Pattaya Walking Street wire-burying project now set for April completion

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Deputy Mayor Pattana Boonsawat and his team gather at the entrance of Walking Street before venturing into the disaster zone to inspect the construction in progress.

More than a year behind the original schedule, the burying of electrical and communications wires under Walking Street now won’t be finished until at least April.

Deputy Mayor Pattana Boonsawat toured the disaster zone that once was Pattaya’s vibrant nightlife strip with city engineers and officials from the Provincial Electricity Authority March 1.

The project to install a new underground power grid and beautify the area by submerging unsightly wires began Nov. 21, 2020 and was only supposed to take three months. However, by June – despite workers not having to move equipment from in front of closed bars – the job was still only 20% complete.



PEA officials blamed faulty blueprints, rainy season and seemingly contrived new excuses monthly. They promised it would be done by year-end.
Now, Pattana said, work is on schedule for completion “by April”, not specifying whether that would be the beginning or end of next month.

Deputy Mayor Pattana Boonsawat said that there were obstacles with the old drainage system which had to be reconstructed.


Pattaya Walking Street is still deserted except for a few construction workers milling around.