About 150 beach vendors were advised on health, sanitary and service standards following a controversy over a Jomtien beach chair renter who was suspended for chasing away tourists.
Pattaya municipal police chief Pol. Maj. Jirawat Sukontasap led the Aug. 24 briefing with public health workers, employees of the Sanitation Department and Disease Control Department staffers.
The meeting was called to encourage beach vendors to keep tidy, respect the environment and improve their service.
City legal chief Settapol Boonsawat said there have been numerous complaints that vendors are laying out chairs and umbrellas exceeding their given space, chasing tourists who didn’t rent from them, and uncleanliness.
The tipping point came after a viral video showed a Cambodian employee of a Jomtien concession holder chasing away tourists who chose to use their own beach mats, rather than rent. The vendor has been suspended 15 days.
Settapol said the Jomtien case was not the first time such incidents have occurred, smearing the image of Pattaya. He warned the vendors that beach chairs and umbrellas have been banned in other Thai resorts and reminded them they operate under an exception made possible by Pattaya’s unique legal structure.
However, he warned, if tourism-damaging incidents continue to occur, the military government could rethink its position.
