The cleanup of Saha Farm’s Baan Sukhawadee mansion is proceeding well, but a long-term fix for recent wastewater discharges still has yet to be implemented, Pattaya officials say.
Deputy Mayor Verawat Khakhay said March 31 that the tourist attraction operator brought in crews to lay 20 dump trucks of soil down over 2-3 rai of land contaminated by the sewage runoff from a faulty drainage system.
Deputy Mayor Verawat Khakhay (right) inspects the ‘temporary fix’ landfill.
Verawat and Sanitation Department workers visited the site March 14, finding behind the ornate building an overflow of wastewater sending strong odors throughout the area. Sewage was flowing out of the tourist attraction and through Kratinglai Park into the ocean.
Now the contaminated soil has been buried – although nothing was said about preventing the now-hidden pollution from seeping into the water table.
The deputy mayor called the work only a temporary fix since there are still problems with the drainage tunnels that need to be attended to. This will enable the place to open up and celebrate Songkran without any issues.
The property owner and authorities are currently trying to find ways to deal with the tunnels concerned.
Also, the property near the wall of Chonglom Temple was attended to as well. Excavators were used to open up a path for the wastewater to flow in a different direction before they buried it with more soil.
Another issue to be attended is the outlet of the tunnels towards the sea, with Pattaya authorities already having blocked the outlet, preventing the wastewater from flowing into the ocean until the tunnels are dug up and redirected.
