Sanit Boonmachai, member of Pattaya City Council
and president of the Pattaya Tourist Boat Club points out some of the
details of the new plan.
Warunya Thongrod
Only a third of area boat owners turned out to hear Pattaya officials
announce their latest set of proposed marine regulations and details of a 31
million baht plan for buoys stretching from the mainland to Koh Larn.
City Councilman Sanit Boonmachai, who also heads the Pattaya Tour Boat
Operators Club, said he was disappointed that only 100 of 300 local boat
owners attended the May 19 city hall meeting. He said that shows operators
aren’t willing to cooperate with city hall.
The meeting was, however, at least the sixth held in the past year to
announce some form of new marine rules or initiatives.
The meeting was to preview regulations to control the speed and course of
speedboats and designate specific areas for water sports other than
swimming. Three speed-limit buoys and six navigational buoys are planned, as
well as 21 buoys to demark zones for jet skis, banana boats, parasailing,
scuba diving and sea walking.
The price tag for the plan currently sits at 31 million baht, but the plan
lacks any budget support from the national government and, with Cabinet
depleted by Constitutional Court rulings and the parliament disbanded, even
Sanit acknowledged there’s no estimate on when the plan can be fully funded.
In the interim, he said, the city will use “emergency” funds to drop the
most-important buoys at entrance and exit points at areas at Bali Hai Pier
and Koh Larn’s Cape Hua Kod.
The buoy plan is part of a five-phase program demanded by Chonburi Province
officials following a string of marine accidents stretching back to the
beginning of 2013. The plan covers water zone regulation, supervision and
control of water traffic, integration between public and private sectors,
increasing awareness of safety, and reforming laws.
One example of the new regulations, Sanit said, will be those prohibiting
anchoring at Koh Larn’s pier by any unregistered boat and designated mooring
areas for registered boats.
