By Lesley Warner
Pattaya Park Tower is 240 meters high and yes, I jumped
off and lived to tell the tale. I used to watch from all over Pattaya the
tiny dots bouncing around on the wire, and say they must be crazy or have
nothing better to do than risk their lives. And then for “Queen and
Country” or is it “Peter and Pattaya Mail” I jumped!
Is
that a smile?
To describe the experience from beginning to end I would
have to say it was terror walking up onto the ledge of the tower, extreme
terror when I was sat with my legs dangling over the side, abject horror as
I slid off the side and then WOW this is great on my way down. There was no
sense of falling; more a sense of floating, as it’s quite a slow decent,
controlled by your weight.
Patboon Sa-Nguanphan is the training manager of the
complex; he studied languages at university in Egypt and now, among other
things teaches English to the 500 staff. He told me that the jump is
controlled by gravity, a lot depends on the person’s weight and there are
certain restrictions on those people allowed to use the jump because of
this.
The
Water Park from above
Before I jumped I asked him about the safety aspect and
he told me that the tower jump had to comply with strict government safety
regulations. The jump is serviced daily and no one is allowed near it until
the safety report from the engineer is completed every morning. All the
staff in the tower have experienced the jump and use it regularly during
fire training. There is also the choice of the Sky Shuttle and the Speed
Shuttle, all with incredible views of Pattaya City and Jomtien Bay.
There
I go
I asked Patboon if they ever had any problems, and he
said that once two suspicious young men went up with backpacks on and they
were observed attempting to parachute off the tower! Of course they were
prevented and now rucksacks are looked at more closely.
The tower can be seen from all around and the Royal Thai
Navy uses it on their map as a location point.
The
most incredible views of Pattaya
The tower is on top of a 730-bedroom hotel with a great
revolving restaurant a floor below the jumps, and the views are second to
none. There are also bungalows and town houses in the grounds to rent.
There’s a direct access to the beach, where Patboon told me that within
the next few weeks the Women’s World Championship Volleyball competitions
would be held. The Water Park with its whirlpool and water slides is
fantastic for kids and soon there will be ‘Funny Land’ with more
attractions including a visual adventure ride and a high-speed vertical drop
ride 60 meters high. (No Peter).
For more information telephone (038) 251201-8
Ritchie
“Elvis” Newton
Rod
& Becky Nowlin, shown here dining at Renoir’s, have made Pattaya part of
their itinerary on their round the world sailing expedition.
Eddie
Jacobson and friends celebrate the 1st anniversary of the Stockholm Inn on
Pratamnak Road.