PATTAYA — The embarrassed mayor of Pattaya City ordered a road sign be taken down Thursday after residents discovered that their city’s name had been misspelt in the sign.
Instead of directing commuters to the City Hall, a sign in central Pattaya showed directions to “Pattaya Ctiy Hall,” a subtle mistake which drew much online ridicule after photos of it were shared on social media earlier this week and forced mayor Anan Charoenchasri to apologize.
“I would like to apologize to the public for this matter,” Anan told reporters Thursday, adding that he had ordered officials to remove the sign.
Anan blamed the error on contractors who made the sign and installed it without sending it to city officials for prior inspection.
Misspelled English-language signs are a common problem in Thailand, where English fluency is low throughout the country. In May, highway officials were forced to fix a road sign that pointed direction to Phra Pradaeng but identified it in English as Phra Khanong, causing much confusion to expat drivers.
