A fleet of motorized food-vendor carts swarmed across Jomtien Beach for the Pattaya Music Festival, creating chaos that city hall failed to control.
Regulatory officers drove their pickup trucks up and down Beach Road, with some getting out of their vehicles to chase vendors away, but most of the time the hawkers wiggled their way out of a fine.
Most would start the engine and move about 10-20 meters, just to pretend they were not taking a parking spot permanently.
On weekends, as tourists return to Pattaya to relax on the beach, visitors allegedly cannot find a place to park. Vendors completely overrun some sections of the beachfront. Neither tourists nor beach chair vendors are happy about it.
The problem will only worsen if more Thai and foreign tourists return to Pattaya in December and the city continues to turn a blind eye to the chaos.
Some beach umbrella operators suggested there should be designated spots for vendors to park and sell, making it easier for tourists to park.
With tensions running high, especially as some hawkers dispatch their children to the sand to sell directly, a damaging public confrontation could happen anytime, surely to be captured on video and uploaded to Facebook to damage Pattaya’s reputation.
City hall needs to take action now.
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