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PCEC members vicariously cruise to Oz and beyond
The regular Sunday meeting of the Pattaya City Expats
Club got underway at the Amari’s Henry J. Bean Restaurant on Sunday, May 31
with Master of Ceremonies (Emcee) Judith Edmonds officiating. After the
usual announcements, she called on Harry (Sig) Sigwell to introduce his good
friend and the featured speaker, Bob L’Etoile. Bob then got into the subject
of his presentation - his recent trip to Sydney, where he and his “better
half” met up with Cliff Hagerman for a very enjoyable cruise to some
Australian destinations and then on to Indonesia, ending in Singapore.
 For
Bob and partner the islands of Indonesia were spectacular, including Komodo,
home of the now Komodo Dragon.
Bob said that it certainly was not a budget trip, but well worth the cost.
Bob then shared photographs of his trip with the members and guests while
providing an interesting and informative commentary. He said they decided to
arrive in Sydney a few days before their ship cruise began so they would
have some time to explore the city. Considering the short duration of their
stay, they wanted to make the most of it, so they did all the tours they
could within their time constraints.
Bob said they left Bangkok flying on Qantas; arriving in Sydney nine hours
later. He said that customs and immigration officials, while being thorough,
were well organized and they were soon on their way by taxi to their hotel.
Again, this was not a budget place, but it did offer great service and their
room overlooked the harbor.
Bob then described several places they visited including a tour of Sydney
Harbor, which has some 240km of shoreline and 66 bays. Bob said that while
the beaches were beautiful, he did not see anyone in the water swimming. He
said he was told that it was due to sharks and that the preceding week
someone had lost and arm and a leg (something akin to what Bob said his trip
cost). Bob also pointed out for those that might want to visit, that the
water taxis were a great way to get around and see the sights of the harbor.
After their few days touring Sydney, they were ready to board their ship.
Bob showed a picture of their Holland America cruise ship, which was
destined to be their home for the next 16 days. Bob provided various
statistics about the ship, which had several types of restaurants available
from casual dining to a more formal sit down dinner. Bob opined that on a
cruise, one could never grow hungry because food always seemed to be
available.
The ship also had several bars and places to be entertained. He mentioned
that their cabin had a large porthole (window for the non-nautical types)
that afforded them some great views; but, he said that because there was so
much to see and do, they did not spend much time in their cabin except for
sleeping. One of their delights was to see what kind of “critters” were
awaiting them when they returned to their cabin; the cabin stewards would
form their towels into some sort of animal figure, which changed from day to
day.
Bob then proceeded to describe their visits to Whitsunday Islands, Cairns,
Darwin, along with Bali, and Komodo in Indonesia. Bob mentioned that at most
of their port calls, they opted to go ashore and arrange for their own
sightseeing as it was much less costly than the tours offered by the Cruise
Line. However, they had to take the Cruise Line’s offered tour of Komodo
Island because it had to be guided by local rangers. The famous komodo
dragons are quite large and can be dangerous; even deadly if one should bite
you. Bob said that local rangers would determine each day where the dragons
were located, rope off the areas, and then escort tour groups to those
areas.
Although most of their stops were interesting, Bob said they were most
impressed with Cairns and said that one could visit there for two or three
days as there was so much to see. Bob then commented on their final stop,
Singapore; again showing some great pictures. Bob said that they planned to
go back to Sydney and spend some time there in the not too distant future.
However, he said the next trip would be planned as a budget trip.
At the conclusion, there were many questions from the audience and a few of
the “Aussies” took issue about not swimming in Sydney Harbor, noting that
there were other areas available for people wanting to swim.
Emcee Judith then brought everyone up to date on upcoming events and called
on Roger Fox to conduct the always interesting Open Forum, which provides
for an open exchange of information among the expats about living in Pattaya
and Thailand.
Chonburi Marine
Department steps up safety efforts for rainy season
Passenger boats traveling from
Sriracha to Koh Sichang.
Pramote Channgam
With the rainy season at full bluster, Chonburi Marine Police are
stepping up enforcement of boat-safety standards to prevent accidents stemming
from storms and high seas.
Officials last week targeted popular Sriracha-Koh Sichang ferry services,
checking that the low-cost boat operators have sufficient numbers of life
jackets, buoys and rubber rafts.
Marine Department inspectors also inspected vessels and checked crew
qualifications and impressed upon Koh Loi Pier operators the need to suspend
operations during heavy rain and wind.
Meteorological Department forecasts show a combination of low pressure systems
over Thailand’s north and northeast combined with monsoons in the south are
driving powerful storms and large ocean swells to the Pattaya area.
Royal Cliff Beach Resort donates 830 trees in Pattaya
The Redemption Foundation for
People with Disabilities gladly accepts tree saplings from representatives of
the Royal Cliff Beach Resort.
On May 29, representatives from the multi award winning Royal
Cliff Beach Resort presented 830 tree saplings to help promote awareness of the
dangers of global warming, highlight environmental issues and help to increase
green areas in an already congested Pattaya.
Vathanai Vathanakul, executive director, Vipavee Wuthichat, resident manager and
Joachim Grill, the general manager of the luxury Royal Cliff Beach Resort in
Pattaya presented the trees to the three beneficiaries being Pattaya City 7
School, Thammasat University Campus in Pattaya and Mahathai, the Redemption
Foundation for People with Disabilities.
This donation is in line with the Royal Cliff Beach Resort’s efforts to champion
environmental conservation and work with the local community to promote and
implement initiatives which will benefit the environment and the whole local
community as a result.
The Royal Cliff Beach Resort has been actively championing environmental
conservation and carrying out its responsibilities for the betterment of society
since its establishment in 1973, receiving several awards and recognitions,
including EIA Monitoring Award (2000, 2002, 2005 and 2007), Kuoni Green Planet
Award (2005-06 and 2007-08) and the Best Green Hotel recognition (2008).
Representatives from the Royal
Cliff Beach Resort present
tree saplings to local Boy Scouts and Girl Guides.
Tides of change washing away beachfront vendors’ businesses
Ariyawat Nuamsawat
For the past 20 years “Uncle Mee” has earned his living supplying food,
drink and beach chairs and umbrellas to tourists near North Pattaya’s Dusit
Thani Hotel. But after years of heavy storms, high tides and city development,
his business is literally washing away.
“Humans have cheated nature and the beach has been abused,” Mee said, looking
across a beachfront of which the sea has carved out about 100 meters of sand.
The erosion, combined with the construction of a concrete-paved park and the
overall decline in Pattaya tourism, means Mee sometimes takes home as little as
150 baht a week these days.
A Pattaya Public Works Department study estimates that Pattaya’s northern
beachfront will shrink 15 meters and central and south Pattaya by 12 meters over
the next 30 years if nothing is done to protect them. At the same time, the
beachfront near Bali Hai Pier could expand a whopping 82 meters as the sand
washed away to the north settles near the jetty. Damage to Jomtien Beach could
even be worse.
“Anyone who has stayed here more than 30 years can clearly see what has been
lost on Jomtien and Pattaya beaches,” said Public Works Director Pichet
Uthaivatananon. He said the northern end of Jomtien has seen the most-pronounced
damage and needs a breakwater built to protect it from erosion, he said.
Pattaya Beach is eroding more slowly, he said. As a result, city hall’s initial
plan to hire a company to expand the beach by 50 meters was canceled after a
three-year study found only minimal erosion.
The survey by Team Engineering & Management Co., Ltd. studied conditions on
Pattaya Beach from 2000 to 2003. The consulting company determined that, during
that time, Wong Amat Beach increased by 1.45 meters, north Pattaya Beach
decreased 76cm, central Pattaya decreased 45cm and Bali Hai increased by 3.5
meters.
That’s little consolation to Uncle Mee, who has watched not only Mother Nature
chew away at the waterline, but city hall consumes sand near the street.
Long-time beach-chair umbrella
vendors work
to shore up the beach in North Pattaya.
In its effort to beautify the beachfront, the city paved over
part of the beach near the Dusit and installed seats, coconut trees and a
garden. During storms, however, the concrete gets damaged by flooding and
requires continual maintenance from the city.
“Recently there haven’t been any really heavy storms, but the park would be
destroyed if we have another typhoon like we did in 1997,” Mee said. “I wish
things would be left natural and there would be no more construction. Without
construction, nature would bring the sand back in.”
For now, however, Mee and other beach-chair umbrella vendors are using their own
funds to shore up the shoreline. He and others are buying sandbags to protect
the beach while others haul displaced sand back to fill holes left by storms.
While overall erosion may be slow, Pattaya officials still recognize it’s a
problem and, despite canceling the earlier beach-expansion project, are working
on other ideas to protect the city’s most-important attribute.
Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome has proposed a beachfront-preservation committee that
would not only focus on protecting the beach, but Beach Road, sidewalks and
greenery as well. Doing so isn’t as easy as one might think, Pichet said.
“Over the past 30 years, the sea has washed away everything nearest beach
roads,” he said. “This is especially true on Jomtien Beach Road, which has seen
powerful washouts that have damaged the street’s foundation and caused
collapse.”
Pichet said he believes the problem is not just affecting the Pattaya area, but
the entire Chonburi coast. Thus, he said, the national government should do
something to tackle long-term erosion.
According to a 2006 report from the Chonburi Environmental Office and Thailand’s
Ministry of Nature and Environment, Chonburi has already lost more than 122 rai
of beachfront worth 610 million baht to the sea. The report blamed the erosion
on high tides, abnormally strong waves and wind, increased rain, current
changes, human intervention, and fewer undersea cave collapses that normally
replace lost soil.
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