Bangkok - Thailand's tallest building, a residential condominium planned at Pattaya, a beach resort, has received the go-ahead to start construction next month after months of delay, media reports said Wednesday. Construction of the Ocean 1 Tower planned at Jomtien, a part of Pattaya, is to start March 30 after the project received approval of its environmental impact assessment, the Bangkok Post newspaper reported.
The beach-front residential condominium, is to be 91 storeys and 327 metres high, making it taller than Thailand's current tallest building, Bangkok's Baiyoke Tower II, which stands at 304 metres.
Pattaya, a popular beach resort best known for its wild nightlife, has been experiencing a real estate boom for the past four years, which has raised concerns about looming water shortages and wastewater problems, forcing new projects such as the Ocean I to submit environmental impact assessments before getting approval.
Because of delays caused by that approval process, Siam Best Enterprise Co, the owner of Ocean 1 Tower, has raised its prices seven times on condominium units, which start at 125,000 baht (3,834 dollars) per square metre.
