Blast from the past! So cool to read those historical posts--thanks for sharing them! Fun to see those guys were clueless then and are still clueless now. And, for this 'specific farang', the topic is not just about the number of bar patrons, or lack of them.

It's always a good laugh except for the grim relentlessness and continual repetition.

It may help to know that I stumbled upon a breakthrough revelation a couple of years ago, good news ultimately, that partly absolves the bewildered and disaffected: the Pattaya Reality Distortion Field for encouraging emigration.

This: Pattaya somehow immediately knows about puckered sphincters and begins distorting reality around their owners in unpleasant ways, causing no end of complaints.

One major effect is on eyesight: for example, they pass by crowded beer bars but just can't see the customers. And they definitely can't see lights on in condos at all. I'll discuss this amazing phenomenon in more detail elsewhere, though it will be promptly denounced as some sort of conspiracy by real estate agents.

It's all very benevolent. Pattaya's merely trying to help those in need to reach ASAP the terminal "last nail in the coffin" and "killed the goose" gibbering stage and leave for happier climes, say, to the paradise of Cambodia. After all, that would be best for everyone, and it really is the only way, as (I know from years of trying) reasoning is utterly futile.

The comments made in 2009 were based on the observations of the general/majority population in Pattaya in that period.. In my case from 2001 up to 2009.

I dont see any comments made at that time from those above that made other predictions.

So thanks to the Bangkok Thais making Pattaya/ Central Festival their weekend getaway.

And the influx of millions of "regular holiday tourists" ( looking at these folks around Mikes shopping mall to Central Festival looks like it could be Kansas)

Pattaya and Central Festival are full. I dont know about the bars but the girls are not going anywhere.

Edited February 12, 201610 yr by morrobay

with 19t debt in the USA, this world is not booming and Pattaya is going down. no way it can go better in the next 3 years.

look around Pattaya, only the center looks packed with people , but the surrounding area is dying.

bars along South jomptien beach are empty. Tesco has empty shelves . big c is empty. just look at the phone and tablet area , it look a deserted place. go computer building at tukom, the last floor is empty and seller are closing their shops. go ask Street seller, they all say the same, people don't buy like before and they need to stay open until 11pm, sometimes until midnight for a last minute sale.

fuel is down, logically prices should go down, price is up.

go walk along Teprasit road, shops stay open just a few months and close again until next sucker come with a new bright idea...

Pattaya is going down. only farangs with pink glasses and who have never been outside bukao will say it s fully packed but in fact Pattaya people are now suffering.

thousand of condo. go pratamnack, these building are empty, no soul. go dark side , no farang anymore.

Only addressing your comments about Tukcom's "deadness"... I believe the main reason for the empty "last floor" (where all the pirated stuff was/is) is a downturn in people purchasing pirated software, movies and music as most people tend to download it these days - and get their music on YouTube.

The computer floors are slowly succumbing to "deadness" due to the proliferation of smart phones and tablets, causing a general downturn in laptop and PC sales. This is a worldwide trend.

I don't believe this has much to do with the general "deadness" that many are witnessing in Pattaya.

If the computer floors are slowly succumbing to "deadness" due to the proliferation of smart phones and tablets, that would result in the phone floor being well alive and kicking, which is not a reality.

That floor is also almost deprived of customers now, during the so called high season, and even less in low season.

Edited February 12, 201610 yr by TheCruncher

I was on a bike trip to Koh Chang Monday/Tuesday and was surprised by the amount of Chinese tourists over there, many cars on Chinese no plates and it was not small cheap cars.

Not the tour groups we see here in Pattaya but more couples with kids or friends going together.

I been told there is a new highway going though Laos all the way, likely paid by the Chinese for trading.

They were improving the highway along the Mekong in the north years ago, so been expected a long time.

The decisions to upgrade Index, Chic and Decco coming to town and building Harbour Mall were made years ago.

Of course but not really relevant. Market was analyzed and judged not critically dependent on Russians or Chinese.

The assumption is that Thai business people and publicly held corporations are too stupid to do any market analysis. TVF members seem to think they just ask fortune tellers or astrologers what to do with, say, 5 billion baht (cost of Central). Hee hee!

It's merely one of our old fallacies on the forum reflecting ignorance about how things work. Let it go.

A couple of cases in point. The decision to build 3rd Rd was made long before there any Russians or Chinese or even many Thai tourists. Our farangs inevitably saw no need for it (as there never is) and started bitchin'. It didn't go anywhere! It would never have any stop lights at the intersections. Perpetual chaos! City Hall!

. . . a Grand Prix track . . . . At the moment there is no evidence to suggest that traffic lights will be installed. The fourth solution, and the one most likely to be adopted, is to do sweet nothing! First come first across, and where is the nearest hospital? . . . What on earth is the point of the new Third Road? (Apart from providing the local idiots with a race track.) It ends in a full stop at the Crystal Beach which hardly anyone wants to visit. . . .

--Oliver W. Minto, "What to do about Third Road junctions," Pattaya Mail, Vol. V No.11 Friday 14 March 1997 - 20 March 1997

Yeah, what a flop, Third Road. Too bad you didn't buy property along it, eh? One way or the other I mean.

Then in 2007 and 2008 we were enjoying two good DYING PATTAYA threads

2007: Pattaya's Dead

2008: Is Pattaya Dead Right Now?

Yet for some unfathomable reason Central Pattana PLC foolishly planned and started construction of CentralFestival Pattaya Beach anyway. And opened it to knee-jerk doom prophecies of course by those who couldn't even get its name right.

thaibeachlovers, on 2009-05-29 19:01:26:

Central World is going to fail, just like The Avenues. Anyone stupid enough to build a place that charges Bangkok prices in a small tourist resort town deserves to go bankrupt.

morrobay, on 2009-05-31 11:14:05:

thaibeachlovers is Right On the facts

That was while our Coroners were issuing new Pattaya Death Certificates in the mammoth Pattaya Is Dead Dead Dead. Only four months after CentralFestival Pattaya Beach was condemned to death, despite the prophecies, the new Holiday Inn Pattaya opened. Next year, 7 months after another doom thread, CPN Pattaya Beach Co. Ltd and Hilton Hotels & Resorts also foolishly opened the Hilton Pattaya amid all the ruins! Meanwhile, new beer bar construction on 2nd Rd and around Soi Buakhao flourished apace, oversaturating the market even until today. Paradoxically, such oversaturation contributed to more doom posting.

So let's not worry too much about construction being started at what you think is a foolish time. Maybe there's something you don't know and they do--it's their money, after all.

It's a fact that there has been a huge drop in visiters from Russia, which hasn't been offset by the increase in Chinese.

But Chinese aren't the only ones doing any shopping, you see. Nor do you have any spending figures; or if you do, let's see 'em.

Hmmmm. Re 3rd Road. I was there when they built it and I certainly didn't think it was a waste of money. I thought it should have been 4 lanes wider to allow more traffic and also parking. It would have been easy to do so given the land was only fields then, but no one has ever accused the authorities of looking to the future past the next election.

As for Central- the owners have deep pockets and are obviously waiting for the big spenders. Clearly, the Chinese aren't going to rescue the place.

No argument from me that there are too many bar beers in Pattaya- it has been that way for at least 20 years, but like the baht buses, they somehow struggle along in an oversaturated market

with 19t debt in the USA, this world is not booming and Pattaya is going down. no way it can go better in the next 3 years.

look around Pattaya, only the center looks packed with people , but the surrounding area is dying.

bars along South jomptien beach are empty. Tesco has empty shelves . big c is empty. just look at the phone and tablet area , it look a deserted place. go computer building at tukom, the last floor is empty and seller are closing their shops. go ask Street seller, they all say the same, people don't buy like before and they need to stay open until 11pm, sometimes until midnight for a last minute sale.

fuel is down, logically prices should go down, price is up.

go walk along Teprasit road, shops stay open just a few months and close again until next sucker come with a new bright idea...

Pattaya is going down. only farangs with pink glasses and who have never been outside bukao will say it s fully packed but in fact Pattaya people are now suffering.

thousand of condo. go pratamnack, these building are empty, no soul. go dark side , no farang anymore.

Only addressing your comments about Tukcom's "deadness"... I believe the main reason for the empty "last floor" (where all the pirated stuff was/is) is a downturn in people purchasing pirated software, movies and music as most people tend to download it these days - and get their music on YouTube.

The computer floors are slowly succumbing to "deadness" due to the proliferation of smart phones and tablets, causing a general downturn in laptop and PC sales. This is a worldwide trend.

I don't believe this has much to do with the general "deadness" that many are witnessing in Pattaya.

If the computer floors are slowly succumbing to "deadness" due to the proliferation of smart phones and tablets, that would result in the phone floor being well alive and kicking, which is not a reality.

That floor is also almost deprived of customers now, during the so called high season, and even less in low season.

Wrong. I went there about a week ago during the day and it was packed. Lots of farangs there, too. Thought they'd all been scared away by horror stories on TVF. Really, I was surprised at how well it's doing. Should have taken a pic--didn't know this particular myth would arise.

Tropo has a good point about the downloading, which includes of course to the phones from the apps websites.

with 19t debt in the USA, this world is not booming and Pattaya is going down. no way it can go better in the next 3 years.

look around Pattaya, only the center looks packed with people , but the surrounding area is dying.

bars along South jomptien beach are empty. Tesco has empty shelves . big c is empty. just look at the phone and tablet area , it look a deserted place. go computer building at tukom, the last floor is empty and seller are closing their shops. go ask Street seller, they all say the same, people don't buy like before and they need to stay open until 11pm, sometimes until midnight for a last minute sale.

fuel is down, logically prices should go down, price is up.

go walk along Teprasit road, shops stay open just a few months and close again until next sucker come with a new bright idea...

Pattaya is going down. only farangs with pink glasses and who have never been outside bukao will say it s fully packed but in fact Pattaya people are now suffering.

thousand of condo. go pratamnack, these building are empty, no soul. go dark side , no farang anymore.

Only addressing your comments about Tukcom's "deadness"... I believe the main reason for the empty "last floor" (where all the pirated stuff was/is) is a downturn in people purchasing pirated software, movies and music as most people tend to download it these days - and get their music on YouTube.

The computer floors are slowly succumbing to "deadness" due to the proliferation of smart phones and tablets, causing a general downturn in laptop and PC sales. This is a worldwide trend.

I don't believe this has much to do with the general "deadness" that many are witnessing in Pattaya.

If the computer floors are slowly succumbing to "deadness" due to the proliferation of smart phones and tablets, that would result in the phone floor being well alive and kicking, which is not a reality.

That floor is also almost deprived of customers now, during the so called high season, and even less in low season.

Wrong. I went there about a week ago during the day and it was packed. Lots of farangs there, too. Thought they'd all been scared away by horror stories on TVF. Really, I was surprised at how well it's doing. Should have taken a pic--didn't know this particular myth would arise.

Tropo has a good point about the downloading, which includes of course to the phones from the apps websites.

Well, I was there 3 times in the last 10 days, so have to pass the phone floor to get to the computer floor, and on none of these days I saw many people there.

I have to admit it was not on a Tuesday or Friday, as those day may be more busy due to having the market nearby, and I also didn't wear my rose colored goggles.

Also the majority of the customers that were there was Arab or at least from that region.

but if there is less Farang in Pattaya..i don't think that's really a bad idea.......

with 19t debt in the USA, this world is not booming and Pattaya is going down. no way it can go better in the next 3 years.

look around Pattaya, only the center looks packed with people , but the surrounding area is dying.

bars along South jomptien beach are empty. Tesco has empty shelves . big c is empty. just look at the phone and tablet area , it look a deserted place. go computer building at tukom, the last floor is empty and seller are closing their shops. go ask Street seller, they all say the same, people don't buy like before and they need to stay open until 11pm, sometimes until midnight for a last minute sale.

fuel is down, logically prices should go down, price is up.

go walk along Teprasit road, shops stay open just a few months and close again until next sucker come with a new bright idea...

Pattaya is going down. only farangs with pink glasses and who have never been outside bukao will say it s fully packed but in fact Pattaya people are now suffering.

thousand of condo. go pratamnack, these building are empty, no soul. go dark side , no farang anymore.

Only addressing your comments about Tukcom's "deadness"... I believe the main reason for the empty "last floor" (where all the pirated stuff was/is) is a downturn in people purchasing pirated software, movies and music as most people tend to download it these days - and get their music on YouTube.

The computer floors are slowly succumbing to "deadness" due to the proliferation of smart phones and tablets, causing a general downturn in laptop and PC sales. This is a worldwide trend.

I don't believe this has much to do with the general "deadness" that many are witnessing in Pattaya.

If the computer floors are slowly succumbing to "deadness" due to the proliferation of smart phones and tablets, that would result in the phone floor being well alive and kicking, which is not a reality.

That floor is also almost deprived of customers now, during the so called high season, and even less in low season.

As it so happens, I was on the "phone floor" yesterday. It's about as alive or dead as it always is/was. It must be one of the worst places in town to buy a phone and I'm sure a lot of tourists soon figure that out - there's just too much touting and pressure going on. Thais are obviously buying their smartphones somewhere as every man and his dog seems to have one, but they're not buying them at the Tukcom "phone floor".

Also went to Tukcom the other day, lots of people around , not many Thais compared to foreigners.

Also went to Tukcom the other day, lots of people around , not many Thais compared to foreigners.

The majority crowds at Tuk Com are the shitloads of foreign males lying around the front steps all day smoking cigarettes.

Also went to Tukcom the other day, lots of people around , not many Thais compared to foreigners.

The majority crowds at Tuk Com are the shitloads of foreign males lying around the front steps all day smoking cigarettes.

Rubbish! Maybe there are 5 or so sitting on the steps. Lots more inside.

with 19t debt in the USA, this world is not booming and Pattaya is going down. no way it can go better in the next 3 years.

look around Pattaya, only the center looks packed with people , but the surrounding area is dying.

bars along South jomptien beach are empty. Tesco has empty shelves . big c is empty. just look at the phone and tablet area , it look a deserted place. go computer building at tukom, the last floor is empty and seller are closing their shops. go ask Street seller, they all say the same, people don't buy like before and they need to stay open until 11pm, sometimes until midnight for a last minute sale.

fuel is down, logically prices should go down, price is up.

go walk along Teprasit road, shops stay open just a few months and close again until next sucker come with a new bright idea...

Pattaya is going down. only farangs with pink glasses and who have never been outside bukao will say it s fully packed but in fact Pattaya people are now suffering.

thousand of condo. go pratamnack, these building are empty, no soul. go dark side , no farang anymore.

Only addressing your comments about Tukcom's "deadness"... I believe the main reason for the empty "last floor" (where all the pirated stuff was/is) is a downturn in people purchasing pirated software, movies and music as most people tend to download it these days - and get their music on YouTube.

The computer floors are slowly succumbing to "deadness" due to the proliferation of smart phones and tablets, causing a general downturn in laptop and PC sales. This is a worldwide trend.

I don't believe this has much to do with the general "deadness" that many are witnessing in Pattaya.

If the computer floors are slowly succumbing to "deadness" due to the proliferation of smart phones and tablets, that would result in the phone floor being well alive and kicking, which is not a reality.

That floor is also almost deprived of customers now, during the so called high season, and even less in low season.

As it so happens, I was on the "phone floor" yesterday. It's about as alive or dead as it always is/was. It must be one of the worst places in town to buy a phone and I'm sure a lot of tourists soon figure that out - there's just too much touting and pressure going on. Thais are obviously buying their smartphones somewhere as every man and his dog seems to have one, but they're not buying them at the Tukcom "phone floor".

I believe a significant part of the business is selling accessories and repair/upgrade services. Another issue is that since the heyday of Tukcom there are a lot more outlets (better outlets) selling phones & electronics. So there's been a "spreading out," as with the beer bars, that misleads the naive into thinking it means "death." At present though the phone floor is doing quite well enough. Another oft-repeated myth here is that a business must be crowded every minute of every day (notably when the very sharp shrewd economist passes by it) before it can be "successful" according to TVF standards. Similarly a condo must not only be sold and owned but also "occupied" constantly with the lights on at all times. Otherwise, the building is empty and the developers near bankruptcy.

I love this forum!

Edited February 12, 201610 yr by JSixpack

lot of business closed. who said this place is booming?

walk in Tesco and you see these shops empty.

in USA, Walmart is closing. k mart is gone...

so don't tell me Pattaya is going well with 3 customers a day sipping Lao beer at 2 bucks.

Re "lot of business closed " For accuracy can you and anyone else just name and give location of these closed businesses ?

Never been to Avenues? Place is full of empty shops.

lot of business closed. who said this place is booming?

walk in Tesco and you see these shops empty.

in USA, Walmart is closing. k mart is gone...

so don't tell me Pattaya is going well with 3 customers a day sipping Lao beer at 2 bucks.

Re "lot of business closed " For accuracy can you and anyone else just name and give location of these closed businesses ?

Never been to Avenues? Place is full of empty shops.

Very big empty shops, but nothing has changed since it opened. It's a wonder how most of these shops keep their doors open. The California Wow space has been vacant since July 2012. I did see the lights on the other day - perhaps someone is doing something with it. Has anyone ever seen Villa Market busy since it opened in 2007?

Edited February 12, 201610 yr by tropo

Has anyone ever seen Villa Market busy since it opened in 2007?

Leave Villa alone….my fave supermarket by a mile. Who wants to shop in a crowded place…if you like that theres always the pattaya tai outdoor markets.

Has anyone ever seen Villa Market busy since it opened in 2007?

Leave Villa alone….my fave supermarket by a mile. Who wants to shop in a crowded place…if you like that theres always the pattaya tai outdoor markets.

The Avenue in general has been a White Elephant since it first opened.

But I wouldn't be happy if they closed VIlla.

They have things that you just cant find elsewhere.

Has anyone ever seen Villa Market busy since it opened in 2007?

Leave Villa alone….my fave supermarket by a mile. Who wants to shop in a crowded place…if you like that theres always the pattaya tai outdoor markets.

The Avenue in general has been a White Elephant since it first opened.

But I wouldn't be happy if they closed VIlla.

They have things that you just cant find elsewhere.

I was there on the opening night of Avenues. Loads of the rich and influential congratulating themselves on the opening of what was obviously a disaster in the making. Must have been an idiot with too much money to build a mall without AC. It was great show though.

However, it is strange that they didn't just put glass around all the floors and make it an AC mall. Wouldn't be hard.

The comments made in 2009 were based on the observations of the general/majority population in Pattaya in that period.

You wish, but no.

First, an expert business forecaster should at least know what demographics are. The "general/majority" population in Pattaya, Thais, thought the opening of "CentRUN" a fine thing indeed; none of them would think to sneer, call the company "stupid," and predict its failure. They might have thought such about certain TVF posters, however, had they known.

Among the expats, feelings were mixed. Most merely observed that business wasn't so good during the low season. 'Course, it wasn't good at RG either. Some were happy with all the new choices, some disappointed that Pattaya was growin' up. A few ace construction engineers predicted the building to fall down. We're all still waitin' for that. But this is normal, nah? Before the paving of South Pattaya Rd. could be completed, our ace asphalt engineers were on it predicting that (hee hee!) cars would be breaking axles on the sunken drainage gratings.

Most, I think, kept their powder dry with a "wait and see" attitude, having no particular comment at all.

Observations about "business not so good" continued even until today for various reasons (typical TVF) but in fact it's been good 'nuff and all considered the mall has been a great success.

So despite what we might term the Pattaya Doom Fatwa by doomsters since at least 1997 when "thugs were taking over Pattaya," I don't know of anyone actively predicting specifically the failure of CentralFestival Pattaya Beach except a few self-appointed, elite, authoritative TVF economists, all of whom, AFAIK, have happily been banned except the two cited in my post. And these I would say represent the group who simply hate the mall. Period.

But you're welcome to cite posts from other of our distinguished experts. I didn't happen to run across any myself.

Ironically if at the time instead of spouting nonsense you'd been able to see reality and invested, say, a million in shares of CPN, that million would have been worth four million by the end of 2015. Maybe CPN wasn't "stupid" after all and some other obvious conclusion can be drawn.

if Pattaya is booming, why the debt of Thailand is increasing every second. why Street sellers complain to me all day long and every day? why people have debt and have problems?

why why why? remove your pinky glasses, this place keep going because people borrow a lot but one day it s time for pay back... and you will see this place to become a dead zone.

just outside of Pattaya, you can see it coming. are you ready?

are you lock'n load?

Edited February 12, 201610 yr by VIPinthailand

As for Central- the owners have deep pockets and are obviously waiting for the big spenders. Clearly, the Chinese aren't going to rescue the place.

First, it isn't need of rescuing. That is a mere wish. Here you've waited 7 years already; gettin' tired yet?

Second, you have absolutely no idea what Chinese are spending at Central or what they're going to spend. CPN is pretty happy with the Chinese and in a recently quarterly report cite their contributions in Pattaya to increased profits. This will continue.

if Pattaya is booming, why the debt of Thailand is increasing every second. why Street sellers complain to me all day long and every day? why people have debt and have problems?

why why why? remove your pinky glasses, this place keep going because people borrow a lot but one day it s time for pay back... and you will see this place to become a dead zone.

just outside of Pattaya, you can see it coming. are you ready?

are you lock'n load?

Wasn't Pattaya just fine until you discovered you couldn't buy a "high class condo, 5 stars style" for peanuts? Sounds like sour grapes to me. 'Course if Pattaya crashed, you could get that condo, right?

Central Festival does not need 'saving' by the Chinese, but they will certainly be welcomed by the merchants. There seems to be a persistent myth that the Chinese come here and don't spend a dime--that they eat at their booked Chinese owned hotel, go to the set tourist stops, eat a boxed lunch on the bus, more tourist stops, then back to their hotel for their evening meal, after which they are locked into their rooms, lest they venture out and open their wallets. Well, had dinner the other night at Sizzler, on the sleepy top floor of Royal Garden Plaza. In the past, the restaurant has never seemed very busy--at least at the times we were there. We go in and it's two-thirds empty as usual--until a group of about 15 or 20 Chinese come in. Then awhile later, another 20 Chinese. Then a third big group. Suddenly the restaurant is doing a good business. The Chinese seem to be helping Sizzler's sales. Just one example. The Chinese are definitely out and about and spending money--and some of them are here on their own and not with groups. The Avenue is starting to show some teeny, tiny signs of life. Getting the outlet shops to come in was a good idea--at least a lot better than the horrible idea awhile back of having a whole huge floor filled with booths selling almost nothing but cell phones. I think they've added some night lighting but they need even more--the place needs to sparkle and dazzle at night--and not look so run down in daylight.

Has anyone ever seen Villa Market busy since it opened in 2007?

Leave Villa alone….my fave supermarket by a mile. Who wants to shop in a crowded place…if you like that theres always the pattaya tai outdoor markets.

The Avenue in general has been a White Elephant since it first opened.

But I wouldn't be happy if they closed VIlla.

They have things that you just cant find elsewhere.

I was there on the opening night of Avenues. Loads of the rich and influential congratulating themselves on the opening of what was obviously a disaster in the making. Must have been an idiot with too much money to build a mall without AC. It was great show though.

However, it is strange that they didn't just put glass around all the floors and make it an AC mall. Wouldn't be hard.

I love avenue….especially the derelict, abandoned feel…it is such a pleasure to go thee and watch a film, as opposed to jostling with the wannabe hipsters of Central.

You have no idea how advantageous it is to be on a movie date in a near empty cinema….

if Pattaya is booming, why the debt of Thailand is increasing every second. why Street sellers complain to me all day long and every day? why people have debt and have problems?

why why why? remove your pinky glasses, this place keep going because people borrow a lot but one day it s time for pay back... and you will see this place to become a dead zone.

just outside of Pattaya, you can see it coming. are you ready?

are you lock'n load?

How do you communicate with these street sellers if you are not in Thailand ?

and you will see this place to become a dead zone. just outside of Pattaya, you can see it coming.

are you ready?

are you lock'n load?

You getting ready for zombie apocalypse?

You are not in Thailand, and now Im starting to wonder if you are even a VIP.

and you will see this place to become a dead zone. just outside of Pattaya, you can see it coming.

are you ready?

are you lock'n load?

You getting ready for zombie apocalypse?

You are not in Thailand, and now Im starting to wonder if you are even a VIP.

i m not. I m in my jet around the world.

I love avenue….especially the derelict, abandoned feel…it is such a pleasure to go thee and watch a film, as opposed to jostling with the wannabe hipsters of Central.

You have no idea how advantageous it is to be on a movie date in a near empty cinema….

That's also the reason why I prefer watching moves there. i.e. because empty, not for dates (I'm married LOL).

I love avenue….especially the derelict, abandoned feel…it is such a pleasure to go thee and watch a film, as opposed to jostling with the wannabe hipsters of Central.

You have no idea how advantageous it is to be on a movie date in a near empty cinema….

That's also the reason why I prefer watching moves there. i.e. because empty, not for dates (I'm married LOL).

I too used to make the effort to go to Avenue cinemas, as it was cheaper than Central, but last time I checked they put the price up. However, rarely no one in the theatre, and the bowling alley did good business.

Has anyone ever seen Villa Market busy since it opened in 2007?

Leave Villa alone….my fave supermarket by a mile. Who wants to shop in a crowded place…if you like that theres always the pattaya tai outdoor markets.

Well you can have it (by yourself).

I prefer Best supermarket and Friendship over Villa because of much better selection for my needs and it's cheaper too.