Pattaya: Busy first day back in the bars - but owner sees only 50/50 future

 

 

Thai media 77kaoded reported that beer bars in Pattaya were doing a good trade on the first day restrictions were lifted to enable their opening yesterday.

 

But this was the "New Normal" for the daytime drinkers - temperature checks, hand sanitizer, Thai chana tracing app, and screens to separate patrons from other visitors. 

 

They are all part of 22 regulations bar owners must adhere to in order to open. 

 

Ratree, 44, a cashier at the Corner Bar on Soi 6 said it was good news that the government had finally allowed them to open as there had been no money coming in for months.

 

She said that the foreigners in her bar were expats who lived in Pattaya. They were all regular customers before the pandemic struck.

 

She said that some of the bar's employees had quit their jobs to return up country and some had returned to farming. Only those normally resident in Pattaya were left.

 

As far as the future of her bar goes she put the likelihood of survival at 50 -50 - it would all depend on foreign tourists being allowed back into the country and their returning to Pattaya. 

 

Source: 77kaoded

 

 

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"As far as the future of her bar goes she put the likelihood of survival at 50 -50 - it would all depend on foreign tourists being allowed back into the country and their returning to Pattaya."

 

Not looking good then , no tourists allowed at the moment , and since no extra's planned , it will take at least a few months to get some nrs back .

the picture - a new dimension of pixelizing. New normal?

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Ratree, 44, a cashier at the Corner Bar on Soi 6

The Corner bar was shut down five years ago & demolished.  No wonder she's got no customers.

8 minutes ago, sweatalot said:

the picture - a new dimension of pixelizing. New normal?

Takes a while to realize that the pic was taken outside the bar and reflections from the window and "covid screens" are messing up the image.

What I thought was funny was how many foreigners (12) were in that place and it looks like the only woman there is the bartender (left side in the back).

4 minutes ago, mikebell said:

The Corner bar was shut down five years ago & demolished.  No wonder she's got no customers.

You mean this corner bar ? 
https://cornerbarsoi6.business.site/?utm_source=gmb&utm_medium=referral

(Jan 2019 image capture)

Edited July 2, 20206 yr by Kerryd

3 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

You mean this corner bar ? 
https://cornerbarsoi6.business.site/?utm_source=gmb&utm_medium=referral

(Jan 2019 image capture)

Shows how long since I was there.  It used to be on the opposite corner.

6 minutes ago, mikebell said:

Shows how long since I was there.  It used to be on the opposite corner.

Yeah, looking at old pics the "old" corner bar was basically an awning with some tables and chairs under it. Not really much of a bar. 

                                                         2012                                                                                                                        2016
 

Wow it almost looks like a retirement home in that bar ????

3 hours ago, sweatalot said:

the picture - a new dimension of pixelizing. New normal?

If you don't want us to see anything then don't take and publish the photo.  These are not suspects in a court case.

2 hours ago, robblok said:

Wow it almost looks like a retirement home in that bar ????

If you are in Thailand now you probably look the same as those guys.

 

No tourists allowed - only expats

1 minute ago, dreaming said:

If you are in Thailand now you probably look the same as those guys.

 

No tourists allowed - only expats

I am in Thailand now.. been in Thailand since I was 30 and no I dont look like these guys. I am 46. 

1 minute ago, robblok said:

I am in Thailand now.. been in Thailand since I was 30 and no I dont look like these guys. I am 46. 

Wow.... wasted the best years of your life.

What are you going to do for the next 30 years when most people retire and enjoy thailand

2 minutes ago, dreaming said:

Wow.... wasted the best years of your life.

What are you going to do for the next 30 years when most people retire and enjoy thailand

Not sure how I wasted the best years of my life. I got a successful business that is why i can stay in Thailand. Any more baseless remarks ? I make more money now then when I lived in my home country. 

 

I guess a lot of people have no clue about real expats not retirees. There are quite a few expats in Thailand with good businesses and others that work for international companies. Quite some young people from Singapore for instance being hired for foreign companies. Gf is from there.

 

Maybe you should keep dreaming. I can tell you if you can make money or find a good job here its much more fun then in your home country. 

3 hours ago, sweatalot said:

the picture - a new dimension of pixelizing. New normal?

I can't see any masks

6 minutes ago, Meat Pie 47 said:

I can't see any masks

Have another look.

14 minutes ago, robblok said:

Not sure how I wasted the best years of my life. I got a successful business that is why i can stay in Thailand. Any more baseless remarks ? I make more money now then when I lived in my home country. 

 

I guess a lot of people have no clue about real expats not retirees. There are quite a few expats in Thailand with good businesses and others that work for international companies. Quite some young people from Singapore for instance being hired for foreign companies. Gf is from there.

 

Maybe you should keep dreaming. I can tell you if you can make money or find a good job here its much more fun then in your home country. 

I love where I live. And I love holidaying in thailand.

 

But you wont find me making smart <deleted> comments about the age of guys sitting in bars. They have obviously retired in thailand and are happy to be there.

3 minutes ago, dreaming said:

I love where I live. And I love holidaying in thailand.

 

But you wont find me making smart <deleted> comments about the age of guys sitting in bars. They have obviously retired in thailand and are happy to be there.

It was not a smart ass remark. just shows the current demographic in those bars. Anyone thinking that a few pensioners are enough to keep bars afloat is crazy. They need tourist they will spend more then those retirees nursing their beers.

 

 

 

27 minutes ago, robblok said:

Not sure how I wasted the best years of my life. I got a successful business that is why i can stay in Thailand. Any more baseless remarks ? I make more money now then when I lived in my home country. 

 

I guess a lot of people have no clue about real expats not retirees. There are quite a few expats in Thailand with good businesses and others that work for international companies. Quite some young people from Singapore for instance being hired for foreign companies. Gf is from there.

 

Maybe you should keep dreaming. I can tell you if you can make money or find a good job here its much more fun then in your home country. 

Mmmm, but is it really more fun?  Look, I also came here around the same age as yourself and am still here 20 years later. Not saying I agree with the original comment but I can see his point. Successful or not you have spent your peak years as a bloke (as I have) in South East Asia instead of achieving things in the much more civilised west, living among real friends and family. a proper climate, proper food, pubs, proper transport, infrastructure and sport etc and a LOT less hassle. I don't have any real regrets but do sometimes wonder should I have left all this to later in life. Maybe you have these thoughts too but can't bring yourself to admit it?

 

Btw, those in the pic (our peers?) look like homeless people.

Edited July 2, 20206 yr by Keyser Soze666

3 hours ago, Kerryd said:

Not really much of a bar. 

That could apply to most of them.

3 minutes ago, Keyser Soze666 said:

Mmmm, but is it really more fun?  Look, I also came here around the same age as yourself and am still here 20 years later. Not saying I agree with the original comment but I can see his point. Successful or not you have spent your peak years as a bloke (as I have) in South East Asia instead of achieving things in the much more civilised west, living among real friends and family. a proper climate, proper food, pubs, proper transport, infrastructure and sport etc and a LOT less hassle. I don't have any real regrets but do sometimes wonder should I have left all this to later in life. Maybe you have these thoughts too but can't bring yourself to admit it?

 

Btw, those in the pic (our peers?) look like homeless people.

Actually i like the climate here 10x more then home. I love the food here (think your a Brit and not that adapted if you complain about pubs and food). I hated the climate back home the grey clouds and all.

 

I think moving here made me achieve much more things as back home. But I can take my business at any time and move back and I have the same income. I have not burned my bridges. I am here by choice. I don't think i could have started my business back home the way I could have here. I sold my home put that money towards living here while i build my business. Now that is paying itself back. 

 

At home I would always have been an employee now I am a business owner. Having said that its not all what its cracked up to be. I mean as an employee you close the door after you on Friday forget it all as a business owner it never stops. Still i like it better i like the responsability.

 

I do agree about the hassle but, i have lived with a Thai woman in my country. That gives hassle too. Its easier to live here. 

 

I have always been a bit of a loner had only a few close friends. (that is why i am not a pub goer and sports i like to do myself not watch)

looks fun.  I see that the usual crowd of superannuated crocked old farts are in attendance. I think I will pass. 

34 minutes ago, robblok said:

I guess a lot of people have no clue about real expats not retirees. There are quite a few expats in Thailand with good businesses and others that work for international companies. Quite some young people from Singapore for instance being hired for foreign companies. Gf is from there.

Indeed! many on here live in a small world and think all are in the same "boat" Too late for change for most I'm afraid! ???? 

47 minutes ago, dreaming said:

If you are in Thailand now you probably look the same as those guys.

 

No tourists allowed - only expats

God forbid 

Why does everyone insist on calling it "he New Normal" There is nothing normal about what is happening.

It should be called "The New Abnormal" a bit more fitting

16 minutes ago, Keyser Soze666 said:

Mmmm, but is it really more fun?  Look, I also came here around the same age as yourself and am still here 20 years later. Not saying I agree with the original comment but I can see his point. Successful or not you have spent your peak years as a bloke (as I have) in South East Asia instead of achieving things in the much more civilised west, living among real friends and family. a proper climate, proper food, pubs, proper transport, infrastructure and sport etc and a LOT less hassle. I don't have any real regrets but do sometimes wonder should I have left all this to later in life. Maybe you have these thoughts too but can't bring yourself to admit it?

 

Btw, those in the pic (our peers?) look like homeless people.

 

I also arrived at the age of 29 and built a successful life here in Thailand. Right up until 3 months ago when with 1 political weapon of mass destruction called lockdown the Thai government wiped out my job, turned off the international mail thus killing my wife's business, and left us essentially destitute with nothing but a huge mortgage to pay and no income.

 

Savings are almost gone and no hope at the moment for survival. I don't see freeflow at the borders returning any time in the next 18 months (needed for both my job and for the return of international mail). Now I am unsure how I am even going to stay in country, being unable to meet the 400k bank deposit requirement, and I have absolutely no connections back home given that I have been in Thailand for the past 2 decades...a country I am no longer going to be allowed to live in.

 

So it's all great as an expat right up until the date that it isn't. A year ago I would have agreed with Rob. Today, I have to say that everyone needs to take a hard look at what would happen if their business and their money are wiped out overnight with no warning. It's tough to be forcibly returned to the West after making the best years of your life in Thailand.

 

17 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

looks fun.  I see that the usual crowd of superannuated crocked old farts are in attendance. I think I will pass. 

So what do you do for fun.

 

They seem to be happy to me.

15 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

God forbid 

Your missing out on a "unique" cultural experience, showing off your tats while wearing a football jersey that is three sizes too small for you, bill-boarding for free the sponsors of "your" club while complaining about the price of beer, the exchange rate, the unchanged immigration rules, rounded off with a good unfounded rant about how much Thai's despise us. ????

2 minutes ago, CGW said:

Your missing out on a "unique" cultural experience, showing off your tats while wearing a football jersey that is three sizes too small for you, bill-boarding for free the sponsors of "your" club while complaining about the price of beer, the exchange rate, the unchanged immigration rules, rounded off with a good unfounded rant about how much Thai's despise us. ????

Seriously.

 

Do you really think they are talking about that.

 

That seems to be a thaivisa keyboard warrior thing behind closed doors

48 minutes ago, Keyser Soze666 said:

instead of achieving things in the much more civilised west

Hmm, I think you’d better check again how things have been in the “civilized West”.

 

Many of my friends back in America are paycheck to paycheck. Rents are sky high, which is why many have gone back to their parents. They are well educated yet can’t find suitable employment, and thus have been underemployed. Yet for some reason we have to keep importing “skilled labor” to fill decent positions. One guy I know occasionally lives out of his car, yet has years of experience in his field, and works full time. And don’t get me started on the dating scene.

 

And, this was all BEFORE Corona hit, the economic chaos it’s caused, and the civil unrest following a cop crushing an old guy’s neck. Oh yeah, sure wish I stayed back there. Sure could do without my decent paying job here, a nice condo with a pool that’s about a tenth of my salary, and the wonderful wife I found.

Edited July 2, 20206 yr by CrunchWrapSupreme