Pattaya is dead

[craigt3365]

Makro is packed. Tesco South Sukhumvit was the busiest I've ever seen. Incredible. Traffic has been bad for several days on Sukhumvit.

[swampdonkey]

Made an enquiry with booking com for 11 nights from 23 Dec to 3 Jan and was offered some 300 hotels with prices ranging from 2000 Baht to 4000 Baht and that included up market places such as Hilton, Marriott etc etc. These are the cold, hard facts!

Doubt very much you priced the Hilton.

at 2 - 4 k.

I actually did price it for Christmas and it was 18k per night

[wileycoyote]

Looks as if all resorts are quiet

[ttthailand]

Makro is packed. Tesco South Sukhumvit was the busiest I've ever seen. Incredible. Traffic has been bad for several days on Sukhumvit.

I would say it is local farang and Thais. Don't forget that many people living in Bangkok go to the beach towns for the Christmas and New Year Holiday.

My last visit a few weeks ago I saw mostly Chinese, Indian, Thai, middle Eastern and Russian. None of which spend much money in the GoGo bars or other bars that once were full of tourists. I did however see many local farang, which is now maybe 10,000 or more, hanging out at LK Metro area and a few other spots.

Some places in Pattaya don't need tourists as the local support is enough. But this is really only a small percent of the bars and restaurants. The majority need the tourists and without it is just a matter of time before they close and Pattaya will become a ghost town full of empty store fronts.

[newnative]

I think the key statistic here is 300 hotels! 300! I wonder how many there were 22 years ago. If Pattaya had 50 hotels it would seem packed to the rafters, JJ. With 300, things get spread out and it just seems nicely busy.

[theguyfromanotherforum]

Travelling from Jomtine to Pattaya at 18:00pm is never a wise move, even in low season it can be stuck Lou62

What I heard from some long time holiday visitors is that the personal contact with people is getting lost, for example when one of them used to rent a beach chair they always came say hello and talked for a while and had fun in between, now he gets ignored and have to move around 5 times to finally get attention for a new beer. That's just one simple example.

The working Pattaya people seem to become more lazy by the day, you notice that in the bars as well, sometimes you can walk in a bar and a group of 5-6 Thais that work there are sitting drinking Whiskey, no one pays attention to you, I even noticed this myself a few times and many more times when older tourists come in for a drink, no one to come care besides serving them a drink quickly and rejoining his/her friends. Result is obviously that the client leaves after one drink.

I even had a bar myself for a few months, I closed it quickly, my staff got paid a little better and many felt that was enough to get around and less need to depend on tips from drinks, so as a result in some cases no one took care when an older customer walked in. i obviously told my boyfriend to say something about it but their response was, nah this tourists doesn't like sit with a boy, yeah <deleted> right, that's why he's looking around him all the time, some people are just more shy than others and in such cases you expect staff to take the initiative but nothing at all. For the record I'm not shy so it doesn't happen too me, but when I don't take any initiative I could be sitting there alone as well. Anyway for me it's different as I know everyone in the bars but I do observe it as I described many times.

I've been to beer bars at Pattaya beach road as well, eg lady bars, as I'm not interested in ladies I mostly chat up with the bar tender (girl) or tourists, in those bars there's never a lack of attention so maybe it's a gay thing. HOWEVER: The ladies that approach me, and the overall image of the ladies working in these bars is that the vast majority is 30+ years old, unattractive, and somewhat over weight, some plain fat.

I'm not handsome but I'm pretty damn sure I can get these type of ladies for free in my home country, no need to come to Thailand and pay them for sex, my god.

The same I see in those boy bars, most are not attractive at all, many aren't even gay, last time I went into a GoGo bar and I was being generous and everyone wanted to go with me, few of them actually did look nice but it soon became clear they were all straight, and that in a gay go go bar. Now this is exceptional I have to add but that it even exists does surprise me.

So yes, Pattaya is definitely becoming less interesting for whore mongers, I came here 3.5 years ago and back than it was a little better, though not much better, no idea about 10 years ago but I do know that my holiday in Koh Samui about 18 years ago was a complete different experience in a positive sense and I never paid for sex, could have to do with my young attractive age back than lol.

Now if I compare many of the prostitutes here to the male prostitutes in Belgium and Germany I really don't have to travel all the way to Thailand for that, and for straight guys that's even more of a thing as there is a obvously a much broader choice of female hookers in Europe compared to male.

So if a straight friend would ask me if Thailand it's worth it for the sex I would say you could just stay at home and visit the red light district or go to a club, it's probably even more affordable as it's not like the beer is very cheap here either, especially not when four ladies hang around you begging for shots, a 5000-10000 baht is easily spend in a few hours if you don't care much. Heck my brother and a few friends were here and they visited some place in Bangkok and spend 28,000 baht with the four of them lol. They told me, Dennis isn't Thailand supposed to be cheap?

All together it was likely their most expensive holiday ever lol.

So yes, travelling 10-12 hours by plane for nearly a 1000 euro ticket to find ugly hookers, ugly beaches, smell of sewer at certain places, many would think twice!

Same same for straight sex tourists.

You can stay in Europe and shag sensational hot euro gals for 50 euros in the clubs in Germany and the thai gals of good quality in Thailand are asking a lot more than that these days.

Sex tourists better off going to Cambodia or Phillipines when looking at prices at Thailand.

Long term stayers in Patts are excluded because anyone staying here for a long time can get gals cheap and of good quality and of course accommodation and shopping at supermarket saves a lot of money. So still okay for the long termers but not really so great if you are on a quick holiday as you get gouged every which way.

What a sad bunch

[tropo]

This thread is cheering me up no end. I've been saying for years that the anti monger policies of city hall would cause a downturn in numbers, but the Russian invasion delayed that a long time. Now I seem to be able, at last, to say "I told you so".

BTW, I'd been saying that the same thing would happen to Samui, and a thread on the Samui forum seems to support that too.

It's elementary- you can't charge more for the same rubbish infrastructure every year and expect people to still be happy to turn up and pay through the nose.

For both destinations, expect to see more package tourists staying in self sufficient resorts, and not venturing out to support local restaurants and shops. The only view Pattaya barkeeps will have of them is as they drive by in the AC bus or van to/from the resort.

you can't charge more for the same rubbish infrastructure every year and expect people to still be happy to turn up and pay through the nose.

Thais think they can.

Another question - will the demeanor of Thais in Pattaya improve or worsen as business dries up? For years they've taken foreign tourists and expats for granted and treated them poorly as they figured there's an endless supply of them. Having lived here full time for 10 years I conclude that the "LOS" terminology is someone's fantasy or merely a marketing campaign. In some areas (where I'm spending money) I have given up saying "hello" or "thank you" to save the embarrassment of being snubbed.

[balo]

Makro is packed. Tesco South Sukhumvit was the busiest I've ever seen. Incredible. Traffic has been bad for several days on Sukhumvit.

I tried to look for parking space for the car inside Big C Xtra today , no chance , had to park outside. It's very crowded here right now. Can't remember last time it was so busy.

[Jip99]

Makro is packed. Tesco South Sukhumvit was the busiest I've ever seen. Incredible. Traffic has been bad for several days on Sukhumvit.

I tried to look for parking space for the car inside Big C Xtra today , no chance , had to park outside. It's very crowded here right now. Can't remember last time it was so busy.

I would tend to support the view that it is mainly Thais.

Out of 12 shops near me (north end of Pattaya) 9 are closed for New Year - they can't all have gone back to Isaan.

[Chivas]

Hmm. 'Deadest in 22 years'. I doubt that.

I can assure you he's perfectly correct ! Place is dying a death apart from flag waving Chinese and Koreans

[Rimmer]

More off topic posts removed.

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

Makro is packed. Tesco South Sukhumvit was the busiest I've ever seen. Incredible. Traffic has been bad for several days on Sukhumvit.

I tried to look for parking space for the car inside Big C Xtra today , no chance , had to park outside. It's very crowded here right now. Can't remember last time it was so busy.

Yeah, Big C today was the craziest I have ever seen it. The moto parking area outside the food-court side went right around the dip and into what I think is a private parking area. Only one grocery cart left when I entered the supermarket. Up to November, many times I had a choice of which empty cashier's desk to use.

Tropo wrote:

In some areas (where I'm spending money) I have given up saying "hello" or "thank you" to save the embarrassment of being snubbed.

I've shelved my civilities too recently. Over on the beach side, that is. I don't make any effort anymore, since nothing is ever returned and eyes averted as soon as you've paid and they interrupt "service" by carrying on chatting with the boys. If that's how clerks in Friendship (ha!) and Big C want it, I'll just grab and walk. The Foodland cashiers might as well be automatons as they exhibit zero personality and are reading from a script (as the manager is usually hovering nearby). For contrast, over here on the Darkside, folks are pretty friendly and helpful. Must be a time warp. LOL

For striking contrast, it's when you come back from a trip to Cambodia and Vietnam (somewhat) do you realize how really bad service is here in Bangkok and Pattaya. In fact, I've met many former Thailand expats in these two countries who mention this poor service trend, among many other things. I will be following them next month.

[newnative]

I'm curious to hear where it is 'dying a death', Chivas.

[striderman]

sports bars have been packed for footy around buakoaw and lk metro boxing day and monday.

i spoke to one girl i know and she said short of staff but 1 cashier 2 behind the bar serving and 2 out in the bar each cleared 900 bht in tips monday.

what about LD's i asked?

no they on top and i have too many !!

[JHolmesJr]

Bingo season in full swing at the buakhao.

[Chivas]

I'm curious to hear where it is 'dying a death', Chivas.

Cmon the place is dying if you are talking about a certain type of Tourist which will go unnamed !!

Yes its busy with flag waving Chinese and Korean leaders but go take a real look around the City at the bread and butter bars. Its dead. The best bars will always have customers Sailor Bar Wonderful Bars Sensations Sugarbaby and a few others but the rest are dying a death. Soi 6 is all but finished with development for real on the horizon and yet you still got the same group buying up bars in the same soi (or buying leases more to the point)

Bizarre to say the least. Sabai Lodge middle December by main pool just a few odd couples by the pool. Virtually the only Thai that I saw was the one with me by the Pool daily.

You go down Beach Rd after 10pm and just look at all the packed away already vendors where before they were there till 2am. No where stays the same. Its not helped by the hooligan/thug element that have taken over LK Metro either needless to say Brits.

Yes Pattaya is still a great laugh no buts but on scale of 1-10 compared to the very first time it would rate no more than a 3 now for me

[TheCruncher]

I'm curious to hear where it is 'dying a death', Chivas.

Cmon the place is dying if you are talking about a certain type of Tourist which will go unnamed !!

Yes its busy with flag waving Chinese and Korean leaders but go take a real look around the City at the bread and butter bars. Its dead. The best bars will always have customers Sailor Bar Wonderful Bars Sensations Sugarbaby and a few others but the rest are dying a death. Soi 6 is all but finished with development for real on the horizon and yet you still got the same group buying up bars in the same soi (or buying leases more to the point)

Bizarre to say the least. Sabai Lodge middle December by main pool just a few odd couples by the pool. Virtually the only Thai that I saw was the one with me by the Pool daily.

You go down Beach Rd after 10pm and just look at all the packed away already vendors where before they were there till 2am. No where stays the same. Its not helped by the hooligan/thug element that have taken over LK Metro either needless to say Brits.

Yes Pattaya is still a great laugh no buts but on scale of 1-10 compared to the very first time it would rate no more than a 3 now for me

So actually the thread title should be amended to, is pattaya deprived of cheap sex tourists.

To elaborate a bit further on your comments, the bread an butter bars have simply killed themselves over the years, as they were rising out of the ground as mushrooms, so there are simply too many bars for years already.

When a certain group of tourists declines in numbers, then of course those bars will suffer, but that doesn't mean there are less tourists and pattaya is dead. Only money is spent at other establishments.

Same with the hotels. How many new hotels have opened in the last couple of years?

I understand that Sabai lodge is empty, because couples are not interested in a 800 Baht filthy stinking room, but go take a look at the better class or newer hotels in the area.

[Chivas]

I'm curious to hear where it is 'dying a death', Chivas.

Cmon the place is dying if you are talking about a certain type of Tourist which will go unnamed !!

Yes its busy with flag waving Chinese and Korean leaders but go take a real look around the City at the bread and butter bars. Its dead. The best bars will always have customers Sailor Bar Wonderful Bars Sensations Sugarbaby and a few others but the rest are dying a death. Soi 6 is all but finished with development for real on the horizon and yet you still got the same group buying up bars in the same soi (or buying leases more to the point)

Bizarre to say the least. Sabai Lodge middle December by main pool just a few odd couples by the pool. Virtually the only Thai that I saw was the one with me by the Pool daily.

You go down Beach Rd after 10pm and just look at all the packed away already vendors where before they were there till 2am. No where stays the same. Its not helped by the hooligan/thug element that have taken over LK Metro either needless to say Brits.

Yes Pattaya is still a great laugh no buts but on scale of 1-10 compared to the very first time it would rate no more than a 3 now for me

So actually the thread title should be amended to, is pattaya deprived of cheap sex tourists.

I understand that Sabai lodge is empty, because couples are not interested in a 800 Baht filthy stinking room, but go take a look at the better class or newer hotels in the area.

Yes completely empty as well. You're welcome to attack the hotel if you have the desire to do so but dont quote me when you do it. Attack the hotel fine to attack the user is not. For your information my room was 2700 a night as we had the big family suites very nice to. I'm sorry you can only afford the 800 Baht rooms

[onemorechang]

Definitely a few more plonkers from Bangkok here

skiving off work this week.

[KhunBENQ]

A different class of sex tourist.

Income class.

So called LDOP.

Lame dupe overpayers

[newnative]

Not really much of an answer, Chivas. By your reckoning Pattaya is dying because of a 'lack of a certain type of tourist which will go unnamed'. Well, the 'unnamed' are being supplemented by other tourists. So, Pattaya really isn't dying. And, anyway, the 'unnamed' still seem to be going fairly strong and are not on life support just yet. I walk around a fair amount in central Pattaya and, even though I am not a bar person, I'll notice one bar will be packed and the one next to it will be nearly empty. A mystery to me but I suspect the strong will survive and the weak will fold and Pattaya will end up with the number of bars it needs for the 'unnamed'.

[Rimmer]

Multiple off topic and baiting and flaming posts removed

[JHolmesJr]

A different class of sex tourist.

Income class.

So called LDOP.

Lame dupe overpayers

KFC buckets flying off the shelves

[thaibeachlovers]

Not really much of an answer, Chivas. By your reckoning Pattaya is dying because of a 'lack of a certain type of tourist which will go unnamed'. Well, the 'unnamed' are being supplemented by other tourists. So, Pattaya really isn't dying. And, anyway, the 'unnamed' still seem to be going fairly strong and are not on life support just yet. I walk around a fair amount in central Pattaya and, even though I am not a bar person, I'll notice one bar will be packed and the one next to it will be nearly empty. A mystery to me but I suspect the strong will survive and the weak will fold and Pattaya will end up with the number of bars it needs for the 'unnamed'.

No one wants to be the only punter in a bar, so they go where the people are, and the regulars know which bars have the best girls. It has always been so. In the past, Soi 8 etc were packed end to end as too many to just hang out in a few bars. If the mongers aren't coming now, for whatever reason, that will change. No one wants to stay in a bar with unattractive staff that are more interested in their phones than them.

BTW, even in the glory days, only the bars next to the street got the crowds- the ones in the back always struggled. Many bar complexes have been opened in places where people don't go, only to have one or two punters in a complex of 10 or 20 barbeers and eventually call it quits, and that happened in the 90s. I always felt sorry for the girls that made the mistake of working in those places.

[thaibeachlovers]

A different class of sex tourist.

Income class.

So called LDOP.

Lame dupe overpayers

KFC buckets flying off the shelves

Yep, fly all the way to Thailand only to eat the same western cr*p as they eat back home. Monty Python did an excellent sketch about that, except it was to Spain.

However, the Thais are the ones that really like that garbage, plus all the other fast food places- hence the expanding waistlines of the once slim BGs.

[thaibeachlovers]

Not really much of an answer, Chivas. By your reckoning Pattaya is dying because of a 'lack of a certain type of tourist which will go unnamed'. Well, the 'unnamed' are being supplemented by other tourists. So, Pattaya really isn't dying. And, anyway, the 'unnamed' still seem to be going fairly strong and are not on life support just yet. I walk around a fair amount in central Pattaya and, even though I am not a bar person, I'll notice one bar will be packed and the one next to it will be nearly empty. A mystery to me but I suspect the strong will survive and the weak will fold and Pattaya will end up with the number of bars it needs for the 'unnamed'.

and those other tourists are?

Only ones I've seen are the Chinese, and they stay in Chinese hotels, eat in those hotels, travel on company tour buses and buy nothing except on their bus expedition to Mike's.

Don't expect the Chinese to rescue the barbers, or the eastern Euros. As for rich people, LOL. They wouldn't touch Pattaya with a very long pole. I knew a Dr that holidayed in LOS. The idea of staying in a place like Pattaya would have horrified him. If they come to LOS at all, it's to the 5* resorts in Phuket etc.

[thaibeachlovers]

Makro is packed. Tesco South Sukhumvit was the busiest I've ever seen. Incredible. Traffic has been bad for several days on Sukhumvit.

Tourists don't shop at Makro.

If Makro is busy, more likely catering to the Bkk Thais coming for the holidays, or for the restaurants that cater to Chinese.

Tourists don't, as rule, drive cars anywhere. If traffic has been bad, it's those Bkk Thais again, plus Pattaya is pretty big now and has lots of local residents with cars.

[tropo]

Makro is packed. Tesco South Sukhumvit was the busiest I've ever seen. Incredible. Traffic has been bad for several days on Sukhumvit.

Tourists don't shop at Makro.

If Makro is busy, more likely catering to the Bkk Thais coming for the holidays, or for the restaurants that cater to Chinese.

Tourists don't, as rule, drive cars anywhere. If traffic has been bad, it's those Bkk Thais again, plus Pattaya is pretty big now and has lots of local residents with cars.

Yep, all the restaurants at Central were packed with Thai people this evening. It would have been tough to spot a foreigner in many of them.

[tropo]

A different class of sex tourist.

Income class.

So called LDOP.

Lame dupe overpayers

KFC buckets flying off the shelves

Yep, fly all the way to Thailand only to eat the same western cr*p as they eat back home.

But the KFC doesn't taste the same either. Most franchised food outlets are serving inferior food compared to back at home, with even poorer service. They ignore the rule to throw it out once it has been sitting there too long.

[Hal65]

It is said seeing the adult scene slowly fading away into the background. The beer bars are mostly old/unattractive women if they are staffed at all. Pattaya was one of the few places where the traditional rules of sex didn't apply, now it too is becoming like everywhere else.