Yea Yea we all know the current sad tourist situation in Pattaya.....

 

But I am shocked at how DEAD Central has become...I was there at 3-4 PM yesterday...

 

Almost the entire front of the mall towards 2nd road is vacant....Almost all the outside businesses are closed..

The food court (or what's left of it) has 2 or 3 food booths left open...I ate there yesterday, pork

with rice.....You almost can't screw that up, yet somehow they did, and I felt my 50 baht meal was way

overpriced....

 

The rest of the mall still has open shops, but almost no people at all in the mall....And I do mean like

seriously dead...

 

But they do have a cute petting zoo there now with goats,birds, rabbits..... etc 

 

They must have spent a fortune remodeling that mall..

I think Pattaya could have one less mall if things don't pick up there one of these days...

 

Even before covid, the amount of foot traffic in that mall was pretty sad.  Terminal 21 just outshines it in every way and its a 5 minute walk away.

Big C always used to be busy, but I haven't been in much during Covid. Big C Extra on Klang has more choice.

TBH, I am surprised any of the malls have customers.

Most of them are full of over priced garbage which your average Thai simply can't afford right now.

Everything in them is available elsewhere, without the inconvenience traffic wise of getting there, and at much better prices, which is obvious given the rent for the mall. Not to mention the police checkpoints fleecing potential visitors too often.

I can't comment on T21 being better than Central having never been there. Honestly can't come up with a reason to bother. They are not going to have anything worth the effort, as none of them ever do. Malls here are dying, because they are expensive, boring and predictable. Same stuff, different location. Not much new.

The only thing I ever bought in Central was a 60 inch TV, on a one day special at a price I couldn't refuse.

Two vaccines I got there also for which I am grateful, especially as they were gratis. Thank You Thailand for that.

If there is anything in there worth eating I honestly haven't found it, (and in 2 vaccine waiting sessions, I did look), though I am a tad fussy, though only on quality, not price. My average lunch bill is 200-400 Baht, in a 10-20 minute radius and nothing in any mall I have ever visited can compete on quality, price or convenience of getting in and out.

I mean, why would you spend more time to get to somewhere which has more inconvenience, higher prices and lower quality (foodwise) than what is on your doorstep?

 

 

2 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

I mean, why would you spend more time to get to somewhere which has more inconvenience, higher prices and lower quality (foodwise) than what is on your doorstep?

Free air conditioning.

 

50 Thai Baht meal over priced?  You must be a sinister cheapskate.   Reminds me of someone  pay 150thb for a shirt and complains of the quality.   What do you expect  when you pay for something  cheaply  made? You Get the quality  you pay for.  Why do you think people dont buy cheap Chinese  knock offs?  Because, its cheaply made like the 50thb meal you ate, cheaply  made and will never be more than that at that price.  If you're  gonna be a cheapskate  and pay for cheap products  then you should not complain.   But Central Marina has been dead for over two years now and so has the area court yard out front.  Pattaya is still just a tourist trap over priced full of people waiting to exploit the tourist  and any locals that arent adapt at its game.  So whats your point?  Many dead ghosts  places around there now!

Falangs beating a dead horse, if the situation is not good, man up and move on. "Crying" on any level is a joke...

48 minutes ago, WEBBYB808 said:

50 Thai Baht meal over priced?  You must be a sinister cheapskate.   Reminds me of someone  pay 150thb for a shirt and complains of the quality.   What do you expect  when you pay for something  cheaply  made? You Get the quality  you pay for.  Why do you think people dont buy cheap Chinese  knock offs?  Because, its cheaply made like the 50thb meal you ate, cheaply  made and will never be more than that at that price.  If you're  gonna be a cheapskate  and pay for cheap products  then you should not complain.   But Central Marina has been dead for over two years now and so has the area court yard out front.  Pattaya is still just a tourist trap over priced full of people waiting to exploit the tourist  and any locals that arent adapt at its game.  So whats your point?  Many dead ghosts  places around there now!

The point is this is a Major mall that is showing no signs of recovery at all....And seems to be going from bad to worse to worse, which puts its future into question...

8 hours ago, bbko said:

Falangs beating a dead horse, if the situation is not good, man up and move on. "Crying" on any level is a joke.

YAWN......We are not crying, we are YAWNING  at you...

What about harbor mall?

37 minutes ago, EdrigoSalvadore said:

What about harbor mall?

Things don't make sense here, like malls staying open when you would expect them to close, like Harbor mall, Central Marina, Royal Gardens.

 

I don't go to Central Festival or T21 anymore either, previously only for food anyway

6 hours ago, redwood1 said:

The point is this is a Major mall that is showing no signs of recovery at all....And seems to be going from bad to worse to worse, which puts its future into question...

The owners can easily afford to keep it open plus they must see a rosy future post Covid; maybe have knowledge that we do not. Many developments due and ongoing on 2nd Rd. 

2 hours ago, EdrigoSalvadore said:

What about harbor mall?

Harbor mall has been dead since the day it opened....

 

Royal Garden seems to be doing a bit better...

2 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Things don't make sense here, like malls staying open when you would expect them to close, like Harbor mall, Central Marina, Royal Gardens.

 

I don't go to Central Festival or T21 anymore either, previously only for food anyway

The mall owners have to be giving away almost free rent in some of the more dead malls....Or the renters would leave..

Solo I go to Central Mall for the movies. As a family we go there for name brand clothing items and of course lunch at the buffet (all you can eat) places. Aka has the BBQ grill for meats vs the boiling broth. 

10 hours ago, redwood1 said:

But they do have a cute petting zoo there now with goats,birds, rabbits..... etc 

A heavy petting section would probably pull in more punters.

10 hours ago, champers said:

Big C always used to be busy, but I haven't been in much during Covid. Big C Extra on Klang has more choice.

Big-CX Mall seems to do okay, although I only go at weekends. Harbor Mall is another that is dead, and of course the Avenue struggles. 

4 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Big-CX Mall seems to do okay, although I only go at weekends. Harbor Mall is another that is dead, and of course the Avenue struggles. 

The Bay, by Soi 5 on Beach Rd, is the biggest flop of the lot. They have struggled for tenants ever since they opened. Prime spot, mind.

14 hours ago, darksidedog said:

can't comment on T21 being better than Central having never been there. Honestly can't come up with a reason to bother.

The food court in T21 is excellent. 

4 hours ago, champers said:

The Bay, by Soi 5 on Beach Rd, is the biggest flop of the lot. They have struggled for tenants ever since they opened. Prime spot, mind.

 

Payback for blocking the view of those who bought one of those rooms behind, advertised for 1 M baht at the time.

Yes, there is almost no one at Central Marina.  Which is why I go there practically everyday.  Your info. about the food court is false there are 5 stalls open there,  not 2 or 3.

Also, the weekends are busier and it is popular mostly with Thai people.  When the movies were open, they were all Thai language occasionally one in English.

 

13 hours ago, redwood1 said:

The point is this is a Major mall that is showing no signs of recovery at all....And seems to be going from bad to worse to worse, which puts its future into question...

And yet they are building an almost identical  Terminal  21 almost across the street from the other.  I guess they are expecting more than just tourist  to return oneday.  Or perhaps  building  empty  buildings like tge ones in China, and tgeir empty cities is the way of the future.  Unless one is the major builder and eventually  goes bust or bankrupt like the one in. China.

4 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Yes, there is almost no one at Central Marina.  Which is why I go there practically everyday.  Your info. about the food court is false there are 5 stalls open there,  not 2 or 3.

Also, the weekends are busier and it is popular mostly with Thai people.  When the movies were open, they were all Thai language occasionally one in English.

 

rammed

18 minutes ago, smedly said:

rammed

You mean all the people in the food court picture above?

4 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Yes, there is almost no one at Central Marina.  Which is why I go there practically everyday.  Your info. about the food court is false there are 5 stalls open there,  not 2 or 3.

Also, the weekends are busier and it is popular mostly with Thai people.  When the movies were open, they were all Thai language occasionally one in English.

 

I did not count the 2 stand alone french fry ladys as a food stalls so I am pretty sure that puts the numbers back , but I would have to double check on that.....Never the less whatever the exact number is..... Central Marinas food court is almost completely dead except for these last holdouts...

I don't go to shopping malls, never have never will.

1 hour ago, smedly said:

rammed

Yes, some members count the person taking the photo and declare the mall, "rammed."  ????

 

The problem is there are not enough malls in Pattaya, but the Thai's are moving fast to address this issue.  

 

Without enough malls, Pattaya can not be called "a hub for malls" and until Pattaya can become a hub for malls, all the malls will suffer.

 

This is why they are planning to build more malls here.  

 

Malls are like beer bars.  The more you build, the more the people will come.  

 

                                          ????  ????

12 hours ago, Golden Triangle said:

I don't go to shopping malls, never have never will.

Okay.............

On 4/1/2022 at 6:36 AM, redwood1 said:

The mall owners have to be giving away almost free rent in some of the more dead malls....Or the renters would leave..

     If they're smart that's exactly what the mall owners should be doing during this time of covid.  That's the best way to prevent stores from closing and to protect their customer base.  Once too many stores close, customers have no reason to visit a mall--and they stop visiting, which makes things even worse and leads to even more stores closing.  That's what happened with Harbor--which my partner and I used to shop at.  There was no longer any 'there there' and we never go anymore. 

    The new, front part of Marina is certainly dead--that area needs lots of tourists that aren't here yet.  The original part of Marina is not busy but, after two years of covid, the majority of the stores are still open--they must be getting enough minimal business to keep going.  It helps to have Big C bringing in some shoppers--my partner and I shop there--and I think some Thai shoppers prefer Marina to some of the other malls.