Pattaya to halve Beach Road bus stops to create more parking

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City Hall has decided to reduce the bus stops from 30 to 15 metres to give more parking space for private cars.

Pattaya will shrink baht bus loading zones to create more parking spaces for beach users.

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A Sept. 1 traffic-control meeting chaired by Deputy Mayor Ronakit Ekasingh rejected, however, a proposal from beach vendors and shorefront businesses to allow the right lane of Beach Road to be used for daytime parking.

Ronakit Ekasingh, Pattaya Deputy Mayor and the city hall committee discuss ways to help relieve traffic on Beach road.

Panelists agreed that removing a lane of the vital thoroughfare on weekends and holidays would create a traffic nightmare and potentially be dangerous to motorists and pedestrians.

Instead, the 17 bus stops created by the city for baht buses and tour buses will be cut in size from 30 to 15 meters with the extra space zoned for tourist parking.

The panel said the change would remain in place for a year.

The committee warned, however, that strict enforcement would be needed to ensure that the parking spaces are used by tourists and not owners of nearby businesses.

Baht buses don’t need a bus stop as they would rather pick up and let off passengers anywhere they please, much to the resentment of other road users.



Now that Pattaya is more dependent on domestic tourism, more space must be given for parking private cars.