Every Saturday and Sunday night at the very northern end of Pattaya's Naklua Road, we will see two streets near Larn Po (the big tree in the centre of Naklua Road), converted to foot traffic only. This will not be in the rip roaring style of South Pattaya's Walking Street with its noisy bars, but more along the lines of a traditional Thai market place. There is a beer garden though.

After many complaints about Jet Ski operators in Pattaya and Jomtien overcharging tourists when accidents occur to their boats, Pattaya Mayor Ittipol Khunplome held a meeting at City Hall to 'sort out' the problems, in order to be fair to both operators and customers.

Attending was Deputy Mayor Ronnakit Aegesing, councilors, and representatives from the Pattaya and Banglamung police and TAT. Many complaints came in via 1337 Call Center and the Tourist Information Center that after tourists had rented Jet Skis, minor scratches or dents were called to their attention and demand for compensation was claimed from them, with some operators asking up to 50,000 baht for damages.

One worrying complaint from a tourist, who came forward, stated that he would be threatened and killed if he went to the police. This could be part of a scam that has been in operation for years whereby unsuspecting customers who do not check the Jet Skis before riding them are duped into believing they have caused the damage when it was in reality either an old dent or scratch or a deliberate pre-arranged accident involving another Jet Ski.

Pattaya. Mayor Ittipol suggested that a committee be set up to control and supervise the Jet Ski businesses in both Pattaya and Jomtien, to help tourists and also arbitrate in any disputes that may occur along the beach front between Jet Ski operators and tourists.

In a preliminary report, the committee will be made up from officers at City Hall, and Jet Ski operators will be expected to comply and to register once the department to be called the Marine Tourism Supervision Committee is set up. Lawyers are already drafting up the rules and regulations that operators must comply to or face penalties, which will be presented to Jet Ski operators for their cooperation in stamping out unscrupulous operators which are giving their business a bad image in Pattaya.

Four young Northern Ireland women are embarking on a life changing trip to Thailand to help female sex workers.

Rachael Gardiner, Carly Wilson, Laura Wylie and Elaine Johnston, all in their early 20s, will be setting off from Lurgan next week to visit Pattaya, a place famed for its bar girls.

It was Laura Wylie, who is training as a counsellor, who urged the girls to join her after she witnessed how prostitution had such a stranglehold in the area.

Laura said: There are thousands of prostitutes in Pattaya and they will go home with men for a night for a fee of about 50 US dollars. For this reason Pattaya attracts a considerable number of single men taking advantage of women who feel they have no other choice if they want to support themselves and their families.

Rachael, a graphic design student, added: We know it will be tough and we will see a lot of disturbing things, although it is something we are passionate about supporting. We aim to show these women love and friendship as some of them may have never experienced this before.

Laura and Rachael along with their friends Carly, a dental nurse, and Elaine, a psychology student, are a self-organised group who have connections with Emmanuel Church in Lurgan.

The Thai operator of a waxworks museum in Pattaya has covered up a giant billboard of Adolf Hitler giving a Nazi salute after complaints from the Israeli and German ambassadors that it was offensive and utterly tasteless.

The billboard - along with three others featuring famous dead people - is prominently located on the main highway into Pattaya, as part of an advertising campaign to promote Louis Tussaud's Waxworks which is due to open early next month. The Thai slogan on the billboard reads: Hitler is not dead.

The managing director of the museum, Somporn Naksuetrong, apologised for the billboard and said the creative agency behind the campaign had not intended to cause offence: In the museum we don't show him with other world leaders, we show him in the scary section. Somporn said since the billboard was erected more than two weeks ago they had received about 100 complaints and a protest letter from the Israeli Embassy. He said they would keep the promotional concept, but come up with another famous deceased person to replace the German dictator.

German Ambassador Hanns Schumacher noticed the billboard when he attended the opening of the Child Protection and Development Centre in Pattaya last weekend. He told representatives of the Pattaya City Council and the local business community that this kind of utterly tasteless advertisement would hurt the feelings of many people. It could also create negative consequences to Pattaya as a popular tourist destination, the embassy said in a statement, adding it had contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the matter.

Israeli Ambassador Itzhak Shoham said the embassy had received many complaints over the billboard and had asked authorities involved to urgently remove this hateful street sign. Shoham said many Israeli tourists holidaying in Pattaya have been horrified to see such a sign on the main highway. It is totally unacceptable to have such a monster like Adolf Hitler on public display, he said. How this could happen is beyond my understanding and comprehension. He also urged the operators to remove the Hitler waxwork from the museum.

Recently a very large scale proposal was presented to executive members of Pattaya City Hall, regarding the total redevelopment of the whole length of Pattaya Bay. This grandiose plan was with particular emphasis on the area from Walking Street to the Sea Rescue Centre on the south side, and including the proposed new Boat Marina.

The main theme behind this proposal was to dredge out the shallow areas in front of Walking Street and create a long sand island a few hundred metres off shore. This would have a connecting vehicle bridges at the northern & southern ends, facilities on the island, and the inshore lagoon could be used as an anchorage for small boats and/or swimming.

Further north these proposals included rectangular retaining walls, (with narrow sea access), to create large, calm swimming areas, and wide channels in between these would in many cases run right up to some of the hotels. Over these channels and along the entire length of Beach Road a whole new dual motorway is shown, thus making the beachfront a 2-way traffic system.

 ...Read full article

An Iranian couple were arrested for having sex openly on the Jomtien beach.

At 4.30 am, Friday, September the 4th, a Police Captain was riding his motorcycle to perform routine checking on the Jomtien beach. When he was about 100 metres away from the Chaiyapruk station, he spotted a crowd watching something on the beach and some of them were shooting video clips with their mobile phones.

Police Captain Chamrasthong then rushed to stop the couple and told them to put on clothes and took them to the Dongtan police station.

The Iranian man and his girlfriend, who were obviously drunk, claimed that they did not know it was illegal to have sex in public place.

Even the punishment was a bit of fun as the fine was set at 500 Baht (£9).

But one can't help but feel the fun may end when they leave Thailand and go home to Iran. Being unmarried, drunk, and having sex in public easily add up to enough to get themselves a sentence of being buried up to their waist/chest and being stoned to death.

Update: Hacked Off

10th September 2009

As is typical in the Thai Press, pattayadailynews.com ran the story with detailed names and photos of the arrested couple. As mentioned above, the offence is very serious in Iran and is surely something that should be treated with caution when publishing details.

And according to TeakDoor.com, Iran hackers took matters into their own hands and forcibly removed the photos from the pattayadailynews.com site.

Short shrieks, high-pitched yelps, and drawn-out wails rang out in Thailand at an international competition aimed at setting a new record for the loudest scream.

Russian Sergey Savelyev chimed in at 116.8 decibels — roughly as loud as an ambulance siren — to win Saturday's competition in the town of Pattaya.

Savelyev said he'll be back next year to compete in the competition hosted by Thailand's Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum.

The Russian, who walked away with a cheque for 30,000 baht (US$900), was one of 11 finalists from a field of 1,500 competitors.

The Pattaya-Live forum recently announced changes in policy to try and make it a friendlier place.

They are now reporting that their changes are working:

We recently appointed a few extra moderators , with a view to having more coverage on the forum , in an effort to cut out the amount of distasteful aspects that have blighted our forum for so long .

As a result , there has been a fantastic reduction in distasteful threads , featuring ongoing feuds, abusive members, and attacks on the forum itself .

We do hope that more of you will now feel more comfortable on the forum and that more of you will join in and become more active .

Pattaya-Live is a great tool for anyone wanting to know what is going on in and around Pattaya and in fact Thailand in general .

We look forward to your input to the forum in the future and you can be sure that everyone at Pattaya-Live , the owners , the admin and the moderators are committed to making Pattaya-Live a great place to hang out and a great place for you all to enjoy and exchange information .

In a politically correct version of a Pattaya 'soapy", City Hall made a major show of a clean-up on Walking Street.

Now there is nothing wrong with a good soapy now and then, but one has to question the true effect of this political theater.

Per City Hall, this effort was directed at the H1N1-2009 flu virus. While it makes for good PR, it has little or no effect on viral transmission.

The flu virus floats through the air in the mucous expelled from the infected person during sneezing or coughing. Use of a mask by the infected person, helps to control the spread of this mucous into the environment. If the cougher, uses his hand to cover his mouth, the next thing he touches is contaminated. You then make contact with the virus when you then shake hands or touch the same object. To become infected, you must then introduce that virus to your mouth, nose or eye. The virus does not penetrate intact skin. It is also fairly rare to inhale the virus from the air. So, the only efficacy of wearing a mask to prevent infection is to keep you from touching your own mouth or nose and introducing the virus.

This virus must have moisture to survive; if it dries out, it dies. That is why closing a school or business for a period of 5-7 days ensures that no surviving virus remains. Cleaning the premise during that time is not a bad idea but is not really necessary, As a matter of fact, if strong cleaning agents are not used, the cleaning might just add enough moisture to keep the virus alive longer.

So I'm guessing that the major effect from the Walking Street clean-up was a bunch of soapy fish.

Pattaya's local government organised a work detail tasked with disinfecting the town.

Needless to say that TV and press were invited to the cleansing ceremony.

Surely the throngs that stroll the street will walk safe this evening.

Thai-style cocktail bars are popular with local Thai’s and there are more of these small bars opening up every week. Many will open after their permitted time and the majority do not even possess licenses to sell alcoholic beverages.

The Banglamung District Licensing Unit had a raiding party in the early hours of Saturday morning visiting over 40 bars which were all found to be open well after their permitted opening times as stated on their licenses and 30 bars were found not to possess any form of license.

These establishments were ordered to shut down pending further investigations, the others that were licensed but open late are now also under investigation and some licenses are expected to be revoked according.

Sutham Phanthusak, the owner of Tiffany’s Show, has a grim face as he ponders the challenges the resort city faces. He frets about Pattaya’s latest blow, the Asean summit riots: I worry hotels with tight cash flow might close down. 

Even before the H1N1 influenza outbreak, the occupancy rate of five-star hotels in Pattaya stood at 10% in April, compared with a typical rate of 70-80%. Occupancy at lower-ranked hotels was only 30-40% last month.

Sutham founded Tiffany's Show three decades ago has seen Pattaya evolve from a tranquil seaside resort, renowned for its sunsets, into a town bustling with activity and nightlife.

Pattaya itself has potential. But its growth has come with poor-quality zoning and management. It is killing itself, which is quite regrettable, he claims.

Pattaya survived many crises in the past. First was the Gulf War in 1991. Then we encountered the Sars epidemic and bird flu. If we can compare those to catching a cold, Pattaya now has cancer, says Sutham, who also owns the five-star Woodlands Hotel and Resort.

This could be the end of Pattaya after 40 years.

...Read full article

Pattaya is set to welcome a comprehensive master plan that promises to transform the resort city into an orderly, green and clean destination.

The first development master plan is being drafted jointly by the Designated Areas for Sustainable Tourism Administration (Dasta) and Pattaya City. The plan, expected to be unveiled in about a year from now, is thought to be the answer to Pattaya's numerous problems with coastal erosion, traffic congestion, public safety, overcrowding, deterioration of public infrastructure and hazards to residents' health.

Pattaya City and eight adjacent tambons have now been declared by the cabinet as a special zone for sustainable tourism under Dasta's direction.

Pattaya City mayor Itthiphol Khunplome thanked the cabinet for endorsing the plan which he said was necessary for the survival of Pattaya City. It will help make Pattaya more attractive and livable, said Itthiphol.

He added that the master plan would enable the city to realise its goal of becoming a wireless and sports destination faster.

The economic mainstay of Pattaya is tourism and in the past 10 years the number of tourists has jumped sharply from three to eight million. In the next 10 years, that number could top 12 million.

Boonma Fangrak, chairman of Ban Rong Mai Kheed in Pattaya municipality, said he agreed Dasta should lead the way in materialising the plan but there may be obstacles with the local organisations implementing the projects. He said the key problems centred on tourist safety and local and international crime syndicates using the city as a base to conduct the drugs trade and prostitution.

Comment: Pattaya People Power

21st April 2009

Pattaya campaign group, The Photoshop Warriors, have taken to the streets.

They are  protesting against mayor Itthiphol's plan to regenerate Pattaya as an ecologically sustainable family resort for quality tourists.

Pattaya red tape

A note from Banglamung City Hall which will be of interest to those who own and operate Hotels, Guest Houses and Apartment Complexes.

A 2004 law states that Hotels, Guest Houses and Apartment Complexes opened after 12th May 2005 must complete registration papers with Banglamung City Hall before 30th April 2009.

Owners who fail to register their business before this date are liable to prosecution and the offence carries a maximum sentence of 1 year in Prison and a 20,000 Baht fine.

An incident which occurred on the Sukhumvit Road in South Pattaya on Sunday Night. Residents reported multiple explosions and feared that the violence seen over the weekend had not finished.

Police officers arrived and cordoned off the area and determined that a total of 4 small explosive devices had been detonated at the location in front of a shop owned by the Brother of the former Mayor of Pattaya.

The explosive devices caused no injuries or damage to any properties and included devices such as ping pong bombs, football bombs and a device thought to have been detonated remotely using a mobile phone.

The government has announced a decision to postpone the besieged ASEAN summit to a later date, in effect cancelling it.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva declared a state of emergency in Pattaya and Chon Buri, partly to facilitate the departure of Asean VIP guests. He told a press conference Asean leaders and their dialogue partners understand the need to postpone the summit and support government action regarding Saturday's incidents.

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban will be in charge of enforcing the state of emergency measures in Chon Buri and Pattaya. Saturday's turmoil will send Pattaya reeling economically. The resort city had hoped to reap the benefits of the Songkran festival but now has to cope with mounting tour and hotel cancellations.

The state of emergency law imposes tough restrictions on public gathering and dissemination of information. Authorities are given added power to search residents and venues and restrict travels. The state of emergnecy prohibits any gatherings of five or more people,

Pattaya's mayor Itthipon Khunpleum said that the US naval visit has already been cancelled as have many events for Pattaya's Songkran Festival.

The mayor added that the special Songkran events planned in Pattaya for April 19 would also be affected by the incident and the state of emergency.

Update: Emergency Ends

The State of Emergency was called off by the prime minister on Saturday evening after just 6 hours. And indeed all the dignitaries and protestors have now departed leaving a quiet Saturday evening in Pattaya.

Anti-government protesters at the ASEAN summit in Thailand retreated Friday after they clashed with troops in riot gear in the coastal town of Pattaya.

About 2,000 opponents of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, dressed in red shirts, clashed with security forces. Protesters supporting ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra insisted on presenting a petition for Abhisit's resignation to participants at the meeting.

They thronged the area around the Pattaya beach hotel where foreign leaders are gathering for three days of talks about strategies to cope with the global economic crisis.

A spokesman for Abhisit's Democrat Party said prime ministers and other top leaders will meet as scheduled Saturday despite the protests, and that all security measures are in place.

Ten members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, ASEAN, as well as the leaders of six other major Asian nations - Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea - are attending the summit in Pattaya, which began Friday with talks by foreign ministers.

Anti-government protesters trapped Thai premier Abhisit Vejjajiva inside a beach hotel and attacked his motorcade as the kingdom's political turmoil boiled over into violence.

The protesters want British-born Abhisit to dissolve his four-month-old government and call elections, but he has said he must stay to resolve problems that have plagued Thailand since Thaksin was toppled in a 2006 coup.

Tuesday's scuffles erupted after Thaksin loyalists clad in signature red shirts surrounded Abhisit at the Royal Cliff Hotel in Pattaya as he held a cabinet meeting, preventing him from leaving for several hours.

Abhisit finally escaped but about 50 demonstrators chased his car when it stopped at a traffic light and then pelted it with plastic bottles, police who saw the incident told AFP.

Police tried to move the premier to another car but the demonstrators pulled open the door of the second vehicle and began to beat the driver and police who were escorting Abhisit, they said.

The government insisted that the clashes would not derail a key summit of Southeast Asian leaders plus regional partners including China and Japan, which is due to start on Friday in Pattaya.

The 'Red Shirts' protest will not affect foreign leaders attending the summit, said Vitawas Srivihok, the senior Association of Southeast Asian nations (ASEAN) department official at Thailand's foreign ministry.

Citing a lack of facilities in Phuket, the government has chosen Pattaya as the venue for two meetings for Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) leaders and their dialogue partners next month, according to Minister of Foreign Affairs Kasit Piromya.

Thailand earlier said that it had planned to host the Asean+3 and Asean+6 in Phuket, but Mr Kasit said the dates for the meeting, April 10-12, coincided with the annual Songkran water festival and hotels were filled with holidaymakers.

After twice surveying Phuket and visiting Pattaya once, the Foreign Ministry planning team concluded that the eastern seaboard resort was a better place in terms of hotel room availability and meeting venues.

The Pattaya Exhibition and Convention Hall, part of the Royal Cliff Beach Resort, was chosen as the venue for both Asean+3 (China, South Korea and Japan) and Asean+6 (China, South Korea, Japan, New Zealand, Australia and India), he said.

The Chief of Pattaya’s Tourist Police Division organized a an operation on Walking Street in the early hours of Wednesday Morning.

Officers and volunteers were targeting flower sellers, photographers, transsexuals and anyone else acting in a suspicious manner including street vendors offering pictures with exotic animals.

62 people including some children and 4 exotic animals were rounded up. The arrestees were taken to Pattaya Police Station for further processing and it is expected that the Tourist Police will continue the operation over the coming weeks.

Rescue Workers were called to the Kevin Beer Bar located in Soi Boekeow following the discovery of a snake.

After 1 hour, the brave workers managed to grab the 20kg, 5 meter long python which was shown off to the local media who arrived to cover the story.

Khun Jaruan is the manager of the Beer Bar and told us that she heard something on the roof which partially collapsed revealing the snake which rescue workers tell us most likely originated from a construction site behind the bar. The snake was taken to a local zoo.

Between 25th and 27th February, the 3rd ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting is taking place at the Royal Cliff Beach Resort.

The Chonburi Division of the Pro-Thaksin Red Shirts decided this would be a perfect opportunity to get their message across as they were well aware that the national and international press was present at the Resort to cover the conference.

It was their intention to march to the Royal Cliff and protest there; however security is tight with both the Army and Police controlling who goes in and who goes out.

After some negotiations, the red shirts protested at the location for 10 minutes and then dispersed under the watchful eye of Police and the Army who were in full riot gear.

Pattaya Red Shirt anti-government protests turn violent on Pattaya Beach.

Political Demonstrations are not common here in Pattaya, however on Sunday Afternoon the Pro-Thaksin Red Shirts were out in force as they attempted to spread their message to the people of Pattaya.

A parade of around 5,000 red shirts marched along Pattaya Beach Road. The parade was peaceful until they reached Mike Shopping Mall where a small group of Yellow Shirt Supporters gathered to voice their anger towards the demonstration.

Small scuffles broke out and items were thrown at the Yellow Shirts who barricaded themselves inside Mike Shopping Mall which sustained damage during the attack. During the chaos a Police Volunteer, Khun Wirort sustained a head wound caused by broken glass. He made a Police report but could not confirm which group threw the offending item.

Pattaya City Council has passed a 7.79 million baht budget to buy land for the construction of Jomtien 2nd Road.

Mayor Itthipol Khunplome proposed an urgent resolution to approve the money from the council’s deposit money to pay for expropriated land to construct Jomtien 2nd Road.

This is being done in accordance with the Chonburi City Plan 2003 Project, after realizing shortfall in funds provided by the central government.

This will be used as a new route to support future growth. The Royal Decree for Land Expropriation issued in 2005, which pertains to land and property expropriation, affected more than 500 owners. It was very difficult for Pattaya City to achieve much, due to the high evaluation price of land, he said.

Cobra Gold is an annual naval exercise involving several nations including Thailand and USA. Cobra Gold this year takes place between 4th and 17th February and will be the 28th time the exercise has taken place.

Thousands of military personal are expected to converge on Fun City starting from about now.

Update: False Gold

Thanks to the Pattaya Ghost

About 5500 US personnel are participating, but all but a few hundred will this year be staged in Korat, not Sattahip. Very few will see Pattaya.

Also, the exercise does not even begin until the 4th, with the first shore leave not expected until a week after.

There have been some pre-positioning ships in, but do not expect to see Pattaya get a bounce nor more than a handful of servicemen in any one place in Pattaya.

Basically, this year will be a non-event.

Pattaya City will more stringently control new fares charged by baht bus drivers after receiving complaints from users about overcharging.

Deputy Mayor Ronakit Ekasingh gave an interview to the media regarding new minibus fares in the city. The city has requested that the Chonburi Transport Office provide a definitive fare list for minibuses.

This is being announced to the public and Pattaya Baht Bus Cooperative will charge their fares accordingly.

The minimum minibus fare set by the Chonburi Office for the city is currently 10 baht. But as gas prices continue to drop, a corresponding fare reduction should be considered, the deputy mayor said.

If users are charged the wrong fares by the cooperative, they can call the 1337 Pattaya City Call Center to report it. Disciplinary action can then be taken against offending drivers, such as fines and suspension of the driver's licenses.

Official minibus fares listed by the Chonburi Transport Office are:

The Charoenrat Pattana-Najomtien Village route:

Charoenrat Pattana-Nipa Lodge Hotel 8 baht
Charoenrat Pattana -Asia Hotel 21 baht
Charoenrat Pattana-Soi Chaiyapruk 29 baht
Nipa Lodge Hotel-Pattaya Market 8 baht
Nipa Lodge Hotel-Asia Hotel 14 baht
Nipa Lodge Hotel-Soi Chaiyapruk 22 baht
The Pattaya Market -Soi Chaiyapruk 15 baht
Asia Hotel-Soi Chaiyapruk 8 baht

The around Pattaya route:

From the beginning of South Pattaya-Banglamung Plaza 8 baht
From the beginning of South Pattaya-Nipa Lodge (North Pattaya) 10 baht
From Banglamung Plaza-Nipa Lodge junction (North Pattaya) 8 baht
From Banglamung Plaza-beginning of South Pattaya 10 baht
From Nipa Lodge junction (North Pattaya)-Banglamung Plaza 8 baht

North Pattaya-Central Pattaya:

North Pattaya-Central Pattaya Road Intersection 8 baht
North Pattaya-Somprasong Plaza 11 baht
North Pattaya-Wat Bunkanjanaram 23 baht
Central Pattaya Road Intersection-Somprasong Plaza 8 baht
Central Pattaya Road Intersection-Central Pattaya T-Intersection 17 baht
Somprasong Plaza-Wat Bunkanjanaram 8 baht
Somprasong Plaza-Central Pattaya T-Intersection 12 baht
Wat Bunkanjanaram-Central Pattaya T-Intersection 8 baht

Pattaya International Mardi Gras Festival will take place on 23rd of January.

The Mardi Gras parade will start on Pattaya Beach Road in front of Soi 7 and will turn left at the entrance to Walking Street. The Parade will continue left down Pattaya Second Road and will finish up at the Central Festival Pattaya Beach Plaza which is set to open on the same day.

The event is sponsored by the Central Festival Pattaya Beach, Pattaya City Hall and the Chonburi Provincial Administration.

The parade will start at 4pm on 23rd and will feature colorful outfits, lots of Thai superstars and plenty of Mardi Gras fun.