior
government officials and the provincial governors of Samutsakhon,
Samutsongkhram, Petchaburi and Prachuab Khiri Khan, said that the
‘Riviera’ project would link beachfront roads from Chao Samran in the
north to Sam Roi Yot in the south.
But while he expressed confidence that the new road would
attract more foreign tourists, he also said that a clear environmental
impact assessment would have to be conducted before the project could go
ahead.
The four lower central region provinces have agreed to
work together to promote tourism and their role as a major transportation
route to the south, but have also noted the importance of eco-tourism and
good environmental management. (TNA)
Tuk-tuk tourism
to beat rain in Trang
If it’s raining, forget umbrellas or bus shelters – a
tuk-tuk is the place to be! Or so say tourism officials in the southern
province of Trang, who hope to stimulate tourism during the rainy season by
encouraging tourists to go on city tours in the comfort of their own
motorized rickshaws.
Wichai Ratmanee, president of the Trang Tourism Promotion
Association, unveiled the tuk-tuk tourism program by noting that visitor
numbers tended to plummet each year in mid-May as the monsoon rains hit the
province.
As a result, the association has decided to team up with
the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), the Trang municipal authorities and
the local tuk-tuk drivers’ association to organize city tours for
visitors.
Under the program, tourists will be able to determine
their own routes and fares for the rides in the specially decorated
tuk-tuks.
“We expect a high level of interest, as it’s the
first time that tuk-tuks have been decorated with stickers depicting
dugongs”, Wichai said, adding that the drivers would receive training in
manners before embarking on the program at the beginning of next month.
A pilot project with 30 tuk-tuks will run from June until
August, after which the program will be expanded to include 200 vehicles.
(TNA)
Public consulted
on second Samui airport
The prospect of a second airport on Thailand’s southern
popular tourist resort of Samui Island moved closer to reality today when a
meeting was held to gain the opinions of local businesspeople and residents.
Held in a local university, the meeting brought together
government officials, local leaders and tourism operators, the majority of
whom expressed their support for the project, but said that it was important
that the construction did not affect local agriculture.
Others opposed the project, pointing to the fact that
Samui already has one private sector airport.
The Department of Aviation has asked Kasetsart University
to conduct a feasibility study, taking into account the size of the aircraft
the new airport would take, the number of flights, environmental impact and
noise pollution. (TNA)
|
