Pattaya A Dead or Dying City?

[Excel]

5 hours ago, soi3eddie said:

 

I just returned to the UK on 18th April after 14 months in Thailand. OMG! What has happened to the ladies here? Pasty white and overweight (many morbidly obese) no lookers or even anything worthy of a <deleted>. Can't wait to get back to Thailand in just over 5 months time!

 

Nothing has happened to them, they have always been like that. It is just the case when you grow up with it you accept it is as not unusual. That changes of course when you go elsewhere where genetically they look different and culturally they behave differently to the norms that we grew up with.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 5/13/2021 at 3:47 AM, RobMuir said:

Thousands of Issan girls work in bars.

But millions of them are hard working and work in factories and have real jobs. Very decent people.

 

Only the lazy trash work in the bars and disappointingly give them all a bad name.

Hmmmmm. Without those "lazy trash" Pattaya would probably still be a small fishing village.

 

Strange to me that anyone with that attitude would actually live in Thailand, and does it only apply to the girls that work in Pattaya bars, or does it apply to the much larger numbers that work in the THAI sex industry as well?

 

BTW, I'm sure your country has a thriving prostitution industry too.

[newnative]

9 hours ago, Maha Sarakham said:

 

I suspect you're not far off.  Pattaya will likely become a Bangkokian weekend destination if they redevelop it towards Thai interests.  

It already is.  

[thaibeachlovers]

18 hours ago, newnative said:

       No, not bad at all.  Pattaya was doing quite well over all, pre-covid.   Someone will be along, I'm sure, to say that they talked to so-and-so and his business wasn't doing well.  That's the way of the World.  Some businesses succeed, some don't.  Home Pro opened 2 stores in Pattaya.  Likely, some Mom and Pop hardware or paint stores closed.  

     One business failing doesn't mean all businesses are failing.  Instead, look at what is opening, as well.  Terminal 21. Dozens of new hotels, including large highrise ones in north Pattaya.  Two new water parks. New housing estates. New condo projects.  Second Ford dealership. Expanded Mercedes dealership.  Audi. New restaurants.  Just a few examples.  All private industry spending their money.  

Most posters are referring to Pattaya as meaning the area from south Naklua to Bali Hi and from the beach to Buakhao. Home Pro sells to the residential market outside that area and the big malls, housing estates, water parks etc are irrelevant to the fun area above.

Pattaya will survive, but not as mongers loved it, IMO.

[spidermike007]

19 hours ago, newnative said:

       No, not bad at all.  Pattaya was doing quite well over all, pre-covid.   Someone will be along, I'm sure, to say that they talked to so-and-so and his business wasn't doing well.  That's the way of the World.  Some businesses succeed, some don't.  Home Pro opened 2 stores in Pattaya.  Likely, some Mom and Pop hardware or paint stores closed.  

     One business failing doesn't mean all businesses are failing.  Instead, look at what is opening, as well.  Terminal 21. Dozens of new hotels, including large highrise ones in north Pattaya.  Two new water parks. New housing estates. New condo projects.  Second Ford dealership. Expanded Mercedes dealership.  Audi. New restaurants.  Just a few examples.  All private industry spending their money.  

Pattaya is a big city. And what percentage of the overall Pattaya population is foreign, or supported by tourism? I would guess 10% or 15%? Possibly 20%? Still a sizable numner. So, a new Home Pro or car dealership  opening to support the locals, does not say much about the tourism economy. 

[newnative]

14 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Pattaya is a big city. And what percentage of the overall Pattaya population is foreign, or supported by tourism? I would guess 10% or 15%? Possibly 20%? Still a sizable numner. So, a new Home Pro or car dealership  opening to support the locals, does not say much about the tourism economy. 

     New car dealerships, including several new brands coming to town for the first time, speak volumes about the health of the local economy, which does have a focus on tourism.  If a tourism town is dying, I doubt Mercedes and Mazda would decide now's the time to expand and move to new, bigger facilities.   Ditto for other new retail opening, such as Terminal 21.   And new tourism attractions such as Legend Siam, Tiger Park, the two new water parks, and others.  

     You conveniently overlooked my mentioning of the new hotels that have been built in the past few years--they do 'say much about the tourism economy'.  Mytt, Brighton, Ozo, Grand Centre Point, Palazzo, Centre Point Prime, the Amari Suites addition--those are the big, highrise projects that come to mind--but there are many other new smaller boutique hotel projects, as well, scattered all over on side sois.  Even now, work continues on the massive Grand Centre Point 2, a third highrise wing to D Beach,  and another highrise hotel going up in Naklua.  And, the large new hotel going up across from Central Festival.  Plus, the soon to be finished Edge, which will likely function as a hotel.  

    These are all quality products, to join others already here such as Hilton, Dusit, Centara, Holiday Inn, Hard Rock, Cape Dara, and many others.  Although you are fond of saying Thailand is no longer attracting 'quality' tourists, I wonder who was filling all these new hotels--and many new condo rooms, as well--pre-covid.   

[Pilotman]

1 hour ago, newnative said:

     New car dealerships, including several new brands coming to town for the first time, speak volumes about the health of the local economy, which does have a focus on tourism.  If a tourism town is dying, I doubt Mercedes and Mazda would decide now's the time to expand and move to new, bigger facilities.   Ditto for other new retail opening, such as Terminal 21.   And new tourism attractions such as Legend Siam, Tiger Park, the two new water parks, and others.  

     You conveniently overlooked my mentioning of the new hotels that have been built in the past few years--they do 'say much about the tourism economy'.  Mytt, Brighton, Ozo, Grand Centre Point, Palazzo, Centre Point Prime, the Amari Suites addition--those are the big, highrise projects that come to mind--but there are many other new smaller boutique hotel projects, as well, scattered all over on side sois.  Even now, work continues on the massive Grand Centre Point 2, a third highrise wing to D Beach,  and another highrise hotel going up in Naklua.  And, the large new hotel going up across from Central Festival.  Plus, the soon to be finished Edge, which will likely function as a hotel.  

    These are all quality products, to join others already here such as Hilton, Dusit, Centara, Holiday Inn, Hard Rock, Cape Dara, and many others.  Although you are fond of saying Thailand is no longer attracting 'quality' tourists, I wonder who was filling all these new hotels--and many new condo rooms, as well--pre-covid.   

total wishful thinking.  The projects you speak of were planned way before Covid hit and all, I repeat all, are on hold or slowed down so as to be almost invisible in progress. Thousands of condos are empty or unfinished and will remain so, work on the vast majority has stopped completely .  The only noticeable work going on in the Province is in road expansion and building, and that is by the State. Private enterprise is virtually at a standstill, bar small outlets serving small communities outside of the City and the large supermarkets. The truth of all this is seen in  the morning traffic, during what used to be called  'rush hour', which is just not there anymore. Lots of motorbikes, as always, but not so many cars and trucks. 

Edited May 14, 2021 by Pilotman

[Pilotman]

3 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Hmmmmm. Without those "lazy trash" Pattaya would probably still be a small fishing village.

 

Strange to me that anyone with that attitude would actually live in Thailand, and does it only apply to the girls that work in Pattaya bars, or does it apply to the much larger numbers that work in the THAI sex industry as well?

 

BTW, I'm sure your country has a thriving prostitution industry too.

Pattaya is not Thailand , far from it. You can dislike Pattaya  and all it used to stand for and love Thailand and its people. 

[Pilotman]

4 hours ago, Excel said:

Nothing has happened to them, they have always been like that. It is just the case when you grow up with it you accept it is as not unusual. That changes of course when you go elsewhere where genetically they look different and culturally they behave differently to the norms that we grew up with.

The Brits are not an attractive race, they have never been so. 

[Olmate]

24 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

The Brits are not an attractive race, they have never been so. 

They started looking better when they were transported to Australia ....Sunshine does that!

[newnative]

20 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

total wishful thinking.  The projects you speak of were planned way before Covid hit and all, I repeat all, are on hold or slowed down so as to be almost invisible in progress. Thousands of condos are empty or unfinished and will remain so, work on the vast majority has stopped completely .  The only noticeable work going on in the Province is in road expansion and building, and that is by the State. Private enterprise is virtually at a standstill, bar small outlets serving small communities outside of the City and the large supermarkets. The truth of all this is seen in  the morning traffic, during what used to be called  'rush hour', which is just not there anymore. Lots of motorbikes, as always, but not so many cars and trucks. 

     Sorry.  Not true.  Work continues on the projects I mentioned--plus others I didn't mention like Once Pattaya and the other highrise condo project down the road from it.  The Riviera projects in Jomtien are still being built, as well, last time I was in that area.  I think Copacabana, too.  Work continues on the large new parking garage at T21.  It's true that there are likely projects here and there that have been shelved or work slowed or stopped.  The Runway 88 project seems to have stopped, or at least slowed.  However, it's inaccurate to state that 'the vast majority has stopped completely'. 

    The argument that these projects were already started pre-covid doesn't really hold water, either.  A good example is Grande Centre Point 2.  I used to live near it and drove by the site almost daily.  When covid hit the project had only gotten as far as putting up the construction fence.  The project could easily have been cancelled at that point--or at least postponed.  It wasn't and work continues even now.  Obviously, they're betting that by the time it's finished in a year or so tourism will be opened up again. 

    

[clivebaxter]

3 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Hmmmmm. Without those "lazy trash" Pattaya would probably still be a small fishing village.

 

Strange to me that anyone with that attitude would actually live in Thailand, and does it only apply to the girls that work in Pattaya bars, or does it apply to the much larger numbers that work in the THAI sex industry as well?

 

BTW, I'm sure your country has a thriving prostitution industry too.

 

So we should only live here if we agree with lazy stupid girls prostituting themselves rather than getting an education? Pity Pattaya is not still a small fishing village, it would be far more attractive if it was. It has often been said the place attracts the worst of Thais and foreigners, that's about right.

Edited May 14, 2021 by clivebaxter

[clivebaxter]

On 5/12/2021 at 11:50 PM, Bkk Brian said:

There are more than 100k of these girls throughout Thailand and you've just labeled them all as lazy trash.

 

This is probably the worst post I have ever seen on TV. Ignorance of the reality of why some of them are forced to do this is mind boggling. You should be ashamed but I know you're not and will try to justify such a spitefull attack on a very vulnerable portion of the Thai population.

where did you get the 100k from? we all know the domestic sex trade is lager than the one catering for desperate foreigners but that's no excuse for supporting the illegal sex industry or the people who work in it. The days of having no choice but rice farming or selling sex was defunct years ago. There actually are a lot more opportunities to make a living than getting tattoos and lying on your back. Behind the neon and fake smiles (most of them do not like customers) it's a seedy world of drugs, exploitation and depression.

[Bkk Brian]

4 minutes ago, clivebaxter said:

where did you get the 100k from? we all know the domestic sex trade is lager than the one catering for desperate foreigners but that's no excuse for supporting the illegal sex industry or the people who work in it. The days of having no choice but rice farming or selling sex was defunct years ago. There actually are a lot more opportunities to make a living than getting tattoos and lying on your back. Behind the neon and fake smiles (most of them do not like customers) it's a seedy world of drugs, exploitation and depression.

Did you actually read all of my post and comprehend its meaning?

 

As for the number thats an underestimate, just google it

[rott]

49 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

 

49 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

Pattaya is not Thailand , far from it. You can dislike Pattaya  and all it used to stand for and love Thailand and its people. 

Thai people in Pattaya are basically doing what they need to do in order to make a living in a country with no welfare state. . Same as those outside Pattaya, but people here have different choices. 

[clivebaxter]

6 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

Did you actually read all of my post and comprehend its meaning?

 

As for the number thats an underestimate, just google it

I did google it, first result gives this, less than half what you pulled out of the air,

 

UNAIDS in 2019 estimated the total population of sex workers in Thailand to be 43,000.

 

Prostitution in Thailand - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Prostitution_in_Thailand

 

 

 

 

 

[Pilotman]

27 minutes ago, Olmate said:

They started looking better when they were transported to Australia ....Sunshine does that!

It doesn't cure ugly, fat, wispy hair and a body full of tattoos, and that's just the women. 

[rott]

12 minutes ago, clivebaxter said:

where did you get the 100k from? we all know the domestic sex trade is lager than the one catering for desperate foreigners but that's no excuse for supporting the illegal sex industry or the people who work in it. The days of having no choice but rice farming or selling sex was defunct years ago. There actually are a lot more opportunities to make a living than getting tattoos and lying on your back. Behind the neon and fake smiles (most of them do not like customers) it's a seedy world of drugs, exploitation and depression.

Having spent many years in the bars and Sois of the Pattaya "ghetto" I have seen little to no evidence of drugs, exploitation and depression. 

As for not liking customers I would say that Thais can hate foreigners as much as the next person. 

[Susco]

16 minutes ago, newnative said:

The project could easily have been cancelled at that point--or at least postponed.  It wasn't and work continues even now.  Obviously, they're betting that by the time it's finished in a year or so tourism will be opened up again. 

 

I think you use the correct wording there with "betting that", because that is all they can do, as nobody has a certainty what the future will bring.

 

The only difference between these conglomerates and the average business, is that they work with money from the bank, and that if it all goes tits up in a year or two from now, none of those company directors will lose a dime.

 

They will simply let the company go bankrupt, another unfinished monastery will be added to the horizon line, and they will register a new company and continue building.

[rott]

6 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

It doesn't cure ugly, fat, wispy hair and a body full of tattoos, and that's just the women. 

Another obnoxious and offensive post. 

[Bkk Brian]

12 minutes ago, clivebaxter said:

I did google it, first result gives this, less than half what you pulled out of the air,

 

UNAIDS in 2019 estimated the total population of sex workers in Thailand to be 43,000.

 

Prostitution in Thailand - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Prostitution_in_Thailand

 

 

 

 

 

Try this years estimate: besides you're missing the whole point of my post, it really does not matter if its 10,000, 100,000 or 500,000 the fact is:

 

They are not the "lazy trash" that they were called in the post I was responding to.

Edited May 14, 2021 by Bkk Brian

[Pilotman]

2 minutes ago, rott said:

Another obnoxious and offensive post. 

maybe , but so true. 

[Neeranam]

On 5/12/2021 at 10:33 AM, J Town said:

The sex industry was Pattaya's forte. That's been demolished. The girls found out they can make a fortune online without ever swapping bodily fluids. I don't think it will ever return to its glorious apex of the previous decade. I'm just seriously grateful I got in as many soapies as I did!

But I was always told that the 'girls' enjoy having sex with dirty old men, old enough to be their grandfathers. 

[Olmate]

4 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

But I was always told that the 'girls' enjoy having sex with dirty old men, old enough to be their grandfathers. 

Don,t tell me you have never had a grannie!!

[jacko45k]

2 hours ago, Pilotman said:

The Brits are not an attractive race, they have never been so. 

What a noxious statement!

[morrobay]

4 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Pattaya is a big city. And what percentage of the overall Pattaya population is foreign, or supported by tourism? I would guess 10% or 15%? Possibly 20%? Still a sizable numner. So, a new Home Pro or car dealership  opening to support the locals, does not say much about the tourism economy. 

But the area from S. Naklua along coast to Bali Hi , from beach up to soi Bukow and Jomtien. Is about 80% supported by foreign tourism revenue. So what now is going to fill that void ? Bangkok by the Sea for Thais, and or chinese swooping in buying up on the cheap.The  casino at Bali Hi. In any event they had better get on with it. Because the last business model was in trouble before covid: there was a link that did not transfer that showed total foreign tourism revenue for Thailand on 2019 as half of 2018 revenue.

 

 

 

 

[jacko45k]

1 hour ago, Pilotman said:

It doesn't cure ugly, fat, wispy hair and a body full of tattoos, and that's just the women. 

Crikey, now the Ozzies get some from you.

[Pilotman]

26 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

What a noxious statement!

haha, you clearly haven't walking down a UK High Street lately. Its no surprise to many that UK men of a certain age make their way to Thailand and the land of beautiful ladies. 

Edited May 14, 2021 by Pilotman

[jacko45k]

Just now, Pilotman said:

haha, you clearly haven't walking down a UK High Street lately. 

Well not many who live here have.....

 

[rott]

15 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

haha, you clearly haven't walking down a UK High Street lately. Its no surprise to many that UK men of a certain age make their way to Thailand and the land of beautiful ladies. 

Ha ha climbing down now. Not as crabby as he was earlier on.