Pattaya News

The Indian led Baku group is progressing plans to turn the eternally struggling Avenue Mall into an entertainment plaza complete with A-GoGos and nightclubs.

The 2nd Road venue over the road from Sois 13 is set to open s for business next year. Contracts have been signed with City Hall and Bang Lamung district.

Some businesses such as McDonald's and Villa market will stay.

Social media representative for Baku Scott Griffiths clarified the Avenue Plaza project with Thaivisa. He said:

The venue is not an entertainment complex for Indians, said Griffiths. It will be open to all nationalities just like Walking Street and LK Metro. Architects have been appointed and will shortly be marking out all the plots.

He also said that a building and bar fitting company from Bangkok has been appointed and are ready to start construction in the New Year. To date Baku group has 17 verbal agreements out of 39 plots. Some of these have come from big players in Walking Street and LK Metro. Griffiths said that the group had negotiated low rentals without key money meaning that in many instances rents will be 50% of costs in Walking Street.

At present Baku Group runs Baku lounge, Baku 6, Y Bar, Bachelor's A Go Go, The Roof, 15th Avenue and Sensations Bar.

The U-Tapao International Airport, about a 45 minute drive from Pattaya, has officially opened its second passenger terminal on 4th December 2019.

Director of U-Tapao International Airport, Vice Admiral Kritchaphon Rianglekjamnong said that once the airport is fully open for commercial service, the number of passengers and flights would continue to increase, going from 177,000 people a year in 2015 to 1.99 million people.

Fifteen airlines operate 15,767 flights on 33 routes both domestic and international, he said. We expect that the number of passengers will increase to 2.5 million people from the previous 800,000 passengers.

Pattaya's mayor has claimed that plans for tramway system look set to be completed next year.

A 70 million baht study for the Tramway will be completed by mid 2020, said mayor Sontaya Khunpleum.

The system will be designed to link up with the bullet train linking three airports that has recently gained government approval. One of the stations on the route from Don Muang to U-tapao and Rayong will be in Pattaya.

But he cautioned that there was much work to be done. Following the completion of the environmental impact and design survey process mid 2020 there will be consultative phases.

The project is a massive one, he said, and it is yet to be decided how the multi billion baht project will be financed. One involving government and private sector finance under a PPP scheme is envisaged. Perhaps another is that China would pick up the tab as part of its belts and roads policy that is buying influence around the world.