The seemingly never-ending demolition of the derelict Boutique Hotel caused yet another accident, with debris smashing a worker’s pickup truck, but injuring no one.
Contractor Tyranno Co. has missed two deadlines to tear down the Soi VC hotel built and expanded without proper permits. City hall gave the company another three months in October, but that deadline came and went Jan. 12 with work still crawling at a snail’s pace.
The extension was granted after Soi VC residents complained in early September that debris had smashed onto roofs, damaged business and broken several cars and motorbikes. Company officials said if Pattaya wanted more cautious workmanship, it needed more time.
But slower work hasn’t meant safer work, it seems.
Tyranno does not allow employees to work on floors with no floors, so cranes are being used to dismantle the building. Scrap is placed on the lower floors until it is moved to the surface. But workers piled up so much debris on the storage floor it collapsed, sending concrete and metal crashing to the street, damaging an empty truck.
Neighbors warned of the possibility of such a collapse four months ago.