An artist’s rendering of the construction plan
for phase 2 of the football stadium.
Jetsada Homklin
Having spent funds earmarked for a new football stadium on the Beach
Road beautification project, Pattaya Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome finally found
someone to build the 20,000-seat stadium on its shoestring budget: The Royal
Thai Army.
Itthiphol and 1sr Army Area Commander Lt. Gen. Thirachai Nakvnich signed an
agreement March 13 to have the military fund the second-phase of the
moribund 774 million baht project near the Eastern National Indoor Stadium
on Soi Chaiyapruek 2.
The army will provide labor, equipment, and construction materials with
Pattaya pledging to pay the military 536.5 million baht for construction.
The army will begin construction within a month and finish the project
within three years and four months. Any delay will need to be approved by
the city.
Begun in 2009, Itthiphol’s pet project was intended to house 12 different
sport fields, swimming pool, tennis court, 12 main and minor sport stadiums
and a 500-car parking lot.
The first phase of the project, with 90 million baht spent on 5,000 of the
planned 20,000 seats at the football stadium, was completed in September
2010. Grass was planted and construction of the final 15,000 seats was
supposed to begin with a 500 million baht budget later that year, with
completion set for late 2012.
But after a series of design and construction delays, the mayor in February
2012 diverted 140 million baht in stadium-construction funds to beautify the
landscape on Pattaya Beach, work which was wiped out less than a year later
when the mayor pushed through his plan to widen Beach Road.
With less money to build, Pattaya officials demanded cost cuts and price
concessions from the contractor. Claiming the delays actually had made the
job unprofitable, the contractor quit, leaving the city with no money and no
company to build Itthiphol’s dream stadium.
City officials said the they were searching for a construction company to do
the job at a lower price but, apparently, couldn’t find anyone but military
conscripts to do the work for their price.
