Sand was being brought to
Pattaya Beach in bags taken from a Rayong tributary until Rayong
officials said they could sell no more.
Phasakorn Channgam
Plans to shore up Pattaya Beach with sand from a
Rayong tributary hit the rocks when Rayong officials stopped selling the
sand to the city’s contractors due to the river’s own erosion issues.
While Pattaya Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome announced
plans nearly a year ago to refill Pattaya Beach near the Dusit Curve,
Rayong officials have said they can not allow any more sand to be taken
from the tributary, as nature is already eating away as the waterway.
The mayor said Sept. 19 that he will ask researchers
at Chulalongkorn University to find another source for sand similar to
existing granules on Pattaya Beach.
Pattaya is funding the emergency refill of the Dusit
Curve with 15.7 million baht of local funds as it awaits approval of a
500 million baht budget to shore up the entire waterfront.
Up to 30 meters of beachfront will be built up in the
200 northernmost meters of Pattaya Beach. Once a new source of sand is
found, the work should take five months, the mayor said.
