newnative

I applaud the city for planning special events to bring visitors to Pattaya. However, there has been little or no thought by the city regarding traffic flow to handle the large crowds, which do indeed 'make getting into town a nightmare'. Adding 200 parking spaces is a drop in the bucket and will just make Beach Road more of a traffic nightmare and much less visually-appealing. Even now, with international arrivals to Thailand at less than 8 million, vs. 40 million in 2019, roads can be traffic-clogged. What will they be like when tourism gears back up? It's so short-sighted to plan for a couple hundred people to park their car next to the beach while at the same time creating clogged, stalled traffic for many more other cars trying to get to their destinations. Same story with North Pattaya Road, one of the major roads to get to all the popular new developments in the north Pattaya Beach area. A lot of the road is already designated no parking. But, here and there, parking is allowed; so instead of 3 lanes of traffic each way there are only 2. A few parked cars are catered to, while thousands of others are stuck in the congestion. Instead of 3 lanes of traffic--and more cars--getting through signaled intersections, fewer do, creating more back-ups and the need for longer traffic signal sequences, which creates even more back-ups. Pattaya has reached a traffic density where it can no longer have parking on some of its major roads.

From his description it sounds like a very piddling review. I didn't read anything about background checks, stringent performance reviews, getting rid of bad cops, etc.

Just because one project didn't work doesn't mean you reject ever doing something similar. Hopefully, they learned from their mistakes. I suggest they bulldoze the decrepit, dysfunctional, too-small City Hall building with inadequate parking and build a large parking garage there, with a trolley terminal. Park your car and grab the trolley to the beach. Other parking garages can also be built in the south and central parts of town, also linked with public transportation. Eliminate parking on Beach Road entirely and expand the sidewalks, adding many more shade trees and other greenery on both sides of the road. City Hall does not need to be in that location. Choose a large plot and build a new City Hall that brings together other government agencies that are scattered around the city--all of them now in mostly inconvenient locations in too-small facilities with inadequate parking--PEA, PWA, DBD, Land Office, that Tax Office off of Thepprasit Road, etc. One stop shopping to do all your government business. Pattaya has grown so much it needs a major upgrade on its government buildings.

Totally agree. It was a huge mistake to eliminate a traffic lane and allow beachside parking. Looks awful and blocks the view of the beach and ocean--plus impedes traffic flow. Now they just want to compound the problem--adding more concrete and losing more of the established trees. They should be looking for ways to reduce traffic on Beach Road, instead of adding to it--such as building more parking garages and a trolley system.

'Will allow 200 more cars to park along the beach.' As if that is a good thing. Meanwhile, more trees lost, more concrete added, more nature removed, and more congestion, not less. Planning should be focused on reducing the number of vehicles on Beach Road not adding them--with more parking garages and some sort of trolley running where the current beachside parking is now.

Boo hoo.

Thanks for posting. Beautiful view.

Never thought I was crazy but when Trump won the Presidency I did catch myself wondering a few times if it was all just a horrible, bad nightmare I was in.

Of course it's 'old hat' to you. But, it's not old hat for first time visitors--everything on your list is all new to them--and lots of other attractions you didn't mention.

It's one of the premier magazine groups, publishing The New Yorker, GQ, Architectural Digest, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and Conde Nast Traveler, among others.

Yes. We were on Pratamnak Soi 6 and it was a long hike up to the baht bus route. The part of Wong Amat we were at by the beach in the north--by The Palm, Riviera Wong Amat, etc., also did not have a baht bus route nearby and it would have been a long hike to T21 from there. We always drove.

Yes, I think normally over 30 days is ok, too, with condos although some condo projects have written longer rental periods into their by-laws.

Right, I was referring to condos.

Daily rentals are illegal.

Everything's way too slow. The only thing fast is the talk, talk, talk.

Always great. Looking forward to it.

I didn't mention it because that wasn't the case in the area we lived at. We were at the north area next door to The Palm condo and the water and beach were clean. Perhaps a problem further south.

So, headline top story that they will enforce the law. Okey dokey.

My partner and I have lived in both places when we lived in town--we're on the Darkside now. We preferred Wong Amat. We liked that it's a bit quieter and just had a nice vibe, we felt. Some of the nicest condo projects are in that area, including The Cove, Zire, Northpoint, Saranchol, The Palm, and several older but still nice ones. Also several nice hotels, including Centara and Cape Dara. We go to T21, Index, Home Pro, and Central Festival a lot and Wong Amat was an easy drive to get to them. Bangkok Hospital Pattaya nearby, too. We also liked living in Jomtien. For us, Wong Amat fit our normal weekly activities better and we liked the condo we found there. For some, Jomtien might be a better fit.

And, off you go to an 'inactive post'.

The last 2 movies I attended I did not wear a mask--unaware it was required. I still would not have worn one as there were only about 8 people in the entire theater--and nobody remotely close except my partner. Nobody asked me to wear a mask either time. I'm just using common sense and will wear when I think its needed--like the subway, crowded places, etc.

A reminder if documents actually need to be notarized in Thailand it has to be done by a Notarial Services Attorney: However, in Thailand, there is no Notary Public. Instead, the Lawyers Council of Thailand provides attorneys the role called Notarial Services Attorney which allows them to perform the said services and is regulated by the Lawyers Act B.E. 2528.

Yes, could be there or the big empty Chang plot in Pattaya. The problem is inadequate roads, in my opinion--Thappraya and 2nd Road/Beach Road can be traffic-clogged even now with greatly reduced international tourists and not many tourist buses at the moment. What's it going to be like when tourism gears back up and a casino is added to the mix? A third option could be an out-of-town destination site that takes advantage of the new Motorway extension and the proposed high-speed rail.

I think it's easy to say that the OP should have ordered COD but in my experience that is likely not possible when you are having custom items made. My Thai partner and I just took delivery of custom bedside tables we had made. The great thing about living in Thailand is you can do custom at a reasonable cost. We've done lots of custom kitchens, armoires, bath vanities, bed frames, bedside tables, etc. Even a sofa and a dining table when we couldn't find what we wanted. We've always had to put down a deposit each and every time and we understand the need for a deposit. We're asking for custom items to be made to our exact specifications. Suppose we disappear? Change our minds and say, no, we don't want it after all. Thanks, anyway. The furniture maker is out the cost for the materials and labor. We've never had a furniture maker not deliver a product. We did have one experience where the quality was not what we were expecting. The bedside tables I mentioned were ordered from a shop at JJ Market. We like big bedside tables with plenty of storage and a nice 70 cm height--no interest in those tiny one-drawer tables 40 cm high. The shop was great to work with and we could see samples of their work, paint and hardware choices, etc. We hadn't used them before but we knew they have been at their shop there for a number of years. We put a deposit down and got the tables about a month later--they turned out great. For the OP I would say keep trying to resolve the issue and don't give up.

You're still young! Go for it if it's what you want. My Mom was 40 and my Dad 44 when my youngest sister Carol was born, the last of 6 kids. She was definitely unexpected--they had gotten rid of all the baby stuff after the 5th child was born 4 years earlier. My parents always said Carol helped to keep them feeling young and engaged in life. You mention money--my Dad always joked that he could have bought a new Cadillac every other year if they hadn't had 6 kids--but, always quickly added that we kids meant far more than any material things he and Mom could have had instead. When Carol left the nest and Dad could have easily afforded a Cadillac at that point, he never bought one.