Nearly three years after calling the Pattaya Youth Sports Center a “dilapidated embarrassment,” city officials are again promising to upgrade facilities by building a hostel for athletes and charging rent for third parties wishing to use its field.
At a Jan. 24 meeting the Pattaya City Council’s Sports and Recreation Committee, Councilman Praiwan Arromchuen told educators and engineers of the need to spruce up the 12-rai complex off Thepprasit Soi 4.
Councilman Praiwan Arromchuen presides over a meeting to restore the Pattaya Youth Sports Center.
Built in 2006, the center was heralded as a valuable resource for area youths, but was quickly neglected. In July 2010, city council officials toured the site to find a football field covered in dead grass, a track-and-field area that had collapsed and broken showers at the swimming pool. The politicians pledged to submit a report and budget request so repairs can be made quickly.
Things have not improved much since. Praiwan said the field is often used for non-sporting events, leaving it in need for restoration. Furthermore, he called for construction of a hostel to house athletes staying in Pattaya for youth-sports events.
He also called for various areas within the center to be brought up to an acceptable standard.
As for the field, the committee chairman called for the city to charge rental fees for use, and for the drafting of usage rules and regulations.
More money to support the center could also be raised, he added, by finding sponsors to support various sports.
