Pattaya News

The high-speed rail project to link Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Pattaya and U-Tapao airports faces a delay due to a budget problem.

The budget to demolish infrastructure to make way for the new high-speed system has not been approved, meaning delivery of the first phase will be delayed from January 2021 to February-March, the SRT announced.

The infrastructure had been earmarked for demolition but contractors would have to wait for approval of the 2021 budget before finishing the job, explained Transport Ministry permanent secretary Chaiwat Thong-Kamkoon on Friday. The budget would be approved before the end of this year, he assured. Contractors had already been hired to undertake the work, he added.

Five years after the government ordered beach chairs and umbrellas off the nation's beaches at least once a week to restore nature to coastlines, Pattaya is doing away with No Chair Wednesdays amid the coronavirus recession.

Pattaya Deputy Mayor Manote Nongyai laid out 17 changes to beachfront-business regulations. The main change will be an end to the Wednesday practice of removing all beachchairs and umbrellas to allow for beach cleaning and provide a back to nature experience once a week.

But in times of a massive drop in tourists, chairs and umbrellas will be prohibited only until 10 a.m. on Wednesday while the beach is cleaned.  The day also will be getting longer. Instead of having to close up shop at 6pm, vendors now will be allowed to operate until 8pm daily.

The plans still need to be approved by Pattaya's mayor and full city council.

A public hearing in Pattaya was told that 80% of residents agree with plans to build a monorail to alleviate the resort's dire traffic and transport problems.

The pie in the sky train would meet the proposed High Speed train at the station to the east of Sukhumvit Road. It would then travel along the motorway and along Sukhumvit before heading towards the sea. It would then be built along Sai 2 road and wind up at Bali Hai port.

There would be around 13 stations spaced 650-700 meters apart. Building is expected to start in 2024.

The latest hearing was designed to gauge public opinion and assess environmental impacts.

Pattaya's famed Walking Street has re-branded itself as Driving Street.

There are no longer any foreign visitors or hoards of tour party walkers, so the Pattaya authorities are trying to appeal to Thais replacing tat stalls with street food carts.

So from now on its is open to traffic and parking. Though it is one way only to reduce accidents.

After a crisis meeting with local operators, mayor Sontaya Khunpluem said it was obvious that the country was not open and there were no foreign tourists. So Thais need to be the new normal for Walking Street.

Local dignitaries took part in a ceremony last night at 7pm to open the street to traffic and parking.

Pictures of plans to completely revolutionize the area from Walking Street to the Bali Hai port in Pattaya have been unveiled by the local council.

The artist impressions show wide open boulevards with Ferraris and well dressed people walking without a care in the world. There are marinas and ocean walkways and everything is landscaped to perfection.

There is even a ferris wheel that could become known as the Pattaya Eye like the one in London.

Pictures are circulatimg revelaing plans for a major revamp to Pattaya's Walking Street.

The futuristic designs and bright new look makes the notorious red light district resemble a shopping street - some critics online said it resembled just another mall. There is not a hanging wire - or street walker - in sight!

The designs were presented by the city's engineering team to mayor Sontaya Khunpluem .

Reading between the lines of the post it appears that the mayor gave the plans a rather lukewarm reception. He commented that Walking Street has to be fit for purpose and not adversely affect livelihoods. He stressed that any makeover must ensure that the special smell and flavor of Walking Street must be maintained.

Thai media reported that Pattaya's lock down - version #2 after a dismal failure last week - will finally begin on Thursday at 6am.

People travelling in and out of the city will need a special form to be filled in to obtain permission to travel. The form can be obtained from any 7-Eleven store in Pattaya or online at permission-certificate where both Thai and English language versions are available.

People who rent either a house or a condo in Pattaya and need to enter the city centre also need to show a copy of the ID of their landlord and their contact details. In addition to presenting the completed certificate, foreigners who need to travel into Pattaya to work need to also supply a copy of their passport and work permit.

The new lockdown will see a total of eight checkpoints set up at various points throughout the city: At Maryvit School Mini Siam North Pattaya Intersection Central Pattaya Intersection South Pattaya Intersection Thepprasit Intersection Wat Bunkanchanaran Intersection Intersection at Public Prosecution office

Each of the checkpoints will be manned by 27 people. People passing through the checkpoints will have their documentation checked and temperatures taken. The checkpoints will operate from 6am until 10pm and will be in place until the COVID-19 situation in the city improves.

On a more positive note, mobile phone repair shops will now be allowed to open along with building supply shops and electrical goods stores. These were deemed to be important items the public needed.

Update: End date

16th April 2020. See article from forum.thaivisa.com

Officials in Chonburi have earmarked 1 May as a possible date for businesses to reopen in the province. The date is dependent on the COVID-19 situation in the province continuing to improve.

In an order released late on Tuesday, officials said that if the COVID-19 situation does not worsen then most businesses can resume trading. Some of the business types listed included spas, gyms, restaurants, bars and convenience stores.

Update: Checking out

16th April 2020. See article from forum.thaivisa.com

Bangkok Biz News reported that Pattaya's mayor Sontaya Khunpluem said that Pattaya's military lockdown will come to an end on May 4th. People will be able to move in and out freely from May 5th, next Tuesday.

The mayor thanked people for their forbearance and said that Pattaya had now been declared a White Area after 16 days without a new Covid-19 case.

Meanwhile Thailand will end a ban on the sale of alcohol on Sunday when it lifts other restrictions following progress in containing the coronavirus outbreak. The ban has been in effect since April 10 in a bid to discourage social gatherings.

The new order, which will take effect on Sunday, means you can buy and sell liquor, beer, wine. You can buy from restaurants but only as takeaways. You can buy at convenience stores, supermarkets, anywhere in the country, Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam told Reuters.

Pattaya is now closed to people who are not residents. There are now 24 hour checkpoints set up to screen people at various locations throughout the city and will be in place until the situation regarding COVID-19 improves.

Officials detailed five checkpoints to stop people entering: Soi Chaiyapornwithee, Soi Phon Prapha Nimit, Soi Chaiyapruek, the Motorway Route 7 section 5 and the Ayakan Intersection. Sukhumvit Road will be sealed off to outsiders and only traversable by locals.

People passing through the checkpoints will have their temperature taken. People will need to have their documentation and IDs in order and some, particularly employees working in Pattaya will be urged to make special ID cards. Foreigners should carry their passports with them.

Update: Oops... it didn't work out quite as expected

10th April 2020. See article from forum.thaivisa.com

Pattaya's leaders are desperately scurrying to rethink the lock down of the city. The lock down started as planned at 2pm but it soon descended into chaos due to totally gridlocked traffic.

PR Pattaya City reported on Facebook that the five checkpoints stopping traffic were abandoned and a meeting was hurriedly arranged chaired by Pattaya mayor Sontaya Khunpluem and Bang Lamung District chief Amnat Charoensri.

77kaoded said it was not just the traffic - each of the five checkpoints were struggling to interpret what ID was necessary to move in and out of the city. This created horrendous delays leading to the removal of concrete barriers that were being used to stop the traffic.

Update: New locations

11th April 2020. See article from forum.thaivisa.com

Following the initial chaos, Pattaya officials have said that the old checkpoints will be removed and new ones set up in the following locations:

At Mareewit School
Near Mueang Jamlong
Entrance to Pattana Nua (North Pattaya) at the Prinya Sai 3 intersection
Pattaya Klang (Central Pattaya) at Soi Arunothai
Pattaya Tai (South Pattaya) at Soi Kophai
Thepprasit Intersection
Intersection near Boon Kanjanagaram Temple
I-yakan Intersection

The new checkpoints will be in place by Tuesday (14 April) for at least three weeks or longer, if the situation does not improve.

When passing through a checkpoint, people will have their temperature taken and should show their ID. Foreigners should show their passport.

Pattaya Warning! You are entering a red light area

Pattaya City Hall is once again trying to get drivers to heed pedestrian crossing signals

In a Jan. 3 statement, city hall said:

Accidents largely are the fault of careless drivers who just blow through the red lights at crossing signals and don't yield to tourists used to western road regulations that give pedestrians the right of way.

All drivers should respect traffic rules by stopping at traffic signals.

A previous attempt in 2010 was a complete failure as drivers simply refused to stop for red lights.The project officially was declared a failure in February 2011.

There's no mention of enforcement cameras being installed so it doesn't look as if the authorities are very geared up to to mak it actually work this time.

Pattaya police have asked the public not to post clips of people having sex on the beach online. They said this is damaging Pattaya's image and is unhelpful in the investigation. [Maybe a mistranslation... surely they meant 'confirming Pattaya's image'].

The directives to the public came after a couple were filmed on the beach and the story was widely reported.

On the Pattaya police page they issued a three point notice.

1. If you see illegal activity like sex on the beach tell the police immediately while they are still there.
2. Putting footage on the internet and telling the police about it later is not helpful. In addition it would damage the image of Pattaya and furthermore it could be illegal under computer crime legislation.
3. Clips can be sent to administrators for their own private viewing....not to others!! {presumably another mistranslation... or maybe not]

Any Britain's Daily Mail couldn't pass on such a tale of trivial sleeze. The newspaper ran th story under the title: Russian couple are forced to make grovelling TV apology after being filmed having drunk sex on Thai beach on New Year's Eve. And of course the article included all the pictures and video available. See article from dailymail.co.uk

Pattaya's image will be well and truely confirmed.