Way Out There Idea to Revitalize Pattaya from the Ashes

[thaibeachlovers]

17 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Invite creatives and artists from all over the world with a special super easy visa, perhaps even including financial incentives.

Why should artists get an easy visa when farangs supporting families don't?

 

I agree with an easy visa provided it is ALSO for married farangs and retirees.

[thaibeachlovers]

22 minutes ago, Henryford said:

I always thought that the big empty plot of land near Pattaya Park would make a great casino/hotel venue. It would make Pattaya the No.1 destination in SE Asia.

Takes more than one hotel/ casino to make grotty Pattaya the #1 of anything but polluted sea and broken infrastructure.

Pattaya was built on the backs of bargirls and boys, and IMO that's all it has for farangs.

I can see Pattaya as a big boys playground vanishing as it was doing so anyway ( the sensible girls are on the internet now and can be anywhere ), but other than as a cheap destination for the Chinese to eat seafood I fail to see what it could become.

 

Of course I refer only to the very small part of Pattaya from Walking Street to Naklua and Second Road to the beach. Pattaya overall has moved on long ago.

Edited October 2, 2020 by thaibeachlovers

[thaibeachlovers]

15 hours ago, Jingthing said:

I take your point but note that the Thais have been flirting with the casinos idea for decades and haven't bitten.

 

Also I'm not suggesting that I predict that Pattaya will go with the international arts city concept. Of course I assume they lack the vision for that. I also can't possibly predict that it would work if they did try it. But I do know for a fact that such radical transformations are possible.

No need to flirt with unproven ideas. Make it easy for retirees to stay long time like other SEA countries do and many farang retirees will move there because it's warm, has lots of restaurants and good hospitals. Convert the hotels to long stay serviced rooms and they'll be full, IMO.

[thaibeachlovers]

17 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Also, let's be honest about this. As a generality, the world has not been sending Pattaya it's best people. Thais certainly are well aware of that. Tell a Thai in Chiang Mai that you live in Pattaya, and observe the facial expression.

You misinterpret the Thai's facial expression. Tell them you live in Pattaya and they are jealous because C M has such a pants night scene. Must be the most boring city in LOS after dark, IMO.

Even little Lamphun has a far, far better nightlife than C M.

Edited October 2, 2020 by thaibeachlovers

[DLock]

So, we move from spaghetti stained Chang Beer singlets, to bacon greased stained Banksy singlets...

 

Pattaya will be a casualty of progress. It's reputation is not worth saving. Push it all into the sea and either start again, or delay the inevitable casino and fast trains and money from China...

[micmichd]

17 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

555

That's when I stopper reading.

You've obviously never been to Pattaya Beach where they offer all kinds of arts and music. 

[micmichd]

26 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

No need to flirt with unproven ideas. Make it easy for retirees to stay long time like other SEA countries do and many farang retirees will move there because it's warm, has lots of restaurants and good hospitals. Convert the hotels to long stay serviced rooms and they'll be full, IMO.

Where's the problem? 

If you're a retiree and qualify for an O visa (65kB income p.m.) you can practically stay here all life long without ever leaving the country. If you have a multiple-entry visa you can even go back to Europe and come back. 

Edited October 2, 2020 by micmichd

[thaibeachlovers]

Just now, micmichd said:

Where's the problem? 

If you're a retiree and qualify for an O visa you can practically stay here all life long without ever leaving the country. If you have a multiple-entry visa you can even go back to Europe and come back. 

Not if your 800,000 wasn't in the bank for a day less than specified.

The hoops they invent are just designed to make it difficult and IMO have no bearing on whether one can support oneself in LOS or not. Why are blue or black or the photo background be a decider if to grant an extension or not. The way they treat us is disrespectful and insulting.

 

Good people don't make applicants arrive at 4am just to get a place in the q.

[Guderian]

18 hours ago, Jingthing said:

The commercial sex scene for westerners is totally passe.

Art, schmart, who cares?

 

How about rebranding, expanding and subsidising the commercial sex scene, since it's evidently become passé? Give sex tourists special visas that make it easy to stay here for longer periods. It may make no difference in the end, but who knows, perhaps the entirety of Beach Road can become a new, bigger, better Walking Street, lol?

[treetops]

Most (not all) wannabe artists are just as sleazy as most (not all) wannabe gamblers so keep them all out.

[Airalee]

12 hours ago, champers said:

There is a Van Gogh exibition now at River City in Bangkok.

I would like to see an arts and cultural quarter in the Pattaya area and it could be profitable in the right place and run by the right people.

Arts don't have to be highbrow and inaccessible to the masses. Pattaya can be all things to all people.

At the moment I would just be glad of a good library.

 

 

 

I agree with all that you say.  I too think that there could be an “arts and cultural quarter” in Pattaya and can coexist with your “Pattaya can be all things to all people”.  
 

With regards to arts “being highbrow and inaccessible to the masses”, I don’t feel that they need to be like that.  Most of my comment was tongue in cheek.  But,  I think that it would be hard for Pattaya to reinvent itself as any kind of art Mecca as from what I have seen while wandering around a dozen or so museums here in Thailand (mostly in Chiang Mai when I lived there), nobody seems to be interested.  Other than the occasional bored students wandering through on a school field trip, I was mostly alone in the museums.  Even here in Bangkok at the MOCA and National Museum/National Gallery, there seemed to be little interest, shown by the dearth of patrons.

 

Thanks for pointing out the Van Gogh exhibit.  I will definitely check it out.  Unfortunately, from what I can gather online, it appears that it will be a “digitized” exhibit.  I think that if possible, it would be good for them to try to obtain some originals on loan from some other museums around the world.  The reason I say this is that when I went to the Van Gogh exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), in the final gallery, the painting “The Starry Night” was on display right next to the entrance to the gift shop where a lithograph of the same painting was displayed.  There was absolutely no comparison to the original work.  The lithograph appeared lifeless for lack of a better descriptor.  So...with a digitized presentation (if that is all it is to be), I fear that whoever sees the exhibition won’t be moved in the same way that they would by seeing an original.

 

Ultimately, for Pattaya to try to reinvent itself would be throwing the baby out with the bath water.  Myself, I’m no fan of the nightlife there but have a live and let live attitude and just like Pattaya could use an “Art Quarter”, they shouldn’t try get rid of the sex scene (as distasteful as some might find it) but rather limit it to its own “quarter”.

 

And yes...every city would benefit from a good library.

Edited October 2, 2020 by Airalee

[OneMoreFarang]

51 minutes ago, micmichd said:

You've obviously never been to Pattaya Beach where they offer all kinds of arts and music. 

Somehow I must have missed that part or I couldn't see it because of all the "street workers" is that area.

Who wants to look at art if you can't stand there for a minute without some creature asking you if you want to f%@$?

[Airalee]

1 minute ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Somehow I must have missed that part or I couldn't see it because of all the "street workers" is that area.

Who wants to look at art if you can't stand there for a minute without some creature asking you if you want to f%@$?

That’s why they need “quarters”.  Maybe they should section areas off like Disneyland where there are areas for people of different ages with different interests.  

[JusticeGB]

There is wonderful artistic painting of agogo dancers here already and happy hours with cheaper prices. Just make the soft drinks cheaper too and let in family groups and call visits to agogos educational tours!

[herfiehandbag]

18 hours ago, Leaver said:

The Chinese took the small laid back seaside town of Sihanoukville and turned it into a built up city of casinos, destroying the nature along the way.  This made a lot of Chinese people wealthy, including local Khmers.  

 

Pattaya is already a built up city, with the nature already destroyed. 

 

Pattaya, with casinos, and millions of Chinese tourists every year, would make obscene amounts of money for the Thai government, thus Thailand, and the Thai people.  

 

If you think Pattaya prospered by selling sex, just imagine the cash flow from casinos and gambling, targeting the Chinese.  

 

I am sure that is at the very front of some of the most "influential" minds.

 

The collapse of the old style Pattaya "tourist business model" will release some very attractive properties and locations onto the market, at very reasonable prices.

 

Of course some adjustments to local governance may be required, as well as perhaps central government participation - but I am sure that with "influence in the right quarters"...

[OneMoreFarang]

20 minutes ago, Airalee said:

That’s why they need “quarters”.  Maybe they should section areas off like Disneyland where there are areas for people of different ages with different interests.  

And where do those quarters start and end?

Hotels for art enthusiasts and others for party men?

And maybe different shopping malls and restaurants for the different kind of people?

 

How do you mix these groups successfully?

 

Edited October 2, 2020 by OneMoreFarang

[OneMoreFarang]

10 minutes ago, JusticeGB said:

There is wonderful artistic painting of agogo dancers here already and happy hours with cheaper prices. Just make the soft drinks cheaper too and let in family groups and call visits to agogos educational tours!

NO!

That reminds me of all the family tourists with cameras walking in groups through Soi Cowboy. And worst case they stop and have a drink in a bar and try to argue with the girls or guys why they do what they do.

 

[Bangkok Basha]

I love the idea- being a newly relocated-from-Bangkok Pattaya resident who misses the arts and culture scene in Bangkok. But truth be told, Bangkok itself is just now awakening on the international arts and culture scene - see Bangkok Biennale, the Charoenkrung Creative District, RIver City, and other initiatives, and Chiang Mai's new MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum. What passes for art in Pattaya are the galleries of overpriced bad copies of masterpieces and sadly little else (someone mentioned tattoo parlors). I agree with one poster who said sex, drugs and rock & roll are the best bet- conveniently located concert venues that would book some of the major acts that turn up in Bangkok, and legalizing marijuana would attract backpackers back, and lastly- a major incentive program for foreign retirees to fill the thousands of empty condo units. But drugs and rock & roll go against views of the puritanical ruling political class, so they don't stand a snowball's chance in hell. But hey, making Walking Street a "family friendly destination" is a sure winner!

[Bender Rodriguez]

555555

 

pattaya is known all over the world and it is NOT for culture & temples

[Grumpy one]

2 hours ago, micmichd said:

You've obviously never been to Pattaya Beach where they offer all kinds of arts and music. 

I've been to a few Asian brothels, does that count  

[Airalee]

46 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

And where do those quarters start and end?

Hotels for art enthusiasts and others for party men?

And maybe different shopping malls and restaurants for the different kind of people?

 

How do you mix these groups successfully?

 

You make good points and the only answer I have would be “I don’t know”.  
 

Thailand seems to have a new idea every year that they can reinvent themselves in one way or another but there seems to be too many committees, conflicting opinions and absolutely no cohesiveness in which a plan can be carried out in a thoughtful and constructive manner where the end results are ever realized.

[micmichd]

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Somehow I must have missed that part or I couldn't see it because of all the "street workers" is that area.

Who wants to look at art if you can't stand there for a minute without some creature asking you if you want to f%@$?

Sorry, but Pattaya has more to offer than Coconut Bar. Much more. 

[micmichd]

26 minutes ago, Grumpy one said:

I've been to a few Asian brothels, does that count  

Yes it does. Because now you'd know something about Asian culture. Of course only if you talk to the people in there. 

Edited October 2, 2020 by micmichd

[Nout]

Money follows art galleries. Its one of the best ways to rejuvenate a city such as Margate and Liverpool. Even the Emirates have world class art galleries. Pattaya used to have an international chess competition. 

[Nout]

44 minutes ago, Bender Rodriguez said:

555555

 

pattaya is known all over the world and it is NOT for culture & temples

To the cognisenti it is known for sport culture and , temples and parks and dozens of brilliant festivals.

[Leaver]

5 hours ago, herfiehandbag said:

I am sure that is at the very front of some of the most "influential" minds.

 

The collapse of the old style Pattaya "tourist business model" will release some very attractive properties and locations onto the market, at very reasonable prices.

 

Of course some adjustments to local governance may be required, as well as perhaps central government participation - but I am sure that with "influence in the right quarters"...

Successive Thai governments have presided over the sale of sex in Thailand for decades.  Pattaya became known as "The World's Brothel" because of it.  

 

Then there is gambling, and many may argue it's a more harmless vice than prostitution, which would be a debate for another thread.

 

Casinos, with only foreigners allowed inside the gaming areas, should pass public scrutiny, not that the Thai public have any real input with this current government.  This would ensure billions of dollars, not baht, dollars, in profits for Thailand, whilst having close to zero negative impact on Thai's.  

 

If Thailand / Pattaya wants high end tourists, legalize casinos, then sit back and see the 5 star resorts and hotels booked out, and the gaming rooms full, particularly the high roller rooms.  

 

Selling p*ssy at 1000 baht an hour isn't paying the rent here now, with a declining western tourism market, pre Covid.    

[androokery]

Make everything west of Sukhumvit pedestrian and bike areas only. Walking Street everywhere ???? 

[baansgr]

Well, a tried and tested business model was, bars with girls that talked to guys, had a drink that was 20 more than yours and would oblige in a night of fun after paying a 300 baht fine..throw in doing your cleaning in the morning it was good. Now you have the Nightwish group with their Ibiza style of girlie drinks at 170 baht, no conversation unless you buy them one and no chance of nightime fun with most of them.. some may go if you pay a 600 baht up bar fine and 3k for them....it worked 40 years...try it again

[jacko45k]

5 hours ago, Bender Rodriguez said:

555555

 

pattaya is known all over the world and it is NOT for culture & temples

Well, perhaps the odd culture.....

[Leaver]

1 hour ago, baansgr said:

Well, a tried and tested business model was, bars with girls that talked to guys, had a drink that was 20 more than yours and would oblige in a night of fun after paying a 300 baht fine..throw in doing your cleaning in the morning it was good. Now you have the Nightwish group with their Ibiza style of girlie drinks at 170 baht, no conversation unless you buy them one and no chance of nightime fun with most of them.. some may go if you pay a 600 baht up bar fine and 3k for them....it worked 40 years...try it again

The greedy Thai landlords have pushed rents up here to the point of breaking the market.  These high rents are passed onto the consumer, in most cases, tourists, and that means 90. 100, 110 baht beers, and 170 baht lady drinks etc etc. 

 

The Thai landlords here, and Thailand in general, have total disregard for their competition in the region, but this past high season, pre Covid, showed that they have finally met what the market is willing to pay.