Scenic pool at Pattaya's cliff house demolished
Famous swimming pool projecting into sea below below "Victorian Castle" for 21 years never even had license to operate or for the pool.
Famous swimming pool projecting into sea below below "Victorian Castle" for 21 years never even had license to operate or for the pool.
TOURISM, SCENIC VIEWS & ENCROACHMENT
Pool at Pattaya's scenic cliff house hotel demolished
23/11/2016
Chaiyot Pupattanapong & Wanthanan Yimlamai
PATTAYA -- The Golden Cliff House Hotel, which has a famous illegal swimming pool that encroached on the sea for the past 21 years, will close on Nov 25, the hotel operator has announced.
Google Maps images showing the seafront pool jutting into the sea along Yim Yom beach had earlier been posted on the social media.
On its website, the hotel describes itself as "a luxury boutique resort ... styled like a Victorian castle and set in a dream location" It had 47 rooms that cost between 1,500 and 5,000 baht a night.
The illegal seafront swimming pool, built 21 years ago at what became the Golden Cliff House Hotel and encroaches on the sea. (Photo by Chaiyot Pupattanapong)
HISTORY OF HOUSE & SWIMMING POOL
The hotel operator Mr Watthanan, 64, said the hotel was in the past a house.
It was expanded by the landowner as an apartment building 21 years ago in 1995, when the swimming pool was also built.
When the hotel law was enforced in 2007, the apartment was converted into a hotel and the owner filed for an operating licence, which was refused because it lacked some requirements.
Regardless, the hotel remained in operation without a permit.
Mr Watthanan said he took over the hotel's operation in 2015 under a lease contract, with 47 rooms and the controversial swimming pool.
The current operator of the Golden Cliff House Hotel in Pattaya says that the 780-square metre pool that juts into the sea was built in 1995, many years before he rented the property from its owner.
DECISION TO DEMOLISH THE POOL
The decision to demolish the pool came after marine authorities in Pattaya last week filed a complaint with police accusing the hotel of breaching the Navigation in Thai Waters Act, which prohibits building of structures that encroach on any body of water without permission.
Officials inspected the hotel on Nov 16 and found that some structures, including a 26 x 30 metre pool, were built without permission from the Marine Department.
Hotel staff begin demolishing the swimming pool on Tuesday. (Photo by Chaiyot Pupattanapong)
HOTEL DOESN'T HAVE LICENSE EITHER
The hotel in Khao Phra Tamnak area of tambon Nong Prue in Chon Buri's Bang Lamung district was also found to have been operating without a licence.
A notice was put up at the site, instructing the hotel operator to demolish the pool within 15 days and suspending the business until a proper operating licence had been obtained.
On receiving the notice last Wednesday, Mr Watthanan said he was looking for a contractor to demolish the swimming pool which would cost an estimated 1 million baht.
The operator was earlier charged with renting rooms by the day even though he only had permission to offer monthly rentals.
The curtain will close on the Golden Cliff House Hotel on Nov 25 after it was found to be operating without a licence and its swimming pool encroached on the sea. (Photo by Chaiyot Pupattanapong)
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1142380/pattayas-cliff-house-hotel-with-encroaching-pool-to-close
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1139393/pattaya-pool-encroaches-on-sea
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