Pattaya United FC have announced the appointment of Chalermwut Sangapol to be their new head coach for the remainder of the 2011 Thai Premier League season.

Pattaya United who finished sixth in their 2010 Thai Premier League campaign are hoping to build on their improved showing last season with the acquisition of some new playing staff before the big kick-off next month.

The FA Youth Cup 2010-2011 brought an intriguing fixture last week as Pattaya United took on local rivals Chonburi FC in a Group C encounter at the Chonburi administration organization sports stadium on December 28.

Pattaya United’s ‘Junior Dolphins’ U 19 team took on young ‘Lions’ of Thai Port Authority at the Pat Stadium on December 2 in a warm-up game ahead of the upcoming FA Youth Cup 2010–2011 which kicks off in mid-December.  As the match was a friendly at junior level it was divided into three periods of 30 minutes each.

During the first period the game was controlled by Thai Port Authority who created the majority of the chances while United were left to try and hit their opponents on the counter attack.  The pressure by the home team eventually told as they took the lead in the 7th minute, capitalizing on a mix up in the Pattaya defence.

Pattaya United U-19’s (red shirts) take on Thai Port Authority U-19’s at the Pat Stadium in Bangkok on Thursday, Dec. 2.

United made some changes for the second period, bringing on most of their first choice U-19 line up and the substitutions seemed to do the trick as they equalized in the 42nd minute when Siriwat Luenklang latched onto a cross from Tassanapong Muadarat to head the ball past the Thai Port keeper and level the scores up at 1-1.

Just 3 minutes later United almost took the lead for the first time in the match but Muadarat’s free kick flew just the wrong side of the woodwork with the keeper well beaten.

In the final period of play United sent in Panya Aranphuwanart to partner Muadarat in midfield and the Dolphins began to take control of the match.  It came as no surprise when they scored a winning goal as Nopparat U-raikae ran onto Muadarat precision through ball to fire a fierce right foot shot into the Thai Port goal.  The final whistle sounded soon after to signal a morale boosting come from behind 2-1 victory for the United juniors.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand is looking to Indonesia as its next big tourist market for Pattaya.

TAT’s Pattaya office hosted 10 Indonesian travel agencies at a travel fair at the A-One Royal Cruise Hotel Nov. 9. The trip comes as TAT opened its first full-time office in Jakarta, and budget airline Air Asia begins new routes to Jakarta, Bali and Medan.

Niti Kongkrut, TAT’s Pattaya office director, said the hope is Indonesia will be responsible for as many tourists as India. It also marks the TAT’s continued de-emphasis of Europe, where tourists are shunning Thailand due to unfavorable exchange rates, and its reliance on China, where travelers have become skittish of Thailand’s unstable political situation.

Travel agents from 10 Indonesian agencies visit a TAT sponsored travel fair at the A-One Royal Cruise Hotel.

Tourist arrivals from Indonesia this year are up 9 percent from 2009 with TAT estimating 200,000 Indonesians will visit the kingdom this calendar year. The agency hopes to increase that number to 300,000 next year with annual increases afterward of 10 percent. TAT estimates 60 percent of Indonesians coming to Thailand will be package tourists.

While Pattaya has been less popular than Muslim-dominated Hat Yai, and Bangkok and Phuket, Indonesians are interested in Pattaya due to its low prices, ample shopping opportunities and selection of accommodations packages, Niti said. TAT Jakarta office Director Nithee Seeprae was quoted as saying Pattaya is being emphasized more in new markets like Surabaya while Phuket and Chiang Mai are pushed harder in mature markets such as Jakarta and Bali.

TAT Jakarta Director Nithee Seeprae said the agency recently invited 30 Indonesian tour agents and local media to travel via Air Asia to Thailand. The airline recently launched new service from Phuket to Bali and Jakarta and added Surabaya and Medan to its existing route map from Bangkok, which already serves Jakarta and Bali.

Thailand is still unknown to many Indonesians, however, which can cause problems with the spicy cuisine and local customs. Nithee said the opening of the Jakarta office - which won’t be fully operational until the spring - will help ease any problems.

Hoping to improve safety for drivers and clear out vagrants, Pattaya Parks Department staff and volunteers cut back or removed about 200 trees along Pratamnak Road.

Pattaya Parks Department staff and volunteers cut back or removed about 200 trees along Pratamnak Road.

Deputy Mayor Verawat Khakhay, who oversaw the Nov. 9 pruning session, said the city had received numerous complaints from drivers about low-hanging branches and brush obscuring traffic signs. The heavy growth had also been used increasingly by vagrants and those engaged in illegal activities, creating safety concerns.

While most of the work involved simple trimming, small trees and brush that made the roadside ideal for clandestine drug use or other liaisons were removed entirely, allowing street lighting to better illuminate the foothills.

More than a year later than its planned completion date, work to lay and connect an undersea cable to bring electricity to Koh Larn is finally done.

The 140 million baht cable running between Pattaya Park and the island’s Tha Rai Bay was supposed to have been operational in August 2009. Late or not, Koh Larn residents plagued by decades of power outages expressed relief and pleasure.

Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome along with Somsak Pittayapongporn, manager of the Provincial Electricity Authority in Pattaya, and Pattaya councilors jointly flick the switch to turn on the power on Koh Larn.

The Provincial Electricity Authority project was launched after Koh Larn outgrew its tiny power station, which supplied only 2 mw of electricity to the island and ran up losses of 2 million baht. The new cable will bring 10 mw of power, covering the entire island and accommodating about 80% of its projected growth. The price of electricity for end users will remain the same.

Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome said delays in the project were caused by opposition to installation of high-voltage towers in front of Pattaya Park in Jomtien Beach. The tower plan was eventually jettisoned in favor an underground solution.

Itthiphol said the system will supply enough electricity for 10 years. And during the next decade the PEA will work on a more-robust system.

Koh Larn currently hosts about 900 homes and as many as 4,000 residents.

Chai yo!  Passengers arrive in Pattaya happy after a train ride from Bangkok.

Traveling to Pattaya usually means taxis, buses and cars. But the Tourism Authority of Thailand says visiting the city by train can be a fun, alternative way to see the sights.

Almost 170 Thai tourists left Bangkok’s Hua Lam Pong rail station Oct. 23 for a whirlwind tour of Pattaya, including the Four Regions Floating Market and Naklua’s Sanctuary of Truth. The journey was one of four “Hugging the Bolster” tours TAT organized with Thailand’s state railway authority during October to showcase tourist attractions in Pattaya, Bangkok, Ayutthaya, Hua Hin and Saraburi.

TAT Pattaya office director Niti Kongkrut said the tour introduced travelers to local Thai artistic and cultural attractions and showcased rail travel, which is often overlooked in favor of cars and buses.

The limited trains held between 150 and 170 people and, during October, visited the Ayutthaya Floating Market, King Naraesuan Monument, Huay Monkol Temple, Hua Hin Hill Vineyard and Saraburi Dairy Farm, among other attractions.

With their homes inundated, people need to use boats instead of cars.

Pattaya area residents donated more than 200,000 baht in cash and goods to help flood victims in Ayutthaya.

Deputy Mayor Wutisak Rermkitkarn led a delegation of public- and private-sector groups to Bangbal District in Ayutthaya late last month to present the funds and 908 parcels of necessities to officials in the hard-hit region.

Traffic is a mess in South Pattaya - but officials promise construction will be done by December 23.  We can only hope they mean this year.

Work to repair the road surface from the entrance of Walking Street on Beach Road up to the Wat Chaimongkol intersection and onto Second Road all the way to the flyover on Third Road is progressing as scheduled.

The 9 million baht contract for renovations began on August 26 and is scheduled to be completed on December 23.

As of press time, construction work is being done in front of Pattaya School #8 at the South Pattaya crossroad.

One way traffic is in force from the Third Road/Thappraya flyover down the aforementioned route up to the South Pattaya intersection.

Traffic can be dodgy in this area, and baht buses have taken over one lane of traffic to park, so traffic police have asked motorists to drive carefully and obey all traffic signs. They also recommend motorists to use other routes during the period of construction.