Pattaya officials discuss another crackdown on noisy Third Road
entertainment venues. Will they be any more successful this year than
they were last year?
Vimolrat Singnikorn
Pattaya officials are again pledging to crackdown on
noisy Third Road entertainment venues as complaints continue to pile up
regarding the open-air restaurants and bars.
Deputy Mayor Verawat Khakhay and Banglamung District
Chief Mongkol Thammakittikhun toured a stretch of Third Road along with
nuisance control officers from the Public Health and Environment
Department. At issue again is late-night noise from open-air venues
offering live music and shows.
Verawat said many of the offending restaurants and
bars are operating without the correct permits in areas too close to
homes and apartments. Several had already been ordered by the city to
reduce noise or operating hours, but simply ignored the city’s
objections.
The issue is hardly a new one for Third Road
residents or public officials. In September last year Deputy Mayor
Ronakit Ekasingh and Banglamung’s Phongthasit Pijjanan walked the exact
same area in response to complaints in The Village housing development
where people were so fed they were moving out.
The main pub at issue then was owned by “influential
local figures” and three months of complaints brought no action from the
city or police.
Like then, Thamkittikhun said the current problem is
“delicate.”
“Entrepreneurs always contend Pattaya is a tourism
city,” the Banglamung chief said. However, he added, officials are now
vowing that any establishment named in a nuisance complaints three times
will be reviewed by his office and considered for closure.
“We are all living in the same society. We need to
respect the common law,” he said.
