Traffic Pattaya's New Parking Rules: A Bid to Untangle Congestion

[snoop1130]

 

Motorists navigating the bustling streets of Pattaya may need to rethink their parking strategies. In an effort to alleviate the city's notorious traffic congestion, Pattaya City has introduced new parking regulations on South Pattaya Road and Thepprasit Road, with a focus on establishing no-parking zones and day-specific parking rules.

 

The city hopes these adjustments will help maintain a smoother traffic flow and bring a semblance of order to its chaotic roads. However, the reception among residents has been mixed. While some appreciate the effort to improve infrastructure, others point out persistent challenges.

 

A key issue raised by residents is the lack of clear signage in crucial areas, such as near Soi 6. A frustrated motorist noted, "There needs to be clearer signage. You can't expect people to follow the rules if they can't even see or understand them."

 

Additionally, there are concerns about enforcement. Abandoned and unauthorised vehicles continue to pose problems, and instances like a licence-less Honda Dream motorcycle being towed for missing registration highlight the enforcement gaps.

 

 

 

The call for multilingual signage echoes throughout the community, especially given Pattaya's status as a global tourist destination. Locals argue that signs should cater to tourists and residents alike with translations in Thai, English, Chinese, Japanese, Burmese, Khmer, and Russian to alleviate confusion.

 

Furthermore, some residents feel that enforcement is uneven, particularly on Thepprasit Road where dual-sided parking creates daily chaos. A long-time resident pointed out, "It's like a free-for-all some days. And why do taxis get to park in red-white zones near the VC Hotel on Pratumnak Road without consequence?"

 

Despite these grievances, there remains a thread of cautious optimism. Many locals believe that if executed correctly, these changes could lead to broader improvements across Pattaya. "If done right, this could be the beginning of a cleaner, more liveable Pattaya," expressed a resident who supports the initiative but stresses the need for effective management and consistent enforcement.

 

As of now, Pattaya's roads are a mixture of forward momentum and growing pains. City officials hope that these new regulations are the first significant step towards resolving the city's traffic challenges once and for all.

 

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from The Thaiger 2025-04-24

 

 

 

[JoePai]

Good - about time

[Tropicalevo]

38 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

signs should cater to tourists and residents alike with translations in Thai, English, Chinese, Japanese, Burmese, Khmer, and Russian to alleviate confusion.

 

Love it

[scubascuba3]

As always, it's confusing, I don't see the problem with Thepprasit parking.

 

Problem is most likely a big lack of common sense, I don't think Thais know about that

[mikebell]

15 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

why do taxis get to park in red-white zones near the VC Hotel on Pratumnak Road without consequence?"

Why do they get to never use their meters?  Because the other mafia say it's OK.

[J Branche]

So they have a parking problem in these key areas.  Sounds like the need for either mass transit or more efficient use of Truck Taxis with parking lots in certain areas were people can park and ride the Taxi or Mass Transit to their destination.

 

The other problem with congestion is the ability of an Ambulance, Police, or Fire Truck to reach their destination in a reasonable time.

[Dionigi]

car parks, car parks, car parks, Provide parking spaces and efficient public transport otherwise people will street park. You cannot make your car just disappear it has to be parked somewhere. At least shopping malls and supermarkets, generally realise this, even newer 7-11s are being built with car parking facilities. Why can't the council build them?

[chrissables]

Clamping them will cause congestion, tow them away as long as the area is well signposted.

[jippytum]

higher police enforcement and a tow truck circling the area would be helpful. 

[thesetat]

Haha... signage in all those languages? They can not even make a sign that is understandable in only English..

[Watawattana]

2 hours ago, chrissables said:

Clamping them will cause congestion, tow them away as long as the area is well signposted.

Yeah, clamping a badly parked car is literally the most stupid thing to do ever.

[Unamerican]

2 hours ago, Dionigi said:

Why can't the council build them?

Where exactly could these council-built facilities be positioned?

[Unamerican]

17 minutes ago, Watawattana said:

Yeah, clamping a badly parked car is literally the most stupid thing to do ever.

+1 ! 

[hotchilli]

19 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

"There needs to be clearer signage. You can't expect people to follow the rules if they can't even see or understand them."

They should do what they did near my location... instead of signs they painted instructions on the road.

When the cars stopped no-one could see anything... complete fiasco

 

[newnative]

      The next time you drive Thepprasit going west, keep your eye on the U-Turn spots.  You'll see a solid yellow line steering the two lanes of traffic to the left around the cars making a U-Turn.  For this maneuver to work, however, the parking lane in the U-Turn area needs to become a thru lane.  If you look at the parking lane in the U-Turn area,  the city has painted white forward arrows on the parking lane, indicating that this section is NOT parking but, instead, a traffic lane.  So far so good--not as good as eliminating parking completely on the road but better than nothing.

      The city, however, has so far neglected to paint the curb red and white in these areas, so cars continue to park in the designated traffic lane, totally defeating the whole plan of smooth traffic flow around the U-Turn.  So, instead, you get to a U-Turn and the traffic gets all jumbled up as you have two lanes reduced to one as the right lane is blocked by cars making a U-Turn and the parking lane that is suppose to be a thru lane is blocked with parked cars.  A good idea not working due to the city's poor execution.  There are so many examples of incompetence like this--and so many little things that could be done in many areas to improve traffic flow all over the city.  

[Dionigi]

4 hours ago, Unamerican said:

Where exactly could these council-built facilities be positioned?

There are large areas of land within Pattaya that is not utilised. compulsory purchase and build. How about the deserted eyesore at bali hi pier or batman disco. There was a private carpark opposite Immigration, build into a high rise carpark.

[newnative]

15 hours ago, Dionigi said:

There are large areas of land within Pattaya that is not utilised. compulsory purchase and build. How about the deserted eyesore at bali hi pier or batman disco. There was a private carpark opposite Immigration, build into a high rise carpark.

Agree.  Plenty of land available, often right off the main road and sometimes right on it--note the huge tract of empty land with the green fence in front of it on North Pattaya.  While the parking garages are being built, temporary parking lots could be built on empty land that is either bought or leased from the owners.

[henryford1958]

On 4/24/2025 at 5:10 PM, scubascuba3 said:

As always, it's confusing, I don't see the problem with Thepprasit parking.

 

Problem is most likely a big lack of common sense, I don't think Thais know about that

 

The main problem with Thapprasit is double parking. People just shut off one lane with their warning lights on because they can't be arsed to walk 10 yards.

[scubascuba3]

2 hours ago, henryford1958 said:

 

The main problem with Thapprasit is double parking. People just shut off one lane with their warning lights on because they can't be arsed to walk 10 yards.

I rarely see it but yes Police need to stamp it out

[Darksidedude]

i do recall many years ago a chain was wrapped around my bike on beach road, had to pay the cops to get it off does that still happen