Pattaya – fighting to survive its Covid crisis

PUBLISHED BY

The Thaiger

 

 

Pattaya, like some of Thailand’s other former tourist hotspots, is facing some critical challenges. Hundreds of thousands of workers have left the city because there’s simply no work and up to 50% of the city’s shops are closed, some never to re-open. The Thaiger filmed most of this video on a long weekend at the end of October, the busiest Pattaya had been in 7 months.

 

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As Thailand struggles along without the benefit of its usual tourist traffic, four key former tourist magnets are facing particular hardships. Phuket, Koh Samui, Chiang Mai… and Pattaya. Whilst there are patches of business activity, just about everything connected directly with the city’s tourism business are perilously quiet, particularly on weekdays. That means the employees, the business owners, their families, the landlords and their bank are all suffering as the chain of woes reaches deep into Pattaya’s broader community.

 

Despite the Thai government’s attempts to deny the true reason for Pattaya’s popularity over the past 6 years, including the annual walk-through the city’s red light hot spots and declaring there was no crime or prostitution, the sleazier side of Pattaya has continued to grow, with a growing number of proprietors trying to glean an income out of a slowly declining western patronage. Things were changing and business was getting tighter long before the Covid-19 and Thailand’s border closures.

 

n 2016, Thailand’s first female Minister of Tourism, Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, announced that Thailand was “closed to the sex trade”. Walking Street was to be gentrified and some of the red lights moved back from the foreshore to establish new bar and bar girl districts.

 

Several NGO reports have published the number of prostitutes in Pattaya were between 27,000 up to 30,000, depending on the report you read. The plight for these sex workers, post Covid, is bleak. As their work wasn’t officially recognised they weren’t able to access any of the government’s unemployment stimulus payments and weren’t protected under any of the country’s labour laws. Luckily for some of them, their employees worked hard to help them through the crisis. One of those is manager Timmy who works for the Night Wish Group.At their peak they ran up to 29 bars in Pattaya. Many of those have closed. At the moment they have about 13 open, as of the end of October.

 

For now Pattaya’s red lights have dimmed somewhat although it’s hardly all closed up. Some of the bars have also pivoted to an online model, with mixed results, where the bar girls, and bar boys, are able to ‘chat’ to online customers, viewers can buy them drinks and business continues as usual. Some bars have even stayed closed and are going 100% online with their digital bars. One proprietor told The Thaiger the online bar scene had become very lucrative but was unsure how long the novelty would last.

 

Apart from the steep decline in total tourist traffic, there’s been a big change in the mix, now mostly domestic tourists. Many businesses are switching up their business models to suit. Many just closed down, seemingly waiting it out to see what happens.

 

With much of the city’s old workforce abandoning Pattaya and heading home, there are still pockets of local life where communities have banded together to help each other through, whilst waiting for some sort of normality to return. For the tourist areas, mostly closer to the beaches, businesslike is patchy indeed.

 

Source: https://thethaiger.com/news/pattaya/pattaya-fighting-to-survive-its-covid-crisis

 

-- © Copyright The Thaiger 2020-10-27

 

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Good start. 

https://www.pattayamail.com/news/pattaya-bans-fireworks-lanterns-for-loy-krathong-331291?fbclid=IwAR2bffZddxMO0aKUIwBJ-ACqdZeiPz9PcXsowDglSdnflL_OUABOaO1OAVY

I really don't understand the constant necessity to post sob stories about the covid destruction of Thailand's tourist industry. I suppose the media are finding it tough to find stories.

 

 It's the same problem worldwide. Pattaya has as much of a chance of recovering as anywhere else. Considering many countries (the whole of Europe even) are posting record numbers of infected, let's get over the pandemic first and then worry about tourists.

 

Enough of these stories already.

2 hours ago, JensenZ said:

I really don't understand the constant necessity to post sob stories about the covid destruction of Thailand's tourist industry. I suppose the media are finding it tough to find stories.

 

 It's the same problem worldwide. Pattaya has as much of a chance of recovering as anywhere else. Considering many countries (the whole of Europe even) are posting record numbers of infected, let's get over the pandemic first and then worry about tourists.

 

Enough of these stories already.

These stories are good.....To remind people that the destroyed lives will be 1,000 times worse than a disease with a 99.8 recovery rate..... 

12 hours ago, webfact said:

and up to 50% of the city’s shops are closed, some never to re-open

When you actually think about that  - 50% closed - you realise the impact of this total nonsense. When the historians look back at this, they will condemn the governments of the world for the near destruction of all the world's economy, whilst at the same time actually 'growing' theirs and the world's populations ! If this madness does not end soon, the damage caused by these insane politicians and leaders will not be fixed within the next 30 years.

Already my uk owes £30,000 in debt for every person in the UK due to borrowing for this political mess - and it's going up. If you take out retired and those unable or can't work, then that's about £40,000 each - and it's going up. It will have to be repaid quick to avoid potential interest rate rises. So, the youth now will probably get a £2,000 a year rise in their tax for the next 20 years, or a £1,000 bill now for the rest of their working life after starting work ! Madness , total incompetent madness.

12 hours ago, JensenZ said:

I really don't understand the constant necessity to post sob stories about the covid destruction of Thailand's tourist industry. I suppose the media are finding it tough to find stories.

I completely agree. They should be writing about the positive affects of covid. Instead of 27,000-30,000 sex workers out of work they should write, "30,000 families, moms and children reunited" or "Ladyboy Gang Crime Down 98%" or "Bag Snatches and Gold Snatches Down 97%" or even "Tourist Complaints of Crime Down To An All-time Low". 

And the improved environment 

The Op is the most accurate depiction of the current situation in Pattaya that I've seen. The biggest change for farangs is the "online bars" phenomenon with bar owners falling over each other to develop this new business model. Here's the CEO of NWG explaining his group's change to the new model:

 

 

Slightly ingenuous due to the fact that bar owners are making far more profit from this activity than the girls.

 

 

15 hours ago, webfact said:

Hundreds of thousands of workers have left the city

Really, there were 100's of 1000's!!!???

TAT been doing the counting agaob????????????????????????????????

So far your videos have been recorded in the best parts of Bangkok and Pattaya which give the impression everything is thriving without need for  foreign tourists. Good so no need for building anymore Condo or other accommodation to be purchased by foreigners who should be discouraged from coming to or investing in Thailand

The junta has been trying, or pretending to try, to give the area a make over since it ceased power in 2014.   Looks like the virus will do that for them.   If they could stop dumping raw sewage into the water, that would be a great improvement.  

4 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Already my uk owes £30,000 in debt for every person in the UK

They've cut my State pension to £370 a MONTH after working 40 years; they've frozen it for the last 13 years; lots of pensioners are dieing daily so they're saving there; and they're still taxing me!

Things are bad all over Thailand not just Pattaya. The amount of beggar's have increase a lot everywhere. The government needs to be smart and open up the right areas to tourism including some borders.

Just open up to the world sad to have to go to such extreme video drink buying it is like phone sex got to feel sorry for these guys who are stuck outside playing with themselves not getting to smell or touch ????the product.????????

3 minutes ago, thailand49 said:

Just open up to the world sad to have to go to such extreme video drink buying it is like phone sex got to feel sorry for these guys who are stuck outside playing with themselves not getting to smell or touch ????the product.????????

They wouldn't anyway, by far the biggest number of views are from India.

5 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Already my uk owes £30,000 in debt for every person in the UK due to borrowing for this political mess - and it's going up.

If only it worked like that. The US has been bankrupt for decades now but none of that matters when you can print money and tax citizens.

We (myself, wife and three of her female friends) drove down to Pattaya for the long weekend. The main drag (along the beach) had plenty of people, especially at night. The beach was full of Thais eating and drinking. Walk a few blocks off the main street and it was very quiet. 

 

The main drag along Jomtein was full of cars and quite a few Thai people about.

 

I managed to convince the wife and her friends to go into a western bar. There were plenty of bar girls hanging around and a decent band playing Aussie songs. Very few customers. The girls started dancing once they'd downed a few. The bar girls were not intrusive, and some joined in the dancing and talking with my wife's Isan friends. I think we spent about 500 Baht (a couple of beers each and some tips).

 

Thais will increasingly visit Pattaya. But the massage shops and western-styled bars will continue to suffer. I wonder of the bars can come up with some novel approaches to try and attract Thai people to come in 'for the experience'. Most Thai tourists would be far too intimidated to enter a western-style bar. But they would probably enjoy it if they did.

As a journalist, I'm unimpressed with this report. He interviewed one person the entire time: a foreign bar manager or owner. He couldn't find any Thais to talk to? One person in a 10-minute report. Just videos of empty streets and this guy stating the obvious. 

40 minutes ago, thailand49 said:

Just open up to the world sad to have to go to such extreme video drink buying it is like phone sex got to feel sorry for these guys who are stuck outside playing with themselves not getting to smell or touch ????the product.????????

I feel sorry for these guys because they need something like this. 

18 hours ago, webfact said:

Some of the bars have also pivoted to an online model, with mixed results, where the bar girls, and bar boys, are able to ‘chat’ to online customers, viewers can buy them drinks and business continues as usual.

How incredibly sad. If anyone finds themselves doing this then get a hobby <deleted>.

2 hours ago, DPKANKAN said:

Really, there were 100's of 1000's!!!???

TAT been doing the counting agaob????????????????????????????????

They think business men are tourists so visitors could be workers and 39 could be 40 or 41! 41 got on the plane in China and 39 got off!

19 hours ago, webfact said:

Pattaya, like some of Thailand’s other former tourist hotspots, is facing some critical challenges. Hundreds of thousands of workers have left the city because there’s simply no work and up to 50% of the city’s shops are closed, some never to re-open.

Happening the world over, tourism is like any other business model, if supply/demand change so does your revenue... suck it up.

Where is the Thai government to ease the pain for people. 

For years you have begged people to come and invest their money in Thailand. We have. Where on earth are you now? why you do not help us to survive these bad days? no relief packages? No nothing. !!!!

Bunch of incompetent people sitting at important positions doing nothing. 

play the video back at a faster speed.It actually works better that way.

1 hour ago, NorthernRyland said:

If only it worked like that. The US has been bankrupt for decades now but none of that matters when you can print money and tax citizens.

  7 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Already my uk owes £30,000 in debt for every person in the UK due to borrowing for this political mess - and it's going up.

*********************

 

Besides that, debt/person => debt/(personsNow+FutureGenerations)

 

So much lower ...

16 hours ago, JensenZ said:

I really don't understand the constant necessity to post sob stories about the covid destruction of Thailand's tourist industry. I suppose the media are finding it tough to find stories.

 

 It's the same problem worldwide. Pattaya has as much of a chance of recovering as anywhere else. Considering many countries (the whole of Europe even) are posting record numbers of infected, let's get over the pandemic first and then worry about tourists.

 

Enough of these stories already.

To me the difference with Thai tourism is that there is no real assistance given to the people.  They have had tourism schemes bit these are aimed at the  middle or higher end. The girls in the bar get nothing. Even back when everything was closed it was the Farungs who were feeding the poor not the government. Also the satellite towns of Pattaua are starting to get hit harder. They are where all the van drivers, hotel maids, restaurant workers live and a lot have lost their jobs.

19 hours ago, webfact said:

Some bars have even stayed closed and are going 100% online with their digital bars.

I'll give that a miss I think ... can't be doing with any virtual hanky panky

There is a YT vlogger that reported that some bars have the girls only drinking water and tea disguised as the real drinks being bought online for the bar.

All about the money for their pockets. 

 

19 hours ago, webfact said:

...up to 50% of the city’s shops are closed, some never to re-open.

It's good "up to" got included in the sentence, because the video don't shows half of shops are closed.

7 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

When you actually think about that  - 50% closed - you realise the impact of this total nonsense. When the historians look back at this, they will condemn the governments of the world for the near destruction of all the world's economy, whilst at the same time actually 'growing' theirs and the world's populations ! If this madness does not end soon, the damage caused by these insane politicians and leaders will not be fixed within the next 30 years.

Already my uk owes £30,000 in debt for every person in the UK due to borrowing for this political mess - and it's going up. If you take out retired and those unable or can't work, then that's about £40,000 each - and it's going up. It will have to be repaid quick to avoid potential interest rate rises. So, the youth now will probably get a £2,000 a year rise in their tax for the next 20 years, or a £1,000 bill now for the rest of their working life after starting work ! Madness , total incompetent madness.

And your solution to this . . . incompetence is . . .?