What Will Become Of Pattaya

[unforgiven]

Siem Reap is looking for newcomers! that place is still pretty much the wild, wild west. however, the ganja on the street is horrible!

na siem reap is tame !5 years ago it was cool, now it's disneyland

[Spee]

Som na na....

with all respect, Pattaya is what it is known for. If people don't like it.....why do they stay here?

There are enough choices around the world for "family friendly" resorts.

It was better a few years ago, but after all, the variety of entertainment is great. I cannot understand people constantly bashing the city.

My first time to Pattaya was two weeks ago so my experience is obviously limited, but I tend to agree with your points. It is what it is. I didn't really care for Walking Street too much except for a night of great music in The Blues Factory.

I had fun talking to a few of the working girls at one of the bars in the open bar Muay Thai place next to Walking Street, but it was too loud and crowded for me. Then again, I was pretty tired both nights and didn't want to abuse the free night pass from my Thai partner. I didn't really like having 100-something girls yelling at me to come sit with them, although for a younger guy who was looking to get laid, I could see the appeal.

My Thai partner and I stayed at the Amari Ocean Resort, which was quite nice. We also had a nice time on the beach lounging around and eating. My lady is really chatty and we found a friendly lady working the lounge chair area near Soi 6. So we went there every day to drink beer, eat and relax, and we were well taken care of. Other than the furnishings and surroundings looking a bit old and worn, I thought the beach area was nice (well except for the way overweight sunbathers in way too small swimsuits). I think the various vendors walking around selling som tum/yam mamuang, manicure/pedicure and other things is part of the atmosphere that makes the area interesting.

We went shopping every afternoon, but the prices for clothes, fruit, etc., weren't all that great. The shopping was nice but nothing to write home about. We also had Thai massages every morning and the quality was good and prices reasonable. My girl had her hair done at a small place that took good care of her for a reasonable price.

So I guess my first experience of Pattaya goes like this:

- We had a nice experience. We didn't experience any trouble or problems, but then again, we didn't go looking for them and didn't put ourselves in a position to really be exposed to it.

- Some parts of Pattaya are definitely for the adults and not family oriented, although there seemed to be enough areas that would be nice to have a family holiday. On the other hand, I didn't really like seeing many groups of parents touring their young children up and down Walking Street. I think adult places are for adults, and kids shouldn't be exposed to it.

- Some shops and restaurants were clearly overpriced and expensive, but there were enough reasonably priced places around so it wasn't really an issue.

- The area around our hotel on the north end of the beach was nice. The biggest problem I saw was with the dirt and rubbish just like Bangkok. That is also a common problem observed through Thailand, even up country by our house. Some people tend to just drop their trash anywhere.

- I'm not sure that I'm going to rush back to Pattaya in the next few months, but I will go there again for a holiday sometime. From a visitor/tourist standpoint, I think there are more than enough pro's to outweigh the con's.

- I'm not sure that I would ever want to live there. It appears that too many people are trying to recreate a Thai-version of western Europe or land of Oz. Seeing bar after bar and restaurant after restaurant advertising European beer and European food doesn't really trip my trigger.

- All in all, I readily appreciate some of the issues and concerns that people have about Pattaya, but as a tourist, it was an enjoyable time and I will come again some day. As with you, I cannot understand the constant bashing of the city from some, but of course I was only a tourist not a permanent resident.

[Kaojai]

Pattaya suffered little in the crash of 97 IMO, there was little here then to suffer, there were no hyper centres or large supermarkets, very few housing estates with any quality, Russian tourism was minimal, in truth tourism was pretty minimal! The last 10+ years have seen a huge change in Pattaya, some for the better, now would be the ideal time to catch up on the neglected infrastructure, doubt it will happen though!

Yes, I'm always amazed when people talk about declining numbers of visitors or the number of businesses closing. Compared to 10 years ago, the number of people here and the number of businessed large & small have greatly increased. In the past, during July and August it was nearly a ghost town. Pattaya Tai west of Wat Chai was desserted much of the year. Tukcom was an empty shell. And the only "malls" were a smaller Royal Garden Plaza and Big C at the north end of 2nd Rd.

While the recession will negatively impact some individuals and some individual businesses, I think a bit of a slow down might curtail the over-building of condos and the excessive retail space, which I would consider a good thing.

[jingjoke]

I've been regularly transferring money back to my country of origin. (Mainly because I could never get a Thai bank to give me interest, and I figured it wasn't quite right that I should let them use it to make profit when they give me nothing in return -- somewhat a matter of principle, I guess.)

And a fine matter of principle it is! I do the same for exactly the same reason. Cheers

[JR Texas]

Pattaya suffered little in the crash of 97 IMO, there was little here then to suffer, there were no hyper centres or large supermarkets, very few housing estates with any quality, Russian tourism was minimal, in truth tourism was pretty minimal! The last 10+ years have seen a huge change in Pattaya, some for the better, now would be the ideal time to catch up on the neglected infrastructure, doubt it will happen though!

Yes, I'm always amazed when people talk about declining numbers of visitors or the number of businesses closing. Compared to 10 years ago, the number of people here and the number of businessed large & small have greatly increased. In the past, during July and August it was nearly a ghost town. Pattaya Tai west of Wat Chai was desserted much of the year. Tukcom was an empty shell. And the only "malls" were a smaller Royal Garden Plaza and Big C at the north end of 2nd Rd.

While the recession will negatively impact some individuals and some individual businesses, I think a bit of a slow down might curtail the over-building of condos and the excessive retail space, which I would consider a good thing.

Ten years ago Pattaya-Jomtien was much better than today..........the number of tourists seemed sufficient to support the local economy.......the real estate hounds had not yet arrived to spoil the party........visas were incredibly easy (no problem). I think the quality of life was better ten years ago, for both expats and Thais.

[thaiman]

Seems we are in for a long hard stretch.

Who's we? Are you thai? Do you have business in Pattaya(too bad for you)?

I think a downturn is a good thing. Prices have become way to high in the last 2-3 years, the place has become overcrowded, and thais are more spoiled than ever. Hopefully things will contract and thais will begin to appreciate the foreigner and actually provide some service. Hopefully pattaya will become a buyers market again.

[JSixpack]

I came here in 2006 and have no complaints at all. It's getting better by the day.

How is it getting better? Or are you just happy to be living longer?

From the discerning farang viewpoint, the development, in the past few years, of TukCom, the new Central mall, and the new restaurants/hotels/bars/go-gos around Soi Chaiyapoon/Soi Buakow has been good. The electrical grid seems better now w/ fewer blackouts per month. The beach area is nicer looking w/ the walkway, but the old thatched shelters are gone. A pile of rusting girders on Beach Road became Northshore. 3rd Road has been almost completely transformed, so we have, ah, um . . . Cherry's, Xzyte, and Tony's. Internet service has gone from zero to dialup only to quite decent ADSL in most areas.

But many bars and the casual atmosphere have disappeared from Beach Rd and 2nd Rd. Traffic is much, much worse now. Parking is a lot more difficult. The huge signs are at best an annoying distraction. Prices are all up and still increasing. Police harassment of the bars and go-gos is much worse, w/ more closings and longer closing hours. Attempts at social control have become more overt, w/ no alcohol served in restaurants or sold in larger shops between 2 -5, and no-smoking rules at most places. Immigration is a lot more unfriendly, further away, and fees have gone way up. The number of katoeys walking around on Beach Rd. and working at bars and go-gos seems to have skyrocketed. The Soi Pattayaland go-gos began their great decline some years ago when toplessness was forbidden there. True rock 'n' roll music has become even scarcer. The number of Asian and Russian tourists has greatly increased while the number of Brit yobs has remained steady or perhaps declined somewhat as the Brit economy has tanked.

On balance, most of our traditional farang male punters would likely prefer Pattaya as it was except for Tukcom and the internet service. However, all the economic development has certainly brought more non-bar or strictly tourist-related jobs and investments for Thais into the area, and this is what most Thais would consider important.

Edited March 9, 2009 by JSixpack

[rott]

Regarding the bible verse a poster mentioned, and then another poster asked about, and then I googled the verse number and supplied, please be advised that I was only being helpful and personally do not believe in any religious faith or believe Pattaya is Sodom and Gomorrah.

(Why did I post this? I have received anti-Christian hate PMs about this so I wanted to clear up the matter in case anyone else is confused.)

If you got any anti-Protestant PMs, pass the sender's names to me and I'll go round and <deleted> them.

[OZEMADE]

After reading all the latest Pattaya Forum. I thought I would bring this up again and would have to say I told you so.

[IanForbes]

I suspect the wealthy Thais will have to be the main users as the prices in these malls are no lower than in the tourists home countries so what is the attraction for them.? I wonder how many of these extra families you are seeing this year will become regular visitors? Then again TIT, since when did the Thais worry about repeat business.....gouge today, there will always be another new customer to fleece tomorrow!

I suspect you are right. 10 years ago the price of goods in Pattaya made it viable to do a little shopping. Today, I can buy similar clothing items at home (Canada) for a similar or lower cost. Electronics are much cheaper in Canada. Good quality footwear is also cheaper. Hardware and building supplies are similar in cost. In fact ANYTHING that is imported into Thailand will cost more than the USA or Canada. The ONLY thing cheaper in Thailand is accommodation and dining out. When those go up in price the tourists will stay home in droves.

[Ulysses G.]

I have ALWAYS gone to Singapore or Australia for clothing and shoes and electronics. Thailand has ALWAYS been overpriced for imported goods. I don't understand the people who claim that these things were ever worth buying here.

[stuffonsticks]

As the worldwide recession is just beginning to hit Thailand, causing redundancy and unemployment crime and drug use will increase.

So far crimes against farang have mainly been cowardly attacks such as handbag/gold snatches. Plus the mugging of women or elderley farang men or lone drunken men.

I expect that during the next two years, crime will rise exponentially and become more violent. Gangs of Thai men will commit more armed robberies, more violent burglaries, street crime muggings will increase at night, then as things escalate there will be some fatal attacks on farang tourists and publicity of these attacks will create a bad image for Pattaya.

At that point, Pattaya law enforcement might try to clean up the streets of young drug crazed Thai men who's only aim in life are drink, sex, drugs and crime.

I think the next two years will be very grim for Pattaya crime-wise. Although local news agencies are gagged to just two crimes per day 'against farang' it is unlikely that they will be able to supress crimes of murder and/or extreme violence.

I think that the quality of female 'company' will become more corrupt. I expect more druggings and robbery, egged-on by their Thai husbands/boyfriends.

I also expect a massive rise in the amount of drugs available. China (itself in recession) will flood thailand with amphetimines and 'ice' which is cheaply made in chemical factories. In times of financial hardship illegal drug use increases.

So a bleak outlook. Thanks for asking.

Im afraid I have to agree with you Syd its a sensible and accurate account od what will happen. This place is expensive now despite all the sales etc us normal folk dont come here to shop much.

Lets hope Pattaya rides it out but I think it will take too long for the world economy to recover. If your still here you will gain from 60 baht to the pound but the rest will be staying at home fighting to keep jobs Im afraid.

Good Luck everyone ....

[stuffonsticks]

Just an add to someone along this conversation that said Thailand is still cheap!!! its much more expensive than home (UK) and thats saying something!

I like to watch football so I popped in Mollys on Walking and paid 265b for a magners that 5 pounds 20! Cheap?

I walked in the (empty) Replay store in Central and it was 100 pounds for a t'shirt no joke! Who are they trying to kid. I pointed out to the girl that the replay one I was wearing was 20 pounds at home,she smiled and thought p**s off Im sure.

Anyway this all could be a good thing for us in Pattaya as its just gone too far. Next 6 months will be very interesting.

[moo9]

I walked in the (empty) Replay store in Central and it was 100 pounds for a t'shirt no joke! Who are they trying to kid. I pointed out to the girl that the replay one I was wearing was 20 pounds at home,she smiled and thought p**s off Im sure..

I doubt that you get a 20 GBP Replay T-Shirt at home.

Either a copy or some exotic size like XS on sale.... :-)

Cheers

[doggie888888]

GOOD!!! Fewer tourists=more beach space=less crowds=less traffic=a reminder to the local businesses/cityhall/mafia that they can't take the tourist $ for granted.

What will become of Pattaya? Probably the same haphazard development (hopefully reduced in scale), the same lack of infrastucture, the same absence of rubish disposal, the same lack of sewage treatment, the same degradation of beaches and environs (hopefully on a reduced scale due to lower volume of people) and the same excuses.

Some say crime will increase...was it really that noticeable during the last slump? To quote an often repeated phrase: "same-same".

[rafval]

its not as if pattaya is just a farang destination, a lot of middleclass bangkokians come here in the weekends, its the closest beach they can drive to, why would they want to try and keep the place going as it is just for the sake of some farang tourists and issan ladies with no cash? the thais visiting dont want to have anything to do with the scamming bar girls and associated bars

Edited May 19, 2009 by rafval

[moo9]

The lesson is that there are not enough high quality tourists to support the hiso developments.

Pattaya should not forget it's roots.

[rafval]

The lesson is that there are not enough high quality tourists to support the hiso developments.

Pattaya should not forget it's roots.

I havent seen any of the shopping malls close yet, but Ive seen plenty of bars go