newnative

And not a penny of it spent on vaccines.

Of your list, I think only Soi 6 might be endangered at some point. It is inconveniently close to a lot of both empty land and large tracts that are slated for redevelopment. The north Pattaya Beach area has really undergone a transformation in the past few years and that is likely to continue south towards Central Festival. Discovery Beach Hotel is about to finish a new, large highrise third wing; a sign of that expansion, improvement, and development.

Looks horrible--and not a lick of shade even in the fake artist rendering. My theory on why they only use palm trees is because they are high-maintenance vs. regular trees. Likely a lucrative, expensive contract to maintain them. Quite often a crew seems to be out chopping at all the dead palm branches. The shade trees just need trimming once in a blue moon--where's the money in that?

Wrong. Pattaya was doing very well, pre-covid. If you were actually here in 2019 and here today, you could easily compare then with what we have now. And, the visitors were not all package tourists from China. But they, and all the other visitors, certainly did 'spread the wealth'. 2019 did not have hundreds of people lining up for food handouts on Pattaya Beach. If nothing else, the pandemic has put paid to the totally ridiculous notion that so-called 'zero dollar tourists' contribute nothing to the local economy. Pattaya was, and is, still popular with farangs. They are just a lot more spread out as Pattaya has grown so tremendously. Someone will be along to say his favorite bar in Pattaya, even pre-covid, wasn't as busy as it used to be. But, is that because of fewer farangs visiting or, perhaps because there are just a lot more bars all over the place--such as the big bar complex that opened some years ago next to Kiss in Jomtien. And, with the advent of Airbnb, visitors are also staying, in condos and villas, all over the place, as well.

The article says 'accounts over 1 million baht continue to rise'. So, if that is the case, why shouldn't they be protected? I know money can be spread over several banks but if accounts of over 1 million baht are rising, clearly some are not doing that. I million baht protected seems very low--better to have settled on an amount perhaps between 1 and 5 million. If someone sells a property and nets 7 million, the money would have to be spread among 7 banks--seems like a lot of needless paperwork--for both the banks and the individual.

Agree. I think an Asiatique Prime was being planned for Pattaya, pre-covid--hopefully it will still go forward at some point.

Nothing was stopping them; the Chinese were buying, pre-covid. My partner and I personally sold 4 condos to Chinese buyers in Pattaya, and 1 in Bangkok. (No, we're not realtors.) The first Bangkok condo my partner and I purchased (the one we later sold to a Chinese buyer) was a new project from a very large builder and we bought off-plan. When we went into the sales office there was a second entirely separate sales team, in their own designated area, that spoke Chinese and had brochures printed only in Chinese. You don't make that sort of effort with few buyers in mind. Just as an aside, that second sales team seemed busier than the regular sales team the day we visited.

My absolute favorite is the opening to The Sound of Music. Love the slow panning shots, the slow music buildup, and then the zooming in to Julie on the mountaintop. Superb.

Well, we know where all the fake news is coming from . . . Meanwhile, still doing absolutely nothing to stimulate the economy. Spending too much time on petty stuff like this.

Months too late but at least it might offer a little embarrassment--although with this amnesty bill they seem to be pretty much beyond being embarrassed about anything they do.

Fine. Protect doctors. And, only doctors.

94% want a fast and viable plan to tackle the crisis. Meanwhile, the government is only hard at work on one thing--an amnesty bill for themselves.

Luckily, we're 'well on the way' to 70% vaccinated, according to Anutin.

It seems to be hit or miss in Pattaya. My partner and I bought a tv yesterday at a big box store. Some of the big box stores have areas roped off but we were in Thai Watsadu the other day and I don't remember any areas roped off.

Looking at the guy's photo, he's likely not getting any.

Great post and I totally agree.

And, when it comes to ideas to stimulate the economy the government is also bankrupt.