Scofflaws go unpunished as officials continue mulling options
Nearly a month after demanding that jet ski vendors register at city hall or face criminal action, city officials are still mulling how best to end the seemingly unending string of embarrassing scams against tourists.
At a Sept. 28 Pattaya City Hall meeting, Deputy Mayor Ronakit Ekasingh said that while 168 beach vendors did register their 520 jet skis, many have not. Failure to register, however, hasn’t led to any repercussions for scofflaws, who Ronakit vowed in late August would be “classified as criminals” if they didn’t comply.
Marine Office 6 Director Rewat Photrieng said last month’s push to register all jet ski operators by Sept. 10 resulted in 140 vendors from Pattaya and 28 from Koh Larn giving city hall their names and vessel numbers.
Instead, the deputy mayor again summoned Marine Office bureaucrats to discuss new regulations to cover all water-related sports businesses on area beaches.
Marine Office 6 Director Rewat Photrieng said last month’s push to register all jet ski operators by Sept. 10 resulted in 140 vendors from Pattaya and 28 from Koh Larn giving city hall their names and vessel numbers for their respective 382 and 138 jet skis.
The city, however, has no idea how many others still have not registered, although Rewat said officials are sure the vendors who stepped forward represent only a portion of those working the beaches.
Before any new regulation can be drafted, the city still must find a way to determine exactly how many jet skis and boats are working beaches on the mainland and near islands, outline parking and business zones and figure out how to force vendors to register.
