I drove past Mata Hari Tuesday night and they were dark.  Last night they were dark as well, so tonight I decided to stop and look.  They are in fact closed and there is no sign on the door.

 

Has there been any news that I might have missed?

Yes. 

You just reported it. 

It's closed. 

I heard the same thing a few days ago but was waiting for someone to confirm it. 

You just did. 

Yeah it was  a historic restaurant here. 

 

Not enough "high class" tourists ?

Bad location ?

Landlord raised rent to

stupid levels ?

Owner had enough with working hard to jump through all the hoops ?

Closed. Here an article translated by GT from Dutch. https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Follekebolleke.info%2Fhet-doek-is-gevallen-voor-alom-bekende-restaurant-matahari-in-pattaya%2F&edit-text=

From the article it's very clear that the host had to close the business due to health reasons and the downfall of the "upper segment" of tourists.

Or in other words:

4 hours ago, johng said:

Not enough "high class" tourists ?

The well known penny pinchers that feed the tourism statistics will not spend at decent (western style) restaurants.

Google:

Quote

PATTAYA: - What many expats expected to be the naked truth, the renowned restaurant "Mata Hari" named after the Frisian exotic dancer, Margaretha Geertruida Zelle has closed her doors in recent weeks.

And thus, the long-term hospitality of Louis Nol and his Thai wife has come to an end. According to initiates, the reasons for the closure of this renowned restaurant are based on various causes. In this way, Louis's health has long been desired, the decline of the upper segment of the Pattian's Hospitality and the decline of the restaurant's restaurant.

 

 

DEEPL translator:

Quote

PATTAYA: - What many expats expected has become the naked truth, the famous restaurant "Mata Hari" named after the Frisian exotic dancer, Margaretha Geertruida Zelle has closed its doors in recent weeks.

And that brought an end to the many years of hospitality of Louis Nol and his Thai wife. According to the insiders, the closure of this renowned restaurant is due to various reasons. Louis' health has been poor in recent years, for example, the decline in the upper segment of the Pattian Horeca and the declining customer base of the restaurant

 

I thought loads of quality tourist were flooding into Pattaya sense Thailand 4.0......

Niche Market....never going to work with the foot traffic numbers crashing around you. The vast majority of tourists of old in Pattaya and Jomtien never came to find 5 star anything.
That was the part of the appeal.
Building "so called" 5 star condos, resorts and dining establishments was aiming at a minority market that might not have existed in the first place. Hence the staggering amount of empty buildings, half finished projects and businesses going to the wall.

It is blatantly obvious who the majority tourists are now and they have their own eating "halls" set up for them to slurp sloppy noodles and crunch pork on the bone.

 

9 hours ago, lonewolf99 said:

 

It is blatantly obvious who the majority tourists are now and they have their own eating "halls" set up for them to slurp sloppy noodles and crunch pork on the bone.

 

And nawt wrong with that..........