Pattaya tourism: After the doom and gloom comes optimism! Pattaya expecting millions and billions!

[Bartman1369]

Everything cleaned up?? Except corruption!!!  Taxi drivers, Grab taxi, RTP, Immigration, Jet Ski hire, all of the shops with a dual charging policy etc, etc.

Edited November 28, 2019 by Bartman1369

[LarryLEB]

4 hours ago, Chelseafan said:

He said that the Pattaya beach was now 35 meters wide after new sand was deposited there. He urged Thais and their families and relatives to come down to the marvellous beach and water during the day. 

 

Has he actually BEEN to Pattaya beach ? If so, I hope he leads by example and takes a daily swim.

 

Many years (20+) ago, while driving down Beach Road to my hotel, I noticed one lone guy swimming in the sea.  When I later recounted this to my old friend Jim, he replied (without missing a beat):  "Obviously a suicide attempt."

 

The water quality hasn't changed much, if any, since then (and certainly not for the better).

[anexpat]

Millions expected; billions will be spent... *next year.*

 

There’s always a “next year.” 555

 

 

[fraggleRock]

Is this guy trying to polish a turd, then roll it in glitter?

[DrTuner]

Phah, average Thai won't raise their gaze from the mobile unless it's at least trillions. 

[kingofthemountain]

56 minutes ago, toenail said:

Maybe the mayor is referring to the “millions & billions” of pigeons on the beach. 

Most of the pigeons seem to have disappeared from Pattaya beach

on the other hand, i can see sometimes carts selling birds BBQ

[hotchilli]

Desperation setting in again.

[CGW]

44 minutes ago, LarryLEB said:

The water quality hasn't changed much, if any, since then (and certainly not for the better).

As you rightly state the water quality +20 years ago was abysmal, now its worse! what have they dome to clean it up - Nothing apart from empty statements!

[Jackin1960]

[cardinalblue]

Pattaya is good for one thing and one thing only...

 

you guessed it - golf 

[emptypockets]

2 hours ago, Bartman1369 said:

Everything cleaned up?? Except corruption!!!  Taxi drivers, Grab taxi, RTP, Immigration, Jet Ski hire, all of the shops with a dual charging policy etc, etc.

All the shops with a dual charging policy.

Nonsense.

[sherwood]

"Nuts", that is all I have to offer, the next big thing for Pattaya will be ghost trams. poor dumb clowns

[GalaxyMan]

LMAO. These clowns are just hysterical. They never let reality get in the way of what they want you to believe. ????

[soalbundy]

He has an army of turd polishers, all very busy.

[Expat Tom]

So what is Thailand doing to stem the flow of long term expats like me to places like the Philippines and Vietnam. The Thais are shooting themselves in the foot and it is have a wide ranging affect. Direct foreign investment is bypassing Thailand for Vietnam where the visa process is a simple 10 minute online exercise. In Vietnam one can get a "Business Visa" and actually work in their own business without getting aa work permit...ON LINE.

 

Not only are Chinese and Koreans giving up on Thailand along with farang tourists, Many long expats like me are backing their bags. Thailand is going downhill on many fronts with no recovery in sight...."Four Indians go in to bar in Pattaya and order one beer and four straws". 

[lonewolf99]

I have just seen some breaking news that Norwegain Air are stopping all flights to Thailand - due to lack of demand.

10 to 15 years ago Soi Welcome and Soi White House in Jomtien were wall to wall with Swedes, Danes and Norwegians. Now.....almost none.

 

Those 2 Sois could be used as a guage to the success of a "high" season, which used to run from Oct/Nov through to Mar/Apr. Now.....Dec to Jan at most if they are lucky.

 

 

 

 

[maddox41]

Yeah yeah the <deleted> TAT comes out with is hilarious talk to the locals in Pattaya or Phuket  and they will tell you it's not looking good.. 

But  the land Lords for commercial  or the domestic  property market doesn't reflect this it's still sky high 

Thais just don't get it  when it's slow jack up the price  hmmmm

[Captain 776]

I am not bashing Pattaya........I lived there 10 yrs before moving to Chiang Mai.

 

What does Pattaya have to offer beyond the obvious to any tourist?

 

Pattaya serves one purpose and beyond that if there is something to draw tourists please tell me what it is because I must have missed it.

[Ron jeremy]

13 minutes ago, Captain 776 said:

I am not bashing Pattaya........I lived there 10 yrs before moving to Chiang Mai.

 

What does Pattaya have to offer beyond the obvious to any tourist?

 

Pattaya serves one purpose and beyond that if there is something to draw tourists please tell me what it is because I must have missed it.

It's a wonderful place.

[Rikito]

Was walking last evening in the "walking street". Hundreds of Asian groups walking behind a flag, but impossible to stop one second (in any case, all their expenses had been prepaid for long; beers or sodas not included, but no time to stop; the flag has to be followed ...) or they could not find their buses, daily causing huge "rot tit" in the city,  among the hundreds standing near the pier.

Besides that, lot of signs "bars (or lease) to sell". Really sad for those (such as myself) who, 30 years ago knew the time it was so difficult to obtain a room in Pattaya. Pattaya/Jomtien could have become the Riviera of Thailand. Something has been definitely missed over these 30 years ...

[Mac98]

   Pattaya had an image as an adult "fun city", like New Orleans, Las Vegas or Rio. That's golden. But the authorities have reduced that fun factor by about 75% over the last two decades and many of those tourists leave disappointed. Replacing those tourists with shopping travelers made sense when the baht was cheap. Now those tourists are leaving disappointed. Those who came for all the resorts going up have found rates far higher at even two-star resorts and their currency far lower. Many don't return. Sprucing up the beach areas was nice but investing all that money into sand in front of water people didn't want to use was a non-starter. Well, at least tourists can get a reasonable rate on a massage. Oh, wait. At most places, by far, they took the fun out of that, too. The difference in a "fun city" and a typical beach city experience is that tourists to a "fun city" are happy to return year after year. The other experience leaves a lot of tourists thinking, "Been there, done that. Where next?"

    What should the city do? In my opinion, dump the "family resort" nonsense. Clean up the bay with government help. Encourage hotels to offer significant discounts on stays of 7 days or more until the baht drops at least 15%. Lobby the government to act on achieving a lower baht. Continue to promote its fine golf courses. Ease up on the nightlife/massage raids and restore its "fun city" image. Rope off a 100 meter stretch of sand somewhere remote, but within city limits, for a "smoking beach" with a 2,000 baht fine for littering, enforced by an attending officer and overseen by CCTV to watch the officer. Continue upgrading sidewalks and pedestrian crossings.

    Most of the above have little additional cost, allowing for the big expense of cleaning up the bay while attracting tourists in the meantime.

[Jingthing]

2 hours ago, Captain 776 said:

I am not bashing Pattaya........I lived there 10 yrs before moving to Chiang Mai.

 

What does Pattaya have to offer beyond the obvious to any tourist?

 

Pattaya serves one purpose and beyond that if there is something to draw tourists please tell me what it is because I must have missed it.

Food, being on the water, not being Bangkok, not being as polluted Chiang Mai. 

[sunnyboy2018]

Thai tourism grew without the TTA and their attempts to change Pattaya have has been a disaster.  They should have left it as an adult playground and develop places like Jomtien and Hua Hin as family destinations.

[WhatupThailand]

Step right up, and get your Big Cup of Kool aid, now go enjoy your Fantasy.

 

[Traubert]

10 hours ago, Expat Tom said:

So what is Thailand doing to stem the flow of long term expats like me to places like the Philippines and Vietnam.

Nothing,

 

They can't wait to see the back of you, and it's really no wonder when you read the tirade of ill-informed abuse above. Take your curly lips and sour faced grumbles elsewhere. The sun will shine brighter in Thailand for each of you that buggers off to the real third world.

[jacko45k]

I shall say it, and it will be so!

Edited November 28, 2019 by jacko45k

[Captain 776]

8 hours ago, Ron jeremy said:

It's a wonderful place.

Wonderful place???
Details please.

[newnative]

8 hours ago, Rikito said:

Was walking last evening in the "walking street". Hundreds of Asian groups walking behind a flag, but impossible to stop one second (in any case, all their expenses had been prepaid for long; beers or sodas not included, but no time to stop; the flag has to be followed ...) or they could not find their buses, daily causing huge "rot tit" in the city,  among the hundreds standing near the pier.

Besides that, lot of signs "bars (or lease) to sell". Really sad for those (such as myself) who, 30 years ago knew the time it was so difficult to obtain a room in Pattaya. Pattaya/Jomtien could have become the Riviera of Thailand. Something has been definitely missed over these 30 years ...

Actually, Jomtien has a 'Riviera'.  

[LomSak27]

10 hours ago, lonewolf99 said:

I have just seen some breaking news that Norwegain Air are stopping all flights to Thailand - due to lack of demand.

10 to 15 years ago Soi Welcome and Soi White House in Jomtien were wall to wall with Swedes, Danes and Norwegians. Now.....almost none.

 

They used to smugly talk of "Teflon Tourism" , nothing sticks and they keep coming back. Besides the Scandinavians, German & Dutch media are down on LOS safety. It took a long time but the teflon wore through. 

The Chinese were the answer. They were touted to supplant westerners, here in larger numbers, more easily managed. Yet Chinese numbers have never recovered to the pre September 2018 "gold rush" figures. Good to see that TAT has discovered better numbers, now to see what else they can pull out of a hat.

 

 

 

Dam Cowboys scored. Count on the Bills to be unable to put their foot on the neck. Arf. Update - Thank You Bills!

 

 

Edited November 29, 2019 by LomSak27

[mikebell]

Tourist safety does not apply to Russians with children. The billions of baht should go toward fixing the non-working CCTV cameras.