Plans to shore up Pattaya Beach with sand from a Rayong tributary hit the rocks when Rayong officials stopped selling the sand to the city’s contractors due to the river’s own erosion issues.
While Pattaya Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome announced plans nearly a year ago to refill Pattaya Beach near the Dusit Curve, Rayong officials have said they can not allow any more sand to be taken from the tributary, as nature is already eating away as the waterway.
Sand was being brought to Pattaya Beach in bags taken from a Rayong tributary until Rayong officials said they could sell no more.
The mayor said Sept. 19 that he will ask researchers at Chulalongkorn University to find another source for sand similar to existing granules on Pattaya Beach.
Pattaya is funding the emergency refill of the Dusit Curve with 15.7 million baht of local funds as it awaits approval of a 500 million baht budget to shore up the entire waterfront.
Up to 30 meters of beachfront will be built up in the 200 northernmost meters of Pattaya Beach. Once a new source of sand is found, the work should take five months, the mayor said.
