Most shopping malls in Pattaya come with a car park. Some are free, some charge a nominal fee, and one requires a doctorate in mathematics to work out the car parking charge. Welcome to the crazy world of The Avenue car park.
It used to be comparatively simple. Park in the multi-storey car park and it was free. Park outside and it was 20 baht unless you got a stamp from one of the shops. Yesterday they were handing out flyers:
The first 15 minutes are free, I understood that bit. After that I was plunged into a world of confusion, as I am sure the parking attendants were going to be; which is why they were erecting a barrier at the exit to stop anyone escaping while they powered up the multi-teraflop supercomputer that would calculate the charge for each vehicle that had entered the confusion zone.
Eager to test the new system, I offered the wife a coffee this morning and we headed for The Avenue. A man handed us a smart new ticket which he rather spoiled by writing our car number and time of arrival on the back. He then leaned into the car in a conspiratorial manner and said (in Thai) “be prepared for delays.”
In the event there weren’t any, probably because it was early on a quiet Monday morning. And the parking charge? 20 baht; I have no idea how they calculated it and neither did the young man, supported by two assistants, who stared bemused at my ticket for 30 seconds before deciding on a price. Just wait till the weekend, it’s going to be chaos.
Comments 🔗
2008-06-16| Billy saysCompared to a retirement calculator this is child’s play. Suggest you start on the algorithm immediately for implementation on the iPhone without further ado.
2008-06-16| Spike saysTouch compatible of course, just in case you turn up and need some urgent parking.