Pattaya officials said they will monitor the beach near Soi 9 for erosion after it is rebuilt with new sand.
Beach users and internet commentators expressed concern Sept. 3 after heavy rain and flooding carved huge trenches out of the sand near the Pattaya Police Station.
Noting the same damage occurs after every major storm, many wondered if the hundreds of millions of baht being spent to rebuild the beach will be wasted.
Pattaya officials said the sand-restoration project has only reached Soi 4, but when the work is finished at Soi 9 the area will be monitored to ensure that the new sand is not washed away.
The erosion is caused not by the sea, however, but Pattaya’s overburdened infrastructure. Storm runoff flows down the sois onto the beach and is worsened by sewers that back up, sending torrents of water over the sidewalk and into the sand.
Unless Pattaya can solve its flood-drainage problems, no amount of new sand or offshore breakwaters will stop the destruction.
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