Beach vendors gather at city hall to provide
their arguments either for or against the invasion of plastic beach
furniture.
Warunya Thongrod
A group of Jomtien beach vendors are crying foul over
the plastic beach lounges being brought in by some of their competition.
They claim the new plastic is in violation of the Pattaya Administration
Act of 1999 concerning beach chair regulations.
The vendors took their complaint to City Hall on
Valentines Day, where they met with Deputy Mayor Ronakit Ekasingh and
Pattaya Beach Bed Association chairman, Amnuay Sompongdham.
Amnuay admitted that he was aware that some vendors
had begun to use the new plastic chairs, but had not taken action as he
did not feel the issue was that serious. That was, until members of the
association had filed the complaint.
Ronakit responded by citing the city regulation,
which states that there can be no more than 40 beds and 35 umbrellas per
block, blocks can be no larger than 7 m wide and 7 m long, and operating
hours are restricted to 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Evidently there is nothing
in these regulations about whether chairs need to be cloth or plastic.
Ronakit only requested that beach chair and bed
operators adhere to the rules as they are, because, he said, improved
service will create confidence and a good image of Pattaya city for
tourists.
Apparently it was agreed among those present at the
meeting that the plastic chairs give some vendors an unfair advantage,
and steps could be taken to have them removed until a better solution
can be found.
