Volume 13, Issue 11
16 - 28 February 2014
30 BAHT
What’s Inside:
Parking crackdown a failure
T
he latest attempt to solve Pattaya’s Beach Road traffic problems has been as short-lived as usual. Local officials from Banglamung District and City Hall had led a New Year campaign to force baht buses, taxis and tour buses to use only the 17 yellow stop zones located along the recently widened thoroughfare which borders the beach on one side and popular shopping, hotel and entertainment venues on the other. However, most transport utilities have been ignoring the latest crackdown and there has been little evidence of police citing drivers of illegally-parked vehicles or challenging anyone double parking or stopping in forbidden red-andwhite marked areas. Traffic jams are particularly common on weekends, often caused by tour buses stopping near the Central Pattaya Road intersection. Many business owners along Beach Road said they had seen no difference in the traffic chaos. One souvenir shop vendor, Aof Sriboon, said, “Actually the problems seem to be worse and we even have cars and lorries parking for hours in the yellow areas reserved for buses.” Others said the problem was that there was a long history of campaigns and very little follow-up action. This has led to drivers ignoring announcements as they know any campaign will last only a day or two. A spokesman for the Pattaya Business and Tourism Association said the traffic woes of Beach Road would be solved only when there was a collective effort by everyone. “It’s no good just leaving it to the police,” he explained a tad mournfully. Over the years there have been many much-trumpeted initiatives to improve the flow of traffic on Beach Road. It Continued on page 4
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