Pattaya in crisis: Meeting held to discuss what to do about speedboats on the beach

[webfact]

Pattaya in crisis: Meeting held to discuss what to do about speedboats on the beach

 

Picture: Sophon TV

 

A meeting at City Hall in Pattaya heard that the Bali Hai port couldn't cope with the number of speedboats taking tourists on tours. 

 

Rapid expansion of services has meant that plans to use the rejuvenated South Pattaya port area are in total chaos. 

 

It was originally intended to force all operators to use Bali Hai. 

 

While renovations were in progress operators picked up their customers from Pattaya beach. 

 

Picture: Sophon TV

 

But now the work has finished it can't cope with the capacity so operators are still using the beach. 

 

This means 10,000 people a day are boarding vessels at the beach - there is a complete lack of safety and traffic in the area is dire. 

 

Deputy mayor Ronnakit Ekkasing admitted that a great deal of complaints had come in from tourists, operators and members of the public. 

 

Now a new solution must be found. It was not just a question of enforcement.

 

This will likely involve a rethink about the facilities at Bali Hai so that it can cope with the extra demand that was not envisaged. 

 

The area needs better transport management, better waiting facilities and more toilets to cope with the current overcrowding. 

 

City Hall are now mulling over what to do next in what has become a crisis in Pattaya. 

 

Source: Sophon TV

 

 

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[darksidedog]

Had the slightest bit of intelligence been present in the previous meetings, they would have calculated how many boats per day were in operation, and made the Bali Hai facility capable of dealing with all of it, plus some redundancy for further expansion. They are now facing issues, purely as a result of their lack of proper planning and foresight.

[poohy]

4 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

Had the slightest bit of intelligence been present in the previous meetings, they would have calculated how many boats per day were in operation, and made the Bali Hai facility capable of dealing with all of it, plus some redundancy for further expansion. They are now facing issues, purely as a result of their lack of proper planning and foresight.

i think you may be preaching to the choir there vicar.

Foresight planning etc dont seem to exist here. This is the damming proof yet again. 

[sammieuk1]

The area needs better transport management, better waiting facilities and more toilets to cope with the current overcrowding. 

 

At least the toilet facility's have already been catered for and the tourists can view it floating by????

[ThreeEyedRaven]

And this is low season. If they can't cope now it will be absolute chaos come November. Even a quick look at the number of boats down there and it is obvious that Bali Hai is totally unable to deal with the volume, even if all the operators worked a set schedule. Has to be chalked up as another complete fail by the council, on top of the countless other ones before. It is in truth, hard to remember when they ever actually got anything right. Incompetence and stupidity seem to be the qualifications required to sit on it.

[smedly]

Just like Baht busses - might there just be too many of them

 

How about limiting the numbers to a level that the current infrastructure can cope with

[grumbleweed]

Although the typical pirate probably has more scruples, they could always rename it "Pirates Bay" and to hell with the likely uproar from common everyday pirates

[Cadbury]

17 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

Had the slightest bit of intelligence been present in the previous meetings, they would have calculated how many boats per day were in operation, and made the Bali Hai facility capable of dealing with all of it, plus some redundancy for further expansion. They are now facing issues, purely as a result of their lack of proper planning and foresight.

The other handicap to fixing the problem is that the present mayor is a political appointee of PM Prayut and couldn't care less about trifling issues such boats and buses. He is busy protecting and looking after Prayut's political interests; matters like this would be of low priority to him.

[Basil B]

Rebuild South Pattaya Pier.

Extend Bali Hai along back of illegally built Walking St properties.

Build a new Pier at Jomtien.  

[monkeycu]

Call in the navy, they can have plenty of target practice without travelling far  ????

[Captain 776]

I am a licensed Captain by U S Coast Guard and was wondering........does Thailand have a requirement to be licensed.

I have seen numerous stories of these boats involved in many accidents and some with fatalities.

In USA if you even ONE paying passenger you must be licensed with at least the minimal 6 OUPV License, that allows you to have up to 6 passengers.

Then they go up from there:

100 Ton

200 Ton

500 Ton

and up to Unlimited Master of the Ocean that qualifies you to operate any ship.

 

I have been on a few of these Speedboats in my 14 yrs and it appears there is no licensing requirements.

[NCC1701A]

the mayor says they are installing 5G soon. That should solve this problem.

[Captain 776]

Pattaya has more of a crisis than Speedboats......lol

 

Jus sayin

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

42 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

Had the slightest bit of intelligence been present in the previous meetings, they would have calculated how many boats per day were in operation, and made the Bali Hai facility capable of dealing with all of it, plus some redundancy for further expansion. They are now facing issues, purely as a result of their lack of proper planning and foresight.

 

While they're at it...do you think they might RETHINK the....

--uncollected trash problem....

--the untreated sewage problem...

--the lack of lifeguards problem...

--the unsolved beach erosion problem

--the unsolved drainage/flooding problem

and I'm sure the list of eligible topics could go on and on and on....

 

[mok199]

More noise and optics from the Pattayayaya think tank...

[Justgrazing]

56 minutes ago, webfact said:

cope with the extra demand that was not envisaged

Mystic Meg would've visaged it .. 

 

 

[scorecard]

55 minutes ago, Basil B said:

Rebuild South Pattaya Pier.

Extend Bali Hai along back of illegally built Walking St properties.

Build a new Pier at Jomtien.  

Agree, operate from several piers, all organized:

 

- Boats to XXX depart from Pier 1, located at ... (with photos and map).

- Boats to YYY depart from Pier 2, located at ... (with photos and map).

- etc...

 

But would they succeed at communicating the above clearly to those involved? There's another story.

[RobMuir]

1 hour ago, Cadbury said:

The other handicap to fixing the problem is that the present mayor is a political appointee of PM Prayut and couldn't care less about trifling issues such boats and buses. He is busy protecting and looking after Prayut's political interests; matters like this would be of low priority to him.

Nah. The present mayors family have been running the show in Pattaya long before Prayut was around.

 

To be fair, they are a victim of their own success. They couldn’t have foreseen just how popular Pattaya would become.

 

Prayut sacked the current mayors brother. He only reappointed the current mayor because the election was coming up and the Khunplumes always won convincingly. Thinking if you can’t beat them, make them join you.

It backfired though, Ittipol Khunplume ran for parliament with Prayut in the recent election but was soundly beaten by Future Forward. 

[bluesofa]

1 hour ago, darksidedog said:

Had the slightest bit of intelligence been present in the previous meetings, they would have calculated how many boats per day were in operation, and made the Bali Hai facility capable of dealing with all of it, plus some redundancy for further expansion. They are now facing issues, purely as a result of their lack of proper planning and foresight.

Ha ha! Planning and foresight! I admire your optimism.

I tried google translate for 'foresight' and it translated it as someone wearing spectacles.

[Deli]

2 hours ago, smedly said:

Just like Baht busses - might there just be too many of them

 

How about limiting the numbers to a level that the current infrastructure can cope with

 

Correct. Limit the number of boats to the capacity the pier can cope with. Prices will raise and nature will be thankful.

But sorry, this is farang logic and cannot be applied here.

[DuiDui48]

2 hours ago, darksidedog said:

Had the slightest bit of intelligence been present in the previous meetings, they would have calculated how many boats per day were in operation, and made the Bali Hai facility capable of dealing with all of it, plus some redundancy for further expansion. They are now facing issues, purely as a result of their lack of proper planning and foresight.

Ask a Thai,any Thai what does planning and foresight ...mean...no answer,well did you expect anything else..*sarcasm*

 

•  

[mok199]

If these lazy cival servants took time , and came down to the beach any given day at 8 ,they would see first hand the insanity the smoke belching tour buses cause....

[Pattaya28]

2 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

--uncollected trash problem....

--the untreated sewage problem...

--the lack of lifeguards problem...

--the unsolved beach erosion problem

--the unsolved drainage/flooding problem

Apart from the above ........

This is a "World Class" resort.

[eddie61]

Envisaging anything other than a bursting bank account is beyond the capabilities of most Thai officials.

[Snow Leopard]

3 hours ago, smedly said:

Just like Baht busses - might there just be too many of them

 

How about limiting the numbers to a level that the current infrastructure can cope with

Maybe be a bit difficult seeing as all the bribes have already been paid. 

[jacko45k]

It might well be the facilities at Koh Larn that are being stretched. Why not limit the numbers going there?

[FiveStarVagabond]

A simple solution would be to force half of the boats to pick up people in the quieter stretch of Jomtien. Would make no difference to their para-sailing or trip to Koh Lan. The other half could operate from Bali Hai.  Check out this link. http://fivestarvagabond.com/chinese-storm-thailand-beach/

 

 

[skorp13]

Amusing Thailand continues to shine with it's 5 star world class family resort.....Pattaya ????

[Tony M]

We already have speeedboats picking up passengers on Jomtien Beach.  I did complain to City Hall about a year or so back, but they never replied (why am I not surprised ?).

[Pedrogaz]

Whatever the solution is, it will require enforcement by the authorities...hence the solution will fail. It is the fundamental problem in Thailand, if there is money to be made by speedboat owners, no amount of emergency meetings will stop them from polluting and ruining the beaches.