Pattaya’s top business leader blamed red tape and an inept Covid-19 vaccine rollout for the postponement of the city’s planned Sept. 1 reopening to foreign tourists.
Pattaya Business & Tourism Association President Boonanan Pattanasin conceded Aug. 21 that the city cannot reopen as hoped in two weeks because coronavirus cases remain high, Chonburi is still a “dark red” virus-control zone and the central government has failed to provide enough vaccines to inoculate the required 70 percent of the population.
Chonburi on Sunday reported 1,092 new coronavirus cases with 198 of them found in Banglamung District, which includes Pattaya. The province also reported two fatalities.
The PBTA and other private-sector groups worked with city hall to draft the “Pattaya Move On” reopening plan, but it was not even considered by Chonburi or Bangkok, he said.
A special committee would have to consider the plan before it is sent to the Tourism Authority of Thailand and the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration for approval, he said.
Pattaya may be one of the ten popular tourist spots the government said it wants to reopen first, but Bangkok hasn’t put its vaccines where its mouth is, Boonanan said. Only a fraction of the Covid-19 vaccine doses needed has been sent, with nearly all of the government’s scarce supply going to Bangkok.
Boonanan said he had no idea when the vaccination goal will be achieved.
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