Regulatory DD — Zoning, Setbacks, Parking
✅ The short version
We are in the RED zone (พ.2 — Commercial). Self-storage is an allowed commercial use. Zoning is not a blocker.
Confirmed 2026-07-04 by our Pattaya architect (Chathathai): city officials say the land is now zoned red commercial under the new Bang Lamung plan, "with documents." One thing still to collect: the official announcement number + a copy of the map sheet as written proof.
Your numbers at a glance
Setbacks — how far buildings sit from each edge
| Edge | Setback | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sides & rear (neighbour boundaries) |
0.5 m | Our unit walls are solid (doors face the inside aisle, no windows on the boundary) → the 0.5 m "blank wall" rule applies. Can drop to 0 m with the neighbour's written consent, or on the Phase-2 land we own. |
| Any wall that has a door or window facing a boundary | 2 m | Only applies if a unit is turned so an opening faces out. Current layout avoids this. |
| Front public road (our access road) |
3 m from the property line | Rule is 3 m from your line, or 6 m from the road centreline — whichever is greater. On our road width, 3 m from the line governs. |
| Motorway 7 (M7) frontage | ~6 m (commercial) — confirm | This is the only setback still to be nailed down. Highway Dept. sets it in a letter for our exact parcel; budget ~6 m for commercial use. No direct driveway onto M7 — access is via the service/frontage road only. |
| Fence | up to 3 m tall | Solid or see-through both fine. Where two public roads meet at a corner, clip the corner with a 4 m splay. |
The one real unknown is the M7 highway setback — everything else is standard building-code and settled. Get the Highway Dept. letter (below) and the layout is locked.
Parking — how many spaces we must provide
Rule: storage/warehouse use = 1 parking space per ~120 m² of building floor area.
Our site: ~96 PODs × ~6 m² = ~580 m² of floor area → ~5 spaces required.
We have 8 spaces in the current plan → comfortably covered. Confirm the exact rate with Building Control when we file (self-storage is very low-traffic, so this is not a risk).
What's still to collect (in writing)
| # | From | What | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Our architect / Pattaya City Planning 062-365-8456 Mr. Kritsadasit |
Red-zone proof: the new Bang Lamung plan's announcement number + a copy of the map sheet, plus a one-line zoning use certificate (หนังสือรับรองการใช้ประโยชน์ที่ดิน) confirming self-storage is allowed. | 2–6 wks |
| 2 | Chonburi Highway District แขวงทางหลวงชลบุรี |
M7 setback letter: exact setback from our parcel edge + where we can put the entrance off the service road. | 45–90 days |
| 3 | Pattaya Building Control (same office as Planning) |
Pre-application memo: container/module permit type, fire spacing, exact parking rate, storm-water basin size. | 2–4 wks |
Do this first
Ask the architect for the red-zone announcement number + map copy. That single document turns "officials say it's red" into proof we can hand a bank or partner — and it closes out the last zoning question for good.
▸ How we got here — the brown-vs-red history (for the record)
Earlier versions of this page went back and forth because Pattaya has more than one map for the same land. Short story:
- Old binding plan (Pattaya 2558): showed the parcel brown (high-density residential), where commercial storage was prohibited. This is the map that caused the confusion — it's the one still printed in the old gazette.
- EEC land-use plan (2562): a regional overlay that already legally outranks the 2558 plan where they conflict. It puts us right on the red-commercial / orange-urban boundary at the High-Speed-Rail station, and — usefully — allows large buildings within 2,000 m of that station (we're ~420 m away).
- New Bang Lamung plan (now confirmed): zones us RED พ.2 commercial. This is the current, governing answer — confirmed by officials via our architect on 2026-07-04. It supersedes the brown reading entirely.
A separate "Zone 5" map that once caused confusion is just the city's inspector districts — it tells us who to call (Mr. Kritsadasit, 062-365-8456), not what we can build.
Zoning position confirmed 2026-07-04 via Pattaya architect Chathathai (officials confirm red commercial, new Bang Lamung plan). Setback/parking figures from Building Control Act B.E. 2522 (Ministerial Regulation No. 55) and Highway Act B.E. 2535. This is a planning summary, not a legal opinion — confirm the red-zone announcement number and M7 setback letter before the LOI.