Pattaya going downhill!

[pepi2005]

Funny guys will say that this wouldn't be possible :-)  but indeed, I'm kinda shocked about what happened to Pattaya within just the 1.5 years I've been here for the last time.

 

- horrible, abandoned high-rise eye-sores (special mentions: "1 Tower" Pratumnak Soi 4 blocking Koh Lan view from Buddha Hill, "Unixx", "Waterfront",...)

Most of the construction projects that were started after 2013 have either been abandoned, remained semi-complete (sometimes after the company owners did a run with their customer's money) or have remained mostly empty after completion. I guess much of this effect is related to the bubble created by Russian buyers (now there are almost no Russians in town anymore, and the ones who still are are desperately trying to sell their units) and Europeans (with the EU economy struggeling, many don't want to risk buying in Thailand anymore or simply don't have the money). I heard stories of certain projects where only a handful of hundreds of units are actually occupied and building management soon won't be able to cover the maintenance costs of the buildings anymore. It must give good nightmares if you realize you're one of just a few actual co-owners in a building with 50-1,500 condominiums and get a grasp of all the cost just to keep 'your' building running and in good shape.

Now you would expect that companies react on that and adapt their prices, but TIT: the m2-prices are still mostly unchanged ... lol.

 

- with the shrinking Western tourist numbers and all the crackdowns, many bars have disappeared and been replaced by: more food shops, tailors and restaurants. While freelancing girls have reacted on that (prices still unchanged or even lowered), the industrial bars are doing just the opposite: punters doing a bit of math will realize that it has become cheaper to get laid in Europe! With barfines of 800-2,500b plus expected 1,500-3,000b for the girls, barfining girls has become expensive for many of the remaining expats. Not too surprisingly, many of the ones I know here who are living on a EU/USA pension nowadays prefer to go hunting in nearby other countries. Even stunners almost never seem to get barfined, but maybe they don't need that anymore anyway with their (outrageous) salaries and 'ladydrink' shares. :-) So I guess the millions of Chinese tourists just dropped from their endless numbers of busses cruising Pattaya these days are doing something right: only gazing, not consuming anything, then leaving.

 

Pattaya as a party town and attractive retirement place for males has lost quite some of its attraction due to the reduced options in night entertainment, the omnipresent ripoffs and obstacles (corruption, police, red tape for foreigners to do business here, exploded hospital treatment prices etc.) and I as someone who has had great times here since 20 years am sad to see that. It also doesn't look as if the new city management has any promising concepts on how to change the issues mentioned above.

 

[oxo1947]

I did have a great 8 years in Pattaya------and I think I changed, my outlook did I mean, so I just moved on, but I wouldn't rubbish it.

 

In Fact When I die, I want my remains scattered all around Pattaya.....

.

-----And also, I don't want to be cremated. ........................................

[LennyW]

Probably get the required response in the Pattaya forum.......

[OMGImInPattaya]

Everything you said is actually a plus...no Russians and fewer Europeans...I'm lovin' it. As for all the new empty and half-completed condos...who gives a toss...just a good oportunity to pick up some good units cheap.

[thaibeachlovers]

I have noted for many years that Pattaya has lost it's way. It is a "fun town" with a rubbish beach and terrible infrastructure, and it's farang base was mongers. The desire by city hall to change it to appeal to families and rich people was always bound to fail, and it has only succeeded in pricing mongers away.

 

I have also said many times that the best thing that could happen to Pattaya is for it to fail completely, and then make a comeback with lower monger prices so the base comes back. If I could go to Pattaya and stay in better accomodation at a 10 year ago price it would be great.

 

NB when I say Pattaya I am only referring to the bar area from Naklua to Bali Hi, not the whole of Pattaya which is almost a different city located next to the "fun" part.

[Pattaya28]

Best option is just take the bits from Pattaya that suit you.

I do.

Still an amazing city.

 

But I do agree with the OP's comments.

[Merylhighground]

I don't think anyone has got to Pattaya 'for the beach' since the 1970s to be honest.

 

Sure, largely (unplanned) developments built in the hope of a fast buck to appeal to whatever tourism sector is in the ascendancy that year, is always going to be a mess so one can blame the 'money men' for that. 

 

Pattaya, for me is one of the few places in Thailand which retains a degree of what made me fall for the country in the first place; namely there is still a sense of 'sanuk' to be found there, people still with time for other folks, a happy-go-lucky feeling, good bargains to be found, especially in hotels and a overall a genuine holiday town atmosphere. Certainly the infrastructure could be improved but getting around, if you're OK on motorcycle taxis, is still easy.

[onemorechang]

Oh dear op,    should i just get me coat and go to the airport !!!!!

 

No wait a minute, Pattaya is still a laugh,   and way hotter than the west.

western ladies,   no thank you,    been there done that,   think  that's  why we are all  here.

The ladies are far more attentive here than in the west !!!!!!

Yes Russians have gone,  who cares.

Yes we now have a never ending stream of Chinese tour buses with the occupants licking the windows as they clog the towns roads up.   they may not be here in a few years time,  who knows.   who cares.

Unfinished building projects,    empty condos,   who cares,   nothing new,  its happened all before.

 

I will stay in Pattaya,  for this reason,  i can go out at night in flipflops  shorts,  wife beater on ( the wife beater was  a joke ) it's  warm,   its colorful in all sorts of ways,  i can have a good time for say 3000,   Booze,   Girls,  Food, Taxi.

cant do all that I  have said in the west,   for that money.

Pattaya is not over yet.

 

 

[moonseeker]

+ 1

I guess, who has not witnessed the good & fun years here until about 8 years ago, when everything slowly started to get worse and worse, has nothing to compare the Pattaya-today to the good old times. Just open your eyes and see all the shops closed, buildings decaying, garbage and horrible smells everywhere, not even talking about the now officially "Most happy people/country" in the world.

Gottabekidding...55555555555555

A collection of low-class tourists and cheap-charlie residents of the worst kind. Well, I am told by a friend to be more tolerant and let these old folks have their fun, so I better stop my rant and keep surfing the net for alternative destinations......MS>

 

[JSixpack]

1 hour ago, moonseeker said:

+ 1

I guess, who has not witnessed the good & fun years here until about 8 years ago, when everything slowly started to get worse and worse, has nothing to compare the Pattaya-today to the good old times. Just open your eyes and see all the shops closed, buildings decaying, garbage and horrible smells everywhere, not even talking about the now officially "Most happy people/country" in the world.

Gottabekidding...55555555555555

A collection of low-class tourists and cheap-charlie residents of the worst kind. Well, I am told by a friend to be more tolerant and let these old folks have their fun, so I better stop my rant and keep surfing the net for alternative destinations......MS>

 

 

Hey--you're skipping around too much in the checklist. I addressed more of the items and more specifically a couple years ago and gave The Solution.

 

We haven't had a Doom thread in a few months. Yee-haw!

 

On Saturday, May 17, 2014 at 8:59 AM, JSixpack said:

  On Friday, May 09, 2014 at 8:38 AM, JSixpack said:

  On Friday, May 09, 2014 at 7:02 AM, Fabulousheart said:

True life is what you make it but Pattaya has numerous open ditches in sidewalks and roads, smog, you walk the beach and your feet are black, garbage everywhere, smelly open drains and crazy drivers. Not to mention baht busses have gotten even crazier and clearly passenger safety is irrelevant. So pattaya has air quality issues, water issue , smelly and garbage everywhere.
All the above is true but I return because of some of the people, restaurants and clubs. Those are diminishing daily as well. Just an honest assessment ....


Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

Yep, nowadays nobody can walk without falling into an open ditch or drain, avoid breathing, survive w/ black feet, dodge the garbage piled everywhere as well as the crazy drivers, ride a baht bus, and find any people of interest or a decent restaurant or club (which, fortunately, are diminishing daily). It's just INTOLERABLE.

Hence the city's nearly deserted. Last weekend, for example, a major holiday, it looked like a bombed out, abandoned Chernobyl w/ just a few radioactive Russian zombies wandering around.

 

The Solution

Decided to have lunch at Central yesterday but--how to get there safely? Fortunately, after reading this thread and realizing how truly horrible conditions have become in the cesspool (just in the last six months, though they had been building up), I had purchased my very own hazmat suit.

I can now highly recommend such to all visitors to Pattaya now, such as the OP. Come on back to Pattaya, man!

Finally, I could breathe the toxic Pattaya air safely! It was just like that clean Bangkok air the OP prefers.

On my way, I crawled in and out of the countless open ditches and drains easily, not like before when I always sprained my ankles. The horrific stench over the entire city didn't bother me a bit! I also crawled over and walked around all the mountains of garbage everywhere--on the streets, the sidewalks, the promenade. And the hordes of rats constantly patrolling seemed positively afraid of my bright orange. Similarly the crazy drivers and baht buses could now see me clearly and detoured around--so none of those usual near death experiences. Of course they still had no consideration at all for their passengers. Disgusting!

Just before walking into Central, I walked over to the horrible polluted beach with its sewage floating everywhere and trash piles. No longer was I concerned about getting my feet black, one of the worst things that can happen 'cause it's permanent. Think: there you are with a lovely in Soi 6 and she sees those black feet! Big turnoff. What you gonna say?

Well, I walked into Central and took of the suit in a bathroom and packed it in a carry bag just in case, as predicted by our doomsayers, the building fell down and I needed it to climb out of the rubble or survive until rescue. Bases covered!

If only more would purchase such suits, tourism would at last revive in DYING PATTAYA. You'd see people on the deserted streets once again.

Speaking of people, the most annoying thing is all these fake pics around that purport to show tourists and residents enjoying this city. Amazing what they can do w/ Photoshop these days. Like this last week in the Pattaya Mail:

 

 

Can you believe that nonsense? It's like all those CGI warriors swelling the fantasy armies of The Lord Of The Rings. All our wiser-than-thou members know that there's no beach. Nobody can swim. And they've cut-and-pasted in that blue sky and the buildings, as in truth the horrible smog prevents them from ever being seen.

Chant the mantra: there's no reason to come to Pattaya. (The new promenade was the last nail in the coffin.) As I said earlier, that Labor Day weekend, there were only a few radioactive Russian zombies wandering around.

All that TAT propaganda, swelling the Pattaya tourist numbers with Cambodians! SO annoying.

Still, I can somehow continue residing happily in the cesspool now. Doomsayers! Your burdens are eased.

 

That fake pic has been lost in the forum upgrade but here ya go:

 

http://www.pattayamail.com/news/beaches-and-resorts-fill-up-on-labor-day-37419

 

Everything that will be said in this thread was already said here:

 

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/724643-just-been-to-pattaya-for-a-visit/?page=1

 

But we could go back further. Much further.

 

[JSixpack]

Quote

what happened to Pattaya within just the 1.5 years I've been here for the last time . . . With barfines of 800-2,500b plus expected 1,500-3,000b for the girls, barfining girls has become expensive for many of the remaining expats.

 

But member Pralaad, who claims a background in Economics, said 2 years ago:

 

Quote

Firstly prices have gone through the roof and that includes LT asking prices 1500 BF 4500 LT which I use as the economic cornerstone for Pattaya . . . It's almost cheaper in Europe now. When prices are even we can expect them to level out at the least.

 

Anyway I have a background in Economics so I was surprised then prices increased faster with decreasing demand

 

So it appears that prices have actually decreased. (Just thought I'd throw out some red meat.)

 

[Dexlowe]

The government needs to offer special incentives for the Chinese to buy property in Thailand - and especially Pattaya. Zero interest on financing; free title deed transfers; free motorcycle training; Chinese drivers for baht buses; free plates of prawns at every buffet; -- the list goes on. They could also extend the 30 baht health scheme to them. That would be really a nice gesture. If just 1 percent of Chinese visitors bought property, Pattaya's bubble would turn into a cash bonanza.

[Flanno]

I think Pattaya is moving in the right direction if it means that the hard core sex tourists like OP are not happy and going elsewhere. Pattaya is still a fun place with something for everyone and it's great to see more families and couples holidaying here. I spend a lot of time here and enjoy the bar scene but can do without the blatant sleaze which used to be the norm. So my suggestion to OP is to go where you may be happy and spread the word to your kind that Pattaya has changed.

[onemorechang]

2 hours ago, Flanno said:

I think Pattaya is moving in the right direction if it means that the hard core sex tourists like OP are not happy and going elsewhere. Pattaya is still a fun place with something for everyone and it's great to see more families and couples holidaying here. I spend a lot of time  here and enjoy the bar scene but can do without the blatant sleaze which used to be the norm. So my suggestion to OP is to go where you may be happy and spread the word to your kind that Pattaya has changed.

 

So you are a part time sex tourist,  who wants to judge others,     what ever next

Amazing pattaya

[Flanno]

No am not a "part time sex tourist". Where did I say that?? I said I enjoy the bar scene which means I like drinking beer (like most Aussies) and enjoying a convivial social scene in a few of them. So go and have one more chang and think up something else.

[onemorechang]

38 minutes ago, Flanno said:

No am not a "part time sex tourist". Where did I say that?? I said I enjoy the bar scene which means I like drinking beer (like most Aussies) and enjoying a convivial social scene in a few of them. So go and have one more chang and think up something else.

 

Bar scene is prostitutes in pattaya,    so yes you did say that.

Wake up smell the coffee,     your in sex town.  Sex town,  Sex town

Maybe your the guy that should leave.

Amazing Pattaya. ( Sex Town )

 

[catman20]

- horrible, abandoned high-rise eye-sores (special mentions: "1 Tower" Pratumnak Soi 4

IS STILL BEING WORKED ON DAILY 

[12DrinkMore]

All dis bitchin' 'bout da Paradise agin.

 

So where are you off to?

[AlQaholic]

How can Pattaya go downhill when it was never up the hill in the first place?

[SOTIRIOS]

...piecemeal development....

 

...many projects started with 'special authorization'.....that turned out otherwise....

 

...lucky if your money is not tied up in one of those 'special projects'.....

[craigt3365]

16 hours ago, OMGImInPattaya said:

Everything you said is actually a plus...no Russians and fewer Europeans...I'm lovin' it. As for all the new empty and half-completed condos...who gives a toss...just a good oportunity to pick up some good units cheap.

I've got a friend who owns a unit in one of these new buildings.  Buyers are just walking away from their contracts.  Hundreds of units up for resale.  Like mentioned before, the big problem will be when they can't afford the maintenance.  Or, don't build it like they promised. 

 

I've been driving around a bit and taking notice of all the closed shop houses.  It's scary.

[Ulic]

1 hour ago, catman20 said:

- horrible, abandoned high-rise eye-sores (special mentions: "1 Tower" Pratumnak Soi 4

IS STILL BEING WORKED ON DAILY 

Apparently that is the way to keep the lawsuits and the like at bay. Instead of having 300 plus construction workers on site working away the company's have 5-10 getting nothing significant completed. That way sales can continue to the unsuspecting and unaware. I am not one of those that rant against buying in Pattaya but I do think that those buying unfinished buildings or building that are not 90% complete are taking a huge risk. If you want a condo there are plenty to choose from without buying off plan. 

[12DrinkMore]

44 minutes ago, craigt3365 said:

I've got a friend who owns a unit in one of these new buildings.  Buyers are just walking away from their contracts.  Hundreds of units up for resale.  Like mentioned before, the big problem will be when they can't afford the maintenance.  Or, don't build it like they promised. 

 

I've been driving around a bit and taking notice of all the closed shop houses.  It's scary.

 

If the rents came down to a level where people could make a profit, the shop houses would fill up again. Landlords have the idea that the business owner is an employee, the profits all belong to the landlord and the losses to the business owner.

[OMGImInPattaya]

17 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I have noted for many years that Pattaya has lost it's way. It is a "fun town" with a rubbish beach and terrible infrastructure, and it's farang base was mongers. The desire by city hall to change it to appeal to families and rich people was always bound to fail, and it has only succeeded in pricing mongers away.

 

I have also said many times that the best thing that could happen to Pattaya is for it to fail completely, and then make a comeback with lower monger prices so the base comes back. If I could go to Pattaya and stay in better accomodation at a 10 year ago price it would be great.

 

NB when I say Pattaya I am only referring to the bar area from Naklua to Bali Hi, not the whole of Pattaya which is almost a different city located next to the "fun" part.

Funny I've heard similar "Pattaya will fail" arguments ever since I moved to Thailand 15 years ago and the resort town continues to go from strength to strength. I suppose I'll be reading similar posts on T-V 15 years from now too ☺

[Kabula]

19 hours ago, oxo1947 said:

I did have a great 8 years in Pattaya------and I think I changed, my outlook did I mean, so I just moved on, but I wouldn't rubbish it.

 

In Fact When I die, I want my remains scattered all around Pattaya.....

.

-----And also, I don't want to be cremated. ........................................

I hope your ashes don't end up in my coffee!

[williamgeorgeallen]

have to agree with almost everything you have said. i got caught up in the condo thing and am out about 800K. my own stupid fault of course. there must be some great deals coming up with resale condos eventually. i have done 9 years in jomtien and i still love it. my son turns 5 next year and i made a rule i would move back to nz for him to start school. will be sad to go though. i am now also spending a bit of time in esan and i am actually quite surprised how good it is up here as well.

actually i dont agree with the title. pattaya is still great, except for the water quality that is, i am done with swimming at the beach now.

[Global Guy]

The entire "screw each and every tourist on each and every thing" gets old. From the taxi scams at the airport to bar scenes getting ridiculously overpriced and service going down (as if customer service could get any lower there), the scams on everything in the street (taxis, markets, food, thieves), to the overall bad attitude Thais have towards tourists...all of that caught up with them.

 

It used to be a fun, friendly, inexpensive place to have fun. At least the Thais pretended to be nice. Now, they don't even try. And their answer to losing tourists is to raise prices. Again, as customer service continues to go down. It boils down to value. People don't mind spending money, but they don't like wasting it. Now, it feels like a waste to spend more for food, drinks, and "entertainment" in Thailand than in the West. Why take two weeks of vacation, spend so much on a flight, fly around the globe, all to be treated like dirt and spend more money on something you can get back home for cheaper?

 

I used to know many people who loved Bangkok and Pattaya. Now, over the last 15 years, not one of them says the nice things about it like they used to. The Thais acted like there was going to be an endless stream of millions of "farangs" every season. Well, the farangs caught on, got sick of being treated poorly and overcharged on everything, and are staying away.

 

Plus, in Pattaya especially, it's not as safe as it used to be. Overall, it's a tourist based economy in Pattaya and now that the money is drying up, the crime and scams have increased. Some people blame it on the world economy but that factor is a secondary issue. The primary issue is the Thais did this to themselves. People around the world are still going on vacation, they just aren't going to Thailand anymore.

 

Enjoy the Chinese tourists but they aren't the answer. They don't spend nearly as much in nearly as many places. They don't wonder off into the cities, spend money at various places. Their vacations are like a military campaign. They go from the airport to their hotel to the prearranged souvenir shop to the prearranged buffet to the beach/selfie pic stop and so on. Everything is set up ahead of time and heavily discounted.

 

It's all a function of a short sighted, instant gratification culture. Scam ten baht today even if I lose out on 500 baht tomorrow and 1000 baht the day after. It will get worse before it gets better.

[Eric Loh]

Just the usual business cycle with its expansion, peak, contraction and trough. Pattaya has been through many of these phases. Pattaya has grown too fast and is over heating. The slowdown is expected with the gloomy global economy. As long as the fundamentals like the natural, historical and cultural infrastructure remain, it will sort itself out.  

[mesterm]

Well the minister did say they were going to rid Thailand of rampant prostitution.

[FredNL]

Pattaya

 

Where low lifes meet low lifes.