One would think that, if the
owners don’t remove these structures, the next flood would manage the feat
for them.
Warunya Thongrod
Two weeks after discovering that 25 large commercial buildings near Walking
Street were encroaching on the South Pattaya storm-drainage canal, Pattaya
officials say only a few landowners remain as obstacles to clearing the
flood-control waterway.
Following the May 14 announcement by Pattaya Deputy Mayor Verawat Khakhay
that a collection of buildings near the Soho Square section of Walking
Street were also built over the waterway, city Engineering and Public Health
department staffers went to work to get property owners to remove structures
blocking the canal, which feeds storm runoff into the sea.
Among them were a guesthouse opposite Soho Square owned by Pithak Pottian,
who built rental rooms over the canal, and the Right Spot Inn, which
constructed employee dormitories on the canal. Both owners were given 60
days to remove the structures.
In a May 27 progress meeting with Banglamung District Chief Sakchai Taengho
and Pattaya Business & Tourism Association President Sinchai
Wattanasartsathorn, Verawat said most landowners have cooperated with the
city, but several, including Pithak, are not.
Among them are two property owners on Soi Marine Plaza, one of whom has
constructed a single-floor building and another with a two-story structure
over the canal.
“These individuals are not cooperating with us and we have to rely on the
power of the law to help,” the deputy mayor said. “We will warn the owners
that their structures must be removed within 30 days. If they still do not
cooperate, we will remove it ourselves and bill them for the cost.”
Unlike previous years, where such threats were made and never carried out,
Sakchai has been vigilant in clearing the canal zone. On April 22, he
ordered workers to take a backhoe, trucks and digging equipment to 14
structures on 4.5 rai of public land near Soi Marine.
“I have to praise the tremendous actions taken by Pattaya officials
regarding floods and trespassing on the public canal,” Sinchai said.
Verawat said since that clearance, city workers have widened the canal in
three spots and removed an artificial reservoir to improve water flow. He
said he hopes the final obstacles to total clearance of the canal will be
complete within a month.
