Pattaya’s Center of Disease Control and Prevention plans to hunt down rats on Pattaya Beach three times a month after last year’s flooding led to an explosion in the vermin population.
Anya Janthrakas, head of the Public Health and Environment Department office, said the city has actively been exterminating rats for more than five years, but last year’s flooding created a shortage of rat poison. Fed by food left behind by beach vendors and tourists, and fueled by a birthrate that can see every female rat producing up to 85 offspring a year, the problem has become an epidemic.
City workers parade down the beach promenade with placards announcing their intention to redouble efforts to cull the rat population.
Rats can be seen frequently along Pattaya Beach, nesting in or under coconut trees and in flower beds.
The majority of rats can be found by the Soi 9 Pattaya Police Station down to Walking Street, Anya said. There are so many, she admitted, that the workers will not be able to eradicate them totally. However, traps and extermination efforts three times per month should cull their numbers.
Those interested in self-eradication of rats can contact the CDC for traps at 038-429-738.
