Very disappointing visit to Pattaya.

[Kerryd]

The times they are a changing. My first trip to Pattaya was back in 1993 and there have been a lot of changes since then.
 

A (Thai) friend of mine had a lease on an area on Walking Street, ran a couple of beer bars there for something like 20+ years. Had to give up the lease as the owner wanted too much to renew it and apparently was considering levelling that area to put it - take a guess - a new shopping mall.
Buddy had a couple of businesses and that was one that basically paid for itself or made a little extra that helped offset a couple other places he owned/leased.

The hotel I stayed at on that first trip seemed almost new when I was there. Came back 5 years later and it looked like no one had done a lick of maintenance or upkeep on the place at all since I was last there. A couple years later they did a bit of refurbishment as they hoped to get a lot of business when the TukCom mall opened (which itself was something else before and had sat empty for ages until being refurbished).
These days it seems if you blink, by the time you open your eyes again half a dozen businesses will have opened/closed/changed hands and/or been renamed.

Progress. Of course, as the city continues to grow the demand on it's resources intensifies as well and I'm not just talking about the water supply. The city seems to have a hard time keeping up with the growth and of course, with the Thai way of doing some things, projects that should be started and completed in a couple of months during the "off season" can take years to complete (and 3 or different companies). 

But if you want to live here (or visit) you have to be prepared to take the good with the bad. If the hotel you used to stay in sucks, find a new one. If the bar(s) you used to like suck, find new ones. If the girls you used to like still suck, then carry on !

I recall a couple of people (years ago) complaining about some things that had changed and I asked them, why don't you go somewhere else (i.e. a different hotel/bar/whatever) and it turns out it was "too much hassle" to try and find another place so they kept going back to the same place(s) over and over again and whining about it.

There's an old saying - "Give me the strength to accept the things I can not change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference".

Don't worry ! Your bum will adjust to a new barstool in no time, the girls will still ignore you and the hotel will still be less than you hoped for !

 

 

[cookieqw]

11 hours ago, AlexRich said:

I was there in January and February this year and didn't really enjoy it as much as before, on my next trip I think I'll spend more time in the Big Mango or somewhere quiet where you can relax and meditate ... like a cave in Chiang Rai. 

Not too funny

[soistalker]

1 minute ago, shackleton said:

All part of the Thai Tourism Board upgrading for Advertising Pattaya as a Family Resort

Shopping Malls  better up market hotels Restaurants ect 

as already mentioned   the bar scene was great in the 80s and 90s  now to expensive hence the closing of many 

The  influx of Chinese  tourists not interested in bars get them in the Malls and restaurants spending their money  

To What malls are you referring? Never see Chinese in malls in Pattaya. 

[Katipo]

From the description you give, it seems like Pattaya is getting a bit of a much needed make-over. The decrepit old hotels, much like the similarly described sex tourist, is falling out of favour and is feeling the neglect.

Pattaya is the one place in Thailand where I do not lament change.

[Rimmer]

A troll/personal attack has been removed

[Wake Up]

I saw a few DDG girls in Pattaya at the bars around Buakhao, soi 6 and massage place on soi honey. I saw the opposite of DDG at a famous large massage place near Buakhao that apparently has Chinese and Indian tour buses as their main customers.  

 

 In BKK the DDG have all gone online and the bars in BKK have lost their DDG girls. I prefer to see a girl in a bar and talk first rather than viewing photos online and then video chatting and hoping with all the apps that she really is a DDG. So yes the world is changing. If someone can open a bar in BKK with DDG girls that like to have fun, don’t smoke, don’t get drunk every night and don’t make more money from drinks and tips than ST then please let us all know. But I think that world has been lost to TF and Tinder.  ?

[NoshowJones]

37 minutes ago, soistalker said:

Do you give them a shout first to clear the way?

No! They are so ignorant they deserve to get knocked out of the way.

They don't seem to realise there are other people in Pattaya as well as them.

[NoshowJones]

41 minutes ago, Jai Dee said:

Drop Dead Gorgeous would be my guess... 

But that would not describe them all, would it??

[FritsSikkink]

So in short, you can't afford Pattaya anymore.

[Vacuum]

2 hours ago, soistalker said:

Hundreds of thousands of Chinese coming at you, all following that little flag someone is carrying, oblivious to anyone trying to walk by, each one exactly the same as the next. It's the same thing you would have seen in the Korean war, with the heathens coming down the hill in masses.  They won't move out of the way. They make people go into the street around them on beach road because they block the promenade by the thousands.

If they had been English, Aussies, or Germans, you wouldn't care?

[NCC1701A]

I just completed a 1300 kilometer motorcycle trip in Thailand. Ubon. Yasothon. Roi Et. Buriram. Surin.  Had a great time. Much better than Pattaya. Nudge Nudge Wink Wink Say No More.

 

One thing I have learned is never have an expectation of repeating a prior experience in Thailand.

 

I understand some people must access the internet but, if you are worried about Wifi you may need to rethink your priorities while on "vacation." Plenty of temporary high speed data packages available for your phone.

 

If you are looking to hook up do it on line. We Chat would be a good place to start.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 16, 2018 by NCC1701A

[geriatrickid]

28 minutes ago, Wake Up said:

I saw a few DDG girls in Pattaya at the bars around Buakhao, soi 6 and massage place on soi honey. I saw the opposite of DDG at a famous large massage place near Buakhao that apparently has Chinese and Indian tour buses as their main customers.  

 

 In BKK the DDG have all gone online and the bars in BKK have lost their DDG girls. I prefer to see a girl in a bar and talk first rather than viewing photos online and then video chatting and hoping with all the apps that she really is a DDG. So yes the world is changing. If someone can open a bar in BKK with DDG girls that like to have fun, don’t smoke, don’t get drunk every night and don’t make more money from drinks and tips than ST then please let us all know. But I think that world has been lost to TF and Tinder.  ?

 

It being Pattaya, I believe they are more likely to use Grinder. 

[smotherb]

3 hours ago, phantomfiddler said:

Alas the law of nature is that the nicer a place is, the sooner it will be brought down. It was fantastic 37 years ago, and I,m sure even better before that.

Yeah, it was pretty quiet when I first saw it in early '67

[Bundooman]

Could you please elaborate on what a "DDG" girl is?

I've never heard the expression and only visited Pattaya once on my way to Koh Chang. Stayed overnight and that was enough for me.

The term was used twice in the above post.....

 

[champers]

3 minutes ago, Bundooman said:

Could you please elaborate on what a "DDG" girl is?

I've never heard the expression and only visited Pattaya once on my way to Koh Chang. Stayed overnight and that was enough for me.

The term was used twice in the above post.....

 

Drop dead gorgeous. That's a description, not an instruction.

Edited July 16, 2018 by champers

[Small Joke]

Is there any other kind of visit to Pattaya? 

[bkk6060]

I think it is better then ever.

Playing golf.

Meeting girls.

Eating good meals.

Hitting the gym.

Taking occasional day trips on my motorbike.

Being in Central I can walk any place. Movies, shopping, markets, restaurants, massage.

A great life.

 

I love Pattaya having a great time in paradise everyday would not want to be any place else....

 

 

[Small Joke]

1 hour ago, FritsSikkink said:

So in short, you can't afford Pattaya anymore.

Considering the german FKK price is €50 for a day ticket with pool, rest area,  open bar, Group action kino area, sport or xxx on the tvs great fresh buffet, and BBQ in summer, plus global talent (the Kenyans at Babylon are stunning and fluent in English) and €50 to go up stairs with no tricks, and extras on request. Why would any body bother with LOS Now?  The prices are the same,  or worse,  and it's still all illegal, second rate service at 1st world prices,  decidedly less healthy, and well dodgy.  

Edited July 16, 2018 by Small Joke

[BobBKK]

'losing whatever appeal it had culturally'

 

Dude, dude...

[FritsSikkink]

10 minutes ago, Small Joke said:

Considering the german FKK price is €50 for a day ticket with pool, rest area,  open bar, Group action kino area, sport or xxx on the tvs great fresh buffet, and BBQ in summer, plus global talent (the Kenyans at Babylon are stunning and fluent in English) and €50 to go up stairs with no tricks, and extras on request. Why would any body bother with LOS Now?  The prices are the same,  or worse,  and it's still all illegal, second rate service at 1st world prices,  decidedly less healthy, and well dodgy.  

"Why would any body bother with LOS Now? " 

Maybe because not everybody is looking for hookers?

[Small Joke]

1 hour ago, NCC1701A said:

I just completed a 1300 kilometer motorcycle trip in Thailand. Ubon. Yasothon. Roi Et. Buriram. Surin.  Had a great time. Much better than Pattaya. Nudge Nudge Wink Wink Say No More.

 

One thing I have learned is never have an expectation of repeating a prior experience in Thailand.

 

I understand some people must access the internet but, if you are worried about Wifi you may need to rethink your priorities while on "vacation." Plenty of temporary high speed data packages available for your phone.

 

If you are looking to hook up do it on line. We Chat would be a good place to start.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yup.  The world is changing faster than ever. I'm pushing my 6th decade and think the meat up apps are phenomenal.  

The bars are a Veitnam War relic,  and while they were once a wonderland,  they were quickly over exploited,  even as the rules of what was allowed by consenting adults faced the proverbial  crackdown. 

Now they shut at midnight,  or get raided,  and you're forced to piss for the nice men in brown. 

I would not shed a tear if the whole sorry Beerbar culture died out.

I see freelancing becoming widespread as the girls wise up to how Grab has let anyone be their own boss while shafting the pimp style cartel system. 

Viva the digital revolution!

[VBF]

1 hour ago, Vacuum said:

If they had been English, Aussies, or Germans, you wouldn't care?

If they had been anything but a flag-led Chinese tour group, the just might have shown a littler more courtesy which one would then reciprocate!

[Johnnyngai]

2 hours ago, possum1931 said:

When I see these Chinese people blocking the whole footpath in Beach Road, I just walk right 

through them as if they weren't there, scattering them out of my way.

I wish I were big and tall like you.

[Media1]

Yes the regime has gone in reverse gear. Lots of damage done 

[NoshowJones]

41 minutes ago, Johnnyngai said:

I wish I were big and tall like you.

One can dream.

[terryofcrete]

The first sentence is a giveaway... watching the purse strings. That makes for anxiety at every turn. no one who seriously needs wifi in LOS  comes u prepared either with a second device and a thai data sim, or a booster , and if you are living here  you would be even more prepared . Every criticism in this piece is forgetting the basics. Thailand is full of holes ! 

[dirtynomad]

the pattaya vibe changed from a carnival atmosphere to "fight club" a few years ago

[Small Joke]

1 hour ago, FritsSikkink said:

"Why would any body bother with LOS Now? " 

Maybe because not everybody is looking for hookers?

And unless they are clueless former closed border nations,  they go to Pattaya for the beach,  and Temples? The OP posted as a 'bar hopper',  so this is the context in which the thread discusses Pattaya. 

[newnative]

4 hours ago, soistalker said:

To What malls are you referring? Never see Chinese in malls in Pattaya. 

Try Central Marina any afternoon. 

[KC 71]

Speedos ,white socks and sandals


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