City workers parade down the
beach promenade with placards announcing their intention to redouble efforts
to cull the rat population.
Warunya Thongrod
Pattaya’s Center of Disease Control and Prevention plans
to hunt down rats on Pattaya Beach three times a month after last year’s
flooding led to an explosion in the vermin population.
Anya Janthrakas, head of the Public Health and
Environment Department office, said the city has actively been exterminating
rats for more than five years, but last year’s flooding created a shortage
of rat poison. Fed by food left behind by beach vendors and tourists, and
fueled by a birthrate that can see every female rat producing up to 85
offspring a year, the problem has become an epidemic.
Rats can be seen frequently along Pattaya Beach, nesting
in or under coconut trees and in flower beds.
The majority of rats can be found by the Soi 9 Pattaya
Police Station down to Walking Street, Anya said. There are so many, she
admitted, that the workers will not be able to eradicate them totally.
However, traps and extermination efforts three times per month should cull
their numbers.
Those interested in self-eradication of rats can contact
the CDC for traps at 038-429-738.
