The Wonders Of Pattaya

[tropo]

I thought it might be a bit of fun to bring to attention some of the remarkable quirks of Pattaya (feel free to join in).

We all know that there are a lot of 7Elevens and Family Marts in Pattaya, but what you see on Rajchawaroon Road in South Pattaya has got to be some kind of world record. In between Soi 5 and Soi 9, a distance of less than 200m you'll see no less than 2 x 7Elevens and 3 x Family Marts. Starting at Soi 9 at the beach end of Rajchawaroon Road is a Family Mart, then with 5 shops in between on the same side of the road there's a 7Eleven sharing the same wall as a Family Mart, and then a short distance up the road are another 7Eleven and Family Mart directly opposite each other.

Here's some photos to show how truly remarkable this is:

[patrickinpattaya]

Amazing, I wonder how p'd off they are with each other. It also makes you wonder how they came to the decision to put up a mart/11 right next to all the others. Thai business thinking baffles me

[surayu]

if it can be of any consolation, i counted 10 hairdressers shops in less than 200 meters, all on the same side of a road opposite a big covered street market, however not in Pattaya and it baffles me too

[SUPERIOR]

Allot of Dodgy ,money floating around in Patts

[tropo]

Allot of Dodgy ,money floating around in Patts

Maybe there is, but if you had a trunk full of spare (dodgy) cash would you open up another 7Eleven store?

[anothertorres]

again, another post quality of Digg. you should google map these and put them to their corresponding pics. i'd love to document every 7-11 in Pattaya someday.

[Ulysses G.]

I rather have a map of every bawdy massage parlor in the city. 

[QED]

It is nuts, what I heard is that CP will sell a franchise for 7/11 and monitor it's performance. If it does well then they will open their own (non-franchised) 7/11 as close as possible as the franchise does not come with a territory.

Next time look how many 7/11's you see in double within a few hundred meters of each other, always seem to come in pairs - 1 franchisee, 1 franchisor.

Don't know who the owners of Familymart are but maybe they are playing the same game.

Edited June 24, 2010 by QED

[PattayaParent]

Same same laundries.

One will open up opposite a new condo and then by the end of the year there will be 3 or 4 all competing for the same fixed income.

[luckyluke]

Despite there are so many 7/11 and FamilyMart, as far as I know, in the 7 years I am in Pattaya, I never saw one shut up.

[Jimmyd]

One on Soi Buakow opposite Soi Honey Inn closed up shop a few weeks ago.

[cardholder]

I remember when I lived off Soi Nern Plub Wan there were something like 9 7/11's and 7 Family Marts (also about 5 Oasis bars !).

[eyebee]

Despite there are so many 7/11 and FamilyMart, as far as I know, in the 7 years I am in Pattaya, I never saw one shut up.

7-11 on the corner of soi Pattayaland 2 and Beach Road (great location!) closed a couple of months ago and is now another optician's (like we need more of those in Pattaya).

Edited June 24, 2010 by eyebee

[andyww]

Another factor I always find amusing in South Pattaya is "sign envy".

Thye dodgy premises seem to regularly increase the size of their neon signs over the street to extend further than the others. Sometimes they move the same sign further outwards by welding on extensions to the supports (some of which look to be contravening the laws of physics).

Many of the signs are now so far out as to be above the middle of the road. Sooner or later someone will extend so their sign is over the opposite side of the road to the buliding its attached to!

All this stuff is whats great about Pattaya, its just so ludicrous it never ceases to amuse.

[raro]

it happens in other countries as well. Here three pizza shops in Phnom Phen, located next to each other. I was thinking of opening a place "Disreessed Pizza" next door to distinguish from the competition...

[suiging]

The " Happy Herb " pizza sounds interesting.

[raro]

The " Happy Herb " pizza sounds interesting.

exactly my thoughts when I walked by.....

[PhilHarries]

Maybe the Thais think the name seven-eleven means you have to go for seven in a row. Like a royal flush but more cards. Don't know what they do with 24/7 though.

Anyway it's not only 7-11's, last time I was in Pattaya I walked down soi seven and must have passed at least ten beer bars all next to each other .

[lonewolf99]

It is nuts, what I heard is that CP will sell a franchise for 7/11 and monitor it's performance. If it does well then they will open their own (non-franchised) 7/11 as close as possible as the franchise does not come with a territory.

Next time look how many 7/11's you see in double within a few hundred meters of each other, always seem to come in pairs - 1 franchisee, 1 franchisor.

Don't know who the owners of Familymart are but maybe they are playing the same game.

TOTALLY NUTS......I have figured out what goes on here....and it covers the whole of South East Asia. Thai / Oriental people do NOT like to walk anywhere.. when did you ever see one taking a long walk or strolling along the pavement. Unlike European familys on a day out. They walk along streets, parks and promenades.

Thais have no need to move, Everything comes to them.....Food, Clothes, shoes, deep fried insects, BBQ's, even Pizzas now.....The Seven ( they never say seven eleven) is for MAMA noodles, MANG FALLANG (crisps), condoms, and SARA (paracetamal) head ache pills...and is always less than 50 yards from where they "work", live, massage or squat down to sell goods.

Many Thai people are astonished when I tell them I have walked back from Beach Road Pattaya over the hill to Jomtien. Barely 2 miles.

I have even walked from CARREFOUR to Jomtien. To Thais, this is like talking about circumnavigating the globe...!!!

Fallangs think nothing of walking the length of Theprasit road to Tesco Lotus. But a Thai would rather not bother let alone contemplate such a hike.

My GF's home is a tiny Isaan village - but no one walks to the small shop, they take a bike or scooter to travel 150 yards.....max !!!

It all has to do with evolution and living in the tropics. It is easy to sit by a river in the shade of a Mango/papaya/coconut tree and wait for the fruit to fall. In Europe and North America we had to be hunter gatherers and crop growers just to survive...thats why we are bigger stronger and more industrious....but I will be chastised for racial profiling I guess.... but hey, are we smarter ???

Edited June 26, 2010 by lonewolf99

[basjke]

It is nuts, what I heard is that CP will sell a franchise for 7/11 and monitor it's performance. If it does well then they will open their own (non-franchised) 7/11 as close as possible as the franchise does not come with a territory.

Next time look how many 7/11's you see in double within a few hundred meters of each other, always seem to come in pairs - 1 franchisee, 1 franchisor.

Don't know who the owners of Familymart are but maybe they are playing the same game.

TOTALLY NUTS......I have figured out what goes on here....and it covers the whole of South East Asia. Thai / Oriental people do NOT like to walk anywhere.. when did you ever see one taking a long walk or strolling along the pavement. Unlike European familys on a day out. They walk along streets, parks and promenades.

Thais have no need to move, Everything comes to them.....Food, Clothes, shoes, deep fried insects, BBQ's, even Pizzas now.....The Seven ( they never say seven eleven) is for MAMA noodles, MANG FALLANG (crisps), condoms, and SARA (paracetamal) head ache pills...and is always less than 50 yards from where they "work", live, massage or squat down to sell goods.

Many Thai people are astonished when I tell them I have walked back from Beach Road Pattaya over the hill to Jomtien. Barely 2 miles.

I have even walked from CARREFOUR to Jomtien. To Thais, this is like talking about circumnavigating the globe...!!!

Fallangs think nothing of walking the length of Theprasit road to Tesco Lotus. But a Thai would rather not bother let alone contemplate such a hike.

My GF's home is a tiny Isaan village - but no one walks to the small shop, they take a bike or scooter to travel 150 yards.....max !!!

It all has to do with evolution and living in the tropics. It is easy to sit by a river in the shade of a Mango/papaya/coconut tree and wait for the fruit to fall. In Europe and North America we had to be hunter gatherers and crop growers just to survive...thats why we are bigger stronger and more industrious....but I will be chastised for racial profiling I guess.... but hey, are we smarter ???

Friend of mine always says,thais take a dam_n motorbike to cross the street.

[Phil Conners]

Probably to do with the climate. During the day you'd be drenched in sweat after walking 100 mtr outdoor.

[bartender100]

Its not often you go into a 7/11 or FM and you are the only customer, it never happens.

[tropo]

TOTALLY NUTS......I have figured out what goes on here....and it covers the whole of South East Asia. Thai / Oriental people do NOT like to walk anywhere.. when did you ever see one taking a long walk or strolling along the pavement. Unlike European familys on a day out. They walk along streets, parks and promenades.

Thais have no need to move, Everything comes to them.....Food, Clothes, shoes, deep fried insects, BBQ's, even Pizzas now.....The Seven ( they never say seven eleven) is for MAMA noodles, MANG FALLANG (crisps), condoms, and SARA (paracetamal) head ache pills...and is always less than 50 yards from where they "work", live, massage or squat down to sell goods.

Many Thai people are astonished when I tell them I have walked back from Beach Road Pattaya over the hill to Jomtien. Barely 2 miles.

I have even walked from CARREFOUR to Jomtien. To Thais, this is like talking about circumnavigating the globe...!!!

Fallangs think nothing of walking the length of Theprasit road to Tesco Lotus. But a Thai would rather not bother let alone contemplate such a hike.

My GF's home is a tiny Isaan village - but no one walks to the small shop, they take a bike or scooter to travel 150 yards.....max !!!

It all has to do with evolution and living in the tropics. It is easy to sit by a river in the shade of a Mango/papaya/coconut tree and wait for the fruit to fall. In Europe and North America we had to be hunter gatherers and crop growers just to survive...thats why we are bigger stronger and more industrious....but I will be chastised for racial profiling I guess.... but hey, are we smarter ???

I think you're getting a little carried away here, especially with that "hunter gatherer" theory. Modern man invented and embraced the wheel and then later the internal combustion engine to get away from hunting & gathering and walking to get places. Perhaps you like to walk everywhere, but a lot of farang don't. I for one would probably hop on my scooter to go to a store a few hundred meters away. I never walk anywhere if I can avoid it. Walking from Beach Road Pattaya over the hill to Jomtien does seem like "circumnavigating the globe" to me. That's totally nuts (unless it's part of your fitness program). I spend 2 hours 4 or 5 times a week at the gym which would seem equally nuts to some, but I'm there for a purpose.

My impression of Europe and the USA was that people need to get places fast and don't like to walk if they can avoid it. Speed is of the essence. Perhaps to be fair we should make a distinction between rural and urban dwellers.

I'll walk for fitness along the beach and in the park, but just to get somewhere when I can hop on my scooter - no way.

BTW there's a lot of Thais walking for fitness in Pratamnak Park every morning and evening.

Edited June 27, 2010 by tropo

[Millard]

TOTALLY NUTS......I have figured out what goes on here....and it covers the whole of South East Asia. Thai / Oriental people do NOT like to walk anywhere.. when did you ever see one taking a long walk or strolling along the pavement. Unlike European familys on a day out. They walk along streets, parks and promenades.

Your assumptions go against what I've seen. Many SE Asians I've come across in Hong Kong, Singapore, and even in the States walk a lot and find it amusing that Westerners such as myself want to take taxis to what they consider close destinations. A banker in Hong Kong likely differs from a laborer in Pattaya, so it's probably not sensible to generalize the billions of SE Asians in this world.

[thaibeachlovers]

It is nuts, what I heard is that CP will sell a franchise for 7/11 and monitor it's performance. If it does well then they will open their own (non-franchised) 7/11 as close as possible as the franchise does not come with a territory.

Next time look how many 7/11's you see in double within a few hundred meters of each other, always seem to come in pairs - 1 franchisee, 1 franchisor.

Don't know who the owners of Familymart are but maybe they are playing the same game.

TOTALLY NUTS......I have figured out what goes on here....and it covers the whole of South East Asia. Thai / Oriental people do NOT like to walk anywhere.. when did you ever see one taking a long walk or strolling along the pavement. Unlike European familys on a day out. They walk along streets, parks and promenades.

Thais have no need to move, Everything comes to them.....Food, Clothes, shoes, deep fried insects, BBQ's, even Pizzas now.....The Seven ( they never say seven eleven) is for MAMA noodles, MANG FALLANG (crisps), condoms, and SARA (paracetamal) head ache pills...and is always less than 50 yards from where they "work", live, massage or squat down to sell goods.

Many Thai people are astonished when I tell them I have walked back from Beach Road Pattaya over the hill to Jomtien. Barely 2 miles.

I have even walked from CARREFOUR to Jomtien. To Thais, this is like talking about circumnavigating the globe...!!!

Fallangs think nothing of walking the length of Theprasit road to Tesco Lotus. But a Thai would rather not bother let alone contemplate such a hike.

My GF's home is a tiny Isaan village - but no one walks to the small shop, they take a bike or scooter to travel 150 yards.....max !!!

It all has to do with evolution and living in the tropics. It is easy to sit by a river in the shade of a Mango/papaya/coconut tree and wait for the fruit to fall. In Europe and North America we had to be hunter gatherers and crop growers just to survive...thats why we are bigger stronger and more industrious....but I will be chastised for racial profiling I guess.... but hey, are we smarter ???

It does seem to be an Asian thing. When I was living in Singapore in the 70s there was a large multi story building with seemingly hundreds of shops all selling cloth. It was near People's Park.

I tried counting all the Thai massage places along one of the sois off Second Rd the other day, but gave up after 10. And that's just one soi! How many tourists want a foot massage these days anyway, with the reduced value of their money- not many that I've seen.

[tropo]

I tried counting all the Thai massage places along one of the sois off Second Rd the other day, but gave up after 10. And that's just one soi! How many tourists want a foot massage these days anyway, with the reduced value of their money- not many that I've seen.

I don't think too many tourists would care too much about value of their currency for a 150 - 200 baht foot massage. Not all tourists have taken a pay cut anyway. For example, Australians would be paying less for a foot massage than last year, The Americans about the same...and then there's all the other Asian and Middle Eastern currencies which also haven't taken a dive.

[anothertorres]

2 things here...

a) yur all wrong.

ii) those happy pizza shops? the pizza is actually pretty dam_n good. well, at the place i went to. twice. we asked for "extra happy". they piled a shitload of dusty weed on them. i have 7-8 great stories from that night, but all of them would get me banned...

i heard Siem Reap has closed their 3 happy pizza shops.

[thaibeachlovers]

I tried counting all the Thai massage places along one of the sois off Second Rd the other day, but gave up after 10. And that's just one soi! How many tourists want a foot massage these days anyway, with the reduced value of their money- not many that I've seen.

I don't think too many tourists would care too much about value of their currency for a 150 - 200 baht foot massage. Not all tourists have taken a pay cut anyway. For example, Australians would be paying less for a foot massage than last year, The Americans about the same...and then there's all the other Asian and Middle Eastern currencies which also haven't taken a dive.

That may be so, but there's hardly any customers in them anyway, just a lot of bored masseuses.

[cobra]

It would appear walk-in business constitutes the common business model, the more foot traffic, the more similar shops.

and of course the business adage ... if some is good, then more is better ... prevails to the point of astonishment.

Edited June 29, 2010 by cobra