More than 5,000 people are expected to attend Pattaya’s annual Vegetarian Festival Oct. 14-24 at the Sawang Boriboon Thammasathan Foundation in Naklua.

The head of the Thai Hotels Association’s Eastern Region said members will offer more golf tours and sports-related packages to attract Japanese and Indonesian tourists in 2013.

Pattaya officials are looking for new sources of water after the Royal Irrigation Department canceled two area reservoir-expansion projects.

LH Bank has agreed on a 55 million baht loan with the Porchland Group to help construction work begin on The Prim Grand Condominium in Naklua, north Pattaya.

Judges at Pattaya Hard Rock Hotel’s were looking for beauty and a deep understanding of music history and style when they chose the hotel’s “Miss Hard Rock 2012” at the beachfront hotel.

Plans to shore up Pattaya Beach with sand from a Rayong tributary hit the rocks when Rayong officials stopped selling the sand to the city’s contractors due to the river’s own erosion issues.

True Corp. will soon begin offering free wireless Internet access in Pattaya that will cover 80 percent of the city by 2015.

Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome and True Internet Chief Commercial Officer Charoen Limkangwanmongkol signed the agreement at Pattaya City Hall Sept. 18. The 100 million baht Pattaya expansion of True’s existing paid WiFi hotspot network eventually will offer 1,000 access points from Jomtien Beach to Naklua.

Pattaya officials plan to require jet ski operators to carry insurance that, they hope, will end the extortion scams that have ravaged the city’s image.

At a Sept. 17 meeting of the emergency committee formed to resolve the long-running issue, Chonburi Gov. Khomsan Ekachai said Thaisri Insurance plc has been signed to provide insurance cover for the 452 jet skis operating in Pattaya, Jomtien Beach and Koh Larn.

Norway’s Department of Children and Youth Policy plans to work with Pattaya social workers to investigate whether Norwegian-Thai children are being abused.

Virtually unknown in Thailand, female condoms were handed out free as doctors discussed their use in preventing the spread of sexually transmitted diseases when Pattaya marked the first Global Female Condom Day.