New Traffic Barriers on Pattaya’s Walking Street Cause Concern for the Disabled

Pattaya, Thailand-

Pattaya City has recently installed traffic barriers on Walking Street on side sois following a recent meeting to limit the number of motorbikes and bike vendors on the street at night.

First, you can read about the recent meeting and the decisions made here.

The new barriers, which can be unlocked and opened, are meant to block motorbike taxi drivers and food vendors from driving on the main pedestrian only street after it closes to traffic every night from around 7:00 PM. One of the biggest complaints recently were motorbike drivers, mostly taxis, entering the road against rules and regulations and blazing through crowds of pedestrians, a possible danger to many. Therefore, the new gates were installed recently.

However, as seen in this photo, the new gates are also causing issues for wheelchair users and accessibility to the street as well as entering busy side sois with many businesses like Soi 15.

As noted, relevant law enforcement officers can unlock the gates to allow passage but local business owners reported to the Pattaya News that this can be difficult to take place in practice. According to the anonymous individual who submitted this photo to The Pattaya News this particular wheelchair user struggled to get access and was even allegedly told to go around to a different entrance-a difficult task for a disabled person.

What do you think of the new gates? How could they be utilized to both stop motor traffic on the road at night but also not block disabled individuals?

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Adam Judd
Mr. Adam Judd is the Co-owner of TPN Media since December 2017. He is originally from Washington D.C., America, but has also lived in Dallas, Sarasota, and Portsmouth. His background is in retail sales, HR, and operations management, and has written about news and Thailand for many years. He has lived in Pattaya for over nine years as a full-time resident, is well known locally and been visiting the country as a regular visitor for over a decade. His full contact information, including office contact information, can be found on our Contact Us page below. Stories please e-mail Editor@ThePattayanews.com About Us: https://thepattayanews.com/about-us/ Contact Us: https://thepattayanews.com/contact-us/