Leaver

True, but that may be the only way back into Thailand for many, in the short to medium term. Correct. This time, Thailand will have to play by international rules. They will not be able to change the stats to suit their agenda. If Thailand is not vaccinated to over 60%, at least, they will not be on the safe to travel to list of many countries, which means tourists coming to Thailand may be quarantined upon their return to their home country. Tell that to the homeless, hungry, broke, and unemployed.

To be fair, many cities in many countries were locked down, with many deaths, last year. We all saw the grim news footage. There were points in the covid time line where we were still partying in Pattaya, while many countries were locked down, with the people suffering. The shoe is on the other foot now.

It was certainly not my perception, it was my observation. Foreign business owners would confirm my observations to me.. It's quite rare a Thai comes out in the media to say all is not well. Here's a news article about it. Around 6 months before covid.

Thailand will eventually vaccinate to around 60% to 70% and open up. It could take another year. There may well be "sandboxes" dotted all over Thailand to try to start up earlier, perhaps at the expense of Thai citizens who have yet to be vaccinated, but Money Number One here. I agree with the new variant concerns. The world should hope the virus doesn't mutate into something the current vaccines are useless against, because if it does, the world goes back to March 2020. The tourists, and their money, will be back. However, I agree, the Pattaya that was on offer pre covid will not be the Pattaya that is on offer post covid. It will take years to get back to pre covid Pattaya, and even then, it may have changed so much it's nothing like the pre covid Pattaya we all knew.

So many of these around and they are all funny.

Yes, to watch the rice grow. ????

Probably more like bar managers, despite putting up all the cash.

I had an outlook 18 months ago, now, all bets are off. Anything is possible. Chinese tour operators were beating Thai businesses down to rock bottom price 18 months ago. Now, they may as well buy them and cut out the middle man. I agree. The Chinese are / were here, and are here to stay. However, if they become such a dominant player in the market, they could force other nationalities out of a particular area, and some years down the track, may possibly make Pattaya an undesirable place to retire to. It's one of the things I love about Pattaya. The multiculturalism, particularly in relation to restaurants. How many of the "well established businesses" are left standing now? 8 years of the last 2 decades is pre GFC, when times were good. Do you think expats will be retiring here in the next 10 years, post covid, at the rate they were over the last 20 years? I also think I'll be okay for a while for Sunday roast, but as we all know, everyone should have a Plan B.

Perhaps, too many places to list.

The BiB have been starved of their usual revenue streams for months, so what do these people do, paint a target on themselves and gather in public. ????

The borders will open.

I think the member is referring to Thailand. If you have a business here and renting the property, you are at the mercy of the Thai landlord, and in many cases, become just a slave to the Thai landlord. The harder you work and the more your business grows, the more he increases the rent.

Sadly, western tourists and expats will lack choice and variety for the first few years, until confidence returns in Thailand's tourism industry.

Allow me to clarify. In my opinion, the borders will be open in the next 12 months. For Pattaya to get back to pre covid tourism, and that includes many of the vacant premises here having tenants again, in my opinion, it will be 5 years or more after the borders open, so that's from the end of covid in Thailand, not from March 2020. I can not be clearer than this, and there certainly has been no "u-turn" from me. The point I was trying to make is, if the Chinese buy up, big time, distressed commercial leases / property, then large parts of Pattaya MAY become like Sihanoukville. I don't care if some Chinese buy condo's in my block. I care if I can't find a bar / restaurant catering to westerners, because Pattaya has become Chinatown. If that happens, Pattaya may as well be Sihanoukville, minus the casinos. That said, could you imagine if you bought a condo at The Base, only to find it's become an AirBnb hotel for Chinese? Can you see how if the Chinese take over the majority of commercial premises here, it will effect property prices? I have given the example of the disappearing Sunday roast before. Perhaps expats will all be socializing on the dark side if this happens. This buy up, or "widescale investment" could happen soon after borders have opened. Perhaps this is where there is the misunderstanding. The Chinese businessmen may be among the first to Pattaya in order to buy cheap hotels, guest houses, bars, restaurants, nightclubs, boats, buses etc. From speaking to friends in Vietnam, two of whom are ex Thailand expats, the Vietnamese government cleared the country of people continuing to reside in Vietnam on covid extensions. Thailand did the same. They couldn't differentiate between covid extenders moving to other visas through agents, and people who were already on visas from agents, so they cleared the lot of them. I am quite sure, post covid, things will return as they were. In any case, I have a visa plan for Vietnam. I am confident I can reside there, legally, should I wish to do so in the future, and under the current visa laws.

No, clearly you are. I am discussing the tourism industry. What security can people put up for a loan when they have lost everything? Where did the German's start up capital come from? It was loaned to them. Some decades later, Germany was once again an economic powerhouse, but the initial rebuilding was funded by a loan.