Pattaya: City faces permanent tourism destruction if enough vaccine can't be found

[spidermike007]

3 hours ago, morrobay said:

Then how is a massive hotel like this in South Naklua going to work out, especially with the major hotel  district in North Pattaya in competition

I truly believe, that 20 or 30 years from now, in tourism industry, business and sociology classes, at the uni level, there will be tours of these hollowed out shells, of huge hotels that were built, and could neither find guests to stay, nor even a market for condo conversions, and ended up abandoned, after buyers could not be found, or owners refused to accept 20% of the land and construction costs, as a sales price. 

 

That is where I see the future of Thai tourism. 

 

One must always remember, there were countless issues plaguing the industry, years before Covid, and NONE of them were ever addressed by the lathargic ones. And there were countless other countries with alot of appeal, who were and are trying much harder. 

Edited June 17, 2021 by spidermike007

[spidermike007]

Plus, you have to factor in:

 

How people will feel about long haul travel in three years? 

 

How will the economic shutdown, and malaise effect their long term fortunes?

 

Is Thailand making any effort, on any level to address the issues that were present, pre-Covid? Traffic and public safety, air quality, road congestion, luxury taxes, wine taxes, jet ski scams?

 

I could go on all day. My guess is nothing is being done to address anything, and every issue they currently face is being blamed on Covid. Now, they have a real scapegoat, and looking within for the source of any of the problems is less likely than ever.

[bert bloggs]

The problem also is people will not want to come here,money will be short, and tourists will not come in the vast amounts that they used to,as my daughter said ,the only reason we are coming is to see you dad,otherwise we would not bother,just to expensive..

[jacko45k]

2 hours ago, bert bloggs said:

The problem also is people will not want to come here,money will be short, and tourists will not come in the vast amounts that they used to,as my daughter said ,the only reason we are coming is to see you dad,otherwise we would not bother,just to expensive..

I would expect those who have been working normally to have built up some savings during Covid restrictions. 

[Leaver]

11 hours ago, bert bloggs said:

The problem also is people will not want to come here,money will be short, and tourists will not come in the vast amounts that they used to,as my daughter said ,the only reason we are coming is to see you dad,otherwise we would not bother,just to expensive..

 

It's not just about the cost, once they are here, what is there left open for them to see and do?  

 

Many will simply wait until Pattaya has recovered to a point that a holiday here would be worth spending for.  

[Ron jeremy]

10 hours ago, jacko45k said:

I would expect those who have been working normally to have built up some savings during Covid restrictions. 

Many people have not missed a beat, others in the service industry have no doubt been hit hard.

the CIBC bank in Canada said they have never seen so much money in their system. This is one bank.

many people have hardly spent any money in the last 2 years and are ready now that things are opening.

european vacations are at the forefront as well as home country holidays.

asia is at least a year behind, because of lack of forward thinking, and inept governments.several friends are planning a European vacation late summer.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 6/17/2021 at 2:47 PM, spidermike007 said:

I like alot of your posts, so I will not engage in the rant about complaints, and our inherent right to moan about absolute nonsense and a regressive regime. 

 

In terms of doing something, we are somewhat limited, however resistance and civil disobedience come to mind. 

 

The tourism discussion is an important one. It concerns millions of Thais, and their ability to make a living. Easy for us to dismiss it, on a nice pension, or retirement savings. 

 

Personally, I think the tourism industry has been sabotaged beyond repair. Hopefully it will bounce back a little. However, I don't think it will recover to even half of what it was, at its peak. And that is five or more years from now. 

I like a lot of your posts

Thank you for that.

 

IMO farangs can do zero, nada, nothing, about what is, after all, the domain of Thai citizens.

IMO any farang engaged in resistance and civil disobedience will be given a one way exit. All they have to do is not renew the visa extension.

 

I am less pessimistic about tourism, and IMO it will return once the world leaders realise that corona is here to stay like flu, and return to what was, as much as possible. However, I think it will be very different from what was before. More Chinese oriented, more expensive and far more commercial. IMO the cheap and cheerful options will be seen no more.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 6/17/2021 at 8:39 PM, spidermike007 said:

I truly believe, that 20 or 30 years from now, in tourism industry, business and sociology classes, at the uni level, there will be tours of these hollowed out shells, of huge hotels that were built, and could neither find guests to stay, nor even a market for condo conversions, and ended up abandoned, after buyers could not be found, or owners refused to accept 20% of the land and construction costs, as a sales price. 

 

That is where I see the future of Thai tourism. 

 

One must always remember, there were countless issues plaguing the industry, years before Covid, and NONE of them were ever addressed by the lathargic ones. And there were countless other countries with alot of appeal, who were and are trying much harder. 

With some thinking outside the box, there is a vast, untapped demographic of farangs that would love to retire to a nice long stay hotel. So long as health insurance is affordable and actually provides a good outcome, and immigration comes to the party, that alone would fill all those big new hotels, IMO.

 

I lived a year in a Chiang Mai hotel and loved it.

[spidermike007]

5 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

With some thinking outside the box, there is a vast, untapped demographic of farangs that would love to retire to a nice long stay hotel. So long as health insurance is affordable and actually provides a good outcome, and immigration comes to the party, that alone would fill all those big new hotels, IMO.

 

I lived a year in a Chiang Mai hotel and loved it.

Some thinking outside the box. They would have to bring in some intelligent souls, from outside the realm of government, to get that kind of progress and forward thinking. Would they do that? Maybe they will get desperate enough? Let us hope. I agree. There are many areas which can be improved, and there are many ways to attract affluent ex-pats to come here. It sure beats what they have at home. 

[thaibeachlovers]

2 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Some thinking outside the box. They would have to bring in some intelligent souls, from outside the realm of government, to get that kind of progress and forward thinking. Would they do that? Maybe they will get desperate enough? Let us hope. I agree. There are many areas which can be improved, and there are many ways to attract affluent ex-pats to come here. It sure beats what they have at home. 

I agree with that. I never said they were capable of thinking outside the box though.

Will they get desperate enough? Time will tell.

 

I never could decide if they were deliberately trying to make farangs give up and leave, or if they were just too incompetent to run a decent immigration system for farangs.

 

If I could afford medical insurance I'd never have left, and not a day goes by I don't regret having to leave.

[adammike]

19 hours ago, Leaver said:

 

It's not just about the cost, once they are here, what is there left open for them to see and do?  

 

Many will simply wait until Pattaya has recovered to a point that a holiday here would be worth spending for.  

Another winter without a break will just about finish us snowbirds off.If all the Gogo's and girly bars disappeared without trace the sun in Thailand during our northern European winters will still be the main attraction.There is still a market for the pensioner on a budget,clean,basic,cheapish and cheerful really.

[spidermike007]

31 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I agree with that. I never said they were capable of thinking outside the box though.

Will they get desperate enough? Time will tell.

 

I never could decide if they were deliberately trying to make farangs give up and leave, or if they were just too incompetent to run a decent immigration system for farangs.

 

If I could afford medical insurance I'd never have left, and not a day goes by I don't regret having to leave.

I do believe they prefer if we leave. I are fairly sure they consider us a corrosive influence on their women. And we are. 

 

We encourage them to ask questions, and to question any and all authority. 

 

We encourage them to open their minds, and learn about the world outside of Thailand. 

 

And worst of all, we teach them that it is never appropriate to show respect, when it is not earned. Respect must never be freely given. 

[3NUMBAS]

the days of mass tourism to patters has gone for good it will take decades to rebuild

 

the backpackers are potless

[Leaver]

3 hours ago, adammike said:

Another winter without a break will just about finish us snowbirds off.If all the Gogo's and girly bars disappeared without trace the sun in Thailand during our northern European winters will still be the main attraction.There is still a market for the pensioner on a budget,clean,basic,cheapish and cheerful really.

 

I don't see snowbird pensioners paying 150 to 180 baht for a beer,  so that would mean bars catering for the budget conscious maybe surviving.  Nothing wrong with that, but hardly a lucrative market, maybe not enough to pay the rent to enable the owner to keep the doors open, and hardly enough to keep Pattaya's nightlife vibrant.  

[jacko45k]

13 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

I do believe they prefer if we leave. I are fairly sure they consider us a corrosive influence on their women. And we are. 

 

We encourage them to ask questions, and to question any and all authority. 

 

We encourage them to open their minds, and learn about the world outside of Thailand. 

 

And worst of all, we teach them that it is never appropriate to show respect, when it is not earned. Respect must never be freely given. 

Aren't we a magnanimous lot.....

Most just love em, pay em, leave em!

[spidermike007]

18 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I agree with that. I never said they were capable of thinking outside the box though.

Will they get desperate enough? Time will tell.

 

I never could decide if they were deliberately trying to make farangs give up and leave, or if they were just too incompetent to run a decent immigration system for farangs.

 

If I could afford medical insurance I'd never have left, and not a day goes by I don't regret having to leave.

I would sure regret having to leave. However if I were wealthy, which I am not, I would perhaps spend 3 months of the year in Turkey, 4 months in Spain, a month or so in the US, a couple of months traveling, and maybe two months here. 

 

I think there is no doubt this current crew of saboteurs would prefer that we leave. And I barely care what they want. They are haters. I just resist them in any way I can. Eventually, they will be gone, baby gone. And just an extremely sad and toxic historical footnote. 

[thaibeachlovers]

18 hours ago, adammike said:

Another winter without a break will just about finish us snowbirds off.If all the Gogo's and girly bars disappeared without trace the sun in Thailand during our northern European winters will still be the main attraction.There is still a market for the pensioner on a budget,clean,basic,cheapish and cheerful really.

Fear not. Even if every farang oriented bar and gogo vanished, the far larger Thai night scene will still be there. Nothing to stop farangs partaking, though it might be helpful to learn Thai if wanting to.

[tgw]

On 5/31/2021 at 10:02 AM, Pattaya Spotter said:

All the people I know living in Pattaya are still there and 5 expat friends have returned this year, with another returning in July...do either of our anecdotes prove anything? Thailand, like most countries outside North America and Europe, is struggling with the virus and it has nothing to do with their decisions but the hoarding of vaccine supplies and components by rich Western nations.

 

do you know something about why Thailand's AZ production is delayed? Is it because AZ holds back vaccine components?

[morrobay]

6 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Fear not. Even if every farang oriented bar and gogo vanished, the far larger Thai night scene will still be there. Nothing to stop farangs partaking, though it might be helpful to learn Thai if wanting to.

If you can stand the cigarette smoke in these places let me know how things work out for you trying to pick up a Thai girl  surrounded by thai males.

[Pattaya Spotter]

21 minutes ago, tgw said:

 

do you know something about why Thailand's AZ production is delayed? Is it because AZ holds back vaccine components?

Not AZ per se...the US and UK governments, during the height of the pandemic, banned the export of precursor chemicals and production technology needed to manufacture the vaccine (and finished vaccines too of course). This is starting to changed now that their populations are almost fully vaccinated. 

[tgw]

4 hours ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

Not AZ per se...the US and UK governments, during the height of the pandemic, banned the export of precursor chemicals and production technology needed to manufacture the vaccine (and finished vaccines too of course). This is starting to changed now that their populations are almost fully vaccinated. 

 

interesting. so it's a shortage of precursor chemicals?

kind of makes sense, there must be a worldwide shortage of these right now.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 6/20/2021 at 4:36 PM, morrobay said:

If you can stand the cigarette smoke in these places let me know how things work out for you trying to pick up a Thai girl  surrounded by thai males.

LOL. Loads of Thai bars where the ladies are available to take out. I never had any interest in Thai nightclubs, which appears to be what you are referring to. The cigarette smoke never bothered me because the noise level of the "music" made my ears bleed, so I had to leave.

[chalawaan]

Goodbye Tirak, 

 

I will never forget you.... 

 

Hope the Buffalo improves, because I am a prisoner of my own country now, and my job vaporized about a year ago.

 

Love,

Khun Keenok

Bunk 134

Skid Row Mansions

Anytown

Falangland.

[chalawaan]

On 6/20/2021 at 11:26 AM, thaibeachlovers said:

Fear not. Even if every farang oriented bar and gogo vanished, the far larger Thai night scene will still be there. Nothing to stop farangs partaking, though it might be helpful to learn Thai if wanting to.

 

I hope and PREY the farang girly bar scene -specifically barfine culture- sinks like the Kursk.

 

Every year, and now at warp speed with Covid, younger and more tech-savvy girls are being their own mamasan online, as the dinosaurettes shuffle off to the back sois to look after the online daughters MIA boyfriend illigit sprogs.

 

 

[thaibeachlovers]

On 6/21/2021 at 8:47 PM, chalawaan said:

 

I hope and PREY the farang girly bar scene -specifically barfine culture- sinks like the Kursk.

 

Every year, and now at warp speed with Covid, younger and more tech-savvy girls are being their own mamasan online, as the dinosaurettes shuffle off to the back sois to look after the online daughters MIA boyfriend illigit sprogs.

 

 

IMO it will never die, but it will mutate. I can see more like an escort culture.

 

Whatever, one can take girls out from soapy massage places after having a long look at the fishbowl.

[Leaver]

On 6/21/2021 at 3:47 PM, chalawaan said:

Every year, and now at warp speed with Covid, younger and more tech-savvy girls are being their own mamasan online,

 

They are certainly cutting out the middle man for customers, that being, the bar.  

[Leaver]

On 6/23/2021 at 11:21 AM, thaibeachlovers said:

IMO it will never die, but it will mutate. I can see more like an escort culture.

 

Whatever, one can take girls out from soapy massage places after having a long look at the fishbowl.

 

Good point, TBL.

 

Necessity may prompt some change here.

 

The old style of doing things here, decade after decade, may have to change, in order to survive.  

 

The proliferation of girls for hire on apps is something the Pattaya bar scene is going to have to compete with, if not immediately post covid, eventually.  

[The Hammer2021]

Beach Rd Pattaya  is deserted but beach rd Jomtien  is busy  even by the beach to so soi 5 Pratumnak.

[Leaver]

4 hours ago, The Hammer2021 said:

Beach Rd Pattaya  is deserted but beach rd Jomtien  is busy  even by the beach to so soi 5 Pratumnak.

 

What could possibly go wrong?  ????