Plan To Make Pattaya A 'World-Class Tourism City'

[housepainter]

Sometimes I'm sure Thai Visa make these stories up, because this is just blood-boilingly absurd to anyone who lives here, if it's true.

The police run riot, scams are everywhere, the mayor is unable to control anyone unless its a business owner asking him to cut a ribbon, all infrastructure projects are badly executed to the point of incompetence, and Beach Road is full of whores, drug dealers and scammers.

A little effective backyard-cleaning might be in order before asking for giant pots of money which will fund a few peoples' retirements, more than actually change things on the ground.

Mayor Ittipol Khunpluem ........................ is that the same family as the former Khunpluem that ran Pattaya and used boat loads of gun toting thugs to run up the coast and wage war at Siracha. He then moved on to the day light murder of two wedding guests before taking refuge over the border in Cambodia. Has he been allowed back yet?

You say that Mayor Ittipol Khunpluem has no control of anyone ..................... I beg to differ on that one. You see the problem with Pattaya is the people who run it. Like every organisation, business, City etc., it is a top down operation.

Don't underestimate Mayor Ittipol Khunpluem . Fingers in all the pies. It's just that now he has a nice smiley face beaming on down on you. The latest ones were taken as someone was having their toe nails pulled.

By the way, the spelling is correct: pulled not polished.

[pipo1000]

Sometimes I'm sure Thai Visa make these stories up, because this is just blood-boilingly absurd to anyone who lives here, if it's true.

The police run riot, scams are everywhere, the mayor is unable to control anyone unless its a business owner asking him to cut a ribbon, all infrastructure projects are badly executed to the point of incompetence, and Beach Road is full of whores, drug dealers and scammers.

A little effective backyard-cleaning might be in order before asking for giant pots of money which will fund a few peoples' retirements, more than actually change things on the ground.

Mayor Ittipol Khunpluem ........................ is that the same family as the former Khunpluem that ran Pattaya and used boat loads of gun toting thugs to run up the coast and wage war at Siracha. He then moved on to the day light murder of two wedding guests before taking refuge over the border in Cambodia. Has he been allowed back yet?

You say that Mayor Ittipol Khunpluem has no control of anyone ..................... I beg to differ on that one. You see the problem with Pattaya is the people who run it. Like every organisation, business, City etc., it is a top down operation.

Don't underestimate Mayor Ittipol Khunpluem . Fingers in all the pies. It's just that now he has a nice smiley face beaming on down on you. The latest ones were taken as someone was having their toe nails pulled.

By the way, the spelling is correct: pulled not polished.

Not family related................only his dad

[khaowong1]

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha and ha..

[tomyummer]

i can see it already. Great! Then comes F-1, the Olympics, World Cup.....

NOT!

Pattaya is the new Moscow with great Thai food.

[MJP]

Interesting idea. Make Pattaya an international zone. Allow foreign residents to vote and run for local offices ...

For more world class, you need more world.

I am not for Pattaya becoming Monte Carlo even if that was possible, and it isn't. Like others have said, start simple, take out the trash! Yes clean up the beaches and the water there to make them safe to swim. Fix the infrastructure. Fix the public transport mess. And so on. Then think grand when you have something decent to work with.

To me the ideal Pattaya would still be diverse, with room for all classes and nationalities. Truly great cities aren't for the elite only. San Francisco is an example of a city that has become much less interesting since it was taken over by the rich. Also, starting as a whorehouse is no impediment to become a great city. There are many examples of this globally, and all those places still have plenty of whores, thank the deity of your choice.

Move to Bang Saray old boy.

[Lancelot]

World class is a bit of a stretch but remember that Pattaya's "target" market seems to be changing. Chinese, Indian and Russian tourists seem to be the marjority now-and they appear happy enough.

Perhaps world class means different things to different people

Edited December 29, 2010 by Lancelot

[tomyummer]

World Class? Or World's Ass?

[jayjay0]

Interesting idea. Make Pattaya an international zone. Allow foreign residents to vote and run for local offices ...

For more world class, you need more world.

I am not for Pattaya becoming Monte Carlo even if that was possible, and it isn't. Like others have said, start simple, take out the trash! Yes clean up the beaches and the water there to make them safe to swim. Fix the infrastructure. Fix the public transport mess. And so on. Then think grand when you have something decent to work with.

To me the ideal Pattaya would still be diverse, with room for all classes and nationalities. Truly great cities aren't for the elite only. San Francisco is an example of a city that has become much less interesting since it was taken over by the rich. Also, starting as a whorehouse is no impediment to become a great city. There are many examples of this globally, and all those places still have plenty of whores, thank the deity of your choice.

True

In Seattle's early days the only tax was on the brothels. They never lacked for money.

[MJP]

World Class? Or World's Ass?

It's not the end of the World. But you can see it from there.

An absolute daddy of a place.

[elshaheen]

Pattaya city is putting the final touches on its tourism-development master plan, which will need a budget of about Bt15 billion for 132 projects designed to turn the beach resort into a "world-class greenovative tourism city". When tourist start to arrive, Thai's will be there arms and legs open wide to great them all.

[alstaxi]

5 years and the road to Jomtien is still not completed, sidewalks everywhere are impassable, we really shud get working on a hotel on koh larn..... :lol: :lol:

[wobblyjohn]

Maybe Pattaya should have a good look at the infrastructure and pavements of BangSean, maybe then we would have a city worth visiting

[AZBill]

Sometimes I'm sure Thai Visa make these stories up, because this is just blood-boilingly absurd to anyone who lives here, if it's true.

The police run riot, scams are everywhere, the mayor is unable to control anyone unless its a business owner asking him to cut a ribbon, all infrastructure projects are badly executed to the point of incompetence, and Beach Road is full of whores, drug dealers and scammers.

A little effective backyard-cleaning might be in order before asking for giant pots of money which will fund a few peoples' retirements, more than actually change things on the ground.

Why undertake something like this if the Thai politicians can't infuse corruption into the process and steal a little money from the folk! Anyway, my wife won't let me go to Pattaya!

[Bagwan]

Sometimes I'm sure Thai Visa make these stories up, because this is just blood-boilingly absurd to anyone who lives here, if it's true.

The police run riot, scams are everywhere, the mayor is unable to control anyone unless its a business owner asking him to cut a ribbon, all infrastructure projects are badly executed to the point of incompetence, and Beach Road is full of whores, drug dealers and scammers.

A little effective backyard-cleaning might be in order before asking for giant pots of money which will fund a few peoples' retirements, more than actually change things on the ground.

Mayor Ittipol Khunpluem ........................ is that the same family as the former Khunpluem that ran Pattaya and used boat loads of gun toting thugs to run up the coast and wage war at Siracha. He then moved on to the day light murder of two wedding guests before taking refuge over the border in Cambodia. Has he been allowed back yet?

You say that Mayor Ittipol Khunpluem has no control of anyone ..................... I beg to differ on that one. You see the problem with Pattaya is the people who run it. Like every organisation, business, City etc., it is a top down operation.

Don't underestimate Mayor Ittipol Khunpluem . Fingers in all the pies. It's just that now he has a nice smiley face beaming on down on you. The latest ones were taken as someone was having their toe nails pulled.

By the way, the spelling is correct: pulled not polished.

Not family related................only his dad

Daddy originally made his money by smuggling cigarettes in from Indonesia. He then hit on the great idea of selling land that he didn't own to Pattaya City Council who needed space for a rubbish tip. He was convicted of this fraud. Allowed out on bail after being found guilty of murder of a one time supporter then political rival, or commissioning same, he suddenly became invisible. The story put about is that he is in Cambodia but there have been no sightings, at least of late. I have been told by friends who are nearer to the seat of power that he is living quietly just down the road from Sriracha. During the murder trial there was a 'Monty Python moment' when the actual gunman who had made a full confession retracted it. When asked why, if that being the case he had signed the confession, he stated that the couldn't read it as he had poor eyesight. Asked what his speciality was in the Army he said that he was a sniper.

Follow this link to see who the family friends are.

http://www.ethailand...hday-42195.html

All the usual suspects eh? And monks! When a son who happened to be a Government Minister married at a Pattaya hotel a certain square faced man from the North attended. The unconfirmed story on the street was that the hotel laid everything on for free in return for the promise that Thailand's first casino would be situated there.

Neighbours who acted as tellers at the election of the present Mayor have let it be known to friends that there were 'irregularities'.

If the US Mafia could build Las Vegas who knows what lies in store for Pattaya? In the building there will no doubt be many 'special offers' that it would be unwise to refuse.

[jbrewer]

[Thai at Heart]

Thiti said the results of Pattaya's repositioning as a tourist destination should be visible by 2017.

By then, tourism will be contributing Bt300 billion a year to Pattaya's economy, up from Bt60 million, as visitor arrivals increase from 7 million to 30 million and the average stay stretches out.

I wonder if the plans for the waste water treatment plant envisage such a massive increase in tourism numbers?

I am all for trying to shoot the moon, but.....

It will be interesting to see how much extra construction would be needed to house a 4 fold increase in the numbers of tourists in Pattaya. I mean, could you sell this business plan to any bank manager in the world. We estimate a 4 fold increase in tourism arrivals in a 6 year period? They would be better to raze Pattaya to the ground and plan to handle 7 million genuine family visitors, as opposed to 6.9 mn single blokes who live by night.

[Jingthing]

Nobody is going to tear down Pattaya. What's with that abrasive rhetoric? Hear too many hellfire preachers talk about Sodom and Gomorrah, did you? Anyway, sometimes cities benefit from destruction in the long term, such as the Chicago fire or the great San Francisco earthquake, but other than that, just accept the current city as it is, and go from there.

[Thai at Heart]

Nobody is going to tear down Pattaya. What's with that abrasive rhetoric? Hear too many hellfire preachers talk about Sodom and Gomorrah, did you? Anyway, sometimes cities benefit from destruction in the long term, such as the Chicago fire or the great San Francisco earthquake, but other than that, just accept the current city as it is, and go from there.

Not from any moral standpoint at all, but, if you were trying to plan turning it into a "World Class" tourist destination with a planned 4 fold increase in tourists in 6 years, starting afresh might be the only option. The waste water treatment requirements alone mean that thousands of km of sewers have to be built. I would suggest that with the current logistics, there is no way to create a "World Class" tourist resort, but that is just my opinion.

Funny thing is, if you look at what is going on up towards the Dusit end of the beach, it is slowly being transformed with new high rise hotels and the such. Pretty good redevelopment I reckon.

Of course, you could just simply make Pattaya encompass about another 100 km north and south and lo and behold you could probably double the amount of tourists in a second.

Edited December 30, 2010 by Thai at Heart

[saintofsilence]

"Mayor Ittipol Khunpluem said the takeover by Dasta would change the image of Pattaya as well as the cooperation between public and private sectors. Mega-projects will be completed sooner and be more faithful to the blueprint, he added."

By appointing DASTA at least this would take any pressure off the Mayor and exclude him from corrupt connections and any promises he may or may not have made.

As long as DASTA stay corruption free it has to be better than how Pattaya is being run now but saying it will be a world class tourism city it will take a long time to get to that.

[ding]

When they hire real urban planners and engineers to study existing vs. proposed infrastructure needs -THEN they can say something. The corruption issue will need to be dealt with in a way that isn't in the bounds of reality either.

Seems juvenile to proclaim something like 500% growth in this way. But would be nice to see some progress taming the beast.

[Tanaka]

But we have crossing lights for pedestrians! 555555

Pity we dont have enough pavements for them to walk on.

But there are enough pavements. The problem is that they are clogged with shops extending their premises to cover them, and there are cement poles in the middle, there are holes in them, they are used as parking areas for bikes and cars. This is not just in Pattaya but a fact in most Thai cities.

Edited December 30, 2010 by Tanaka

[Tanaka]

"Mayor Ittipol Khunpluem said the takeover by Dasta would change the image of Pattaya as well as the cooperation between public and private sectors. Mega-projects will be completed sooner and be more faithful to the blueprint, he added."

By appointing DASTA at least this would take any pressure off the Mayor and exclude him from corrupt connections and any promises he may or may not have made.

As long as DASTA stay corruption free it has to be better than how Pattaya is being run now but saying it will be a world class tourism city it will take a long time to get to that.

Why do you think Dasta is corruption free today? It would be the only authority in the country that is not, should that have been the case.

[saintofsilence]

"Mayor Ittipol Khunpluem said the takeover by Dasta would change the image of Pattaya as well as the cooperation between public and private sectors. Mega-projects will be completed sooner and be more faithful to the blueprint, he added."

By appointing DASTA at least this would take any pressure off the Mayor and exclude him from corrupt connections and any promises he may or may not have made.

As long as DASTA stay corruption free it has to be better than how Pattaya is being run now but saying it will be a world class tourism city it will take a long time to get to that.

Why do you think Dasta is corruption free today? It would be the only authority in the country that is not, should that have been the case.

I don't know if they are corruption free or not but I was referring to the Pattaya Project only and iF DASTA can stay corruption free on that.

[Tolley]

It always amazes me but when you alight the baht bus to go to Walking St from Beach Road you have to navigate a flithy stretch of pavement over stinking drains to get to Walking St. You nearly get run over in the process by the same baht buses that drop you off.

It wouldn't be hard to fix the problem but it seems no one cares.

For me the biggest issue in the whole of Pattaya is the drainage system the place absolutely stinks in many areas.

World Class.........never going to happen.

[TimTang]

"World Class!"

Does that mean the hookers will be able to charge more?

[Jingthing]

"World Class!"

Does that mean the hookers will be able to charge more?

No doubt. Good point. Resistance is futile.