Bali Hai pier in Pattaya, a soap opera apart
About 80 percent of the speedboats that used Pattaya Beach have moved back to Bali Hai pier after the city's failed attempt to move them a week earlier.
Tourists and ship crews alike ran around the jetty in South Pattaya on May 8 looking for boats, moorings and passengers. As expected, there weren't enough docks for the boats, which was a major reason why the boat owners ignored City Hall's proposal to move away from the beach they operated on since the military mismanaged last year's botched move.
Komkrit Polvichit, head of the special affairs department of the city's municipal police, said about 80 percent of the boats and ferries using the beach had moved, but others had to stay on the beach because they had already agreed on clients in advance to meet there.
He admitted that the Bali Hai pier still needs further development to handle all the boats that transport people between the mainland and the islands on a daily basis. Once the pier has sufficient facilities, all carriers will be forced to move.
Pattaya's proposal to move all speedboat operators to Bali Hai pier by May 1 fell through and the city council admitted it had been too hasty.
The council responded to criticism from Chonburi province on April 24 by announcing that from May 1, all speedboats would be banned from Pattaya Beach and Bali Hai Pier would be used. Deputy Governor Chawalit Saeng-Uthai accused Pattaya drivers of failing to follow through on last year's plans to relocate the speedboat operators, claiming their indifference had created a safety issue.
City Hall subsequently announced a goal and a vague plan to achieve it. As widely predicted, moving to the jetty in South Pattaya could not take place on May 1. Nattapong Manasom, managing director of NPE Tour Co., said he was not even aware that an announcement had been made a week earlier to move the boats.
He said travel companies book far in advance and operators are unable to notify customers of departure location changes so close to departure. Other operators also said they ignored the dictate because they were not given enough time to prepare and were not given information on where to go to Bali Hai pier.
Others pointed out that Bali Hai pier is unable to accommodate an additional 50 boats and lacks toilets and other facilities to accommodate all the additional tourists.
It was not the first time that the council and the army had to phase out his relocation plans. In February last year, the military barred speedboats and tourist ferries from using Pattaya beach, forcing all of them to use pontoons installed at Bali Hai Pier after the military demolished the pier's speedboat ramp and the operators of the parking lots had kicked.
Tourists then gathered on the pontoon ready to board their speed boats for a day out on the islands.
The new process soon proved untenable as it became clear that the military could not properly calculate how many speedboats needed dock space. Denounced on social media and embarrassed by photos of long queues, disabled passengers unable to board boats and people falling off wobbly pontoons, the military relented and sent everyone back to the beach in March 2017.
Source: Pattaya Mail