Pattaya beaches have reopened

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Gaybutton
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Pattaya beaches have reopened

Post by Gaybutton »

Pattaya beaches quietly reopen

By Jetsada Homklin

June 2, 2020

Pattaya’s beaches quietly reopened Monday for recreation, swimming, sun bathing and renting beach chairs, with few tourists and no umbrellas.

Despite the amount of complaint from expats about the weeks-long beach closures and from vendors about losing income, neither showed up in force June 1. Scattered sun lovers spread out on towels and mats, keeping their proper distance from each other.

Pattaya officials said chair and umbrella vendors should all return by June 7 when new rules are in place to prevent the risk of spreading the coronavirus. Many had left the city or had their equipment in store, city hall explained.

Physical distancing will be enforced, with beach chairs placed at least 1 to 1.5 meters apart. This will effectively reduce the number of chairs. No chairs will be allowed three consecutive days a week, instead of just one.

When they do return, the chair renters should have more hours to work. Pattaya is planning to increase services hours to 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. instead of the usual 6 p.m.

Story and photos: https://www.pattayamail.com/featured/pa ... pen-302469
Up2u

Re: Pattaya beaches have reopened

Post by Up2u »

There were no chairs and umbrellas at Dongtan Beach yesterday. I was told by a former blue shirt massage person that the electric and wifi have been removed by government. No beer, alcohol, hot drinks; water, sodas, coconuts ok.
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Re: Pattaya beaches have reopened

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Up2u wrote: Wed Jun 03, 2020 7:03 am the electric and wifi have been removed by government.
If that is true, I don't understand why they would do that. Would that be to somehow prevent social gathering?

I hope they'll put it all back.
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Re: Pattaya beaches have reopened

Post by Gaybutton »

Remember the movie "Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came"? How about "Suppose They Gave a Beach Reopening and Nobody Came".

Yesterday, May 3, was a national holiday celebrating the new Queen's birthday. That prompted travel to the beaches - except not Pattaya's beaches.

Hardly anyone, locally or from other provinces came to Pattaya's beaches or went to Koh Larn. But meanwhile, there were so many people who went to nearby Bang Saen that caused such a major traffic jam that the police had to set up road blocks and turn traffic away.

I have no idea why they all went to Bang Saen, but not Pattaya, or what attracted so many to Bang Saen, but they all seemed to reject Pattaya. Nevertheless that's what happened. Pattaya didn't even pick up the overflow from people who couldn't get to Bang Saen.

In a kinda-sorta way, maybe that's good. Let Bang Saen be the "family oriented" holiday spot and let Pattaya become what it was 15 years ago. Then, I believe, you can bet Pattaya will have no shortage of tourists . . .
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Pattaya shrugs as beaches, Koh Larn reopen

By Boonlua Chatree

June 4, 2020

After weeks of public grousing over closed beaches and clamoring for a return to normal, Pattaya greeted the shoreline’s June 1 reopening with a collective shrug.

A reflection of just how devoid Pattaya is of tourists, only a few souls were seen lounging on the beach, laying on towels or mats as none of the beach chair vendors had returned.

Chair and umbrella vendors are expected to trickle back from the provinces or pull their equipment out of storage over the coming days.

Bali Hai Pier was equally quiet, with few passengers boarding ferries for Koh Larn, which reopened its piers to the outside world Monday.

Story and photos: https://www.pattayamail.com/coronavirus ... pen-302727
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Crowds flock as beach reopens

Visitors told to keep social distance

4 Jun 2020

Popular beaches were teeming with visitors on the first public holiday on Wednesday since their closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic two months ago, with Bang Saen beach in Chon Buri almost bursting at the seams.

A heavy build-up of traffic was seen heading to the beach on Wednesday morning, a public holiday to mark Her Majesty the Queen's birthday. People seemed to be taking full advantage of the easing of inter-provincial travel restrictions that came into effect at the start of the week.

By mid-afternoon on Wednesday, tailbacks extended more than two kilometres along roads leading to the beach prompting Saen Suk municipal mayor Narongchai Kunplome to order the roads temporarily closed to clear the backlog and regulate visitor numbers.

On his Facebook, Mr Narongchai explained the beach was too packed, making it almost impossible for people to practice social distancing.

The mayor also posted aerial pictures of the beach on Wednesday showing vehicles clogging the entire stretch of road adjacent to the beach. Three of the road's four lanes were occupied by parked cars.

Insisting stringent rules must be laid down, Mr Narongchai said that from tomorrow vendors and food hawkers can resume trading along the beach. However, the sale of alcohol will be banned.

Seven areas on the beach will be free of beach chairs. Where chairs are permitted, there must be plenty of space between each chair, while customers are required to wear a face mask. Those renting the chairs out are required to checks the body temperature of their customers and provide them with alcohol sanitiser gel.

Bang Saen beach, which attracts a lot of weekenders because of its easy access and its close proximity to Bangkok, will also be closed on Mondays for cleaning.

The municipal office said beach chairs may only be put up on the beach from Fridays to Sundays. At other times they must be removed for the sake of orderliness.

Mr Naronchai said non-chair areas are being designated so people can enjoy wide open spaces on the beach.

Under the "new normal" regulations, visitors must wear face masks at all times while on the beach and must leave it by 11pm. It was reported that at the busiest time on Wednesday, at least 5,000 visitors were on the beach and most had driven there. The mayor said authorities will block traffic on roads leading to it when necessary to control the number of people.

On Wednesday, the number of beach-goers sparked fears among municipal officials about a possible resurgence of Covid-19 infections. Chon Buri has not reported a coronavirus infection in 40 days.

Kittipong Traiboon, a member of the Chalarm Khao (While Sharks) lifeguard team at Bang Saen beach, said the crowds left municipal officials and resources overstretched trying to enforce the "new normal".

Jutharat Saensuk, 24, said she was pleased the beach was opening again and people had been looking forward to ending weeks of confining themselves at home by strolling along the beach. She travelled all the way to Bang Saen with seven members of her family from Nakhon Ratchasima.

Elsewhere, beaches in Hua Hin of Prachuap Khiri Khan also came back to life as seaside vendors and restaurants welcomed back customers, although many of them were local residents.

In the eastern province of Trat, ferries were back in business transferring tourists between the mainland and islands including the popular Koh Chang.

Koh Samed in Rayong remains closed as it is located in a national park. Local tourism associations have appealed to the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation to reopen the island.

Story and photos: https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... ch-reopens
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