No to nightlife, yes to vaccinations: can Thailand’s Pattaya rebrand and reopen?

[BritManToo]

2 minutes ago, smudger1951 said:

The governments Kobkarn Wattannavrankul said Thailand is not here for sex.

Did he suggest what else Thailand may be good for?

[Ralf001]

3 hours ago, thurien said:

 

in TH we mostly sow (not plant) rice; and the months of sowing are well over - now the girls sell lady drinks via internet, nothing else to do. And play with their sibblings who do not recognize mother anymore

Hello Farmer Thurien.

 

Hows the crops been  ?

[Fex Bluse]

1 minute ago, Ralf001 said:

 

And the mamasans will be touting them as far fresh demanding 5000b barfine and 4000b Short Time.

 

I am hopeful we'll get some fresh blood into the industry. Prior to the pandemic, there were far too many Aunties barely shy of qualifying as elderly, smelling of garlic and chili burps.

 

We shall hope to see some youngish (19 to 25s) in the industry as the economy has been so depressed. Should be a good time for a couple years.

[Ralf001]

3 minutes ago, Fex Bluse said:

 

I am hopeful we'll get some fresh blood into the industry. Prior to the pandemic, there were far too many Aunties barely shy of qualifying as elderly, smelling of garlic and chili burps.

 

We shall hope to see some youngish (19 to 25s) in the industry as the economy has been so depressed. Should be a good time for a couple years.

 

 

You know there is better places to shop than beach road and crappy beer bar complexes ?

[BritManToo]

7 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

You know there is better places to shop than beach road and crappy beer bar complexes ?

Yes, but I enjoy the browsing and haggling more than the purchase.

Edited June 8, 2021 by BritManToo

[khunPer]

From the article...

...Chinese tourists are unlikely to return in high volumes, as the central government is taking no chances and is maintaining a strict three-week quarantine requirement for returning travellers.

 

This means Pattaya – which in 2019 welcomed 2.7 million Chinese visitors, many on package tours – must rely on Europeans, Americans and Russians who have been vaccinated and are desperate to travel after prolonged periods at home.

 

The reopening may also mean pivoting away from Pattaya’s reputation for nightlife, going from go-go bars and sex work to something more upmarket and family friendly.

 

Changing reputation to a family destination among Europeans and Americans might be a huge task, if not impossible, I however don't know about what reputation Pattaya has in Russia, perhaps Russian family-tourism is the future...????

[SchuetzRob]

3 hours ago, ChipButty said:

I saw on the internet the other day so it must be true, Everybody who has been vaccinated will die within 2 years 

Not from the internet but my personal prediction: regardless of vaccination, everybody is eventually going to die. Don't believe it? Just wait and see!????

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, orchidfan said:

Agree entirely....don't see any "out of work" pole dancers getting their hands dirty (or exposing themselves to the dreaded sunshine) out on the farm. Only their mums, dads uncles and aunties do that kind if work.

Most I see eat, sleep, watch serials on TV, play with their phones, or kids, and look at themselves endlessly in the mirror. 

But they'll be on the next bus out once things open up again. 

 

It is sadly obvious that I have been swapping spits with the lower echelon of the pay-for-pleasure demographic. All my favorite starlets have been wrapped up like ninja's and bending their backs helping their families in all aspects of rice farming, chook raising, duck herding or whatever.

 

So where are these languid and louche demimondaines lounging about in their hot, breezeblock and tin shacks that you claim to see?

 

Or is your girlfriend different?

[NanLaew]

49 minutes ago, Fex Bluse said:

We shall hope to see some youngish (19 to 25s) in the industry as the economy has been so depressed. Should be a good time for a couple years.

 

And then you woke up?

 

They won't be coming back to the fleshpots of Pattaya and Patong and that's not just because they won't exist.

 

[Fex Bluse]

51 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

 

 

You know there is better places to shop than beach road and crappy beer bar complexes ?

 

Yes

[Fex Bluse]

1 minute ago, NanLaew said:

 

And then you woke up?

 

They won't be coming back to the fleshpots of Pattaya and Patong and that's not just because they won't exist.

 

 

I know where to find them already... But, not as convenient as if they were on obvious display. Unis work, but you'll pay quite a but more. Going daily penalty can be as high as a the cost of an iPhone... Worth it, though. ????

[jomtienisgood]

7 hours ago, Ralf001 said:

 

Not at the moment, most have gone back home and are planting rice.

Providing food for the upcoming next generation relief. ????????????

[jomtienisgood]

5 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Open the doors and those girls will stop planting rice and be back to Pattaya to open-up again faster than you could ever imagine.

As B Midler said: ' Let me open up my loving arms and legs' upon opening the doors. ????????????????????

[VBF]

3 hours ago, redwood1 said:

 

Mega casinos will be built......Then we can have Sihanoukville part 2......

Like that was SO successful! 

[ukrules]

8 hours ago, jacko45k said:

When a country reaches 100% of it's people having been double vaccinated along with zero new infections for 30 days, perhaps we can add it to a green list and allow direct tourists. 

 

There will be plenty of countries on that list.

 

In these countries they seem to be scared of these 'variants' making their way back so they're keeping their own green lists.

 

It's not a matter of allowing people to come into Thailand, it's a matter of their home countries allowing them to return after their little holiday without isolation and quarantine restrictions - and that's going to take a long time.

 

[chalawaan]

I tend to agree with those that say reports of the death of naughty Pattaya are premature.

 

It is possible tho, that the accommodating carefree girls and boys will finally cotton onto the benefits of freelancing online, as it is now universally done in both North and South America. There are bars/clubs, of course, but nothing on the scale of the scam that never ends here.

 

It can be fun to have a leisurely drink and perfect "the male gaze" that pisses off the woke feminazis, but it is high time the "Fine" BS was ended by blokes voting with their "big head " and just deciding to let the girl of their beergoggle dreams slide.

 

I even don't mind the ladydrink hustle, but they can stick their take out surcharges where the sun don't shine, if the bar had anything going for it other than snatch, and any good bar should, the girls available, and therefore "fines" should not matter.

 

If Soi 7 Beergarden in Sukhumvit can survive without barfines, then so can any bar worthy of the title, and I wish punters would stay the <deleted> away from anywhere that did it. 

 

Whether the punters and totty go digital or not, Pattaya will always have a thriving sex trade unless the Taliban send an invasion force to storm the beach.

 

 

 

 

Edited June 8, 2021 by chalawaan

[newnative]

7 hours ago, Card said:

Hey, there are many Asian tourists come to Thailand. You seem to have factored them out. Ethnocentric?

     Right.  2019 there were nearly 11 million Chinese and another 14 million tourists from other Asian countries.  Most with a much shorter plane ride.  Far larger numbers than from Europe or North America.  I think many posters do 'factor them out'--even though they were the tourists mostly filling Pattaya's hotels, malls, attractions, etc.  

[PB172111]

7 hours ago, hotchilli said:

A leopard can't change it's spots.

Dress it up how you like, call it what you like..

Pattaya will be teeming with girls again swinging around dancing poles, parading around on a stage with a number on them, sitting in front of every bar, selling themselves as soon as the tourists come back.

The go-go establishments, bars etc will return as normal, will Bang Lamung or Soi 6 and the rest suddenly change... no way -Jose.

This is the issue with the majority of posters here. Old men who are or orignally were here for what the city had to offer. No vision, no foresight other than what was and what used to be. You can’t argue with these chumps but not to worry, they will all be gone in the next 5/10 years….lol

Edited June 8, 2021 by PB172111

[hotchilli]

Just now, PB172111 said:

This is the issue with the majority of posters here. Old men who are or orignally were here for what the city had to offer. No vision, no foresight other than what was and what used to be. You can’t argue with these chumps but not to worry, they will be all gone in the nexy 5/10 years….lol

Old fartz as you call them come and go granted.

Tell me how much has Pattaya changed since the end of the last war?

It was a staging point for troops on their way home, became a hot-spot for lets say nightlife and has remained the same ever since.

75 years of doing the same thing. 

It is what it was and has never changed.

 

[jethro69]

10 hours ago, jacko45k said:

When a country reaches 100% of it's people having been double vaccinated along with zero new infections for 30 days, perhaps we can add it to a green list and allow direct tourists. 

We speaking about 2028-2030 then ???

[newnative]

5 hours ago, chang1 said:

As I have said before, Pattaya should concentrate on what it does well. Cheap sleazy bars full of girls is what it can do better than most cities in the world and is world famous for it already.  Why try to reinvent itself into yet another bland family resort where it has to compete with Spain? 

When I first came to Thailand it was not to be with families - I came to get away from them and experience a totally different type of holiday. Personally I preferred Samui 20 years ago but since families took over there Pattaya was one of the few interesting places to go even though I now am with my family. 

As someone else pointed out - who wants to go to Khoa San Road anymore since it got modernised? 20 years ago it was always my first stop. Now I avoid it altogether. It used to be interesting and an experience now it is just ugly and a chore.

Pattaya evolved, what worked flourished same as Khoa San had. Bring in the snobs with their big redevelopment plans and all that will be lost. Spend the money on things that compliment what's already there - nicer beaches and improved travel links are all that it needed. 

Don't make it bland as we already have Tenerife for that and Pattaya can never compete with it.

      I think you are missing the point a bit when you say 'Pattaya should concentrate...'.   Pattaya, the city, is doing what cities do.  Improving the beaches, improving the roads, working on flooding, planting some trees, burying the wires here and there, adding a new park here and there.  Managing (or not managing) the water supply.  Etc., etc.   City stuff.  And, very little of it has anything to do with what kind of tourists come to town. 

     The changes to Pattaya that have helped bring a new tourist demographic to the city have largely been done by private industry, not the city.  Private industry built the two large, new water parks.  Private industry built the D'Luck Theater.  Private industry built Central Festival and Terminal 21.  Private industry built Tiger Park, Flower Land, Dolphinarium, Legend Siam, Floating Market, Colosseum, Underwater World, and all the other tourist attractions that have sprung up in the past few years.  

     Private industry is building the new condo projects, the new hotels, the new golf courses, the new retail shopping, the new restaurants.  Private industry--deciding what to build, where to build it,  and spending private money, not public money, to get it done.  So, you have Grande Centre Point Hotels starting with one hotel in town on top of Terminal 21.  Deciding business can support a second hotel on Sukumvit.  And, then, deciding a third massive hotel in Wong Amat will be needed once travel opens up again.  Just one example of many.  (Note that all three hotels, and lots of other large, new developments, are far from Walking Street.)

     Yes, the city government will put out press releases patting itself on the back and taking credit for a 'neo Pattaya'.   But, in reality, it's private industry that's doing the heavy lifting.  Private industry that is shaping the new Pattaya by what has been recently built, what is now being built,  and what is being planned for the future.

[ChrisKC]

It is true, I am sure, that most single men of ANY age who visit Thailand as a tourist where Pattaya, Bangkok and Chiang Mai are the main attractions are here for the joining of bodily juices for a price.

 

I am in agreement with many posters here that the sex trade will again flourish when things normalise a bit because it is in the psyche of Westerners to know there are, and always have been, many beautiful alluring females (and a few others) that are ready, willing and able to cater for their needs and desires.

 

The whole thing of girlies selling themselves is illegal but the Authorities turn a blind eye because it is a serious contribution to the Tourist Industry as a whole, but nobody dare quote a percentage for fearing that they will be seen to condone it!

[CG1 Blue]

5 hours ago, JonnyF said:

Anyone who thinks the government is incapable of killing off Pattaya should take a look at Khaosarn Road.

 

By trying to make it 'better' they took away the very thing that made it popular. 

 

One day they might realize that the best thing they can do is leave things alone. If something isn't popular it will eventually die a natural death and be replaced by something that people want. If it isn't broken then don't try to fix it. 

Exactly right. I've always loved spending a couple of days and nights on Khao San Road. The whole shambolic feel about the place, the sounds, the smells, people watching, all the newbie backpackers getting their first taste of Thailand. It was a beautiful crazy mess and I loved it. 

 

It's a pain in the arris to get to, but I would make that effort for the old KSR. Would I make that effort to go there now it's just an ordinary street? No I wouldn't, and I can't imagine any tourist would. 

 

I'm more of a Samui man than a Pattaya man, but I would still be gutted if they rip the heart and soul out of Pattaya as they did with KSR. 

[Jiggo]

10 hours ago, Fex Bluse said:

Everyone plays so coy. Pattaya will be successful as long as there are tens of thousands of pretty girls selling themselves. 

 

Nothing else matters from its side. 

And a few ugly ones....

[Lemonltr]

8 hours ago, NanLaew said:

 

Does it really? Being fully vaccinated is purely a personal protection that should reduce the severity of the symptoms of any infection. Being double-shotted does not prevent you catching it or spreading it and offers no protections to others, vaccinated or otherwise.

 

Vaccine 101.

Reliable figures have been published stating that low viral doses in the nose of fully vaccinated make them more unlikely to pass covid on. Encl another chart. 

[sezze]

6 hours ago, DTL2014 said:

i'm desperate to fly with my family to uk and return to thailand when things have improved...so i dont agree because there are too many families that have been forcefully separated by these travel restrictions

I did say that people with relatives and business people will always come no matter what . They aren't tourists . Tourists without any bond to any country just on the purpose of holiday  are the ones we talk about . You think that a family without any family in Thailand , without any friends in Thailand , without any particular bond , will come now to Thailand ? You must be working for Tourism Authority Thailand . Families choose this year to go on holiday , but do stay closer to home , any country nearby . Western families from Europe , will not go on a 12h flight , with lots of paperwork , risks , lots of costs , to spend their 2-3 weeks yearly holiday . They will go to Spain , France , Greece , Italy , Portugal ...

[andy3000]

Reopening?? They keep condo pools closed. Not a single shred of evidence these help spread the virus.This is the stupidest idea ever. Last night on Pattaya beach groups of unmasked people, up to 15 or 20 in a group, socializing- all this is OK. Having 1-2 people in a pool cleaned with chlorine - which, as every 5th grader knows, kills the virus-is a no-no.This genius idea is worthy of the Nobel Prize for Medicine. Thailand has been saved.

[The Hammer2021]

12 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Millions of males in the world want to come.

Lockdowns, divorces and bad relationships they want to escape their purgatory lives and be here.

The 2 week millionaires do in fact provide a plus to the economy in many ways ie: airlines, restaurants, hotels, transportation, domestic travel/activities, etc.  Not just girls in bars.

 

I do not see Pattaya's demise.  

 

I'm here. I do

[The Hammer2021]

17 minutes ago, andy3000 said:

Reopening?? They keep condo pools closed. Not a single shred of evidence these help spread the virus.This is the stupidest idea ever. Last night on Pattaya beach groups of unmasked people, up to 15 or 20 in a group, socializing- all this is OK. Having 1-2 people in a pool cleaned with chlorine - which, as every 5th grader knows, kills the virus-is a no-no.This genius idea is worthy of the Nobel Prize for Medicine. Thailand has been saved.

My pool and my friends  pool is open. The idea behind the closing is the  socializing poolside negates social distancing. 

[KhaoYai]

14 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

The 2 week millionaires do in fact provide a plus to the economy in many ways ie: airlines, restaurants, hotels, transportation, domestic travel/activities, etc.  Not just girls in bars.

And for years to come - after they fall in love on their first trip, dash back home, sell everything and return to 'paradise', well, at least until the money runs out.

 

Seriously though, its a fact that foreigners spend far more in Thailand than any calculation regarding tourism can ever take account of. A few make it work, most fail but they all spend gazillions of baht every year trying.  Re-brand Pattaya and get rid of those guys?  Bye bye Pattaya, sorry 'Neo Pattaya' ????.

 

Families will love it there, all those picturesque beaches, palm trees and the beautiful turquoise sea................I can imagine the brochures.... coming soon 'The Shangri-la Pattaya'. Yeah right!

Edited June 8, 2021 by KhaoYai