Bangkok Police sweep Pattaya bars
PATTAYA: -- On Thursday evening a squad of 70 Bangkok-based police decided it was time they had a little sojourn into the fleshpots of Pattaya and spent some hours wandering about the various beer bar complexes and go-go bars as well as a couple of the more infamous soapy massage joints.
Accompanied by a frothing gaggle of media hacks, all armed with television cameras as well as the latest in still digital cameras, the upstanding men and women of the Bangkok police force visited the Sabailand Massage Parlour on Second Road, at the corner of Soi 3 if any of you are not quite sure where to find it. Here they interviewed a number of the more attractive and younger looking girls, asking them to produce their Identification cards in order to prove that they were all over the legal age to engage in activities involving water, soap and excitable men.
Satisfied with this, the police troop then moved onto a number of beer bars in the Soi 2 area and once again were compelled to chat with the more attractive and younger looking girls, checking identification cards and asking about the health and well-being of sundry family members and farmyard stock.
Then it was into a couple of the go-go bars where many members of the media were excited to find a large number of ladies who were wearing g-string bikinis. The flashbulbs of the cameras in the media scrum helped to really light up the dressing rooms and general area of the chrome pole palaces while the very professional police persons asked the girls to produce their ID cards. Most of the girls were forced to go into their lockers in order to show the plastic cards, explaining it was difficult to keep the card on their person when dressed in not much more than a pair of boots and a smile.
A senior policemen told one bar owner that the 2:00AM closing time should be enforced and that staying open later than this is against the law. The bar owner allegedly told the policeman that he paid a little extra money each month in order to stay open later, but the Bangkok officer said whoever he paid the money to it couldnтАЩt possibly be a genuine member of the constabulary, as this sort of thing was frowned upon. rolleyes.gif whistling.gif He warned the bar owner to be wary of mafia types who tried to pass themselves off as policemen in order to extort money from law-abiding citizens.
-- Pattaya City News 2006-08-18
via www.thaivisa.com
Pattaya Road Developments of the infrastructure
1) TRAFFIC SENSOR CONTROL FOR TRAFFIC LIGHTS?
The traffic lights at the junction with Theprasit Road have been off for some time. I can't decide if they are more effective on or off. I was bemused a couple of days back to see them cutting the road across with a spinning blade. This was done in the daytime causing long tailbacks of traffic. Yesterday I saw many cuts around and a friend says that they are definitely lectrical routes for installing traffic sensors to control the lights and make them efficient. I don't know of any like this in Pattaya to date.
2) THAPPAYA ROAD WIDENING SCHEMES
Outside Grand Condo I saw lines of red paint and red sticks with flags. The Manager tells me that they are marking out the limits of the new road widening to make the road 5 lanes wide from the Hanuman staue up to Sugar Hut. I understand that the road from Sugar Hut towards Pattay is to be made 4 lane wide and compansation amounts are agreed.
3) JOMTIEN SECOND ROAD DELAYS
Pattaya Today reports "Some compensation claims void The plan to create a four lane Jomtien Second Road from the bottom of Thappraya Road to Soi Chaiyapeuk, a distance of more than 7 kilometres, continues to run into problems. The huge infrastructure project, authorised by Royal decree, has a budget of six hundred million baht, funded equally from local and national coffers, but compensation claims from dispossessed owners continue to be a hot potato. More...
on http://www.pattayatoday.net/
4) PLANS TO MAKE PATTAYA SECOND ROAD TWO WAY AGAIN - BEACH ROAD ALL PEDESTRIAN MAY BE
Pattaya Mail reports - Council to consider plan to make Second Road a two-way street by Ariyawat Nuamsawat
The possibility of Pattaya Second Road becoming a two-way street moved a step closer on August 10 when Prachom Klao University presented a report that had been commissioned by city hall on ways in which traffic congestion could be eased on Beach and Second roads.
Dr Thavatchai Hlaosirihongtong says that a two-way Second Road is the best option. Mayor Niran Wattanasartsathorn chaired the meeting of Pattaya Traffic and Transportation Committee, with administrators, members of Pattaya City Council and relevant officers discussing the findings of the report. Head of the research team Dr Thavatchai Hlaosirihongtong said that Second Road had originally been opened as a one-way thoroughfare to be consistent with Beach Road, but when the city organized activities on Beach Road this affected Second Road. The main problem isnтАЩt caused by normal vehicles, but is caused by the transportation vehicles and the problems can only be resolved through the cooperation of all concerned, especially traffic police in strictly enforcing traffic laws, he said.
However, from studying the volume of vehicles and the new routes it was found that making Second Road two-way would provide the greatest benefit because it would result in good traffic flow and could handle the extra volume when activities were being held on Beach Road. This scheme would therefore be consistent with future plans to make Beach Road a pedestrian-only thoroughfare.
Mayor Niran said that after the experts had weighed the advantages and disadvantages of each option a master plan would be created that would include routes, car parks, and bus stops. The meeting approved the plans, but when changing peopleтАЩs daily lives the opinions of the public are also relevant, he said. The plans will be submitted to Pattaya City Council for consideration.
5) PATTAYA BYPASS BY RAILWAY
Pattaya Mail - Council agrees to sign 5-year land lease for railway road
Waiver will be sought after rent period is over - Ariyawat Nuamsawat
An urgent meeting of Pattaya City Council was called on August 9 by Mayor Niran Wattanasartsathorn to obtain council approval for the land-lease agreement with the Railways Authority of Thailand that will allow construction of a local road to ease congestion along Sukhumvit Road. The lease involves incurring a debt that will exceed one year, and therefore required the approval of the council.
Pattaya City Council agreed to a five-year binding debt to the Railways Authority so that construction of the new road can begin.
Mayor Niran said construction of the road between Banglamung and Baan Huay Khwang requires that land be leased along the intended stretch. The road will be constructed in parallel to the railway tracks. The total land area of the two plots to be leased is about 280,000 square meters, and they will be leased under a five-year contract from August 1, 2006 to August 31, 2011. The lease will cost 2 million baht for the first year with increases of 5 percent annually until the end of the lease period.
Suvit Nongyai argued that although the project will benefit everyone, the Railways Authority is a government organization. Therefore a lease agreement entered into between two government organizations for the benefit of all should be cheaper. But with the annual increments this is similar to leasing from the private sector.
Mayor Niran said this matter had been in negotiation for more than two years until an agreement was finally reached. The Railways Authority was originally asking 20 million baht for the lease, and negotiations brought that down to 2 million per year. The rates are normal Railways Authority rates. At the end of the lease period the matter will be taken to parliament to request a rent waiver, due to the public benefit nature of the project.
Pattaya City Council approved the five-year binding debt to allow the project to proceed.
