The Provincial Waterworks Authority blamed Pattaya’s chronic flooding, not shoddy workmanship, for sinkholes on the railway-parallel road that caused several accidents.
PWA Pattaya Manager Chaitat Eidsang said on June 23, storm runoff from Sunday’s heavy rainstorm likely washed away soil under the road PWA crews recently had dug up to lay new water pipes.
He denied the roadwork was to blame but said, nonetheless, the utility would cover medical bills of those injured in a Sunday crash.
Veerawan Chaisorn, 26, said she suffered minor injuries while her boyfriend, who was driving, was severely hurt in the June 19 accident between Soi Nernplubwan and Soi Khao Noi. He was taken to Bangkok Hospital Pattaya where his bill quickly soared to more than 100,000 baht, she said.
The PWA is 70 percent through a 257-million-baht project to lay new water pipes connecting the Mabprachan Reservoir and Jomtien Beach via the railway road. Connections are made every 200 meters, requiring crews to open up several sections of the 7.5-kilometer road, Chaitat said.
The PWA will repair the sinkholes, and contractors have been instructed to take extra measures to reinforce the road’s foundation, understanding that it is flooded badly each time it rains.
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