A year after Pattaya and the military banned speedboats from using Pattaya Beach under threat of heavy fines, it continues to be business as usual due to a lack of enforcement.
The National Council for Peace and Order announced on May 8, 2018 that speedboats must all move to Bali Hai Pier because embarking and disembarking passengers on the beach was unsafe and tour buses clogged traffic.
More speedboat docks were put into Bali Hai and hundreds of millions of baht later were spent on upgrading the entire pier. And, for a few weeks, boat operators did vacate Pattaya Beach – fearful of fines of 500-5,000 baht.
But it quickly became apparent that no one in authority – from either the army or Pattaya City Hall – would actually enforce the ban and the boat operators returned with impunity.
Traffic is just as bad as it was, as well, with tour buses illegally parked along Beach Road, especially near Central Festival Pattaya Beach.
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