Cosmetic upgrade proceeds while
government stalls on refilling sand
Pattaya City will spend
140 million baht to upgrade landscaping along Pattaya Beach and add
another traffic lane the length of Beach Road whilst waiting for
government approval of its beach erosion-repair project. Expect traffic
snarls along Beach Road when the work begins in March.
Phasakorn Channgam
Pattaya will spend 140 million baht to upgrade
landscaping along Pattaya Beach as it waits for government approval of
its erosion-repair project.
Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome said Feb. 7 the planting of
new trees and gardens, painting and other work will begin in March. The
project is split into five zones, with the first zone to be improved
running from the Dusit Thani Hotel to Soi 6.
The second zone, spanning the beachfront from Soi 6
to Central Road, is planned as the city’s main center for beach
activities and will see workers spruce up the dolphin fountain. The
third zone, running to Soi 11, will see improvements aimed at maximizing
the enjoyment of public spaces, the mayor said, while zone 4, running
down to Walking Street, will have gardens installed to serve as
backdrops for tourists’ photos and relax after strolling along Walking
Street.
Zone 5 was not mentioned.
The project also focuses smaller touches the mayor
says will improve the image of the beachfront, such as replacing beach
umbrellas to ensure they are all a uniform color along the entire
three-kilometer stretch of shoreline.
Itthiphol added that in addition to the cosmetic
changes, an additional traffic lane will be added to Beach Road. This
will take away about 3 meters of the promenade along the 3 kilometer
road, leaving the footpath, although it will be thinner.
The mayor said the landscaping upgrade would be done
in parallel to the 380 million baht project to rebuild Pattaya Beach by
refilling it with sand from a Rayong estuary. However, the plan has not
yet been approved by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment
and work may not begin until at least the end of the year.
The 140 million baht the city plans to spend on
beautification does come at a cost, however. The mayor said the funds
were being diverted from the city’s 500 million baht construction of the
new Pattaya football field on Soi Chaiyapruek near the indoor sports
stadium. Completion of that facility, which was originally scheduled for
the end of this year, is now uncertain.
Finally, Itthiphol said, the city’s crackdown on
beach chair vendors is continuing. In addition to standardizing the
colors of their umbrellas, the city is studying how many vendors should
be allowed to operate and continuing to enforce Chonburi provincial
regulations about how much of the sand the vendors can occupy.
The mayor said he hopes to see the beautification
completed by year-end. Funds to do similarly on Jomtien Beach have been
requested for next year.
