PATTAYA – The six-week “resurfacing” of Pattaya Beach came to an end this week with sand being flipped over the final work area and new rules for chair vendors about to take effect.
Pattaya legal chief Sretapol Boonsawat was on hand at Dongtan Beach Aug. 9 as more than 500 people collected rubbish, rocks and other debris unearthed as heavy machinery flipped over the sand and smoothed it.
Pattaya and Jomtien beaches have been cleared of vendors for both Wednesdays and Thursdays to allow workers to clean up the beach. Work in Pattaya concluded at the end of July.
Now that the sand is pretty and smooth, chair vendors will be allowed to return on Thursdays, but under a new set of rules.
Vendors now will be limited one 63-sq.-meter block of sand – instead of renting multiple 49-sq.-meter parcels. All vendors also will be subject to yearly draws to determine who gets to operate on public property, ending the monopoly “influential” families have held on the shoreline for decades.
To keep the beach tidy, vendors will be barred from putting out chairs until requested by a customer.
