Pattaya officials approved an emergency 1 million baht budget to rebuild Soi 10 September 7, damaged by floods even before the major flooding Sept. 11.
Business owners on the soi linking Beach and Second Roads, flabbergasted by two decades of neglect, met with city Construction Department workers Sept. 7 to review plans to rebuild the soi where many companies have closed due to chronic flooding and the inability of customers to reach their stores and bars.
Four days later, even more damage was inflicted when record floods hit the entire city.
Soi 10 is in dire need of repair.
Plans call for workers to close one lane of the soi at a time until 1,227 meters of new roadway and foundation is laid. The work is expected to continue throughout the rainy season, wrapping in November. New drainage pipes will carry wastewater to a Walking Street pipeline that is supposed to connect to the city’s water-treatment plant on Soi Buakaow.
Business owners and residents allegedly have been trying to get the city to fix their street for about 20 years. Work was finally supposed to start last November, but officials postponed again at the request of area hotels that didn’t want the street torn up until after April 15. Bureaucrats did not explain why work didn’t start for another five months after that.
