Pattaya struggles to survive the economic downturn

[Loptr]

"I imagine this particular seaside town has gotten seedier and scummier, with drugs and prostitution around every corner, and thugs eyeing up tourists like midnight snacks."

Steller reseasch imo

Meh, it's the Huffington Post, what do you expect, objective analysis and commentary?

[DrTuner]

Unfortunately his vision is false. Pattaya is becoming a lame, almost PC BKK suburb. Oh how I miss the rowdy days of the Europeans and Americans inhabiting the bars at beach road.

[DrTuner]

I live here and just the eye candy of Pattaya's lovely ladies scooting about, even in fashionable malls, is breath taking. A stunning, often exotic

girl, mini skirted. 5 inch heels getting on a motor bike makes my day !

How true. After spending the weekdays trying not to go blind from looking at the horrid creatures inhabiting BKK, coming home to Pattaya and seeing the best of Isaan strutting their stuff is like reaching Nirvana.

[fish fingers]

Pattaya is one of the last Man's Places left on the Earth. It is a fantastic spot.

I guess you mean for ladyboys

[kiwikeith]

I think that there is definitely less in the way of drugs and prostitution than there was 10 years ago, but the number of thugs has increased hugely in that time. In fact there are probably more thugs, thieves and scam artists here now than there are prostitutes.

Quite why anyone would come to Thailand for cheap drugs or cheap sex is beyond me as the prices here for both seem to be much higher than they would be elsewhere. The quality of both is probably much higher elsewhere also.

I think the problem is world wide with more to come, tourism down as no jobs or money in europe, crime only increases in these conditions and it is increasing world wide- mainly from the top down!

[i claudius]

Last time i was with a bar girl it was 200 baht short time and 500 baht all night have prices increased much?

No, the girls you went with still charge the same.

. .

Oh my lord ,she has hardly changed a bit.

[i claudius]

Last time i was with a bar girl it was 200 baht short time and 500 baht all night have prices increased much?

So, I claud, you haven't been with a bar girl for 25 years? They do sell Viagra on WS you know

luckily ,its not needed yet , but come the day thanks for the advice . and to the the poster who said there was no aids ,yes there was ,

[louse1953]

Jeff Koyen Is a rubbish reporter. He stayed in Pattaya 10 years ago and then makes up what he thinks it's like today. Yes of course there are plenty of bar girls for everyone that wants one and the drugs and criminal elements that every big city has but it is also a nice place to have a holiday or retire to. I could name many cities that are worse but why slag off any place just for the sake of it.

Jeff "imagined".So he knows nothing.

[Jingthing]

At least he was honest from that outset that he doesn't know what he is talking about. I give a brownie point for that. Huffington Post ought to be ashamed of themselves for publishing that garbage. If they want to write about Pattaya NOW, spend the bloody money for a TICKET here!

[jinners]

Wow, how easy is it to write an article for the 'Huff post'? I wonder if I can get a paid writing about a place I lived in 10 years ago, be thoroughly disparaging and use quotes and information based on that dated experience and semi official room rate info.

I've never read such a load of <deleted>. And guessing half the hotels are whorehouses. Pathetic, but Huff post has never claimed to be anything but sensationalist. Why let the facts get in the way of the story eh? <deleted> Jeff Koyen too

[jinners]

Certainly things have changed in sunny Pattaya, the Chinese tour buses are everywhere , the Chinese rarely go out by themselves, so anything not included on the tour are very quiet at the moment .

Independent travelers are drying up. City hall does not care about infrastructure , so filthy streets and crumbling roads and pavements are not exactly attractive to the high end tourists.

This thread as usual has reduced to fight between the Nakhon Nowhere types and the Pattaya / Jomtien dwellers

What I always find interesting is the ' holier than thou' types who live up country watching rice grow , tending to their pigs, no easy access to decent restaurants, cinema etc etc, seem very fond of the word cesspit to describe Pattaya.

They seem to think they have moral superiority over the hedonistic Pattaya residents. They have spent a fortune on some ugly concrete house to accommodate a vast family of hangers on.

They always speak Thai, Royal Thai, Laos and Cambodian . Their written poetry in Thai had been published world wide.

Their organic chickens have won prizes .

They are obsessed with juicing and flax seeds- probably hopefully to live longer : but will perish due to extended exposure to pesticides.

What I trying to say is us Pattaya types usually don't comment, we don't refer to Isaan as a cesspit, sh*thole etc.

So get off your high horse, get back to your pigs and just shut up!

Spot on matey

[DrTuner]

At least he was honest from that outset that he doesn't know what he is talking about. I give a brownie point for that. Huffington Post ought to be ashamed of themselves for publishing that garbage. If they want to write about Pattaya NOW, spend the bloody money for a TICKET here!

I reckon he is trying to earn that ticket by writing for the Huff. Should he ever get enough $$, I'm sure he'll shut the <deleted> up once he's sitting in a go-go holding a cold beer, while the performers are stuffing various objects into selected orifices.

I understand him though. Spending a decade away from the Sodom of the East will make any red blooded male cranky. We'll forgive.

Edited July 17, 2015 by DrTuner

[sammygood]

does this aritcle not taint thailand's image again and everybody who reprints it ... does not sound familiar ?

[DD13]

Certainly things have changed in sunny Pattaya, the Chinese tour buses are everywhere , the Chinese rarely go out by themselves, so anything not included on the tour are very quiet at the moment .

Independent travelers are drying up. City hall does not care about infrastructure , so filthy streets and crumbling roads and pavements are not exactly attractive to the high end tourists.

This thread as usual has reduced to fight between the Nakhon Nowhere types and the Pattaya / Jomtien dwellers

What I always find interesting is the ' holier than thou' types who live up country watching rice grow , tending to their pigs, no easy access to decent restaurants, cinema etc etc, seem very fond of the word cesspit to describe Pattaya.

They seem to think they have moral superiority over the hedonistic Pattaya residents. They have spent a fortune on some ugly concrete house to accommodate a vast family of hangers on.

They always speak Thai, Royal Thai, Laos and Cambodian . Their written poetry in Thai had been published world wide.

Their organic chickens have won prizes .

They are obsessed with juicing and flax seeds- probably hopefully to live longer : but will perish due to extended exposure to pesticides.

What I trying to say is us Pattaya types usually don't comment, we don't refer to Isaan as a cesspit, sh*thole etc.

So get off your high horse, get back to your pigs and just shut up!

I wouldn't be surprised if most of them started their life in Thailand by picking up their Northern female in Pattaya

[Rimmer]

Some off topic baiting posts have been removed, also please see the following rule:

17) You will not discuss the specifics of prostitution. Though Thailand has a visible sex industry, and acknowledgement of that fact is not forbidden, ThaiVisa is not the place to seek or give information on this topic, regardless of your sexual habits, preferences or orientation.

[petercool]

A troll post removed

[gemguy]

Hmmmmm...does that means to say all those charming Go Go bar girls, massage girls, beer bar girls and female hookers in general along with the lady boy hookers are not creating enough cash flow for the Pattaya area......or not like they used to during previous times???

What to do????....What to do??

Cheers

[RichB]

Hi Jeff

I was about to sign on to Van Winkles but after reading your comments about Pattaya decided maybe all your so called "news" is also 10 years out of date.

"Pattaya is a hellhole. Granted, I stayed there 10 years ago, but Thailand’s pleasure dens aren’t known for their reformation and rehabilitation. If anything, I imagine this particular seaside town has gotten seedier and scummier, with drugs and prostitution around every corner, and thugs eyeing up tourists like midnight snacks".

Your aptness to render such ambivalence and myopic presupposition interpolations is clear evidence you are a perfidious purveyor of deception with your load of pernicious trash the quantum of your comments; with its denigrating imbalance, prejudice, salaciousness, you make vexatious ramblings with disturbing alacrity and vexatious intent. Your purport is so naive it is completely nonsensical and stretches credulity to the outer limits all for your own aberrant fulfillment!

I am about to join the other 40,000 expats who have retired in Pattaya.

Best wishes for continued success of your ignorance.

Richard

[DrTuner]

Your aptness to render such ambivalence and myopic presupposition interpolations is clear evidence you are a perfidious purveyor of deception with your load of pernicious trash the quantum of your comments; with its denigrating imbalance, prejudice, salaciousness, you make vexatious ramblings with disturbing alacrity and vexatious intent. Your purport is so naive it is completely nonsensical and stretches credulity to the outer limits all for your own aberrant fulfillment!

I got 11 out of 19, if I counted right. I suppose that's enough to understand all those fine words were used to say he's full of shit.

[zierf1]

Yeah, it's gotten way too expensive. Too many mass package tourists, too much crime and too much traffic. It's overdeveloped. I can't even imagine what it must be like now with all the Chinese tourists all over the place. I think I'll give it a miss on my next trip to Thailand.

[Asiantravel]

talking about economic downturn I am noticing a surge in the number of vacant retail buildings that are being offered for sale as you travel East along Pattaya Klang from the junction with second road.

In one case it involves a building where there was a young foreign guy in his 30s running a small restaurant and I always felt sorry for him because some nights there when I went past the didn't appear to be a single customer.

Anyway he evidently didn't survive and those premises are now stripped bare and a sign out the front says the building is not just being offered for sale – but " for urgent sale " !!

then just a few doors down there is shop which used to be a massage parlour (one of very many along Pattaya Klang ) which is also closed down and is also being offered the sale. And then there is another property which was a bar where a lot of young people would patronise has also closed down which is also being offered for sale.

It just strikes me as being strange that so many people are selling the property rather than looking for a new tenant.

incidentally these vacancies in addition to vacant shops in this area that have already been lying empty for 6 to 12 months.

Edited July 19, 2015 by Asiantravel

[ttthailand]

Not enough tourists but too many Chinese. I read that Koh Lan is going to restrict the number of visitors.... I think Chinese!

So I guess the few are doing great but the many are doing terrible. Really screwed up city now....

[DD13]

Yeah, it's gotten way too expensive. Too many mass package tourists, too much crime and too much traffic. It's overdeveloped. I can't even imagine what it must be like now with all the Chinese tourists all over the place. I think I'll give it a miss on my next trip to Thailand.

Yeah, it's gotten way too expensive. Too many mass package tourists, too much crime and too much traffic. It's overdeveloped. I can't even imagine what it must be like now with all the Chinese tourists all over the place. I think I'll give it a miss on my next trip to Thailand.

That's a pity we will miss "you" not coming......

Sure it's getting busier.......Wealthy Thais are spending more time here...

Yes we see hoards of Chinese also.......but they keep themselves to theirselves....

Pattaya that is getting too expensive? ......and not the remainder of Thailand?........strange

The 30 baht food stalls are going to be devistated a "High Roller" such as you won't be here

[JakeSully]

There are ZERO rich tourists visiting Patts. Why would they come?

What is there for them? Swiss Banks where they can launder money? Places to go skiing? White sand beaches?

Lets not forget Patts is a place where the natives put ice IN beer rather than putting beer bottles in ice and then drinking them chilled without watering it down.

And regarding the Chinese and Indians, their mentality is to not throw money away but rather to save it for the next generation. They invest and look to get citizenship. Look at the numbers of Chinese and Indians flocking to Australia, UK, USA. Just look at the birth tourism to get their babies US citizenship. Now compare the money these folks spend compared to the Pattaya tourists from China and India. You will know exactly where the rich are spending their money.

Lets face it, The new rich tourists from China and India don't behave like European tourists, they don't hang out in Pattaya or Sukhumvit and they aren't interested in sitting in bars watching football.

The problem isn't with Pattaya, its with the global shift of power, money and tourism, from the old over-taxed, over-regulated West to the new economies of the East.

As Ol' Bob sang "The times they are a changing "

Yes they're trying to make it Hong Kong. But Hong Kong which has like 95% occupancy and strict limits on how many people can visit everyday, Pattaya is becoming like New Delhi, you have to bump into people just to be able to buy something at your nearby 7-11. It's so crowded. All I see are condos for sale and no buyers so the sellers just jack up the prices. Thai logic.

I used to make visits to Thailand 2 or 3 times a year and Pattaya was always good for 3 or 4 days. However in the last few years I have just passed on Pattaya. It seemed to me that this seaside resort area that I first visited in 1976 had over the years just gotten more crowded with more people, more traffic and as with many parts of Thailand, over development. Jomtien Beach which used to offer a little more peaceful day at the beach, than the main part of Pattaya, turned into a mass of chairs and umbrellas and with it less upkeep of the beach walk and deterioration of the beach. The night life on Walking street and other areas just turned into a place of touts hustling people into this bar or that bar. The friendliness disappeared. So with the beaches in bad shape and the nightlife more of a hustle, I started visiting other places. There is night life in Bangkok and other beaches far superior to Pattaya in Thailand. There seems little reason to visit Pattaya these days. My greatest criticism of what has happened in Thailand, aside from the politics, is the uncontrolled over development that occurs in almost any area that becomes popular. There is no government program for zoning or development and where there is, it seems that corruption and bribes have negated the governments ability to control development. Overdevelopment has indeed turned many formerly nice resort areas into Sh**holes, Pattaya probably being the worse example. Quality tourists want nice places to visit, not overdeveloped, overcrowded, dirty resort towns. My visits to Thailand these days are mostly to visit Thai and expat friends that live there. There are nicer beaches closer to home for sure.

Exactly. And it's just taking up space.

The fact that a shoebox condo has a $1000 yearly maintenance rates with jacked up electricity and water rates doesn't exactly inspire people to buy.

talking about economic downturn I am noticing a surge in the number of vacant retail buildings that are being offered for sale as you travel East along Pattaya Klang from the junction with second road.

In one case it involves a building where there was a young foreign guy in his 30s running a small restaurant and I always felt sorry for him because some nights there when I went past the didn't appear to be a single customer.

Anyway he evidently didn't survive and those premises are now stripped bare and a sign out the front says the building is not just being offered for sale – but " for urgent sale " !!

then just a few doors down there is shop which used to be a massage parlour (one of very many along Pattaya Klang ) which is also closed down and is also being offered the sale. And then there is another property which was a bar where a lot of young people would patronise has also closed down which is also being offered for sale.

It just strikes me as being strange that so many people are selling the property rather than looking for a new tenant.

incidentally these vacancies in addition to vacant shops in this area that have already been lying empty for 6 to 12 months.

Really? The smartest thing they could do would be to build a bridge to Koh Larn but they'd rather have boat tourism. Boats tend to sink though..

Not enough tourists but too many Chinese. I read that Koh Lan is going to restrict the number of visitors.... I think Chinese!
So I guess the few are doing great but the many are doing terrible. Really screwed up city now....

Edited July 19, 2015 by JakeSully

[morrobay]

talking about economic downturn I am noticing a surge in the number of vacant retail buildings that are being offered for sale as you travel East along Pattaya Klang from the junction with second road.

In one case it involves a building where there was a young foreign guy in his 30s running a small restaurant and I always felt sorry for him because some nights there when I went past the didn't appear to be a single customer.

Anyway he evidently didn't survive and those premises are now stripped bare and a sign out the front says the building is not just being offered for sale – but " for urgent sale " !!

then just a few doors down there is shop which used to be a massage parlour (one of very many along Pattaya Klang ) which is also closed down and is also being offered the sale. And then there is another property which was a bar where a lot of young people would patronise has also closed down which is also being offered for sale.

It just strikes me as being strange that so many people are selling the property rather than looking for a new tenant.

incidentally these vacancies in addition to vacant shops in this area that have already been lying empty for 6 to 12 months.

Now this is one of select few interesting posts that actually reports on the economic impact on Pattaya regarding the Chinese mass tourism/economic downturn, in a quantitative way.

And this could be elaborated on in terms of what businesses are gaining and what are losing in the overall net Pattaya economy.

Edited July 20, 2015 by morrobay

[zoroastra999]

Huff Post Conclusion "So, good luck Pattaya. I'm no prude, but you're getting what you deserve."

Clearly he wants to have his cake AND eat it!

[morrobay]

Yeah, it's gotten way too expensive. Too many mass package tourists, too much crime and too much traffic. It's overdeveloped. I can't even imagine what it must be like now with all the Chinese tourists all over the place. I think I'll give it a miss on my next trip to Thailand.

And the only rich tourists visiting Pattaya now are the rich Thais who are doing all this over development of malls, hotels , condos Why would wealthy foreigners visit Pattaya .?

If they did most likely there would be a hasty change of plans.

Edited July 21, 2015 by morrobay

[VIPinthailand]

ladies are ugly in Pattaya. most of them..

[Jingthing]

ladies are ugly in Pattaya. most of them..

I'll take your word on that one.

[DrTuner]

ladies are ugly in Pattaya. most of them..

Only in the weekends, when they flock in from BKK.