Pattaya business and community leaders blasted proposed changes to the city’s development plan, calling it unworkable and ignorant of reality.
Deputy Mayor Ronakit Ekasingh chaired the Oct. 20 meeting to review the draft city plan, which would replace the land-use and development blueprint in use since 2015.
The draft calls for increasing Pattaya’s commercial zones and the construction of nine new roads. Ironically, business leaders were the ones leading the opposition to the changes.
Former Pattaya Business & Tourism Association president and current City Councilman Sinchai Wattanasartsathorn said large businesses, such as hotels, would only be allowed to be built on roads at least 12 meters wide. However, only a handful of Pattaya streets are that big.
The proposal by the Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planning to build nine new roads to accommodate tall hotels and office buildings, he added, is not the solution as it tramples on the land rights of Pattaya residents.
He also criticized height limits imposed on buildings on smaller roads and concluded that the consultant writing the new city plan go back to the drawing board.
Consultants said they already have held two public hearings, but called them “unsuccessful” as the only ones attending were those negatively affected by the changes, not anyone who would benefit. Those critics called for more “green” areas in Pattaya, dedicated to natural spaces and residential development.
A third public hearing is planned before mid-November.
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