when does low season start. pattaya is very busy right now.

[MZurf]

went once 20 years ago, hated the place and never went back, could not care less if they bulldozed the dump

Odd that you're reading a Pattaya centric board - <snip>

Not reading it at all as have no interest in open air brothels next to a sea polluted with human waste. Just this one thread.

Funny how all the Pattaya bashers kind of stumble into Pattaya related threads

It makes one wonder why they're so fascinated by the place. I see it a bit like repressed gays doing a lot of gay bashing.

[MZurf]

you must be dreaming .go go bars are nearly empty, plenty of sightsee-ers on walking st but bars are empty. ive lived here 18 years abd never seen pattaya so quiet in jan

You've got that dead right. Never seen so many flag bearers leading busloads of Chinese tourists around WS this year. They sure crowd the place up and make it look busy, especially before 11pm. Subtract the Chinese and WS is virtually empty in real terms.

Even the bloke doing his magic act outside the Frog Bar is finding it hard. He attracts a large crowd while he does his act but as soon as he whips off his hat to collect a few baht, the predominantly Chinese and Indian watchers disperse so fast you'd think they've been fired out of a gun.

Watched the dude do his act three times over the course of about 45 minutes and I only saw him collect from 4 people. None of them Chinese or Indian.

That guy must be going through a few packs of cigarettes per day!

[MrWorldwide]

@MZurf, I can live with the bitching when it's a thread about someone being tuned up outside a WS go-go by 5 Thais - it happened to a Scot I know a few nights back - but this is such an innocuous thread that I'm stuffed if I can see why anyone would even bother. it's the equivalent of me wading into a farming thread asking when the growing season for durian starts and telling people I tried durian once, 20 years ago, hated it and that they might as well burn the entire crop. You can imagine how that would go down with people who were serious about the topic at hand ? Its trolling at its neanderthal worst.

[smotherb]

well that would explain why the roads and business' are quite, because all the tourists are hiding out in the bars

Quite what?

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

Looks like a pretty poor high season to me, compared with 4-5 years ago.

Anyway, due to the arrival of half a dozen friends this past week, I actually got out to many beer bars on Buakhao and Second Road. Looked quite a bit busier than the first two weeks of December when I stopped by Witherspoon's a few times. There definitely was an upsurge in the week before and after Christmas. But last night, New Plaza was busier than I've seen it in months. The beer bars on Diana were hopping and Buakhao seemed to be a bit more frenzied, while the northern end of Second Road, sois 2-3 beer bars, certainly had customers. That's mostly because airfares come down in the second week of January, which encourages Europeans and UKers to come. But overall, I think Pattaya is not hugely busy, based on my experience and those of others above who say Walking St. (I never go there) is relegated to a mere freak show for those tour groups.

Also I keep reading about many Thailand-only vacationers taking some of their holiday time in Cambodia, Vietnam and the Phils now. I've met them in Phnom Penh and Saigon.

Who knows where all this will lead.

[MZurf]

@MZurf, I can live with the bitching when it's a thread about someone being tuned up outside a WS go-go by 5 Thais - it happened to a Scot I know a few nights back - but this is such an innocuous thread that I'm stuffed if I can see why anyone would even bother. it's the equivalent of me wading into a farming thread asking when the growing season for durian starts and telling people I tried durian once, 20 years ago, hated it and that they might as well burn the entire crop. You can imagine how that would go down with people who were serious about the topic at hand ? Its trolling at its neanderthal worst.

Spot on!

[MrWorldwide]

Looks like a pretty poor high season to me, compared with 4-5 years ago.

Anyway, due to the arrival of half a dozen friends this past week, I actually got out to many beer bars on Buakhao and Second Road. Looked quite a bit busier than the first two weeks of December when I stopped by Witherspoon's a few times. There definitely was an upsurge in the week before and after Christmas. But last night, New Plaza was busier than I've seen it in months. The beer bars on Diana were hopping and Buakhao seemed to be a bit more frenzied, while the northern end of Second Road, sois 2-3 beer bars, certainly had customers. That's mostly because airfares come down in the second week of January, which encourages Europeans and UKers to come. But overall, I think Pattaya is not hugely busy, based on my experience and those of others above who say Walking St. (I never go there) is relegated to a mere freak show for those tour groups.

Also I keep reading about many Thailand-only vacationers taking some of their holiday time in Cambodia, Vietnam and the Phils now. I've met them in Phnom Penh and Saigon.

Who knows where all this will lead.

Thanks for that - seems I havent been 'dreaming' in the threads where I claim the punters magically appear after 10 or so - not sure what's going on with those big bars on Beach Road though : I guess they like to have a solid beer buzz on while they watch the sun set over the headland. Very romantic - just you and 3 of your buddies with a table full of beer bottles

[merlen10002]

No it is not busy, down more than 50% on previous years , my wife has a business in a good hotel and all shops are down, three have closed, all hotels are way down on previous years, you must be in a different Pattaya to me. bar stool looking will not tell you the true situation.

[MrTee]

No it is not busy, down more than 50% on previous years , my wife has a business in a good hotel and all shops are down, three have closed, all hotels are way down on previous years, you must be in a different Pattaya to me. bar stool looking will not tell you the true situation.

I'd have to agree on that - not sure how any one gets the idea it's busy there.

When I visit it seems very quiet. The girls I speak to tell me business is down.

Edited January 15, 2015 by MrTee

[ExPratt]

I was there christmas and New year and apart from Central on the holiday days and Walking street on NYE , I though it was dead. I'd be surprised to see the bars in Naklua heaving. One of the complex's of Lock down bars was completey closed about 80 small bars.

[Rimmer]

Troll post and a couple of replies removed

[chickenrunCM]

you want room ?

i can give you a new 1 bedroom condo, PM for details

Edited January 15, 2015 by CharlieH

[Basil B]

To answer your question.....the high season usually ends around March, after Sonkran.

Songkran is in April

Same every year...

13-19 April for Pattaya, so low season starts 20th April for Pattaya.

[Phra Ek]

There's some nice new hotels opened recently in Pattaya and as others have said there seems to be more traffic from Bangkok - so I think it's evolving into a weekend destination for Bangkokians. Combined with the increase in Chinese and Indian tourists there's a different profile of visitors ..... and Walking Street seems to be just that - a street for walking on in the evenings.

So perhaps they'll be fewer bars and more restaurant/shops in future?

[ggt]

Immigration at Jomtien only gave him a 30 day extension...

[tropo]

To answer the OP's question, low season starts end of April,

after Songkran and European Easter break.

As for whether it's busier than usual or not, i would say it's

only slightly quieter than the previous couple of years.

Yes, and contrary to what the OP stated, its always busier after Christmas until Songkran than before.

[seasia]

Interesting

I live in naklua, which you state as busy.

No, sorry it is not, many of the vendors I speak to comment on how quiet it is

It is, I like it that way so not complaining.

Quietest I`ve seen it for the last 10 years or so.( for the time of year )

I feel a bit sorry for some of the hard working Thais selling food etc, they`ll do OK with their Thai customers but as to foreigners, they are in short supply.

As to central Pattaya, some places are doing OK, some very quiet.

I hope the good ones can see it through.

[MYKTHEMIN]

The place is dead compared to a few years ago.

[thaibeachlovers]

Have they repaired the collapsed sections of the walkway then? If it's that busy, they should have.

[Pheat123]

I was in tesco lotus today and very quiet. Never seen it so quiet. There are people yes the sex addicts will always be there crowding into the cheap charlie venues to save money for fornication lol.

Yep

Totally agree

I popped into Bliss Lounge yesterday

Full squad on duty outside the door

Asked my reg state of affairs in Patts

Reply very quiet for high season

Case closed lol

[hugh2121]

Pattaya Beach Road almost deserted, no traffic hold ups, clear drive through from north to south. Loads of empty beach chairs, take your pick. Almost deserted shopping malls which would normally be crowded. Many spare places for vendors in the market place.

Sorry and all that but Pattaya is certainly not busy.

[BlackJack]

Should have said not many coming

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

A rule of thumb as to the state of business (that I'm sure many share): This "high season" I am being called to by massage shops and beer bars as I ride by on my moto and more so when I walk by. It used to be that in "high season" I'd be totally invisible.

re Post 51 above: I rode onto Beach Road about 10 days ago for the first time in months. It was around 2 pm. A beautiful day. Rode from Klang to Soi Post Office (13/3?). Looking back, this is how I perceived it: I imagined myself not in Thailand and not in Pattaya. There I am in a beachside community anywhere in the world. The coffee shops and bars with sea-view standups are empty, except for a table or two with 4-5 foreigners. The sidewalk traffic is very very sparse, the road traffic is hardly noticeable. I was able to scoot right onto Beach without waiting for pedestrians or buses or cars. The beachside was largely empty of strollers. You would think it was the low season anywhere else in the world.

[Gordy Gambino]

I just got back from Patts and I didn't really see anyone.

[MZurf]

I just got back from Patts and I didn't really see anyone.

Wow! That's pretty hard even in the low season!

[louse1953]

I was in tesco lotus today and very quiet. Never seen it so quiet. There are people yes the sex addicts will always be there crowding into the cheap charlie venues to save money for fornication lol.

Gotta get yer priorities right.

[guzzi850m2]

We were out eating at a German restaurant on Naklua road last night.

Full of tourists everywhere, we were lucky to get a table so it's not dead everywhere.

The food was good too, those long time established German places on Naklua are all very well managed.