Ariyawat Nuamsawat
Halfway through his first term, Pattaya Mayor Itthiphol
Kunplome touted fourteen achievements that, he says, have made Pattaya a
more-livable city.
Mayor
Itthiphol Kunplome hosts a media presentation outlining his administration’s
achievements.
About 500 bureaucrats and community leaders gathered Oct.
21 for the mayor’s “state of Pattaya” address. He said in the past two years
he has undertaken “five plans, seven creative initiatives, 13 strategies and
14 priority projects.” Many of those are complete, some underway and some
still in the planning stage.
Topping that list of priorities was infrastructure, which
the mayor claims has seen improvements thanks to the city’s efforts to
involve the public. Specific infrastructure projects, such as improving the
water supply to Koh Larn (No. 3) and improvements to Sukhumvit Road and
connecting sois (No. 5) and paving of dirt roads (No. 10), also made the
list.
Two other infrastructure items the mayor claimed as
achievements are more debatable and controversial. Fourth on his list was
his pet project to build a downtown monorail, which has drawn considerable
condemnation. His claim about better flood prevention and proper
water-drainage systems being built would also be roundly disputed by those
affected by this month’s heavy rains and flooding.
Itthiphol said other priorities that have made Pattaya a
better place are an increase in safety and security (No. 2 on his list) and
extension of the 15 years of free education and lunch programs for school
kids.
The mayor also celebrated that the city has been spared
mass unemployment despite this year’s record slump in tourism.
Other projects put in place during his tenure addressed
the needs of the city’s elderly and poor, he said. The ninth achievement on
his list was a city program to provide home visits by doctors, adding a
virtual 20,000 beds to the city’s health-care system. And the Security
Policy Project finally gives poor people a chance to own their own, clean
home, he said.
Other projects completed or underway include a new sports
facility for the city and continual fairs and markets along the beachfront
to provide tourist-revenue and entertainment to Pattaya’s residents, he
said.
Finally, he boasted about his administration’s record of
keeping the beaches clean and making the oceans cleaner, despite the woeful
look of Pattaya’s beaches over the past month.
