After a month’s delay, the rebuilding of Pattaya Beach is underway again with Mayor Anan Charoenchasri vowing the long-delayed project finally will be completed by August.
Restarted in early March following a 15-month suspension, the sand-refill project at the far northern end of Pattaya Beach was halted March 20 when the Marine Department decreed that the sand brought in from Koh Rang Kwian, a small island off Pattaya’s coast approximately 10 kilometers to the west of Koh Larn, didn’t match Pattaya’s beachfront well enough.
The entire project plan was sent back to consultants at Chulalongkorn University who twice before had recommended the wrong sand. This time, however, they maintain they made the right call.
Hauling of sand from Koh Rang Kwian has resumed with the stockpile stored in barges resting on landfill poured about a kilometer off shore. The sand then will be hauled in to the beach as needed.
The sand is darker than that native to Pattaya, but the consultants insisted that once it was spread on the beach, the sun would bleach it to a whiteness that matches Pattaya’s own sand within a few days. Contractors who have already placed the new sand on about 100 meters of the northernmost shoreline concur. MP – EP
Pattaya Beach restoration resumes, August completion promised
