Pattaya is dead

[tropo]

Strange I thought that motorbikes were not allowed on any other floor than the basement , or maybe ground level where the bike parking is, so I highly doubt that you would be allowed to go 6 levels on your bike.

You're correct - I don't go up 6 floors - only ground, basement and 1st level, but all the cars and bikes enter and exit the same place, so you have a fairly good idea how busy it is.

[TheCruncher]

Strange I thought that motorbikes were not allowed on any other floor than the basement , or maybe ground level where the bike parking is, so I highly doubt that you would be allowed to go 6 levels on your bike.

You're correct - I don't go up 6 floors - only ground, basement and 1st level, but all the cars and bikes enter and exit the same place, so you have a fairly good idea how busy it is.

No you can't have a fairly good idea about what is going on in the car park from look at the cars that enter. Or do you think I wasted 1 hour for fun driving up 6 levels, then 6 levels down, if I had known it was that busy inside?

[soisiphok]

Totally agree with Gemjuy, post #59. I for one am so glad that's the way it is. Same goes for the Ruskies, I love it that they don't drink (mostly) in bars & don't play golf!

[tropo]

Strange I thought that motorbikes were not allowed on any other floor than the basement , or maybe ground level where the bike parking is, so I highly doubt that you would be allowed to go 6 levels on your bike.

You're correct - I don't go up 6 floors - only ground, basement and 1st level, but all the cars and bikes enter and exit the same place, so you have a fairly good idea how busy it is.

No you can't have a fairly good idea about what is going on in the car park from look at the cars that enter. Or do you think I wasted 1 hour for fun driving up 6 levels, then 6 levels down, if I had known it was that busy inside?

Yes you can, LOL

Either way, it's all besides the point as those cars forcing you to waste hours in the carpark do not belong to tourists and are not a peak season barometer.

Cheers!

[silverado]

Pattaya is dead? That is a big laugh. I have lived in Pattaya for over ten years. I do not remember so many traffic jams ten years ago compared to the last two years, especially on weekends. Pattaya is not just for the Western tourist anymore, but many people from Bangkok come to stay in one of the nice hotels with a beach view or stay in their weekend condo. Then there are the white tour buses that have multiplied like rabbits the past two years...they block traffic and block a drivers vision. There are more nationalities from the Eastern part of the globe visiting Pattaya on booked tours (such as the Indians or Chinese) or are independent travelers (such as the Malaysians or Koreans). What most likely is dead is the Western clientele that use to fill up the outdoor bars, go-go bars. This group is dwindling.

yes , pattaya is dying from what it made its success...

unfortunatly , during the next decades you'll still get eczema when putting a knee in the sea not ready to lead my family/children there for this (and numerous other reasons)

[silverado]

update 9 pm at the FLB bar - walking street -

good business all those little flags leading herds of chines guests along the street , mixed with cheap charlies drinking their water in bottles bought in the 7/11

Hurra ! Pattaya is alive !

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/live-from-pattaya-thailand

Edited December 20, 2015 by silverado

[Joey J]

People are coming to pattaya, not in their great numbers as before, but the big difference is the window shopping, where people look but don't buy, that is the problem.

[Rimmer]

Some troll posts removed

[JHolmesJr]

Saw the webcams .... Wouldnt call it dead.....but not exactly alive....walking street has more asians than farangs....didnt use to be like that. Place used to be heaving at midnight.

[tropo]

Saw the webcams .... Wouldnt call it dead.....but not exactly alive....walking street has more asians than farangs....didnt use to be like that. Place used to be heaving at midnight.

Many would prefer it that way too. Nothing worse than big groups of drunk Farang walking around as if they own the place.

[silverado]

Saw the webcams .... Wouldnt call it dead.....but not exactly alive....walking street has more asians than farangs....didnt use to be like that. Place used to be heaving at midnight.

Many would prefer it that way too. Nothing worse than big groups of drunk Farang walking around as if they own the place.

update pattaya walking street : nomore chinese in the streets. stay the drunk farangs : if they weren't there , 95 % of the businesses could close right now at 1 o'clock am....

tropo , can you explain me WHO would prefer it that way ?

Edited December 20, 2015 by silverado

[tropo]

Saw the webcams .... Wouldnt call it dead.....but not exactly alive....walking street has more asians than farangs....didnt use to be like that. Place used to be heaving at midnight.

Many would prefer it that way too. Nothing worse than big groups of drunk Farang walking around as if they own the place.

update pattaya walking street : nomore chinese in the streets. stay the drunk farangs : if they weren't there , 95 % of the businesses could close right now at 1 o'clock am....

tropo , can you explain me WHO would prefer it that way ?

They could close up permanently for all I care. The less drunks the better.

[balo]

I have never seen Pattaya busier than now , but I have only lived her permanently since 2013 . I used to live in Bangkok and that was a nightmare at times.

Maybe it was better in 2010 . But lots of people around every day, I have to fight my way through the traffic, BIG C lots of people every day , same Tesco , most bar sois are packed at night.

Last night I went to Pratumnak hill to exercise , it took me 15 minutes in the car to drive 200 meters from the intersection. Crazy!

[berybert]

I have never seen Pattaya busier than now , but I have only lived her permanently since 2013 . I used to live in Bangkok and that was a nightmare at times.

Maybe it was better in 2010 . But lots of people around every day, I have to fight my way through the traffic, BIG C lots of people every day , same Tesco , most bar sois are packed at night.

Last night I went to Pratumnak hill to exercise , it took me 15 minutes in the car to drive 200 meters from the intersection. Crazy!

It takes about 4 or 5 tourist buses to bring Pratumnak hill to a standstill, so hardly a reason to claim the place is busy.

How do you fight your way thru traffic ? if it takes you 15 minutes to travel 200 meters I'd imagine the answer would be 'not very well'

[fosseway]

Reply to berybert, as my last post seemed to have no content.

Entering Central from 2nd road, the number of vacant parking spaces are indicated on the electronic sign by the ticket booth.

[morrobay]

To answer VIP, who claims Pattaya is Dead, I think a fairer statement would be Pattaya is Changing. Supply and demand is taking care of the number of tattoo parlors that are needed. If some are closing, it's because the demand is no longer there to support the number in business. I think there are definitely more name brands arriving. I see more name brand stores at the mall, more McDonalds and Burger King, etc., and Hooters is on the way. Shops that close are replaced by others that open--I'm sure we've all noticed the big restaurants that have started to open to cater to the Chinese tourists. Pattays is losing some of its honky-tonky, flimsy/temporary type businesses and gaining things more permanent, like The Bay shopping/restaurant/entertainment complex being built on Beach Road. I'm told Pattaya will be getting its version of Bangkok's Asiatique. And, all that newly cleared land by Dolphin Circle I think is going to be a shopping center or some sort. Would love to hear if anyone knows anything more about that. So, not dead but ever-changing.

The Bay shopping complex on Beach rd between soi 5 and 6 is basically another mall about the same size as Royal Garden. If Royal Garden has lost out to Central Festival, then what kind of business

is the Bay going to expect ? http://www.stickmanbangkok.com/StickmanWeeklyColumn2015/Bangkok-2015.htm. check out the reader submission on Nightmare By The Sea.

[loppylugs1]

Pattaya as far as farang long stay/permanently living here is on the way down for sure,the die is cast on that one,Chinese and Indians on the way up,little wonder why farang wants to go. Pattays OK for hour or twos drive to reach,few hours or nights then push off

Stop those half filled or quarter filled Chinese tour buses,place would be empty

[newnative]

I think The Bay is being planned as mostly a restaurant and entertainment complex with just a few shops, so not really a regular mall like Royal Garden or Festival, Morrobay. I think there is a live entertainment component planned for the front ground floor area. Time will tell whether the concept will be successful or not. For Balo and Berybert debating traffic jams and fighting through them, I suspect Balo was in a car and Berybert on a motorcycle. Driving the wrong way on the road would be about the only way a car could escape a traffic jam on narrow Pratamnack Road.

[yogi100]

Does OP even lives here ? It's just as busy as I remember from last year before Christmas, most bars in the popular sois are packed with farang tourists. And the traffic is terrible.

The traffic's always terrible especially on Friday and Saturday nights even in low season. Few Western tourists rent cars or travel about in tour buses.

[yogi100]

Just a reminder to Jiu Jitsu and others. The discussion is 'Pattaya is Dead'. Not 'Tourism is Dead'. Someone commenting on Central Festival being so full he couldn't find a parking space is making a relevant comment--so don't knock it. Can't be too dead if you can't get a parking spot at the mall. It's not ALL about the tourists. There seem to be plenty of tourists but the demographic has shifted so there are probably fewer who spend their holiday on a bar stool.

On certain days of the week and at certain times of the day shopping centre car parks in most cities are full all year round not just during the Festive Season.

It's now 4 days to Xmas and the venues visited by your typical Western punter like beer bars, gogo bars and night clubs have only just started livening up in the last couple of days but up till now it's been unusually quiet everywhere. I've been in Pattaya since the 5th November, go out most nights and visit the venues typical Western punters patronise.

[newnative]

Yes, Yogi, shopping center car parks in cities can be busy year round--but not if a city is supposedly 'dead'. I go to Central Festival at least once a week year-round and it seems pretty busy all the time to me. We usually have to go to the parking level after the Lady Parking or higher before we can find a parking space--even in summer. The consensus seems to be that there are fewer 'Western punters' around--but that doesn't automatically mean a city is dead. The slack is being taken up by others.

[JHolmesJr]

Even 71 year old Grampa Jimmy from Jomtien remarked that Walking Street was dead last night.

[morrobay]

Yes, Yogi, shopping center car parks in cities can be busy year round--but not if a city is supposedly 'dead'. I go to Central Festival at least once a week year-round and it seems pretty busy all the time to me. We usually have to go to the parking level after the Lady Parking or higher before we can find a parking space--even in summer. The consensus seems to be that there are fewer 'Western punters' around--but that doesn't automatically mean a city is dead. The slack is being taken up by others.

The slack being taken up by others is majority Thai. Both residents and visitors.

Edited December 21, 2015 by morrobay

[abrahamzvi]

Germany economy is not booming at all, it's a disaster. it s all smoke and fog like the 5% unemployment in the USA.

you just get enough to buy food and sleep on a bed but not enough to spend your money around.

Quite frankly, I really don't think you know what you are talking about. Do you know what the average income per capita in Germany is, or in the US? I wish that a country which I really love, Thailand, would have a similar economy to Germany, or for that matter the USA.

[tropo]

To answer VIP, who claims Pattaya is Dead, I think a fairer statement would be Pattaya is Changing. Supply and demand is taking care of the number of tattoo parlors that are needed. If some are closing, it's because the demand is no longer there to support the number in business. I think there are definitely more name brands arriving. I see more name brand stores at the mall, more McDonalds and Burger King, etc., and Hooters is on the way. Shops that close are replaced by others that open--I'm sure we've all noticed the big restaurants that have started to open to cater to the Chinese tourists. Pattays is losing some of its honky-tonky, flimsy/temporary type businesses and gaining things more permanent, like The Bay shopping/restaurant/entertainment complex being built on Beach Road. I'm told Pattaya will be getting its version of Bangkok's Asiatique. And, all that newly cleared land by Dolphin Circle I think is going to be a shopping center or some sort. Would love to hear if anyone knows anything more about that. So, not dead but ever-changing.

The Bay shopping complex on Beach rd between soi 5 and 6 is basically another mall about the same size as Royal Garden. If Royal Garden has lost out to Central Festival, then what kind of business

is the Bay going to expect ? http://www.stickmanbangkok.com/StickmanWeeklyColumn2015/Bangkok-2015.htm. check out the reader submission on Nightmare By The Sea.

That disgruntled visitor who made the submission on Stickman hasn't been here for 12 months. Pattaya hasn't changed at all in the last 12 months other than getting a bit quieter, so it has improved over that time.

[tropo]

Driving the wrong way on the road would be about the only way a car could escape a traffic jam on narrow Pratamnack Road.

Plenty of crazy drivers do just that.

[balo]

I have never seen Pattaya busier than now , but I have only lived her permanently since 2013 . I used to live in Bangkok and that was a nightmare at times.

Maybe it was better in 2010 . But lots of people around every day, I have to fight my way through the traffic, BIG C lots of people every day , same Tesco , most bar sois are packed at night.

Last night I went to Pratumnak hill to exercise , it took me 15 minutes in the car to drive 200 meters from the intersection. Crazy!

It takes about 4 or 5 tourist buses to bring Pratumnak hill to a standstill, so hardly a reason to claim the place is busy.

How do you fight your way thru traffic ? if it takes you 15 minutes to travel 200 meters I'd imagine the answer would be 'not very well'

Very simple, I drive a car. Yes I could be walking instead. You will never see me on a bike in this country.

[whitemouse]

Very simple, I drive a car. Yes I could be walking instead. You will never see me on a bike in this country.

People who drive see Pattaya very differently from people who walk. Looking at traffic, it seems we live in Hong Kong like busy metropolis, but don't drive for a week, stay on Beach Rd somewhere, walk everywhere, and it feels like this is a small, quiet and pleasant seaside town.

[melvin2450]

Quite an interesting topic, I will state from the start that I don't live in Thailand but have been visiting twice a year for the last 11 years with my wife, we come for a little bit of luxury in the hotel and the vibrant night life, I have to say that over those years pattaya would appear to have got quieter, we tend to spend our evenings drinking around so 6/7/8 and when we first started going to pattaya we couldn't move, now some of those streets are completely dead!!! Walking street is and always has been a major tourist attraction which is why it's always packed but I would imagine not a great deal of money spent. I have to say that having booked for February some months ago the agent did comment that a lot of her regulars are now going to Vietnam and Cambodia I would suggest that this is not an indictment of how bad pattaya is but just a natural transition. Anyway we will arrive on 20th February for two weeks of luxury sun and cheap beer however busy/quiet it may be we will enjoy.

[newnative]

I agree with Whitemouse. We used to live in Jomtien but found ourselves going in to Pattaya at least 3 or 4 times a week. Traffic kept getting worse and with 10 years of tunnel construction ahead, we recently decided to move to central Pattaya. Parked the car in the garage and we are walking everywhere--and loving it. Lots of places to eat and stalls everywhere selling fresh fruit and vegetables, etc. Grocery stores are nearby, too. One thing was a surprise--we thought it would be noisier at night since we are on Pattaya Second Road but it's been fine. Would love better sidewalks on parts of Second Road--especially by the police barracks--but that's about the only complaint.