Pattaya railway-road pipe-laying will be done by August says deputy mayor

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Deputy Mayor Manote Nongyai met with the Soapier lead contractor to push for speedy completion of the first phase of a planned three-year project that will stretch into at least four years.

Grossly behind schedule, work to lay 2.5 kilometers of new drainage pipe along Pattaya’s railway-parallel road will be done by the end of August, Deputy Mayor Manote Nongyai said.

Manote and city engineer Bodinpat Thawatpaiboon met with lead contractor Saha Hydro Pattaya Joint Venture Co. June 22 to push for speedy completion of the first phase of a planned three-year project that will stretch into at least four years.



Saha Hydro began work in December 2020 to lay two-meter drainage pipes for the 2.5 km. on land owned by the State Railway of Thailand. The pipes would divert storm runoff to the Naklua and Saah Suapaew canals that otherwise would flow downhill into downtown Pattaya.

Eighteen months later, however, the project is only half complete. However, Manote was assured, the laying of the pipe – but not the supporting water traps and other parts of the drainage system – will be done by August.



Saha Hydro executives blamed the delays on the SRT, saying the rail agency demanded changes to the drainage-system construction plan to accommodates its own high-speed rail project. Chonburi Province also got involved, saying Saha Hydro had to move the planned pipe route to prevent conflicts with existing underground infrastructure.

The company also stopped work for weeks at a time over the past 18 months due to worker shortages caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Residents and motorists are infuriated by the never-ending blame game between government departments and the contractors for the grossly delayed project.