Sonthaya Kunplome defended his record as Pattaya’s mayor, asserting he brought the city back to life following the Covid-19 crisis.
Declining to stand before voters in the May 22 mayoral election after serving a three-year appointed term, Sonthaya has been harshly criticized for a slow response to the coronavirus pandemic, failure to revive the economy and long delays in disruptive infrastructure-construction projects.
But Sonthaya countered that he accomplished a lot since 2018, laying the foundation to make Pattaya an international “smart city” through his “Neo Pattaya” strategy.
That strategy saw investment in projects to solve Pattaya’s chronic flooding problems and develop Naklua and Koh Larn to become new “green” tourist attractions. He also touted work to build a light rail system in the city.
A fact check, however, shows that many of the anti-flooding projects remain incomplete, that the only Naklua project actually to be built is a parking garage and the light rail system remains a pipedream, with the city buying out the contract of the consultant hired to do the feasibility study.
Sonthaya asserted that tourism-promotion events filled Koh Larn and Pattaya hotels and that the city is, in fact, recovering from the Covid-19 recession.
Sonthaya may not have to run on his record, but hand-picked successor, former deputy mayor and MP Poramet Ngampichet, does. It remains to see if voters will agree with Sonthaya view of Pattaya’s “recovery”.
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