Pattaya business leaders seeking answers got only vague overviews on airport development and tourism promotion at their annual meeting.
President Boonanan Pattanasin chaired the Oct. 19 meeting of the Pattaya Business & Tourism Association at the Sunbeam Hotel, which included annual reports and presentations from Surat Thepchaito, Pattaya’s tourism and sports director, and Capt. Rat Wanphunga, head of U-Tapao-Rayong-Pattaya Airport.
Boonanan recently had been critical of U-Tapao management and the Transport Ministry for dragging its feet on development of the airport to truly make it the third major international airport to serve the East and Bangkok metropolitan regions.
But the PBTA president got no answers, with the Royal Thai Navy officer only repeating the airport’s general marketing pitch.
He reiterated the government’s long-running platitudes about making U-Tapao an air hub for passengers and freight and linking it to Laem Chabang Port. But he didn’t address any of Boonanan’s concerns.
Surat’s briefing was likewise uninformative, failing to address the lecture’s topic – “The Importance of City Planning” and instead regurgitating the oft-mentioned year-end event schedule of the International Fireworks Festival Nov 25-26 and year-end Pattaya Countdown, plus privately organized events such as the Wonderfruit Festival in December.
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