Pattaya’s sidewalks are so bad, they’re now national news.
National media over the weekend picked up the story of the decrepit condition of the footpaths on Central Road, which are impassable in many places.
Perhaps it was simply so slow a news day that sidewalks make news outside Pattaya, but residents have faced the bad news every time they set foot outside their homes or businesses.
Pattaya gave a contractor more than 28 million baht to repair and maintain the Central Road sidewalks but, as so often happens, the workers walked off the job last year, leaving it a dangerous mess.
Piles of unused concrete slabs and drain covers lie by the road while sections remain unpaved or peppered by open manholes.
One resident near Third Road said the sidewalks have been a disgrace for years, mostly because one agency after another continues to dig up the road in progression, rather than doing the work at the same time. When one contractor leaves, the footpaths aren’t returned to a pristine state and then they’re dug up again.
Many people think that Pattaya is a major tourist city, but it ignores small problems that impact its image.