Nowadays there isn’t much beach left up near the Dusit curve at high
tide. And since a more permanent solution is tangled up in national red
tape, Pattaya City Council is listening to suggestions on how to begin
fixing the problem with its own budget.
Phasakorn Channgam
With a long-term solution to Pattaya Beach’s rapid
erosion still tangled in bureaucratic red tape, city officials have
approved a 15 million baht budget to test the suggested cure on the
worst-affected stretch of shoreline.
Pattaya Deputy Permanent
Secretary Sutham Phetges says Inthana Construction Co. Ltd. has
submitted suggestions on how to urgently fix the erosion problem.
Pattaya City Council approved the pilot project to be
carried out along 50 meters of beachfront near the Dusit Curve, in
partnership with the Aquatic Resources Research Institute at
Chulalongkorn University.
Pattaya Deputy Permanent Secretary Sutham Phetges
said Inthana Construction Co., Ltd. has submitted a proposal offering
suggestions and guidelines on how to urgently fix the erosion problem.
The proposal calls for hauling sand from a Rayong
estuary to fill 15 meters of beach and protecting it with sandbags, then
adding more sand for another 35 meters.
The project, officials estimated, would take 90 days.
A 380 million baht plan to do similar work all along
Pattaya Beach is currently awaiting approval at the Ministry of Natural
Resources and Environment with work not expected to begin until at least
the end of the year.
The ARRI last year warned that unless steps are
taken, Pattaya Beach will disappear within five years.
