Deputy Mayor Ronakit Ekasingh says flagrant
disregard by watercraft operators of city safety measures has prompted
numerous accidents and complaints.
Phasakorn Channgam
Pattaya officials plan to cordon off a larger section
of Koh Larn’s Had Tawaen Beach and install speed-limit signs as boat
captains and jet skiers continue to ignore buoys put in place to keep
swimmers safe.
At a Sept. 6 Pattaya City Hall meeting, Deputy Mayor
Ronakit Ekasingh said boat drivers apparently don’t understand or don’t
care about the international red-and-white buoys demarking low-speed
transit lanes in and out of the popular beach and that the Marine Police
will install signs explicating telling them to slow down.
And, to prevent boats and jet skis from circumventing
the transit lanes to pull up to the beach, the full 350-meter width of
Had Tawaen will be roped off with orange buoys that surround the beach’s
swimming area, he said.
He said flagrant disregard by watercraft operators of
city safety measures has prompted numerous accidents and complaints.
Thus, he said, the city needs to crack down even further on them to keep
swimmers safe. The swimming area, he added, will now extend 225 meters
from shore and jet ski and boat landings will be pushed 50 meters from
the swimming area.
