Pattaya city hosts art events to encourage its tourist attraction

[thaibeachlovers]

On 11/27/2021 at 12:25 AM, snoop1130 said:

the city's citizens, who work in tourist-dependent professions, complained that still no sign of foreign tourists in Pattaya even though the event already reached its fourth week.

I think most of us on here can say "I told you so"! Feels good to be so right.

 

The only "art" in Pattaya that many farangs and western tourists want to see is scantily clothed and draped around a chrome pole.

[Leaver]

On 11/29/2021 at 7:59 AM, newnative said:

   Certainly some did come just for the day, as did many locals.   But they likely had to eat a couple meals and maybe do some shopping while they waited for the fireworks in the evening.  With all the hotel rooms I saw lit up, many stayed for the weekend to watch both shows.  Didn't get to T21 but Central was pretty busy on Sunday.   If you went into Pattaya I think you would agree it was quite busy Friday thru Sunday.  I know, next you'll say they all brought their own food with them and nobody bought a single thing while they were here so the whole event was a waste.  But, that wasn't my observation.  

 

I agree, it was busy, but hardly the "high end" tourism that Pattaya is seeking to attract.  Sitting on the beach is free.  Alcohol from 7/11 and cheap eats from food cart vendors is not exactly a great boost to the local economy, but yes, better than nothing in these harsh economic times.

 

Question:  Would the majority of the crowd that attended still do what they did, outside covid times?  I suggest they would, so not a whole lot of money in them.  

 

As mentioned, Central is great for an air conditioned short cut between 2nd Road and Beach Road.  Pedestrian traffic doesn't mean much without the cash registers ticking over.  

 

Edited December 4, 2021 by Leaver

[newnative]

4 hours ago, Leaver said:

 

I agree, it was busy, but hardly the "high end" tourism that Pattaya is seeking to attract.  Sitting on the beach is free.  Alcohol from 7/11 and cheap eats from food cart vendors is not exactly a great boost to the local economy, but yes, better than nothing in these harsh economic times.

 

Question:  Would the majority of the crowd that attended still do what they did, outside covid times?  I suggest they would, so not a whole lot of money in them.  

 

As mentioned, Central is great for an air conditioned short cut between 2nd Road and Beach Road.  Pedestrian traffic doesn't mean much without the cash registers ticking over.  

 

     As always, a limited view, with, as always, a pessimistic slant.   According to you, the massive crowds only shopped at 7-11 or food carts and then sat on the beach for free.  Hardly the 'high end tourism' Pattaya is seeking, you say.  

     The reality, of course, was much different.  Yes, likely many did shop at 7-11 and food carts--all to the good, by the way, for those types of enterprises.  But, lots of visitors also filled the restaurants and also the hotels, something you made no mention of.  And, not just the big hotels but many of the smaller ones, as well.  It was nice to look out from my balcony and see so many lights on at all the hotels in view, after so many lockdown evenings of few lights.

     Just one example.  Across from my condo is a small, boutique hotel.  Some months ago the owner created 'Virgin Pattaya' on the rooftop of his hotel.  It's a very nice two-level restaurant with a water feature and some fun areas for taking selfies. 

    I admired him for making the investment at the height of covid.   Business was so-so and then completely collapsed with the lockdown.  Last weekend, while some visitors were sitting on the beach for free, the hotel owner across the street had customers for his hotel and a full house each evening for Virgin Pattaya.  Again, nice to see.   I suspect it was the same for a number of other businesses such as his.   A-01, a much bigger hotel, also had busy roof deck fireworks festivities.  Dusit, also, with its open areas by the shore.

     And, yes, no need to remind me that special events and weekend visitors will not be enough to sustain Pattaya.  We all know that.  But, domestic visitors starting to return for stays in Pattaya after the lockdown is still a positive, in a time with too few of them.

[thaibeachlovers]

16 hours ago, newnative said:

     As always, a limited view, with, as always, a pessimistic slant.   According to you, the massive crowds only shopped at 7-11 or food carts and then sat on the beach for free.  Hardly the 'high end tourism' Pattaya is seeking, you say.  

     The reality, of course, was much different.  Yes, likely many did shop at 7-11 and food carts--all to the good, by the way, for those types of enterprises.  But, lots of visitors also filled the restaurants and also the hotels, something you made no mention of.  And, not just the big hotels but many of the smaller ones, as well.  It was nice to look out from my balcony and see so many lights on at all the hotels in view, after so many lockdown evenings of few lights.

     Just one example.  Across from my condo is a small, boutique hotel.  Some months ago the owner created 'Virgin Pattaya' on the rooftop of his hotel.  It's a very nice two-level restaurant with a water feature and some fun areas for taking selfies. 

    I admired him for making the investment at the height of covid.   Business was so-so and then completely collapsed with the lockdown.  Last weekend, while some visitors were sitting on the beach for free, the hotel owner across the street had customers for his hotel and a full house each evening for Virgin Pattaya.  Again, nice to see.   I suspect it was the same for a number of other businesses such as his.   A-01, a much bigger hotel, also had busy roof deck fireworks festivities.  Dusit, also, with its open areas by the shore.

     And, yes, no need to remind me that special events and weekend visitors will not be enough to sustain Pattaya.  We all know that.  But, domestic visitors starting to return for stays in Pattaya after the lockdown is still a positive, in a time with too few of them.

I get the impression from your posts that you would like to see the end of barbeers/ gogos, happy ending massage places etc ie the end of Pattaya as it used to be and a new boring place with rich tourists eating at restaurants and ? during the day.

One wonders why you wanted to live in Pattaya in the first place.

Surely Hua Hin would have suited you better, it's had virtually no adult entertainment beyond a few sad bars, and loads of restaurants.

[BritManToo]

28 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Surely Hua Hin would have suited you better, it's had virtually no adult entertainment beyond a few sad bars, and loads of restaurants.

My pals and I always found plenty of adult entertainment in Hua Hin.

[Leaver]

20 hours ago, newnative said:

According to you, the massive crowds only shopped at 7-11 or food carts and then sat on the beach for free. 

Most did.  Do you deny this?

 

20 hours ago, newnative said:

The reality, of course, was much different.  Yes, likely many did shop at 7-11 and food carts-

 

Quite the contradiction.

 

20 hours ago, newnative said:

But, lots of visitors also filled the restaurants and also the hotels,

 

Sure, but was that the majority?  I think not.  Are you suggesting it was?

 

20 hours ago, newnative said:

 And, yes, no need to remind me that special events and weekend visitors will not be enough to sustain Pattaya.  We all know that.  But, domestic visitors starting to return for stays in Pattaya after the lockdown is still a positive, in a time with too few of them.

 

I agree, it is a positive, but as you say, domestic tourism will not sustain Pattaya, so where to for Pattaya in the future?  

 

[newnative]

10 minutes ago, Leaver said:

Most did.  Do you deny this?

 

 

Quite the contradiction.

 

 

Sure, but was that the majority?  I think not.  Are you suggesting it was?

 

 

I agree, it is a positive, but as you say, domestic tourism will not sustain Pattaya, so where to for Pattaya in the future?  

 

   I don't know or care what percentage shopped at 7-11.  My point remains that many also dined at restaurants and many also stayed at the hotels.  Where to for Pattaya in the future?  Likely the same for any large tourist city that needs both international and domestic visitors--waiting for borders to re-open and large numbers to start traveling again.  

[newnative]

5 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I get the impression from your posts that you would like to see the end of barbeers/ gogos, happy ending massage places etc ie the end of Pattaya as it used to be and a new boring place with rich tourists eating at restaurants and ? during the day.

One wonders why you wanted to live in Pattaya in the first place.

Surely Hua Hin would have suited you better, it's had virtually no adult entertainment beyond a few sad bars, and loads of restaurants.

      Mostly with my posts I report what I am observing in Pattaya.  I do think a lot of the new development has been positive and I welcome having more choices for housing, health care, retail shopping of all kinds, restaurants, entertainments, etc., than I did when I arrived in 2010.

       I don't hang out in beer bars and I don't go to the gogos, massage places, etc.  Just not my thing.  As I've stated a number of times, with a number of reasons given, you can live a very nice life in Pattaya and never go in any of those places.  And, never set a foot on Walking Street or Soi 6.  You might also be confusing a bit a tourist visit to Pattaya vs. someone married living here year-round. 

      I like living in a beach town and prefer Pattaya's proximity to Bangkok and the airport vs. Hua Hin.  Visited Hua Hin several times but did not like the property choices for seaview, which I wanted, and did not like the drive to Bangkok.  Pattaya to Bangkok is a breeze in comparison..

     I mentioned in a recent post to you that Pattaya will likely always have the  nightlife component and it will likely always be an important component, but not the main component.  I think this is overall a good thing for Pattaya's future.   

[connda]

How about a Tea Tasting Festival.  That's should be a hit!!!

[connda]

On 11/28/2021 at 10:04 PM, Chelseafan said:

If I wanted Culture, cuisine and heritgae in Thailand, I'd head to Chiang Mai

The government cut CM's heart out economically.  Hell, even major hotels can't cut it anymore.  Boarded up shops and For Sale signs everywhere. Cultural-Wasteland is more like it.

It significantly cut the traffic down though.  That's a plus. 

[thaibeachlovers]

13 hours ago, newnative said:

   I don't know or care what percentage shopped at 7-11.  My point remains that many also dined at restaurants and many also stayed at the hotels.  Where to for Pattaya in the future?  Likely the same for any large tourist city that needs both international and domestic visitors--waiting for borders to re-open and large numbers to start traveling again.  

Good luck with that if there isn't any night life, other than the Chinese, which apparently came for the sea food on Larn.

It'd be like Blackpool without the fun fair- just another dump with a bad beach. At least Blackpool had trams, while Pattaya has traffic jams and broken pavements, and one has to run for their life to cross the road without getting run down.

[thaibeachlovers]

12 hours ago, newnative said:

      Mostly with my posts I report what I am observing in Pattaya.  I do think a lot of the new development has been positive and I welcome having more choices for housing, health care, retail shopping of all kinds, restaurants, entertainments, etc., than I did when I arrived in 2010.

       I don't hang out in beer bars and I don't go to the gogos, massage places, etc.  Just not my thing.  As I've stated a number of times, with a number of reasons given, you can live a very nice life in Pattaya and never go in any of those places.  And, never set a foot on Walking Street or Soi 6.  You might also be confusing a bit a tourist visit to Pattaya vs. someone married living here year-round. 

      I like living in a beach town and prefer Pattaya's proximity to Bangkok and the airport vs. Hua Hin.  Visited Hua Hin several times but did not like the property choices for seaview, which I wanted, and did not like the drive to Bangkok.  Pattaya to Bangkok is a breeze in comparison..

     I mentioned in a recent post to you that Pattaya will likely always have the  nightlife component and it will likely always be an important component, but not the main component.  I think this is overall a good thing for Pattaya's future.   

I've visited and lived in Pattaya so very very familiar with the city.

Yes, one can live there without going to a bar or gogo, but why are you so keen for such to end?

Pattaya exists BECAUSE of the bars, bargirls/ boys. It didn't emerge fully grown and then become populated with the bars.

I know city hall wants to end the nightlife so they can attract a richer demographic , but I don't get why farangs would want to change it to a wowser place when they had the opportunity to live elsewhere- smacks of dog in the mangerism to me.

 

[thaibeachlovers]

12 hours ago, newnative said:

I welcome having more choices for housing, health care, retail shopping of all kinds, restaurants, entertainments, etc.,

Serious question. What "entertainment" was available just before corona that wasn't there 20 years ago?

[connda]

3 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Good luck with that if there isn't any night life, other than the Chinese, which apparently came for the sea food on Larn.

In Chiang Mai even those huge buffets the Chinese loved are now closes and out of business.

[connda]

3 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Good luck with that if there isn't any night life, other than the Chinese, which apparently came for the sea food on Larn.

It'd be like Blackpool without the fun fair- just another dump with a bad beach. At least Blackpool had trams, while Pattaya has traffic jams and broken pavements, and one has to run for their life to cross the road without getting run down.

I fell in love with Pattaya in the 1980s.  Left and didn't return until 2007 when I took a trip to Pattaya to revisit those fond memories.  I stayed less than 24 hours and left.  I doubt that it's become a better place in the last 14 years.  These people don't understand that the "wealthy, well-heeled" folks that Thailand is seeking aren't interested in third-world s***-h***s.

I understand what the Thai puuyai, big-wigs, and TAT poster-boys don't:
You can embrace and promote a Covid New Normal which will permanently destroy your tourism; or
You can re-embrace Old Normal tourism, ditch the Covid "New Normal", and learn to live with the virus as the human immune system does what it has done since the dawn of man - adapt.

And this isn't just Thailand - it's globally.  I fully expect the government and media stoked continuing fear of Covid and 'new variants' to extend into 2025 if not beyond.  It's not ending anytime soon.
I've said it before: You were promised a New Normal in March 2020 and this (look around you) is the promised New Normal - the destruction of everything that used to be.
This doesn't end anytime soon.

[jacko45k]

5 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Serious question. What "entertainment" was available just before corona that wasn't there 20 years ago?

Those Turkish guys making ice-cream complicated.

[newnative]

8 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I've visited and lived in Pattaya so very very familiar with the city.

Yes, one can live there without going to a bar or gogo, but why are you so keen for such to end?

Pattaya exists BECAUSE of the bars, bargirls/ boys. It didn't emerge fully grown and then become populated with the bars.

I know city hall wants to end the nightlife so they can attract a richer demographic , but I don't get why farangs would want to change it to a wowser place when they had the opportunity to live elsewhere- smacks of dog in the mangerism to me.

 

     Missed my last paragraph, I guess.  I'm not 'keen' on the nightlife ending; rather, I'm welcoming all the new developments that are making Pattaya a more attractive tourist destination to a more diverse tourist demographic.  While, at the same time, also making it more attractive to year-round residents.  

[newnative]

8 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Serious question. What "entertainment" was available just before corona that wasn't there 20 years ago?

     Well, let's see.  D'Luck Theater.  Legend Siam.  Cartoon Network Water Park.  Colosseum.  Tiger Park.  Flowerland.  Dolphinarium.  Ramayana Water Park.  Nongnooch Gardens entertainment halls.  Floating Market.  Art in Paradise.  Underwater World aquarium.  Pattaya Easykart.  Bowling at Central Festival.  Movie theaters at Festival and T21.  New park with a bike/walking trail around Lake Mabprachan.  New golf courses, including one by Silver Lake.  Probably a number of nightlife venues.  

     Likely I missed some but there's those Google websites I mentioned in an earlier post.  One of the things I like about the proposed  Aquatique is there will be a number of entertainment elements, which that part of Pattaya Beach needs more of.