Leaver

I guess as the next generation of monger comes through, they are after something more than "Hello. What your name. Where you come from. One drink for me" in a tin roof beer bar. No longer do they have to bar hop, paying lady drinks along the way, just to find a girl they like to bar fine. They can find girls on apps, even before they are in country.

In my opinion, Pattaya will continue to be "The World's Brothel." Bars, and bar girls, will remain. However, I see apps "digitally disrupting" the traditional bar business model of lady drinks and bar fines here, much the same way as Uber and AirBnb changed the industry for taxis and hotels. Pattaya will still offer a great lads night out, however, many will be ordering online and going out with the girls to party, thus no lady drinks and bar fines. Many have the narrow view that arranging to meet a girl online is only for 1 hour. Whilst that may be true of some, many will go short time or long time. It's really no different to meeting in a bar. A lot of girls were working off apps pre covid. It's not like covid started the change. Interesting times ahead for the traditional Pattaya bar business model.

Let's not forget, Thailand already had record household debt, pre covid. Default rates will be huge.

So does the staff that the hospitality industry employs here. You answered your own question.

I can't see the owner of Singha, being one of the wealthiest guys in Thailand, allowing that to happen, on any scale that would threaten his profits. Meanwhile, next door in Vietnam, craft beer is going from strength to strength, and was one of the reasons I enjoyed my visits there, pre covid. https://edition.cnn.com/2017/07/04/asia/vietnam-craft-beer/index.html They are just stuck in their old corrupt and collusive ways here, whilst their competition is progressing a lot faster.

I agree, and many of them are already on the apps. I'm sure word of the benefits will spread throughout those working in the sex trade here when Pattaya does open up. For some returning to work in a bar, they may eventually end up getting more customers online than they do in the bar, so will become freelancers. Interesting times ahead, particularly as the first ones back will be experienced mongers, who are not known for paying bar fines and buying lady drinks.

I'm not sure the advantage will be so great. Sure, they will be busy in the initial stages, due to remaining at their location, and possibly some Youtube exposure, but they have 2 years of outgoings with little to no income, plus, they are 2 years closer to a new lease and / or key money payment. Even if they had a customer on every seat during opening hours, they would only be making up what they have lost in the last 2 years, so would be lucky to break even. In my opinion, it was a big risk to stay, particularly for those with an unsympathetic Thai landlord. Only time will tell if it was the right decision to hold on.

Sure, but given there are more "have nots" than "haves" the sheer weight of numbers means during riots and attacks on enforcement measures means defence forces would struggle to maintain control. Eg. Arab Spring. That said, I suppose western countries could do a "Tiananmen Square" on its citizens. It's interesting that since 9/11 the White House has measures to repel an attack by aircraft, but was taken over by protesters.

I disagree with some of your "disadvantages." What has gogo prices got to do with freelancing off an app? Most girls working on apps are charging the the standard price. Sure, some very attractive girls ask higher prices, but that's the minority. Many bars have a quota for lady drinks and bar fines. Don't meet the quota, and money is taken from them. I would suggest it's the opposite on the apps with girls that are not so attractive. They have a better chance of getting a customer outside the bar environment. Advantages: #1.... they are their own boss. #2....they can work as much or as little as they like. #3.... no competition with other girls in the bar for a customer. #4....meet with and sleep with whoever they want, when they want, if they want, not someone the mamasan / boss pushes them on to. #5...."I don't work bar darling. blah blah" - more chance of finding a farang boyfriend / husband. Better chance of getting guys on the hook. #6....working online can be 24/7 across different time zones. They can line up customers coming here for a holiday. They don't have to be in Pattaya at the time. #7....extension of above - better chance of them getting guys for the "2 week girlfriend experience." #8....guys send them money if they strip and dance in their room. Easy work, and can be done back in the village. They may not need to even sleep with anyone. #9....their photos / profile are visible 24/7, not just bar opening times of 6pm to 2am. The apps are working for them even while they are sleeping. #10..they can always freelance out of a bar for a shift here and there anyway. These are just 10 of the top of my head. Disadvantages: #1....no "appearance money" like working in a bar. #2...they might have to accept a customer at odd times. Eg. 10am. #3...not as social as working in a bar. #4...some guys feel more secure taking a girl from a bar because the bar has her ID card etc . There will always be bars and bar girls, just like there are still taxis with Uber, and hotels with AirBnb. ???? Girls working online will simply cut into bar's traditional business model.

If you look at a country like America, there's a gun in just about every household.

What do you think you will be returning to?

The issue many will have, including Nick Dean and others, is key money and / or a new lease will fall due in the near future. In the past, earnings have been put aside to pay the Thai landlord when these have become due, thus, the bar continues to operate. Due to covid, there have been no earnings, only outgoings, for a considerable length of their current lease. Do they dip into their savings, for a second time, to buy the bar / pay key money again, or walk away? In relation to development on Soi Pothole, it must be remembered that the new nightclub being built, as well as the new nightclub not far away on Soi Baukhao, simply cuts the slices of the tourist / customer pie even thinner. Many Youtubers, some with bars here, talk up the new "investment" being put into Pattaya during covid, but for every new bar opened, that means another bar going broke.

Of course ALL the bar girls will not move to freelancing online, but if a high percentage of the the pretty hookers move online, leaving only "the B team" working in bars, then it's over for many bars.

Pattaya is a city built on sex tourism. Whilst sex tourism is still tourism, many sex tourists do not care about the environment in which they are purchasing the product. I understand the point you are making, however, fix the sidewalks and electric cables, but stop the sex trade, and Pattaya goes broke. Sex tourists don't care about uneven sidewalks and electric cables all over the place. They will still come to Pattaya, regardless, as long as the hookers are here.

When I read your post, I immediately thought of a Maori "hangi." I'm not Maori, or Kiwi, but have been to a few hangi in my time. Seeing how they do it is entertaining, and the the meat when it comes out just falls off the bone. Could be a good business here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hāngi

I do hope Patrick's can stay in the game.

I'm not so sure what happens to Walking Street will matter too much in the future. Due to cheaper rents, the centre of the adult nightlife will be LK Metro, Soi Baukhao and Tree Town, particularly as nightclubs are now being built in this area. Mr. Egg will get some of his Youtube followers as customers, but as for western tourists, not to mention Walking Street's reputation for high prices and being a tourist trap, I don't think mongers, new and experienced, will be heading to Walking Street in the future. This was happening pre covid as well. Also, once the girls, particularly the pretty ones, follow the money to other areas, or even freelance online, Walking Street will struggle for "talent." Bulldozed or not, it may not matter anyway, as western tourists / mongers shy away from Walking Street.

I unplugged everything, as usual, when the storm came, despite having a decent UPS for my electronics. Two pin plugs with no earth means surge protectors do not work so well here, if at all.

The only feeling of being unsafe here, or becoming a victim here, for me, comes from the police and courts. You may be completely innocent, but if trouble finds you one day, as a farang, you very well may be extorted by police, and the judicial system.

Does being bullish make them correct? Does being bullish mean it's a good investment? Perhaps it's a bubble. Pattaya has high rents. How many businesses here hold on for tourism to recover?

I would not be surprised if in the future, several decades after I am dead, the next world war is between the haves and the have nots, globally. Basically, a civil war, across the planet, for equality.

Sure, but the problem is, for those who are living here on such fine margins, it only takes one unexpected incident and / or illness or injury, and they are borrowing money from friends and family, and it's at this point they start to burn their bridges, because they never repay.

What, exactly, would they be booking? There's nothing here to see, compared to pre covid Pattaya.

Here's a secret, he's talking about the future, not the past.

Or, a banned member, reincarnated. ????