Why Build a Terminal 21 in Pattaya? by The Pattaya Sleuth

[thaibeachlovers]

On 5/1/2016 at 4:17 PM, bradenroger said:

As someone who lives here, I'm always glad to see more shopping and entertainment options. I wonder what modifications will be required of the Dolphin Roundabout. Would Pattaya ever consider moving the Dolphin fountain to another place? Go Pattaya!

That would require considered opinion by the lords and masters, so unlikely to happen. As they never seem to have a considered opinion about anything, it has given Pattaya the Bali Hi car park, the marina, the desolate beach promenade etc etc etc.

[bkk6060]

4 hours ago, Henryford said:

I am glad i don't live in Naklua the traffic will be gridlocked all day and night.

I never thought about this but you are right. It even backs up now.  Add thousands of cars and...

They will probably need to put several traffic police out there day and night.

 

Rea the roundabout: it actually helps traffic move much faster.  Most European cities have them in busy areas and they work well I think.

The problem here is people get freaked out and don't know how to use it.

Edited April 8, 2017 by bkk6060

[Pattaya46]

20 hours ago, tropo said:

It's practically a certainty then that it will have the best food court in Pattaya.

There's not much competition here.

Why that? I don't remember anything special at the food area of Bangkok terminal 21? ...except maybe that it was rather expensive.

And about competition, what about Harbour and Central Beach Festival ?

[bkk6060]

1 hour ago, Pattaya46 said:

Why that? I don't remember anything special at the food area of Bangkok terminal 21? ...except maybe that it was rather expensive.

And about competition, what about Harbour and Central Beach Festival ?

There are many restaurants there but you may have not gone to the actual food court where you pay ahead and they give you a card. It is special I think the best food court in BKK and my Thai GF agrees.

I would say the prices average around 45 b for soups, duck/chicken/rice, crispy pork/rice, stir fried meats/veggies, Papaya salad, I can go on and on it is a huge area with many choices.  Some are as low as 25 b it generally seems cheaper then street food and much better. 

Trip Advisor has over 1,000 reviews on the place with a lot of prices quoted if you are interested.

Edited April 8, 2017 by bkk6060

[Jingthing]

That food court in Terminal 21 Bangkok is the best one I've ever seen in Thailand. We should be so lucky to get like that here.

[tropo]

10 hours ago, Pattaya46 said:

Why that? I don't remember anything special at the food area of Bangkok terminal 21? ...except maybe that it was rather expensive.

And about competition, what about Harbour and Central Beach Festival ?

 

It's a food court, so we're talking about food court food. Pier 21, as far as food courts go, is a class above other food courts in terms of choice, price and quality. The only problem I had when I visited there was trying to find a seat - and it's huge. Even the queue to get a loaded purchase card was long. That and the difficulty finding a seat are the 2 things that put me off eating there. Probably the location, being right at Asoke BTS/MRT interchange has a lot to do with its popularity too.

 

The 4-floor escalator is a brilliant idea too - it gets people up to eat very easily, but it's not so easy to get down. 

 

[Chivas]

when is this scheduled to be finished ??

[toenail]

On ‎4‎/‎8‎/‎2017 at 1:47 PM, Pattaya46 said:

Why that? I don't remember anything special at the food area of Bangkok terminal 21? ...except maybe that it was rather expensive.

And about competition, what about Harbour and Central Beach Festival ?

I am not a tourist so like many of us farangs that live in Thailand we know what poor to mediorcre is.  Central Festival food court (downstairs) varies with what item you order (certainly the Indian food is something to be desired; the already baked pizza is so-so, and the Thai food items are ok if you are a tourist. The plus here would be the variety and quick service.  The new food court at the newly renovated Marina shopping center (north 2nd Rd) is expensive and not of good quality.  Hopefully Terminal 21 will have better prices and quality.

[Ramen087]

22 hours ago, Chivas said:

when is this scheduled to be finished ??

summer to autumn 2018...

[digbeth]

The Terminal 21 Foodcourt in Bangkok is well known for the cheap price because they are not charged any rent! 

The quality of the food court depends on the local restaurants willing to participate...  in Bangkok they can get the well known 'street/shophouse' restaurant to go there as a loss making attraction to get people traffic through their mall.

 

What well known local 'thai' restaurants in Pattaya hasn't already been and gone at Central's food court?  Khun Sri, Dang-Dum and Even the Nang Nual seafood from Walking street was in the Central basement food court at one point and left. The point that it has to be well known restaurant too, it's no good that the mall is willing to take a huge loss on rent and have the same as big C Food court but only at prices like 10 baht cheaper per dish.

 

The newly opened Terminal 21 in Korat seem to not have as diverse selection as Bangkok. Maybe Pattaya will suffer the same fate. 

 

Ok maybe Pattaya doesn't have that much well known Thai restaurants that suits the food court format... what about western food? but remember the main point of the Terminal 21 Foodcourt is the 25-40 baht price. Maybe pattaya has enough western cheap charlies to make it work but what established restaurant is wiling to make the jump? even rent-free, they need to be able to split their operations and have extra cooks and ingredients...  

 

I remembered when the big mexican restaurant from Bangkok opened up in Big C Food court and failed spectacularly. Is their price to high for that food court? 

 

What local restaurants would you like to see/ think would work in the Terminal 21 foodcourt in Pattaya.

 

On a side note, Central also have another hi=so/posh food court that's very popular in Bangkok in their Chidlom branch where it is recommended that you charge the card upon entering with 500-1000 baht with nice tables and some service with western food and everything, it's pack most lunchtime, but In Pattaya it's on the 3rd? floor opposite Carl's Junior and is empty most of the time except the odd Russian that wanders in

[JayBird]

30 minutes ago, digbeth said:

The Terminal 21 Foodcourt in Bangkok is well known for the cheap price because they are not charged any rent! 

The quality of the food court depends on the local restaurants willing to participate...  in Bangkok they can get the well known 'street/shophouse' restaurant to go there as a loss making attraction to get people traffic through their mall.

 

What well known local 'thai' restaurants in Pattaya hasn't already been and gone at Central's food court?  Khun Sri, Dang-Dum and Even the Nang Nual seafood from Walking street was in the Central basement food court at one point and left. The point that it has to be well known restaurant too, it's no good that the mall is willing to take a huge loss on rent and have the same as big C Food court but only at prices like 10 baht cheaper per dish.

 

The newly opened Terminal 21 in Korat seem to not have as diverse selection as Bangkok. Maybe Pattaya will suffer the same fate. 

 

Ok maybe Pattaya doesn't have that much well known Thai restaurants that suits the food court format... what about western food? but remember the main point of the Terminal 21 Foodcourt is the 25-40 baht price. Maybe pattaya has enough western cheap charlies to make it work but what established restaurant is wiling to make the jump? even rent-free, they need to be able to split their operations and have extra cooks and ingredients...  

 

I remembered when the big mexican restaurant from Bangkok opened up in Big C Food court and failed spectacularly. Is their price to high for that food court? 

 

What local restaurants would you like to see/ think would work in the Terminal 21 foodcourt in Pattaya.

 

On a side note, Central also have another hi=so/posh food court that's very popular in Bangkok in their Chidlom branch where it is recommended that you charge the card upon entering with 500-1000 baht with nice tables and some service with western food and everything, it's pack most lunchtime, but In Pattaya it's on the 3rd? floor opposite Carl's Junior and is empty most of the time except the odd Russian that wanders in

I kind of like the one in Central Festival Pattaya (Food Loft?).  It IS pricey, and the food is not any better than the basement *BUT* the view is nice outside.  That's the only reason to go there to be honest.

 

And I suppose if you like having people follow you around to take your ticket and bring you your order.

 

But if you are just hungry and do not need a view, then there is no reason to go to the Loft.

 

I've eaten there dozens of times and I never ever saw it busy.  MAYBE 5-6 groups at most.  But that was it.

 

 

[digbeth]

17 minutes ago, JayBird said:

I kind of like the one in Central Festival Pattaya (Food Loft?).  It IS pricey, and the food is not any better than the basement *BUT* the view is nice outside.  That's the only reason to go there to be honest.

 

And I suppose if you like having people follow you around to take your ticket and bring you your order.

 

But if you are just hungry and do not need a view, then there is no reason to go to the Loft.

 

I've eaten there dozens of times and I never ever saw it busy.  MAYBE 5-6 groups at most.  But that was it.

 

 

Yes, Food loft, that's what's it's called.
The one in Bangkok at Central Chidlom has good food, no view, very pricey but still packed most days

 

[balo]

Food Loft is ok if you want to try something different , I believe they have Indonesian food  in the Bangkok branch , not sure about Pattaya .  So different Asian dishes and Italian etc from 100 to 300 baht. Not sure why Food Loft is not more popular in Pattaya.  

[JSixpack]

3 hours ago, digbeth said:

The one in Bangkok at Central Chidlom has good food, no view, very pricey but still packed most days

 

It does have a view, towards the back.

 

[JSixpack]

2 hours ago, balo said:

Not sure why Food Loft is not more popular in Pattaya.  

 

Food's just not as good there as at the Central Chidlom branch. Plus at CentralFestival there's a much greater variety of restos in the immediate vicinity.

[abab]

On 4/7/2017 at 11:35 AM, janclaes47 said:

You think The Avenue or Harbor were built to fail?

 

The first failed miserably, and the latter one has so far not proven much yet.

 

 

Avenue fail is beyond understanding ! Good location, cinema, gym, passport office and always empty !  Weird !

 

 

[bkk6060]

2 hours ago, abab said:

 

 

Avenue fail is beyond understanding ! Good location, cinema, gym, passport office and always empty !  Weird !

 

 

Going past there now the vendors at the front are a huge distraction.  The prices inside all those defunct shops were way too much.  They advertised as outlets yet had T shirts for 1,000 b.  I think a lot of people walking past looking at the street vendors goods, do not even look back to see whats there.  I thought the new gym there was OK, but many people are not joining because the inside doesn't have aircon.  I have also made a few passes by Robin Hood Tavern and see no one inside.  I still go to the movie there but it is not that crowded. If anything I hope that stays we will see, but a future big hotel or The Base type condo is something to think about.

[Pattaya46]

3 hours ago, abab said:

Avenue fail is beyond understanding !

Good location, cinema, gym, passport office and always empty !  Weird !

They just forgot one important point IMHO: not an aircon area !

[newnative]

3 hours ago, abab said:

 

 

Avenue fail is beyond understanding ! Good location, cinema, gym, passport office and always empty !  Weird !

 

 

For all the 'goods' you mentioned there is one really big 'bad'--bad management.  And, management covers everything from rents charged, building upkeep and modernization, retail mix and store placement, promotion, innovation, event planning, special deals, etc.

[JayBird]

1 hour ago, bkk6060 said:

Going past there now the vendors at the front are a huge distraction.  The prices inside all those defunct shops were way too much.  They advertised as outlets yet had T shirts for 1,000 b.  I think a lot of people walking past looking at the street vendors goods, do not even look back to see whats there.  I thought the new gym there was OK, but many people are not joining because the inside doesn't have aircon.  I have also made a few passes by Robin Hood Tavern and see no one inside.  I still go to the movie there but it is not that crowded. If anything I hope that stays we will see, but a future big hotel or The Base type condo is something to think about.

 

The Gym (Fitness 7) has two main sections:

 

1 - Aircon Side (Cardio, Free Weights, and Machines)

2 - Non-Aircon Side (Cardio, Free Weights, and Machines).

 

It works great for those who want to workout with aircon (perhaps don't like it hot, or get really hot from working out and need to stay cool) and those who prefer no air-con (work up more of a sweat, good for water loss, good for those who like it warm).

 

Also, it's a 24hour gym, so it's not actually hot during early hours or late night.  Also, the way it is built, it is not like Tony's, so you don't feel the sweltering heat or bad air coming in.  It's actually got some pretty good ventilation going.

 

I remember going to the avenue some 7 years ago, and being somewhat impressed by the shops inside.  I think the second floor was full of mobile phone shops.  It has seemed to diminish over the years.  It looks like all the front facing buildings are all it has to offer.  Which is a shame, it could be a great mall if they could get some more good stores to open up.

 

Not sure why they don't have more stores (they could even charge low/free rent to get shop keepers to move in): Better than just leaving it idle.

[thaibeachlovers]

On 4/8/2017 at 8:14 PM, bkk6060 said:

There are many restaurants there but you may have not gone to the actual food court where you pay ahead and they give you a card. It is special I think the best food court in BKK and my Thai GF agrees.

I would say the prices average around 45 b for soups, duck/chicken/rice, crispy pork/rice, stir fried meats/veggies, Papaya salad, I can go on and on it is a huge area with many choices.  Some are as low as 25 b it generally seems cheaper then street food and much better. 

Trip Advisor has over 1,000 reviews on the place with a lot of prices quoted if you are interested.

Most food courts have the card now, and I never found food that cheap in Terminal 21 food court. Do you have a specific stall in mind, as it's a very spread out place?

I doubt any poster on here can have tried all the different stalls, as so many, but I always found the MBK foodcourt to be the best for what I liked.

When the place is built, I doubt the food will be any better, or any cheaper than the many foodcourts in Pattaya. Most would go there, IMO, as it will be the "in place" till another one takes over.

[thaibeachlovers]

2 hours ago, JayBird said:

 

The Gym (Fitness 7) has two main sections:

 

1 - Aircon Side (Cardio, Free Weights, and Machines)

2 - Non-Aircon Side (Cardio, Free Weights, and Machines).

 

It works great for those who want to workout with aircon (perhaps don't like it hot, or get really hot from working out and need to stay cool) and those who prefer no air-con (work up more of a sweat, good for water loss, good for those who like it warm).

 

Also, it's a 24hour gym, so it's not actually hot during early hours or late night.  Also, the way it is built, it is not like Tony's, so you don't feel the sweltering heat or bad air coming in.  It's actually got some pretty good ventilation going.

 

I remember going to the avenue some 7 years ago, and being somewhat impressed by the shops inside.  I think the second floor was full of mobile phone shops.  It has seemed to diminish over the years.  It looks like all the front facing buildings are all it has to offer.  Which is a shame, it could be a great mall if they could get some more good stores to open up.

 

Not sure why they don't have more stores (they could even charge low/free rent to get shop keepers to move in): Better than just leaving it idle.

They could have saved it years ago simply by putting glass walls around the floors and making it all AC. Probably don't want to spend the money. 

Leaving places idle has never been a big deal in LOS. Many, many places like that over the years.

Edited April 12, 2017 by thaibeachlovers

[tropo]

2 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

They could have saved it years ago simply by putting glass walls around the floors and making it all AC. Probably don't want to spend the money. 

Leaving places idle has never been a big deal in LOS. Many, many places like that over the years.

 

It's a monumental stupidity IMO - save on aircon, but end up going broke for lack of customers. I see Jay Bird is doing a good job apologizing for them, saying it's not hot etc etc, but indoor temperatures are currently sitting at around 30C without aircon... and that's for most of the year. You'll start sweating before you start training.

[abab]

13 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Going past there now the vendors at the front are a huge distraction.  The prices inside all those defunct shops were way too much.  They advertised as outlets yet had T shirts for 1,000 b.  I think a lot of people walking past looking at the street vendors goods, do not even look back to see whats there.  I thought the new gym there was OK, but many people are not joining because the inside doesn't have aircon.  I have also made a few passes by Robin Hood Tavern and see no one inside.  I still go to the movie there but it is not that crowded. If anything I hope that stays we will see, but a future big hotel or The Base type condo is something to think about.

 

 

New gym have aircon and is always packed, so maybe only you didn't see the aircon, or maybe you even haven't visited it.

 

 

 

 

 

[abab]

6 hours ago, tropo said:

It's a monumental stupidity IMO - save on aircon, but end up going broke for lack of customers. I see Jay Bird is doing a good job apologizing for them, saying it's not hot etc etc, but indoor temperatures are currently sitting at around 30C without aircon... and that's for most of the year. You'll start sweating before you start training.

 

 

You are wrong, enough machines in aircon zone, and I see dozens of guys bigger than you training at non aircon zone, so I am not sure if your dream about how bad it is to train without aircon is true or not. It is maybe your idea but certainly far far far to be a fact.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 12, 2017 by abab

[JayBird]

7 hours ago, tropo said:

It's a monumental stupidity IMO - save on aircon, but end up going broke for lack of customers. I see Jay Bird is doing a good job apologizing for them, saying it's not hot etc etc, but indoor temperatures are currently sitting at around 30C without aircon... and that's for most of the year. You'll start sweating before you start training.

If its hot, that is what the Air-Conned side is for :)  Not everyone is bothered by the heat and some actually prefer it, so it's a win-win solution in my view.  The one down side is after working out in the non-air con side I have to go through the air-con side to get to the escalators... talk about massively cold!

 

 

[abab]

1 hour ago, JayBird said:

If its hot, that is what the Air-Conned side is for :)  Not everyone is bothered by the heat and some actually prefer it, so it's a win-win solution in my view.  The one down side is after working out in the non-air con side I have to go through the air-con side to get to the escalators... talk about massively cold!

 

 

 

 

But not cold enough when working out in aircon zone ! I hope that they will install fan also !  hahahaha

 

We all have different needs :-)

 

 

 

[tropo]

4 hours ago, abab said:

 

 

You are wrong, enough machines in aircon zone, and I see dozens of guys bigger than you training at non aircon zone, so I am not sure if your dream about how bad it is to train without aircon is true or not. It is maybe your idea but certainly far far far to be a fact.

1

The aircon room is way insufficient.

 

I'm not interested in how big a person, but how well conditioned they are. There's a lot of fat, big, lazy trainers around, who don't mind mulling around in a hot room, sweating, thinking they are having good workouts.

 

If you can't figure out why training at 30C room temperature is bad (sub-optimal), then you don't have a clue about training or human physiology. I'm not taking it any further here as it's off topic.

 

All I can say is, enjoy training in your sauna.

[tropo]

4 hours ago, JayBird said:

If its hot, that is what the Air-Conned side is for :)  Not everyone is bothered by the heat and some actually prefer it, so it's a win-win solution in my view.  The one down side is after working out in the non-air con side I have to go through the air-con side to get to the escalators... talk about massively cold!

2

I don't really care. I took matters into my own hands now and train at home, in temperatures that I fine tune to my specific desire. I should have done this years ago - best workouts ever, in 40 years of training. Just in case you think I need a cold space - I train in 26 - 27C with fans. That ain't cold! That's perfect and warm enough to get a good pump and sweat just enough, without the heat becoming a limiting factor.

[bkk6060]

19 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Most food courts have the card now, and I never found food that cheap in Terminal 21 food court. Do you have a specific stall in mind, as it's a very spread out place?

I doubt any poster on here can have tried all the different stalls, as so many, but I always found the MBK foodcourt to be the best for what I liked.

When the place is built, I doubt the food will be any better, or any cheaper than the many foodcourts in Pattaya. Most would go there, IMO, as it will be the "in place" till another one takes over.

Sorry, but have you been there?  Pier 21 on the 5th floor?  It is not that spread out but a large area food court.  I quoted before around 45 b average.  It is actually less then that.  Maybe some think that is expensive but even street food can run more.  Anyway, I ate there yesterday. Crispy chicken salad,  Chicken curry with pumpkin and brown rice.  All you see for 80 b.  33, 40 for the entrees and 7 b for water.  Didn't quite break the bank for me.