Pattaya reinvented: has 'Happy Zone' helped Thailand's 'sex capital' clean up its act?

[digger70]

Happy zone here ,is just an advertisement for happy Endings,,that won't clean up the place,,,

[StayinThailand2much]

11 hours ago, webfact said:

by 2012, men outnumbered women in the city, with almost six men for every four women, according to numbers provided to Reuters by TAT.

True. The number of ladyboys has definitely increased over the years... ?

[Curmudgeon1]

11 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

The authorities are trying to turn Thailand into one big upscale destination. More five star hotels, and more upscale restaurants. One thing they are forgetting is that high end tourists want good service. And good English, Mandarin, or other languages, that are expected in a high end resort. 

 

There are countless things the government could be doing, if they wanted to attract the high quality tourists. The very first thing would be to repeal the anti faring wine bill, that was passed by a few very corrupt senators way back when, to protect an anemic local wine industry. They are losing billions of dollars a year in revenue, that would be had from a 100% wine duty, instead of 460%. The five star hotels would have major wine events, and the entire industry would flourish here. 

 

I was recently with a group of friends, and we wanted to order a bottle of wine, at of one of those high end restaurants in the EmQuartier complex. It was Bella Rocca Restaurant. I asked about a 2011 Chianti they had on the list. I was told they were out of stock. I asked about a Barbaresco, at 2,600 baht. Again, out of stock. How about this Nebbiolo? Do you have the 2010, as stated on the list? No, we only have the 2015. OK, what is that wine like? Is it drinking well now? I do not know. Is there anyone here that is familiar with this wine list? No. Sorry sir. Wait a minute. You have 100 bottles on this list, ranging from 1200 baht to 10,000 baht per bottle, and NOBODY who works here knows anything about the wine? Are you serious? We all just looked at each other, and got up and walked out. We realized the restaurant was a pretender. And more than likely the food was marginal at best. It was all dressed up to look like a very nice Italian restaurant. But, it appeared to be only window dressing. High end tourists have little patience for that lack of quality and lack of service. 

 

But again, the lack of vision, combined with a naive, surly, silly, churlish, and ignorant sense of nationalism, bites the country in the butt. And again, who is the loser? The Thai people. The entire country is suffering from a decline in Western tourism. They are trying to make up for that with the Chinese tourist, the vast majority of whom are low end tourists. And that will not change. It is a permanent declining trend. For a hundred valid reasons. 

I don't know much about wine, yet he's just described pattaya as worse than the Walmart of the tourist industry. Who can deny it. 

[Justgrazing]

4 hours ago, Darcula said:

4 hours ago, Darcula said:

the Happy Zone layer,

 

That is worth 2 Smiley's alone .. So have another on the flock .. ?

[Destiny1990]

So whats the difference since its now a zone instead of a soi?

[The manic]

The full story is confusing but interesting. The Chinese tourists do like spicy food and sex. Andnthe Japanese authorities want to have Thai style more open happy zones. So much so that some Go Go bars arr subsidised by the authorities. 

[BestB]

Not that Pattaya was lacking happy zones but not too sure how newly created happy zones made any changes .

 

can see how less crime at the moment may have given deputy governor an impression of improvement , sadly he/she failed to consider its s low season and even scum bags head back home as there is no one around to rob or scam

[hotchilli]

The guy's delusional

maybe he can convince other members of the TAT that his "master plan" has worked...

but to the Thai general public & international travelers (or revelers) Pattaya is still Pattaya.. 

serving up what they do best!!

[stud858]

On 7/25/2018 at 9:34 AM, overherebc said:

The whole 'wine' industry here seems to be more and more geared towards the fruit wine thing. 85% mix of imported mixtures of whatever with 15% fruit juice, usually pear juice, from what I can gather but no info on where the pear juice? comes from.

Some of the bottles have the 'fruit wine' note on the back lable in print so small you need to use a magnifying glass to read it. 

Some say you can tell by the customs sticker colour, the one on the top over the cork, then again they are easy to change I reckon.

Just buy some malee grape juice,  throw in some yeast and let it forement away.  There you have it.  60 baht bottle of wine.  It tastes magnifico

[overherebc]

1 hour ago, stud858 said:

Just buy some malee grape juice,  throw in some yeast and let it forement away.  There you have it.  60 baht bottle of wine.  It tastes magnifico

Basically how the whole thing started.

Wonder what it was like for them the first time, must be a good few thousand years ago, to wake up with tongue like a dogs blanket and a stinking headache.

???

[namatjira]

6 hours ago, overherebc said:

Basically how the whole thing started.

Wonder what it was like for them the first time, must be a good few thousand years ago, to wake up with tongue like a dogs blanket and a stinking headache.

???

Try mount Clare.....no need to wait a few thousand years

[overherebc]

22 minutes ago, namatjira said:

Try mount Clare.....no need to wait a few thousand years

Actually it's not that bad if you mix it 50/50 with kerosene and use it in a hurricane lamp as an insect repellant.

Gives of not a bad scent.

As a weedkiller it can work depending on the type of weeds.

[Mac98]

Something for everybody, that's the way to go. One-class destinations are boring.