Pattaya mayor defends delayed drainage pipe project
After facing complaints from some residents, Pattaya Mayor Poramet Ngampichet defended the delayed drainage pipe project under the railway parallel road. However, the mayor delivered disappointing news regarding its completion at a public forum held on May 3 in the Chumsai Community. The forum provided residents with the opportunity to voice their concerns and complaints about the city’s infrastructure and services.
The main complaint residents raised was the overdue completion of the disruptive roadwork along the railway tracks. They expressed their frustration with the ongoing flooding that the project is supposed to address, as well as the constant construction, congestion, and detours it has caused. In response, Poramet defended the project, stating it would solve the issue of water flowing downhill into Pattaya from Nong Prue. However, when questioned about the project timeline, he revealed the work would be on hold until at least October.
The mayor attributed the delays to poor planning and a lack of coordination with the State Railway of Thailand (SRT). As a result, pipeline contractors encountered conflicts with the designs for the SRT’s high-speed train station. The pipes must now be rerouted to release water into the Nok Yang canal, but funding for this adjustment will not be available until the new fiscal year, which commences on October 1. Consequently, the project will continue to face setbacks, and the railway road will remain unfinished.
Poramet also mentioned that the contractor hired by the city is behind schedule due to both the pipe-route issue and labour shortages. He assured residents that the city continues to impose fines on the contractor and is pushing for them to remedy the road. However, these efforts appear to have had minimal impact thus far. As a result, Pattaya residents must continue to endure the inconvenience of the delayed project until further notice.
