Pattaya struggles to survive the economic downturn

[phycokiller]

was just at tukcom and half the phone shops have gone

[OnMyWay2]

its gotten more crowded not tourists though, more thai people. I was there in May it seemed the economy is taking its toll and people aren't in good spirits.

[petercool]

Overt Pattaya bashing post and reply quoting that both removed

[OZEMADE]

Just completed a trip from Pattaya to Hua Hin, Phuket, back to Hua Hin, Pattaya and down to Koh Chang Island.

Spent a lot of time talking to Thai and Falung friends most own bars or taxis, all have stated that the last 12 months have been the worst they have ever seen for tourism and it now being low season has gotten worse. They all said the main tourism now was Chinese and Japanese, but they were on pre paid tours and spent very little cash and were litter bugs on the beaches.. All stated they were glad to see the back or the Russians and as usual were hoping for a better season in the future.

[petercool]

A flame post and a reply quoting that both removed

[VIPinthailand]

I have heard the same that many business are closing. people got problem to get work...

it s not a surprise considering that many built house under fake company,owned illegal bars and some are teaching without a work permit.

Thailand can not get the butter and the milk.

[Asiantravel]

was just at tukcom and half the phone shops have gone

and did you go further up stairs in the building and count how many lock-up shops are empty? By the time you get up to level 4 you can count on one hand the number of shops that are occupied

then when you come out of Tukcom and wander up to Friendship store it's incredible how many shops in that vicinity are unoccupied with for rent or for sale boards outside.

Edited July 23, 2015 by Asiantravel

[KittenKong]

They all said the main tourism now was Chinese and Japanese, but they were on pre paid tours and spent very little cash and were litter bugs on the beaches.. All stated they were glad to see the back or the Russians and as usual were hoping for a better season in the future.

Glad to see the back of the Russians and getting nothing from the Chinese who have replaced them.

Even so they are hoping for a better season. Better thanks to whom? Martians?

[KittenKong]

was just at tukcom and half the phone shops have gone

and did you go further up stairs in the building and count how many lock-up shops are empty? By the time you get up to level 4 you can count on one hand the number of shops that are occupied

I was in TukCom today. It's almost spooky.

What will happen when they open the new Harbor Mall place near Foodland?

[VIPinthailand]

everybody have now 2 or 3 phones, plus tablets...

the iPhone / tablet market has changed.

it s like condominium , some have 2 or 3 condos for rent or sale... it' s a dead market now. Same in China, some towns are empty.

[Asiantravel]

was just at tukcom and half the phone shops have gone

and did you go further up stairs in the building and count how many lock-up shops are empty? By the time you get up to level 4 you can count on one hand the number of shops that are occupied

I was in TukCom today. It's almost spooky.

What will happen when they open the new Harbor Mall place near Foodland?

sad really. I can remember how that place had a real buzz seven or eight years ago.

it looks like Tops supermarket is expanding into the area once occupied by the basement food court

[MB1]

As normal, commentary from someone who onced lived here, knew someone, or their former room mate's cousin once visited. I've lived and worked here 4 years. Some aspects I love, some aspects I don't. Same as my home town in Sydney, Australia. Pattaya is a small town you make as you please same as any adventurous town. Look for peace you will find it, look for fun you will find it, look for trouble you will find it. Stop the trolling and get back to real reporting.

You've lived in Pattaya for four years and you call it a small town....555...Next time you have a drive around look for a big sign that says Pattaya CITY, oh and whilst I'm at it, Sydney aint a town either...

[KittenKong]

As normal, commentary from someone who onced lived here, knew someone, or their former room mate's cousin once visited. I've lived and worked here 4 years. Some aspects I love, some aspects I don't. Same as my home town in Sydney, Australia. Pattaya is a small town you make as you please same as any adventurous town. Look for peace you will find it, look for fun you will find it, look for trouble you will find it. Stop the trolling and get back to real reporting.

You've lived in Pattaya for four years and you call it a small town....555...Next time you have a drive around look for a big sign that says Pattaya CITY, oh and whilst I'm at it, Sydney aint a town either...

"City" is just a description that generally indicates some particular local legal or social structure, or a town that exceeds some arbitrary population. It has no real global meaning.

How many cities do you know of in the west that have many hectares of totally undeveloped commercial land in their heart, close to a beach? Where I come from the only way you can see bare commercial land in a popular town is to bulldoze an existing building.

[MB1]

As normal, commentary from someone who onced lived here, knew someone, or their former room mate's cousin once visited. I've lived and worked here 4 years. Some aspects I love, some aspects I don't. Same as my home town in Sydney, Australia. Pattaya is a small town you make as you please same as any adventurous town. Look for peace you will find it, look for fun you will find it, look for trouble you will find it. Stop the trolling and get back to real reporting.

You've lived in Pattaya for four years and you call it a small town....555...Next time you have a drive around look for a big sign that says Pattaya CITY, oh and whilst I'm at it, Sydney aint a town either...

"City" is just a description that generally indicates some particular local legal or social structure, or a town that exceeds some arbitrary population. It has no real global meaning.

How many cities do you know of in the west that have many hectares of totally undeveloped commercial land in their heart, close to a beach? Where I come from the only way you can see bare commercial land in a popular town is to bulldoze an existing building.

Call Pattaya a fishing village if you want to because that's what it was many years ago, call it a hamlet if you want to, but Pattaya aint a town and nor is it a fishing vilage anymore unless your fishing for sex and adult fun and other things like rides on a bike with Glitterman

Pattaya is a city whether you like it or not and it aint just about what Pattaya has become over time, the fact is that Pattaya has grown and grown over the years and is now classed not as a town but as a city...HTH

Oh and by the way we were not talking about the West....HTH......Too

[Asiantravel]

for those who haven't already read it there is a thread in the Phuket Forum entitled Patong is dead.

not surprisingly there are similar comments about the slow death of business in that location as well

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/796499-patong-is-dead/page-18

[i claudius]

My wife has a few friends who own what were thriving buisnesses and they are very worried , also she has sold a few houses recently that needed loans from the bank,and they are not lending as much as they used to ,

[morrobay]

for those who haven't already read it there is a thread in the Phuket Forum entitled Patong is dead.

not surprisingly there are similar comments about the slow death of business in that location as well

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/796499-patong-is-dead/page-18

Just from reading page 18 it seems that the situation there is caused from lack of foreigners.

But in Pattaya it seems very crowded if you just for example look at the Pattaya Tai / Second rd. intersection.

Pattaya is crowded with foreigners and especially the ever increasing Thai tourism/population.

So I guess for many Pattaya businesses these crowds are just empty numbers.

Edited July 26, 2015 by morrobay

[champers]

With so many Chinese flocking to Thailand, I think the day will come when casinos are allowed and probably Pattaya will be the ideal place for them. This would give the city fresh impetus, for better or worse.

[robertthebruce]

Casinos are not a bad idea, if it draws the Punters in.....

I do realise Gambling is Illegal in Thailand, but hopefully one day soon they will drag themselves into then21st Century...

[onemorechang]

Casinos are not a bad idea, if it draws the Punters in.....

I do realise Gambling is Illegal in Thailand, but hopefully one day soon they will drag themselves into then21st Century..

Not the best idea for Thailand.

Lots of better things can be changed first

Casinos are about 100,000000 down the list.

[Tolley]

Casinos are not a bad idea, if it draws the Punters in.....

I do realise Gambling is Illegal in Thailand, but hopefully one day soon they will drag themselves into then21st Century..

Not the best idea for Thailand.

Lots of better things can be changed first

Casinos are about 100,000000 down the list.

Casinos likely only to bring more misery, crime and mafia types to Pattaya.

Horrible places built on misery and misfortune.

[VIPinthailand]

it's the result of fatca. millions of Americans are leaving back to the USA.

Edited July 26, 2015 by VIPinthailand

[Jingthing]

it's the result of fatca. millions of Americans are leaving back to the USA.

That just might be the overblown exaggeration of the century.

[MaeJoMTB]

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

You could probably hire the same girls for even less today!

[RabC]

Pattaya is no longer an inexpensive destination and as tourist numbers decline businesses seem to increase their prices.

Pattaya needs to refurbish its image and get rid of some of the seedier elements - like hundreds of bar girls standing on Walking Street trying to attract customers.

Keep it for your Church conversations on Sundays. Who are you to pontificate on what's right or wrong?

Edited July 26, 2015 by RabC

[RabC]

There are 2 Pattaya's.

The one, we who live here long time know and which merely consist East of Sukhumvit, and the one the tourists know and is located West side of Sukhumvit.

I live here more than 2 decades and the first 14 years my life revolved around the tourist areas, but the times I've been there in the past 7 years can be counted on 2 hands.

So I remember how it was in walking street 7 years ago, but times have changed big time.

I have many long time friends who still come over twice or trice a year for holidays and spend most of their time in the city, and they tell me that it has changed a lot over the past 5 years, and not to the better.

To have a good time on walking street you now need to be a millionaire, and that is not the 2 week millionaires we all know, but a real life millionaire.

Apart from that the crime and aggressive behavior has risen to unseen levels and the fun is not the same fun they had 10 years ago. They also tell me that the number of tourists are dwindling very fast, and many long time visitors can't be bothered with Thailand anymore.

What we, even those that live on the East side, can notice anyway is that business is down everywhere.

There are many established businesses, which recently have gone out of business. I know whole streets that were business centers a couple of years ago, and now consist out of only deserted shops.

What complete rubbish. You imply that those of us on the west of the Sukhumvit are nothing better than lecherous seedy tourists. I could be just as ignorant and say that those on the East side just couldn't afford a house in a nice (not too many I agree) area on the east.

[Bellacissa]

There are 2 Pattaya's.

The one, we who live here long time know and which merely consist East of Sukhumvit, and the one the tourists know and is located West side of Sukhumvit.

I live here more than 2 decades and the first 14 years my life revolved around the tourist areas, but the times I've been there in the past 7 years can be counted on 2 hands.

So I remember how it was in walking street 7 years ago, but times have changed big time.

I have many long time friends who still come over twice or trice a year for holidays and spend most of their time in the city, and they tell me that it has changed a lot over the past 5 years, and not to the better.

To have a good time on walking street you now need to be a millionaire, and that is not the 2 week millionaires we all know, but a real life millionaire.

Apart from that the crime and aggressive behavior has risen to unseen levels and the fun is not the same fun they had 10 years ago. They also tell me that the number of tourists are dwindling very fast, and many long time visitors can't be bothered with Thailand anymore.

What we, even those that live on the East side, can notice anyway is that business is down everywhere.

There are many established businesses, which recently have gone out of business. I know whole streets that were business centers a couple of years ago, and now consist out of only deserted shops.

What complete rubbish. You imply that those of us on the west of the Sukhumvit are nothing better than lecherous seedy tourists. I could be just as ignorant and say that those on the East side just couldn't afford a house in a nice (not too many I agree) area on the east.

Agreed. I live on the dark side, but I certainly don't stay over here when I want entertainment. It's not like the Suk is some great divide (although with the construction, that's not a bad analogy) and never the two shall meet. Many of us head to town when we want to have a night out.

I will agree that business is down. Many shops seem to be closed up for good. I do my part to help out by buying local when I can, but I think the tourist numbers have dwindled down so much that there just isn't enough tourism baht to go around anymore.

[KittenKong]

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

You could probably hire the same girls for even less today!

I'm not surprised. They must all use walking frames by now.

[petercool]

Two argumentative posts removed

[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?

You could probably hire the same girls for even less today!

I'm not surprised. They must all use walking frames by now.

You beat me to it , i dont know about walking frames , but by now their 30 year old daughters are working in the same bars