So, What Would You Do To Improve Pattaya?

[Heng]

The only thing I was really missing was a Central, Villa Market, and a Major Cineplex... and I got all three of those wishes (almost for Central, but soon enough). Hopefully they'll keep it as well stocked as Ladprao and/or Chidlom.... and not like Bangna, Rama II, etc.

[britmaveric]

Bury the electrical lines, but dare say that means digging things up and I fear this might be a lifetime project.

[basjke]

Bury the electrical lines, but dare say that means digging things up and I fear this might be a lifetime project.

Isn't that a project that was supposed to be finished end of last year?Or was it the year before,or the the year before that,or the year......?

[britmaveric]

Well took them years to repave second/beach rd. No doubt prob time to dig up these roads once again.

[joe552]

Jingthing - as a gay man I found your hysterical response to the suggestion to close Sunee Plaza laughable. Where was yaba use mentioned in the 3 phrases "build more bars, bring more women, close Sunee Plaza"?

[Jingthing]

Jingthing - as a gay man I found your hysterical response to the suggestion to close Sunee Plaza laughable. Where was yaba use mentioned in the 3 phrases "build more bars, bring more women, close Sunee Plaza"?

Why would people want to close Sunnee Plaza. Think about it.

Hint: It is not known for its art museums.

Edited August 16, 2008 by Jingthing

[roygsd]

Everyone ( justifiably ) complains about the negative side of Pattaya, but imagine if you had the chance to really change things to make Pattaya better. What would you do? ( We can dream, can't we? )

For myself, I'd close Beach Road from Central Road to South Road from 4pm everyday, to encourage bars and restaurants to put out tables and start a "cafe culture".

Build a proper "soundshell" entertainment complex with tiered seating, on the beach, near Central Road. Have free bands every Saturday evening.

I'd ban all parking on Beach Road and use the extra space to expand the land side pavement, plus put in a cycle path alongside the walkway ( then put in anti bike obstacles to prevent those dangerous cyclists on the walkway itself ).

Get rid of the sandbanks on the walkway, widen the path, put in drainage and install lots more decent seating.

Build some Public Toilets ( get the hotels to adopt them, to keep clean and maintained )

Widen Second Road to make it a proper 2 way road instead of the stupid one way system at present.

Either put in pedestrian crossings with working traffic lights, or build overhead pedestrian bridges.

Designate a zone for bars of all sorts, and then let them operate 24/7 ( as they decided for their own needs ), and provide adult entertainment for adults ( within the law ). I know that there is supposed to be zoning already, but it's a joke, at present.

Have a dedicated group of law enforcement officers ( tourist police? ) the only ones allowed to patrol within the entertainment area to prevent scams.

Relocate that awful stinking sewage plant next to the Walking Street entrance.

Really develop the promenade past the Bali Hai boat park.

Have a regular bus route to the top of the hill, so you could visit the temple and the lookout without being ripped off by the baht busses.

Ban all future large scale developments from Central Road to the hill, and from 3rd Road to the beach.

Cut baht bus numbers by 50%.

Hi,

Clean up the sea and beaches for a start.

Make the Promanade a feature for the evenings rather than the no go area it is today.

Get rid of all the beer bars between beach road and the road that run parrallel to it ( 2nd road?) and provide family orientated hotels and facilities, single guys are not there for the beach scene and moving the bar scene back a road is not going to be a hardship for the guys, most have travelled around the world to gt to these bars so another few yards will not be a hardship, location is not what they are there for.

End dual pricing, increase the cost of baht bus's and drive the mororbike taxi's off the road.

Get rid of the Tourist Police, they are as much use as an empty fire extingisher and just as dangerous.

Get rid of time share touts but keep the street pedlars they add to the holiday scene.

Roy gsd

[roygsd]

I had a college professor once in San Francisco who said that the great earthquake of 1906 which destroyed the entire city was the best thing that ever happened to San Francisco.

Pattaya is an eyesore.

Any chance of a great earthquake here?

Hi

Be careful what you wish for, I hear that the earth move's regularly for many in Patatta already .

roy gsd

[thaibeachlovers]

If you run out of ideas, this thread on the same subject (more or less) should help out: If I Was The New Pattaya Mayor, I would...

I find it kind of funny that (most) people came to Pattaya while it was very similar to what it is like now, and want to change it into something else.

Kind of like those people that buy properties (usually cheaply) near airports, then try to get the airports shut down (or get compensation for the noise, knowing full well beforehand that they were going to be living next to an airport fer christsakes !).

Or buy homes (cheaply) near a shooting range and then try to get the range closed (which would probably/possibly raise their property values of course).

In Canada, a lot of the "hippy" generation took up residence in the Gulf Islands between the mainland and Vancouver Island. Now they have nice homes worth a lot of money, and want to prevent any other development as they fear their property values will go down (funny how that wasn't a concern when they were doing their own developing of course).

Yes, there are things that could be done to improve the city, but to try and change everything so it's more "like home" ? Sheesh, if I wanted to live in a boring "Blighty by the Sea" kind of city, I would have moved to one.

A lot of people forget though, that to live in a nice, clean ("family-friendly") city with decent services, working infrastructure and

everything that they're used to "back home" costs money !

That means taxes (on everyone, not just the locals). Higher prices. More restrictions (can't have all that without some properly enforced standards and regulations).

Suddenly, everything starts looking just like the place you left, which begs one to consider, if everything back there was so great.......(you know the rest).

Hi Kerry,

I came long enough ago to remember when it was a smaller, more relaxed place, and it has changed since then, so my suggestions ( not that I have any illusions that they would happen- I did say I was dreaming ) are to make the monster that it has become a more pleasant place. No matter what changes happened, I would never imagine that I was back "home"!

The only suggestion I made that would entail a LOT of money would be widening 2nd Road, and it's going to have to happen sometime. The soundshell could be sponsored by an hotel chain or resort.

As for "if everything back there was so great"; when they have a bar/ girl scene back home just like the one in Pattaya I, for one, will not be travelling half way around the world for my holidays, or do you think we go to Pattaya for the beach and temples?

<For myself, I'd close Beach Road from Central Road to South Road from 4pm everyday, to encourage bars and restaurants to put out tables and start a "cafe culture".>

Who wouldn't want to have a relaxing drink in the open air?

<Build a proper "soundshell" entertainment complex with tiered seating, on the beach, near Central Road.>

They already have entertainments there from time to time. A proper stage and seating would allow more people to enjoy.

<I'd ban all parking on Beach Road and use the extra space to expand the land side pavement, plus put in a cycle path alongside the walkway>

No one could possibly say Beach Road is OK the way it is.

<Get rid of the sandbanks on the walkway, widen the path, put in drainage and install lots more decent seating.>

If having a decent walkway is making it more like "home", that's OK with me.

<Build some Public Toilets ( get the hotels to adopt them, to keep clean and maintained )>

Much needed.

<Widen Second Road to make it a proper 2 way road instead of the stupid one way system at present.>

This would entail a lot of money, but it's going to have to happen sometime, anyway, so why not now?

<Either put in pedestrian crossings with working traffic lights, or build overhead pedestrian bridges.>

The current lack of safe crossings is just insane.

<Designate a zone for bars of all sorts, and then let them operate 24/7 ( as they decided for their own needs ), and provide adult entertainment for adults ( within the law ).>

Pretty obvious.

<Relocate that awful stinking sewage plant next to the Walking Street entrance.>

Unless you enjoy sewage smell.

<Really develop the promenade past the Bali Hai boat park.>

Could be a real asset if developed.

<Have a regular bus route to the top of the hill, so you could visit the temple and the lookout without being ripped off by the baht busses.>

Makes sense to me.

<Ban all future large scale developments from Central Road to the hill, and from 3rd Road to the beach.>

If only.

<Cut baht bus numbers by 50%.>

Everyone wants less baht busses on the roads.

[Robski]

2 for 1 happy hours in Soi 6.

[Kerryd]

2 for 1 happy hours in Soi 6.

2 for 1......whats ? Drinks ? Books from the library ?

Something else perhaps ?

[Shotime]

If you run out of ideas, this thread on the same subject (more or less) should help out: If I Was The New Pattaya Mayor, I would...

I find it kind of funny that (most) people came to Pattaya while it was very similar to what it is like now, and want to change it into something else.

Kind of like those people that buy properties (usually cheaply) near airports, then try to get the airports shut down (or get compensation for the noise, knowing full well beforehand that they were going to be living next to an airport fer christsakes !).

Or buy homes (cheaply) near a shooting range and then try to get the range closed (which would probably/possibly raise their property values of course).

In Canada, a lot of the "hippy" generation took up residence in the Gulf Islands between the mainland and Vancouver Island. Now they have nice homes worth a lot of money, and want to prevent any other development as they fear their property values will go down (funny how that wasn't a concern when they were doing their own developing of course).

Yes, there are things that could be done to improve the city, but to try and change everything so it's more "like home" ? Sheesh, if I wanted to live in a boring "Blighty by the Sea" kind of city, I would have moved to one.

A lot of people forget though, that to live in a nice, clean ("family-friendly") city with decent services, working infrastructure and

everything that they're used to "back home" costs money !

That means taxes (on everyone, not just the locals). Higher prices. More restrictions (can't have all that without some properly enforced standards and regulations).

Suddenly, everything starts looking just like the place you left, which begs one to consider, if everything back there was so great.......(you know the rest).

You're right. If you hired an exorcist, and they were successful, the city would lose it's charm.

[CHdiver]

Proper Roads without big holes in them after every rainfall.

[basjke]

For myself, I'd close Beach Road from Central Road to South Road from 4pm everyday, to encourage bars and restaurants to put out tables and start a "cafe culture".

You probably forget they tried that a few years ago and it was a complete disaster.Traffic in the city was unbearable.Also a lot of opposition from business owners on beach road and the general public.

There was a new proposal end of last year which got canceled quickly due to the negative reactions.

[NanLaew]

^ I think what they tried several years ago and re floated briefly a few months back was the closure of ALL Beach road from Friday night through Sunday night. That was/is a recipe for disaster and not the same as tbl is suggesting.

A partial closure of Beach road between Center road to Walking Street may be more productive and less fraught with traffic mayhem as Center road to the beach is a wide 2-way affair so a great big UK style roundabout would work at the beach end and make the north half of Beach road 2-way again. Same for Second Road; it would remain 1-way from South to Central and revert to 2-way from Central to Dolphin. For the 2-way sections of Beach and 2nd, only left turns when exiting from sois thus merging with the flow of traffic would be allowed, ie. no right turns that would stop traffic.

Instead of 100% closure of the lower-half of Beach road, how about pedestrian-only zones or 'islands' between certain soi junctions with Beach road? This way commercial traffic and baht buses could come down to the beach drop-off & pick-up or deliver and then go back up the next soi back on to 2nd Road. That is 2 adjacent sois would be a 1-way but in opposite directions.

Edited August 17, 2008 by NanLaew

[Chaimai]

so a great big UK style roundabout would work at the beach end....

NL, I think your suggestion is a sensible compromise that could be achieved cost-effectively.

The one comment I would challenge is about the roundabout because this is clearly a concept that Thais cannot comprehend (the Spanish had the same problem when they were introduced along the Costa del Sol).

I was going to cite the Dolphin roundabout as evidence (technically now NOT a roundabout) but I can see that you would not have 3 flows (4 with the hotel) coming into a roundabout on Beach Road.

I can't picture the benefit of 2-way traffic on Beach Road from Central to Dolphin because I would think most people would take Second Road from Pattaya Klang or straight on from South Pattaya.

Finally, all bets should be off during Songkran

[NotNew2You]

The only thing I was really missing was a Central, Villa Market, and a Major Cineplex... and I got all three of those wishes...Hopefully they'll keep it as well stocked as Ladprao and/or Chidlom...

That about sums it up for me too. I assume they would as Pattaya is a tourist town and it's their only branch in the area, while the others you mention in Bangkok are secondary branches to their "downtown" stores.

The only other thing I can think of now would be a branch of El Coyote Mexican food from Bangkok (maybe the new Central Mall will have one) and a nice reading room/library like the Neilson Hayes Library in Bangkok [really dreaming here ].

[NotNew2You]

I had a professor in San Francisco who said the earthquake of 1906 was the best thing that ever happened to San Francisco...Pattaya is an eyesore...Any chance of a great earthquake here?

Excuse me...what is it you like about Pattaya and why did you move here?

I have never seen you post a positive word about the place...only negative rants...and now you want to destroy the whole town (I think you odds for a tsunami would be better than an earthquake)!

Is it you boyfriend...is that why you stick it out it a place you don't seem to like? As you appear to be from SFO/California, maybe you could get him a fiancée visa and return to San Francisco and get married (now that gay marriage is legal in California {at least for now}). Would that make you a happier camper?

Edited August 17, 2008 by NotNew2You

[nudnik]

As a retired Police Captain from the United States the first thing I would do fire everyone at the top of the Police Ranks. I would then cull the remaining officers kicking off the force anyone who has shown contempt for the law by demanding bribes, placing drugs on innocent people and anyone involved in corruption from the street officer to secretary. I realize that probably wouldn't leave many men left but I'm sure there are plenty of good people with a good moral foundation who would be willing to take up the mantle.

[Kerryd]

As a retired Police Captain from the United States the first thing I would do fire everyone at the top of the Police Ranks. I would then cull the remaining officers kicking off the force anyone who has shown contempt for the law by demanding bribes, placing drugs on innocent people and anyone involved in corruption from the street officer to secretary. I realize that probably wouldn't leave many men left but I'm sure there are plenty of good people with a good moral foundation who would be willing to take up the mantle.

Nice idea, but I fear your time at the top (in a position that would allow you to make such changes) would be very limited, and your "resignation" would arrive on .38 calibre letterhead.

That said, it is one of the (many) things that could use improvement along with other parts of the infrastucture (water/sewer/roadworks/etc). These are things that could be done, and not adversely effect the character of the city. I think it will be many, many years before we see any of those changes though.

[nudnik]

As a retired Police Captain from the United States the first thing I would do fire everyone at the top of the Police Ranks. I would then cull the remaining officers kicking off the force anyone who has shown contempt for the law by demanding bribes, placing drugs on innocent people and anyone involved in corruption from the street officer to secretary. I realize that probably wouldn't leave many men left but I'm sure there are plenty of good people with a good moral foundation who would be willing to take up the mantle.

Nice idea, but I fear your time at the top (in a position that would allow you to make such changes) would be very limited, and your "resignation" would arrive on .38 calibre letterhead.

That said, it is one of the (many) things that could use improvement along with other parts of the infrastucture (water/sewer/roadworks/etc). These are things that could be done, and not adversely effect the character of the city. I think it will be many, many years before we see any of those changes though.

Corrupt police at top or bottom do not add the character of this "city."

[basjke]

^ I think what they tried several years ago and re floated briefly a few months back was the closure of ALL Beach road from Friday night through Sunday night. That was/is a recipe for disaster and not the same as tbl is suggesting.

A partial closure of Beach road between Center road to Walking Street may be more productive and less fraught with traffic mayhem as Center road to the beach is a wide 2-way affair so a great big UK style roundabout would work at the beach end and make the north half of Beach road 2-way again. Same for Second Road; it would remain 1-way from South to Central and revert to 2-way from Central to Dolphin. For the 2-way sections of Beach and 2nd, only left turns when exiting from sois thus merging with the flow of traffic would be allowed, ie. no right turns that would stop traffic.

Instead of 100% closure of the lower-half of Beach road, how about pedestrian-only zones or 'islands' between certain soi junctions with Beach road? This way commercial traffic and baht buses could come down to the beach drop-off & pick-up or deliver and then go back up the next soi back on to 2nd Road. That is 2 adjacent sois would be a 1-way but in opposite directions.

I think you think wrong.Don't know the exact planswere from a few months ago but what they did several years back was exactly what beach lovers mentions.They closed beach road from soi 8 upwards to walking street and only during the weekend nights.Big opposition against from beach road business owners and they canceled it after a month or so.

[Hobgoblin]

The undisputed way to improve Pattaya is remove every grumpy farang out there who picks apart this place like so many discarded chicken carcasses. Although Pattaya has its problems - we need to accept these issues as mere idiosyncrasies. The fact is, we are all guests here, and those who spend more time complaining about potholes and suit vendors than enjoying themselves should consider going back from where they came, where everything is picture-perfect. It will make them happy, and it will please those here who enjoy Pattaya for what it is. This should cull the farang population by 75%.

Sólo mis dos centavos.

[poshthai]

Build more bars.

Bring more women.

Close Sunee Plaza.

Is this a veiled anti-gay message? Bring more women. So do you mean you think there are too many gays in Pattaya?

Also, the not so subtle implication is that only gays are involved in yaba use and underage violations which are indeed the scourge of Sunnee Plaza, but if you check the local press, there are plenty of heteros involved in underage crimes here as well as gays. You thought you could just unfairly trash gays without anyone commenting?

jingthing,

what the hel_l are you on about.i didnt read the post like you and i am sure most people on here didnt think he was gat bashing.sounds like you are hetro bashing,we can all look into something thats not there.my thoughts of the post was jokular and tongue in cheek and if it was a slur on sunnee i assumed it was because of underage activity there.you could have accuse him of arab bashing but you said gay bashing,may i ask why????

[bangkokrick]

I did not read it like that either poshthai. It seems that jingthing gets pretty touchy and reads things into posts that are in fact not there. Also make you mind up Jing because a mentioned something bad about Pattaya in a previous post and you stood in its defence. It appears to me that you think that you have the sole rights to trash Pattaya!

Cheers, Rick

[thaibeachlovers]

^ I think what they tried several years ago and re floated briefly a few months back was the closure of ALL Beach road from Friday night through Sunday night. That was/is a recipe for disaster and not the same as tbl is suggesting.

A partial closure of Beach road between Center road to Walking Street may be more productive and less fraught with traffic mayhem as Center road to the beach is a wide 2-way affair so a great big UK style roundabout would work at the beach end and make the north half of Beach road 2-way again. Same for Second Road; it would remain 1-way from South to Central and revert to 2-way from Central to Dolphin. For the 2-way sections of Beach and 2nd, only left turns when exiting from sois thus merging with the flow of traffic would be allowed, ie. no right turns that would stop traffic.

Instead of 100% closure of the lower-half of Beach road, how about pedestrian-only zones or 'islands' between certain soi junctions with Beach road? This way commercial traffic and baht buses could come down to the beach drop-off & pick-up or deliver and then go back up the next soi back on to 2nd Road. That is 2 adjacent sois would be a 1-way but in opposite directions.

I think you think wrong.Don't know the exact planswere from a few months ago but what they did several years back was exactly what beach lovers mentions.They closed beach road from soi 8 upwards to walking street and only during the weekend nights.Big opposition against from beach road business owners and they canceled it after a month or so.

Don't forget that there was opposition to closing Walking Street to traffic also, and I doubt anyone would advocate abandoning it now. All change is threatening to some people, and some will be affected, no doubt. The question is, though, will the end result be better than the present? I believe so. City Hall just has to make a decision, and have the political will stick to it. The far end of Walking Street was a disaster for most of the restaurants there after Walking Street was initially closed ( for years, few strollers ventured that far ), but it's now recovered ( with the influx of Russians setting up camp there ).

I don't personally remember the closure of all of Beach Road, but I doubt that there would be a benefit to close from Central to Dolphin. When they closed from Soi 8 to South did they make 2nd Road 2 way from South to Central? If not, no wonder it was a disaster. That would have to happen to make it work properly.

NanLaew's modification of having only sections closed to allow the busses down the sois is an improvement on my original idea. It would lessen opposition, and still achieve the objective of a pleasant outside place to spend an evening by the beach. Walking Street has become too popular to allow a relaxing time with a drink.

[moo9]

As a retired Police Captain from the United States the first thing I would do fire everyone at the top of the Police Ranks. I would then cull the remaining officers kicking off the force anyone who has shown contempt for the law by demanding bribes, placing drugs on innocent people and anyone involved in corruption from the street officer to secretary. I realize that probably wouldn't leave many men left but I'm sure there are plenty of good people with a good moral foundation who would be willing to take up the mantle.

Probably you salary in the US was much higher than the monthly salary of an ordinary Police officer here.

The entire system should be changed, but I assume it would takes decades.

[thaibeachlovers]

The undisputed way to improve Pattaya is remove every grumpy farang out there who picks apart this place like so many discarded chicken carcasses. Although Pattaya has its problems - we need to accept these issues as mere idiosyncrasies. The fact is, we are all guests here, and those who spend more time complaining about potholes and suit vendors than enjoying themselves should consider going back from where they came, where everything is picture-perfect. It will make them happy, and it will please those here who enjoy Pattaya for what it is. This should cull the farang population by 75%.

Sólo mis dos centavos.

Wow, what a good idea to remove 75% of the tourists! There would then only be 25% of the money coming in, most of the Thais would have to leave to find work elsewhere, and you could have the place to yourself. Be pretty boring though.

I'm amazed that you think rip off public transport, corrupt police, muggings, shootings, beatings, thefts, uncrossable streets, cons, garbage everywhere, broken infrastructure, obstructed and dangerous pavements, dangerous traffic, dangerous electrical wiring, getting burned to death in your hotel because the safety doors are chained, noise pollution and sewage smells are idiosyncrasies. Just how bad does it have to get before you call it a problem?

My idea of an idiosyncrasy is walking down a street and having lovely young ladies calling me a "sexy man", when it is plain that I am not!

Why do people keep saying that we are "guests" here ( unless you make your guests pay to stay with you, and treat them badly )? We are PAYING CUSTOMERS. Have you ever heard the expression "The customer is always right"? As CUSTOMERS, we have EVERY RIGHT to complain if things are not up to an acceptable level. The TAT is ASKING us to go to Thailand and spend our money there. At an absolute minimum, it should be a pleasant experience.

At home, if customers get a bad deal from a shop, they complain, word gets around and people stop spending there. Then the shop closes. Those of us that love Pattaya don't want it to close, we want it to get better, so we can keep going back and enjoying it.

The day we are treated as guests in Pattaya is the day we will have no need to complain.

[Jingthing]

I had a professor in San Francisco who said the earthquake of 1906 was the best thing that ever happened to San Francisco...Pattaya is an eyesore...Any chance of a great earthquake here?

Excuse me...what is it you like about Pattaya and why did you move here?

I have never seen you post a positive word about the place...only negative rants...and now you want to destroy the whole town (I think you odds for a tsunami would be better than an earthquake)!

Is it you boyfriend...is that why you stick it out it a place you don't seem to like? As you appear to be from SFO/California, maybe you could get him a fiancée visa and return to San Francisco and get married (now that gay marriage is legal in California {at least for now}). Would that make you a happier camper?

My comment was tongue in cheek. A joke. It was a comment on how hideous the architecture is in Pattaya. The professor was right about San Francisco in 1906. Rebuilding it from scratch created one of the most amazing cities on the planet. That could have not happened easily without that opportunity.

You don't know me if you say I bash Pattaya all the time. I praise it more often than I bash it.

California legal gay marriage which will probably be abolished soon anyway has NOTHING to do with US federal immigration laws. Gay Americans have no civil rights to being back foreign partners. Did you really think they did?

Edited August 17, 2008 by Jingthing

[Jingthing]

About Sunee Plaza, lets be adults about this.

Sunee Plaza is a GAY DISTRICT. The outskirts of it attract Arab tourists, but the actual plaza is without a doubt a GAY DISTRICT.

Evidence? Go there. Or visit suneeplazapattaya website. You will see listed about 30 totally GAY businesses, mostly beer and go go bars.

This is not a fantasy. This is the way it is. Sadly, Sunee Plaza is also the center in Pattaya for underage gay sex crimes and also it is well known (by the police) that many of the sex workers are taking YABA. This is real. This is mixed with legal activities but there is no doubt there is too much illegality going on there.

So when someone says, bring more women and close Sunee Plaza, they are saying CLOSE A MAJOR GAY DISTRICT and bring more playthings for heterosexuals. How else can that be read?

Now, I would like to say, CLEAN UP SUNEE PLAZA is a noble sentiment. But no need to close it. And do you REALLY need even more women in Pattaya?

BTW, I could give a fig if some other gay person disagrees with me. Do you think we all think alike? Jeez!!!

Edited August 17, 2008 by Jingthing