Three years on, Kratinglai redevelopment still mired in delays

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Pattaya officials have hit yet another delay in building a vendor-free shoreline on Kratinglai Beach.

At a June 1 Pattaya City Hall meeting, Deputy Permanent Secretary Apichart Phuetphan agreed to allow contractors to suspend construction, without penalty, until questions over property rights are clarified.

The city announced a 150 million baht budget in 2009 to redevelop the Kratinglai section of shoreline at the North Pattaya-Naklua border as a natural beach reserve. Beach chair umbrella vendors, jet skis and other common beachfront annoyances would be prohibited.

Officials meet at City Hall to discuss the latest setback in building a vendor-free shoreline on Kratinglai Beach. Officials meet at City Hall to discuss the latest setback in building a vendor-free shoreline on Kratinglai Beach.

The plan has made little headway in the three years since, with budget shortfalls and lawsuits over land ownership impeding any real progress.

The latest delay came after contractors from Nong Nooch Landscape & Garden Design Co. Ltd. finally began actual construction May 22, but were almost immediately blocked from working on a parcel of land bounded by Soi 6 and Soi 6/1 in Kratinglai. The land owner claimed to have won a court of appeals decision allowing him to retain ownership of the land and has refused to sell or cede the property to the city.

Apichart confessed to being unaware of the current status of litigation and agreed to allow Nong Nooch to halt work and not be penalized for any delays until the city could determine if, in fact, the land owner did win the court case.