Entertainment tourism: Pattaya for Europeans is over - 30% down this year, official

[marcusarelus]

5 minutes ago, JEM53 said:

Not so many year ago Pattaya arranged different kinds of festivals at least 1-2 times each month. Occasionally "only" a beach food vendor estrada - better than nothing.

Since then this has vanished and I think may be now 6 per year.

Today Pattaya also offer quite a lot more tourist attractions which is a positive thing.

Europeans today suffer from bad exchange rate, domestic flight travel taxation, negative media posts from journalists with an agenda and the fact many ex flight travelers suffer from climate panic depression.

Utapao air port should help in the long run if European countries start charter flights (will they), but I do not see how the EEC corridor will help attract tourists.

Do you know how much the Thai Navy charges planes to use U-Tapao?  

[rawaimike]

Although I don't live in Rawai anymore it is suffering the same fate, I did a 2 month visit last year and 50% of the shops. bars, restaurants were closed and I predict 25% of that 50% will be gone in 5 years, so sad as I love that place. 

[Chrisswe]

7 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

wow. so much truth in one article. amazing.

 

 

YES AND "WHAT'S THE MAIN REASON" !!??

[aspenbkk]

They Have Seen and Known That White People Have been avoiding thailand especially Pattaya for at Least the last 1 1/2 years the place is Emptying and Bars and Rooms are Empty i Go Elsewhere and Spend my Earned Money And im Welcomed With Open Arms in Other Asian Places. i have seen it with my own eyes so they surely have Also !!!! Rooms i could not get in too Before During Winter Months in Pattaya i Get in Easily now as they were only half full during all last winter and bars are empty Also and So to me I think they are Getting What they deserve and surely in Pattaya the Thai People in Business who are losing money  Must have Something to say About This Matter And Why The Goverment are Making these Problems for Them and Us .

[adammike]

1 hour ago, natway09 said:

The Europeans overlooked most of the lack of infrastructure because like Bali they came 

for the fun & frolicking & gave the locals a hard time in a nice if they had been overcharged.

To change the place into a (quality family resort) the Government are going to have too change their attitude very quickly , open the purse strings & reinvest in BASIC infrastructure 

not Trains & planes but effective sewerage plants, good water catchment areas, clean things up, stop the touts & the police to do their job

Get rid of the dogs and stop using the streets and any unused patch of land as a garbage dump.It seems that Pattaya has many many problems what are the odds on any of them being sorted out? Just keep adding zeros to the number you first thought of.

[raccos21]

So Thailand needs to rethink about their entertainment tourism missing parts.

[denby45]

6 hours ago, carabaothai said:

Everyday morning at 6 Am I am awakened by dozens of Chinese screaming in the corridors of the condominium. 

Every day at 5PM they come back from their visits and go to the swimming pool, screaming, smoking in the water, spiting, sometimes swimming with their day clothes!

 

Everyday at 11PM, another group arrives. And noises 1 hour again.

 

The lobby is noisy and after they have gone, dirty (papers, bottles).

Stubs everywhere outside, sputum..

 

And I don't talk about all this big coaches in small streets, or waiting in front of the building without stopping the engine.... 

 

 

And in a condo... where I bought a quiet apartment (it was..) !

 

Why in a condominium? Because the real estate investor stopped one day to sell the apartments and transformed the condominium in Chinese group hotels.

And a lot of condominium are like this in Pattaya, half condos, half hotels.

Illegal but... like prostitution, illegal ????????

 

So half of the Russians, Europeans owners have gone already.. No more Pattaya. And for some, no more Thailand. 

 

I didn't know it was illegal. Where is this written? I have the same problem where I live.

 

Den

[marcusarelus]

6 minutes ago, adammike said:

Get rid of the dogs and stop using the streets and any unused patch of land as a garbage dump.It seems that Pattaya has many many problems what are the odds on any of them being sorted out? Just keep adding zeros to the number you first thought of.

The Pattaya market Brits don't have any money.  No dogs and garbage will not give them any cash.  If the Pattaya Market Brits have money they don't care about the dogs and garbage.  

[Tagged]

7 hours ago, dyertribe said:

What he didn't state in the article are some of the other factors for the decline such as dual pricing, scams and just ripping off the tourists in general.

 

People will only take that crap for so long before ... so long.

Have dual pricing and scams ever been a hinder for tourism in Pattaya? 

 

Just wondering, if anyone really cared about that, and the show just went on as nothing had happen. I hear complaining about dual pricing from expats who live there, but have nothing to do with the statistic about tourism. Never heard a tourist complain about the two price system. 

[kiskat]

it's not only pattaya that's suffering, a friend who lives in phuket says it's the quietest he's ever seen it, me and two friend's, won't be coming this year due to the baht

[Booboo101]

Things have changed and Thailand hasn’t kept up, until quite recently if all you wanted was sex and lots of it, you had to go somewhere like Pattaya, now it’s on your phone and iPad, one click of a button and you have hundreds of willing partners, you can swap photos, have a chat and meet up if you want, nothing to pay, nobody to rip you off or beat you up if you don’t pay the bill !

[mikey00]

7 hours ago, Orton Rd said:

Sex tourism is not something the new generation is so keen on anywhere.

It"s always generally been for the screwed over westerners. As soon as they (self-righteous millennials) come of age and realise the landwhale's they've been taking abuse from for years is the only option, they'll be on a plane.

 

PS They'll also be part of the group that claims after living here for 15 years, They never visited a massage shop

[phantomfiddler]

8 hours ago, ThreeEyedRaven said:

Pattaya has sunk as certainly as the Phoenix, but it is difficult to see it rising from the ashes.

High baht is one thing, but years and years of corrupt cops, fleecing taxis, violent assaults and thefts all put a damper on travelers enthusiasm, and nothing seems to ever happen to stem any of it. It is a pit they have dug for themselves.

Not to mention the fact that most Europeans find the sight of an Indian washing his underpants in the swimming pool less than attractive ???? and when there is an increase of 1,000%, as stated by government intention, it is all over, kaput, definitely not the place to visit.

[SoonOh]

Europeans still have cash to enjoy holidays but are choosing Cancun and Rio de Janeiro. 

[johng50]

7 hours ago, dyertribe said:

What he didn't state in the article are some of the other factors for the decline such as dual pricing, scams and just ripping off the tourists in general.

 

People will only take that crap for so long before ... so long

And more straight to the point, over priced girls, yes prostitution, the girls

have priced themselves as something special, they arent, and there is the

rampant STD, untreatable Ghonarea, TAT dont mention that as Thailand is on

top on the world health org list for it. Plus calling Thailand the LOS, yeh land 

of false smiles, I and my friends now visit cambodia, filipines and next trip we 

are of to Ghana. Goodbye Thailand you only have yourselves and your government

to blame for your downfall. PS. My post is just an addition to all the other negative

posts.

[adammike]

3 hours ago, Krataiboy said:

It's not just Pattaya. Europeans are becoming an endangered tourist species in many resorts where traditionally traditionally have been plentiful.

 

One reason is, of course, the parlous state of the European economy, which means many people simply don't have the cash for long-haul flights to exotic destinations like Thailand.

 

Another is the relentless rise of the baht and domestic inflation, burning a much bigger hole in visitor wallets than in the past. Then are those silly restrictions on deckchairs and smoking on beaches, not to mention official clampdowns on the kind of "entertainment" for which Pattaya and its sister resorts along the Gulf were rightly renowned.

 

Pie in the sky about Indian tourists plugging the gap won't feed the countless Thai families in the tourist business, simultaneously tightening their belts and and saying silent prayers to Buddha for the return of "the falang".

You also need to understand that smoking is not tolerated anymore not just by the authorities but the population in general, they need to enforce the no smoking in public places not relax them.

[Isaan sailor]

100% due to a vastly overpriced Baht.  Nothing else really matters.

[Ireland32]

They got their wish, Bar fines astronomical, Greed is Number 1, The party is over , go back to Isaan and work that Rai and of course enjoy that Humble Pie...

[UKresonant]

Dad goes to Pattaya just because he knows his way around there, and  can get by with English (does not feel comfortable upcountry). He goes 8 weeks, then back to the UK for a couple of months. Every time he has been in the past year, he tells of how much quieter it is now. He says many of the ex-pats he chatted to, at the couple of bars he goes to play pool, seem to be more and more absent. People trying to run new Bars, are just shutting again after a few weeks (leases to expensive to pay with few customers).

Originally he used 2 entry tourist visas, then he used the non-O ME (with state pension) which was better and which is still good for his next entry. now we'll have to do a Visa application 3 time a year, a slight increase in inconvenience. Much more expensive there now. I just hope no more negatives arise, as  positives have been absent for a few years now.

[adammike]

3 hours ago, Small Joke said:

It would be absorbed by the company in some creative but legal loophole, Singapore takes good care of ultra rich expats, Jim Rogers, Dyson, that Kid with the internet fortune? Many more we'll never hear about...

 

Doubt very much if Dyson reached into his personal stash for his modest shanty.

Where do you expect one of the gods of brexit to live? He moved the company HQ to Singapore after campaigning for brexit.

[Jiggo]

7 hours ago, chrisandsu said:

Europeans just don’t have the money anymore . It’s that simple . It’s not only Pattaya that’s suffering as Pattaya is still cheap compared to Phuket  .

Everywhere is cheap compared to Phuket, and a lot more fun.

[marcusarelus]

21 minutes ago, Tagged said:

Have dual pricing and scams ever been a hinder for tourism in Pattaya? 

 

Just wondering, if anyone really cared about that, and the show just went on as nothing had happen. I hear complaining about dual pricing from expats who live there, but have nothing to do with the statistic about tourism. Never heard a tourist complain about the two price system. 

Only here not in real life no one cares.

[marcusarelus]

2 minutes ago, Kim J said:

I disagree. Just look around at the moment and see how many single Western male tourists there are in Pattaya compared to Chinese, Indian and Russian package tourists mostly travelling as families.

My own observations would put the more traditional Pattaya sex tourists in a very small minority currently.

How many are there?

[Captain 776]

Good News

[marcusarelus]

10 minutes ago, Isaan sailor said:

100% due to a vastly overpriced Baht.  Nothing else really matters.

I think you mean the no value pound and Aussie dollar.  The $ dollar's not doing so bad.  

[transam]

Not surprising really.....Who wants to go on holiday where the police with army backup are walking the streets on mass looking for smokers, folk cavorting with naughty ladies or playing cards or dominos...????

Swimming is out too...

[smew]

Bad publicity resulting from: jet skiing, motorcycle and other rental rip-offs, double pricing, crime, corrupted cops in on every single scam possible. Garbage dumps within 150 m from beaches filthy water and beaches. So simply Europeans got tired and said enough is enough. 

For same money they go where it’s still pristine clean and nice.

 

[adammike]

5 hours ago, potless said:

For western visitors, Pattaya peaked some years ago. My friend in Phuket says the same has happened there. How about Hua Hin?

That was also end of the last century beginning of this one.

[Jiggo]

1 hour ago, marcusarelus said:

How much is the tax on Australian wines?  What is the difference between the price of cigarettes here and in the West?  What is the difference in the price for beautiful companionship here and the UK or Australia?  How much does a taxi cost in London?  

Well London take the bus £1.40 = 55 Baht.

[peter14]

Soi  4  and Nana , SCB in bangkok  is same !!!    anyway they make it so hard to get a tourist visa now  now why bother coming !!!