Siamburi's today.

[Tommasini]

Are there any expats who actually live and work in Pattaya, with a respectable business? Or are most expats there retired and or just on holidays?

[slafriphos]

I have lived here 12 years and always work online. No first hand knowledge of work permits, taxes, Thai staff, etc.

Much happier for it.

[Tommasini]

I don't want to offend anyone here as it seems like an aggressive forum sometimes. I have only been to Pattaya twice to visit a friend who lives there, and works in Bkk. So I only saw the small part of the city, but saw the bars and old men and young party tourists.

And I can only find negative stories on the internet about Pattaya. I ask the questions as my friend wants to open a business with me however I can not find any positive information when I search online.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

I don't want to offend anyone here as it seems like an aggressive forum sometimes. I have only been to Pattaya twice to visit a friend who lives there, and works in Bkk. So I only saw the small part of the city, but saw the bars and old men and young party tourists.

And I can only find negative stories on the internet about Pattaya. I ask the questions as my friend wants to open a business with me however I can not find any positive information when I search online.

Why are you considering opening a business if you know nothing about the place? Forget about it.

[Tommasini]

I am just asking some questions to get a better understanding, of what type of business's expats are doing in the area etc.

I know someone who owns a hotel and someone who exports garments, and someone in construction. However when ever I search Pattaya online, nothing positive comes up about Pattaya. I can not find any positive business stories about Pattaya or Thailand, unless you work for a multi national in Bangkok.

Just asking a question

[onemorechang]

What type of business does your friend wants to open

he must have an idea ?

[i claudius]

I don't want to offend anyone here as it seems like an aggressive forum sometimes. I have only been to Pattaya twice to visit a friend who lives there, and works in Bkk. So I only saw the small part of the city, but saw the bars and old men and young party tourists.

And I can only find negative stories on the internet about Pattaya. I ask the questions as my friend wants to open a business with me however I can not find any positive information when I search online.

If you only go to those tourist areas,that is all you will see, only bar owners etc there, Pattaya,where the real people live is a different land. As for stories about Pattaya,no one is going to write about Mr average who lives a normal life,its not interesting to the readers,its like the daily newspapers,they only write about things that go wrong ,killings,muggings,rapes, would you read a paper that wrote about daily "normal" life?

[Don Mega]

I live in Pattaya and work close by (proper 9 to 5 day job), as do many of the other expats I work with.

Rather boring existence to be honest and the traffic drives me batshite crazy but there is little option as I simply could not live in Sriracha or Chonburi City.

[dannywla]

I too live here, originally from Santa Monica , Ca. Choose to buy a ocean view condo in Cosy Beach. I'm 56 my son is 3 goes to private International school with Bus service for the next semester 4.5 months 38,000 baht. We have our retirement home in Issan but now that I'm living here partially retired couldn't be happier with my quality of life. I never see the bars or P4P. Love the low cost of living, fantastic education I'm giving my boy and the many choices for food and grocerys.

I return home for 3 weeks a year to allow my working partner his vacation time. Have a Honda Pcx and a Mazada 3 enjoy my older friends who we meet up for coffee a couple of times a week and our quality of life.

Go to Bangkok every 3 months for 3 nights for the excellent seafood buffets and the mega malls and beautiful parks around Sukhumvit. As my son loves the sky train and his time with panoramic views from our hotel room.

Golf, basketball, biking 4-5 times a week keeps me grounded.

[brewsterbudgen]

I too live here, originally from Santa Monica , Ca. Choose to buy a ocean view condo in Cosy Beach. I'm 56 my son is 3 goes to private International school with Bus service for the next semester 4.5 months 38,000 baht. We have our retirement home in Issan but now that I'm living here partially retired couldn't be happier with my quality of life. I never see the bars or P4P. Love the low cost of living, fantastic education I'm giving my boy and the many choices for food and grocerys.

I return home for 3 weeks a year to allow my working partner his vacation time. Have a Honda Pcx and a Mazada 3 enjoy my older friends who we meet up for coffee a couple of times a week and our quality of life.

Go to Bangkok every 3 months for 3 nights for the excellent seafood buffets and the mega malls and beautiful parks around Sukhumvit. As my son loves the sky train and his time with panoramic views from our hotel room.

Golf, basketball, biking 4-5 times a week keeps me grounded.

Which school does your son go to?

[Tommasini]

Are the you guys who live here self employed, do you work for a multi-national? What sort of business are you in?

Thank you for taking the time to answer.

[craigt3365]

Many expats live and work here in Pattaya. Or in the factory areas nearby. You won't find them in the bars in Central Pattaya as they've got to work! LOL

My village is filled with them. As are many of the other gated communities on the outskirts of town. Many also work abroad, oil and gas workers. And many own/run restaurants and bars here. To meet some, try one of the expat business groups like movers and shakers, or one of the chamber of commerce meetings. They happen here on a fairly regular basis.

[boldface]

A lot of MNC's are close to Pattaya along the coast working in O&G, energy, automotive etc with the expats often choosing to commute from Pattaya. I don't really see the relevance though of what they are doing compared to a "friend" and you setting up a firm. Are you planning on taking on these monsters?

It was asked earlier OP what sort of business you are considering. No matter where you are in the world, your focus should be on the actual business concept initially, and look at the type of staff you will need. Again, wholly dependent upon the business offering you are thinking about, however, Bangkok is the brain drain - all the best employees for most industries live and work in Bangkok. There are some exceptions, but even the MNC's struggle to get top notch Thai staff down here.

Does Pattaya have a seedy side? Yes. Most people who do not live here or have not spent a long time here might have a very negative perception of the town, where as the reality is very different. Can you live in the area and not enter into that? Yes - it is your choice.

Now I don't try to deliberately read too much into the OPs posts, however, it looks to me that he and his friend want to start a business, but are still thinking what sort of business they should open and want it to be in Pattaya, rather than they have a business idea already, based upon strong research (including the rules for work permits and visas for the two of them) and want to see if it would work in Pattaya. This is the wrong way round if this is true.

Bars - restaurants - hotels. If you have no experience of running these types of business, in the real world outside of Thailand statistically you will have a 10% chance of making past your first year. In Pattaya, less than 1% .

Edited October 9, 2015 by boldface

[Tommasini]

Thank you boldface for your comments. I totally agree with you.

I know there is more to Pattaya than the seedy side, this is what mainly comes up when you search for information about Pattaya.

I have researched and know there are a lot of large industries outside Pattaya in the automotive and O&G industries. I have met someone who works at Ford when I visited the first time. I don't have the background in these industries.

My friend wants to open a small cafe. But like you say unless you have done it before and have the experience. There are cafes all over Pattaya.

It maybe nice to try it as side business for him , but not for me to come all the way over there try to setup a cafe, no mater how different we tried to make it. I have read lots of horror stories about small business failures in Thailand for inexperienced people. Theft, staffing problems, rental agreements etc This is why I am asking some questions. I've also read you need to come to Thailand with some financially security also. It maybe cheaper to live there, but you can quickly lose money also.

So thank you for your comments.

[RabC]

Cafes are 10 a penny unless you have something really unique don't bother, may as well open a beer bar..............

[KittenKong]

I've lost count of the number of food/drink establishments that have been opened by both farangs and Thais here and which have failed a few months or years later, sometimes after changing hands a few times. This applies to both tiny hole-in-the-wall type places and huge air-conditioned places, and everything in between. The few that do good business seem to be run by people who are very "hands-on" and very astute.

I also suspect that many places survive because the premises were bought a low prices many years ago and so they dont need a big return just to cover the rent. That isnt possible for start-ups.

[Bernard Flint]

I am just asking some questions to get a better understanding, of what type of business's expats are doing in the area etc.

I know someone who owns a hotel and someone who exports garments, and someone in construction. However when ever I search Pattaya online, nothing positive comes up about Pattaya. I can not find any positive business stories about Pattaya or Thailand, unless you work for a multi national in Bangkok.

Just asking a question

Much better to just chill out and retire here, a wonderful place if you have money.Too many farangs think it is easy to have business with no money back up, not even private or government pensions. There are many expats relaxing and living on 1 million baht a year plus, enjoy then. BTW, there are many expats that dont participate in the bar scene for hookers too, dont forget that.

[Bernard Flint]

Are the you guys who live here self employed, do you work for a multi-national? What sort of business are you in?

Thank you for taking the time to answer.

My friends are retired army, business owners, not bars, a millionaire, won the lottery, and i retired at 50 because my investments did very well, and still do, not forgetting my 4 private pensions and government pension to come.Also i have friends who will retire at 55 and live here ,already have houses and enough funds to live happily.

Strange, but seems like the expats, just living on government pensions are the ones who sit at a bar all day, drinking cheap chang

[Don Mega]

Are the you guys who live here self employed, do you work for a multi-national? What sort of business are you in?

Thank you for taking the time to answer.

Me, multi-national.

[i claudius]

Are the you guys who live here self employed, do you work for a multi-national? What sort of business are you in?

Thank you for taking the time to answer.

My friends are retired army, business owners, not bars, a millionaire, won the lottery, and i retired at 50 because my investments did very well, and still do, not forgetting my 4 private pensions and government pension to come.Also i have friends who will retire at 55 and live here ,already have houses and enough funds to live happily.

Strange, but seems like the expats, just living on government pensions are the ones who sit at a bar all day, drinking cheap chang

Strange but i know loads of expats living here on govt pensiones and not one of them sits drinking in bars , mind you from what i hear lots of special opps and ex army seals , seem to sit around in bars drinking all day

[Bernard Flint]

Are the you guys who live here self employed, do you work for a multi-national? What sort of business are you in?

Thank you for taking the time to answer.

My friends are retired army, business owners, not bars, a millionaire, won the lottery, and i retired at 50 because my investments did very well, and still do, not forgetting my 4 private pensions and government pension to come.Also i have friends who will retire at 55 and live here ,already have houses and enough funds to live happily.

Strange, but seems like the expats, just living on government pensions are the ones who sit at a bar all day, drinking cheap chang

Strange but i know loads of expats living here on govt pensiones and not one of them sits drinking in bars , mind you from what i hear lots of special opps and ex army seals , seem to sit around in bars drinking all day

My mistake, i should have said drinking in mamma and pappa shops or 7/11 i do apologise

Edited October 9, 2015 by Bernard Flint

[i claudius]

Are the you guys who live here self employed, do you work for a multi-national? What sort of business are you in?

Thank you for taking the time to answer.

My friends are retired army, business owners, not bars, a millionaire, won the lottery, and i retired at 50 because my investments did very well, and still do, not forgetting my 4 private pensions and government pension to come.Also i have friends who will retire at 55 and live here ,already have houses and enough funds to live happily.

Strange, but seems like the expats, just living on government pensions are the ones who sit at a bar all day, drinking cheap chang

Strange but i know loads of expats living here on govt pensiones and not one of them sits drinking in bars , mind you from what i hear lots of special opps and ex army seals , seem to sit around in bars drinking all day

My mistake, i should have said drinking in mamma and pappa shops or 7/11 i do apologise

Sorry ,i obviously mix with a better class of expat than you are used to , my apologies

[OMGImInPattaya]

Are the you guys who live here self employed, do you work for a multi-national? What sort of business are you in?

Thank you for taking the time to answer.

My friends are retired army, business owners, not bars, a millionaire, won the lottery, and i retired at 50 because my investments did very well, and still do, not forgetting my 4 private pensions and government pension to come.Also i have friends who will retire at 55 and live here ,already have houses and enough funds to live happily.

Strange, but seems like the expats, just living on government pensions are the ones who sit at a bar all day, drinking cheap chang

Strange but i know loads of expats living here on govt pensiones and not one of them sits drinking in bars , mind you from what i hear lots of special opps and ex army seals , seem to sit around in bars drinking all day

Yeah., they sit around and drink at home ?

[OMGImInPattaya]

Thank you boldface for your comments. I totally agree with you.

I know there is more to Pattaya than the seedy side, this is what mainly comes up when you search for information about Pattaya.

I have researched and know there are a lot of large industries outside Pattaya in the automotive and O&G industries. I have met someone who works at Ford when I visited the first time. I don't have the background in these industries.

My friend wants to open a small cafe. But like you say unless you have done it before and have the experience. There are cafes all over Pattaya.

It maybe nice to try it as side business for him , but not for me to come all the way over there try to setup a cafe, no mater how different we tried to make it. I have read lots of horror stories about small business failures in Thailand for inexperienced people. Theft, staffing problems, rental agreements etc This is why I am asking some questions. I've also read you need to come to Thailand with some financially security also. It maybe cheaper to live there, but you can quickly lose money also.

So thank you for your comments.

I would suggest a Western style vegetarian/vegan bakery-restaurant. Pattaya really needs a good one of these.

[phycokiller]

personally I think there are plenty openings for bars and cafes in Pattaya, but the standard English beer bar aimed at retirees, theres thousands of them and they are all the same

[smutcakes]

I spent 2-3 days a week working in Pattaya for 3 years until recently, in a 9-5 job. The HO was in BKK, but there was a small office in Pattaya which i helped with. There are many expats who live in the area with proper 9-5 jobs. Many work in the ports, industrial estates etc, but as someone pointed out you probably wont meet many as they are at work all week.

[toenail]

I have worked in Thailand 11 years, (20 minute drive from Patttaya) but choose to live in the Naklua-north Pattaya area. Since I work and need to get up at 5:30am, I do not hit the bars or night life. When I first came here, exploring the bars and Walking Street on weekends was an adventure, but now it is old... boring ...same-same. I do not have a close circle of friends in Pattaya since I work and do not have time to hang out at night. Most of them are retired so we do not have as much in common. I do my socializing in Bangkok-easy to get to on weekends. There are all kinds of choices one can make in "Sin City" and as I tell my friends, it is like satellite TV, you pick and choose what you like and what you don't like. Great restaurants, cinemas, dance clubs, live bands, shopping malls, Western shops and fast food; local food and shops-- a variety here to choose from. The big disappointment I had was when California Wow closed down. It was a great gym and a place to meet great people...not ones always hanging out at the bars. I must admit I am looking forward to the days when I can retire and get to more expats and Thais in the area.

Edited October 9, 2015 by toenail