Pattaya after the corona crisis: The end of fun-city?
Experts and fortune tellers have long predicted the end of fun-city Pattaya. When the American troops left in the late XNUMXs, with the end of the Vietnam War, predictions were made that this would be the beginning of the end of Pattaya.
Later bad news such as the oil crisis of the 1980s, the AIDS and SARS crisis and a succession of military coups in Thailand have again reinforced the gloomy prophecies.
Of course the Corona pandemic is different. No other international health crisis since the Spanish flu syndrome of 1918, which killed 50 million people worldwide, has affected the lives of at least half of the world's population. Millions of people are out of work, international travel has come to a standstill, and telecommunications companies are busier than ever to convince governments around the world how to monitor their populations with innovative surveillance technologies most of us can barely comprehend.
The tourist-oriented Pattaya has completely changed. The beaches are deserted, the bars are empty and the cabaret shows are closed, as are the other attractions. Retail units in the city are literally littered with for sale and rent notices. No one can fail to notice that the real estate market has collapsed.
Everything is now waiting for the good old days to return once the virus is over and the Thai state of emergency is lifted. This optimistic scenario should not be ruled out immediately, if only because Pattaya has a proud tradition of proving the pessimists wrong. Many companies in Pattaya are small businesses with few staff and arguably better chances of survival than the relatively large international companies with huge salaries in a protracted health crisis like this. In addition, Pattaya is now much more diversified with a hinterland of industrial estates and an entertainment industry that relies much less on nightlife than it once did.
But yesteryear's Pattaya was already in decline before the pandemic hit. European tourist numbers had been falling for years and some companies that supported them had already ceased trading. Travel agencies, visa agents and the rest can still be found, but in smaller numbers. Many British and German bars, proudly displaying their national flag alongside the Thai one, had long ceased to flourish before anyone heard of the phrase Covid-19. In addition, the Thai government's policy on large-scale tourism is unclear and likely to remain so for some time. At present, foreigners are virtually banned from entering the country and anti-farang sentiment suggests the virus is essentially a foreign disease.
It is certainly possible that compulsory travel insurance for visitors and comprehensive health insurance for all long-stay expatriates will become mandatory, although this will be much more difficult to implement than is often assumed.
It is also unclear to what extent the world's airlines will collectively survive the pandemic, even as the price of crude oil has collapsed. At present, only a few airlines operate daily flights from Bangkok with virtually no passengers on board just to maintain their grip on prime-time landing slots. Either way, they are optimists.
The future is likely to be a multi-faceted city, increasingly part as a mega-satellite complex of Bangkok with a greater emphasis on industry and economic production that is already a government priority in its Eastern Seaboard Corridor Development.
However, Pattaya will not escape the political and economic influence of China and its investors.
Source: Pattaya Mail
– Relocated in memory of Lodewijk Lagemaat –
Hopefully what is implied in the title will happen with Pattaya. The image of Pattaya where everything is possible and can be bought for money does neither the city itself nor Bangkok nor Thailand any good. When you talk about one of the three, the reaction is always a nasty grin. Pattaya in particular and Thailand in general conjure up nasty images associated with cheap sex tourism. My wife has lived in the Netherlands for many years, has a good job, speaks good Dutch and yet when people ask where she comes from and she mentions Thailand: you see people looking and thinking. Shame. We can clean up Pattaya.
“You see people looking and thinking” that says more about those people than about Pattaya.
Yes, of course, but that doesn't make the image that Thailand and Pattaya conjure up any less. The city and (a number of people from the top layer of the) country benefit from the “special” position, but it does not alter the fact that “ordinary” people suffer from it.
Is a very nice cry. But actually we all know that there is so much thought about Thailand. And in many cases – unfortunately – rightly so.
If that bothers you so much, why didn't you choose a woman from the Netherlands or another country?
You don't choose love, love happens to you.
I hope it will stay the same after the corona crisis I always enjoyed Pattaya lively city many cozy bars shops restaurants and nice hotels many people earned their money there the tourists spent a lot of money in the years I came there I have always had a good time and have never felt unsafe and that applies to all of Thailand.
If the tourists stay away, yes, it will change, but that applies to all of Thailand and to all holiday countries in the world.
Now let's see if it will all go back to the way it was before the Corona crisis, it will take a while
Hope that the airline tickets remain affordable and that everything does not become too expensive.
But the future will tell.
Thanks Lodewijk for this informative article from PM.
As long as so many bars are owned by police officers and the like, not much will change in Pattaya. By the way bars gone = lots of teamoney gone.
I'm afraid your last sentence is not only the future for Pattaya but certainly for the rest of Thailand as well. Invest cheaply, influence the national government and change the culture as they did in Siem Raep.
Everything is perception!
As I experience it here in Belgium, it is mainly the elderly, say fifty+, and especially women, who shake their heads and with a sanctimonious face feel called to a moral judgment (= condemnation = prejudice).
Reprehensible... I don't think of the Walletjes first either, when I think of Amsterdam...
yes, by the way.
I don't find that at all in young or younger people in my environment, my own sons for example. They have never been there but only know Thailand from their friends (also young) as a fascinating oriental country with island hopping, bounty beaches, Thai food, friendly people, etc..
They don't associate it with sex workers at all.
That is why the corona may be a good thing for the image we, in Western Europe, have of Thailand.. Aren't the older people who form the risk group...
I have been living in Thailand for 17 months a year for 2 years. In the current situation I chat daily with Thai friends and girlfriends. And it is my firm belief that the country will also overcome this severe crisis.
I am reminded of the situation after the tsunami disaster. After 3 to 4 months, the first appeals to tourists appeared to help Thailand by returning en masse. After 6 months I went to Puket, where the reconstruction was already in full swing in the lower area. And the hotels higher up were already filling up nicely.
If 2 measures are taken in the future (allowing people to re-enter the country and the reopening of restaurants and shops), then there will certainly be a revival. After all, so many without income are waiting to get back to work. And that a number of occasions will disappear (including the excess of beer bars) is part of that. Finally, tourism will remain an important source of income for Thailand until further notice.
I don't think much will change in Pattaya ,
in most places of entertainment, the police indeed have influence, is theirs
And also a lot of people with a criminal streak.
Only the Thai themselves will have a hard time or have no income at the moment.
But the future will tell
When
Am afraid Pattaya will never be the way it was. Also expect tickets to go up 400%, so tourism will automatically decline. The bars will also charge huge prices for a drink, when this misery is over. The renowned magazine the Lancet talks about a period of more than 3 years before everything is old-fashioned again
Predictions like this are currently plentiful. If oil prices remain so low, I don't see why tickets would become so much more expensive. It can also be the other way around to get tourism going again. There will always be competition between companies. Many countries will also compete with each other. You also have to get expensive tickets. Everyone can now think doom or dream it is and will continue to watch coffee grounds.
I don't care very much. I got to know people there. And I miss them, and I send them money I can spare. As soon as I can, and it's safe, I'll go. I don't really care if it's more or less fun.
Eduard : Increase prices? On the contrary, when Puket reopened after the tsunami, flights to Thailand were 50% cheaper, hotel prices up to 65% lower, drinks in the bars dirt cheap, etc. Now the Thais want to get everything going again.
THE government wanted to get rid of the sex event, maybe it's the right time to tackle this now, I heard that the bars in Udonthani will remain closed until June 1, it was already quiet there, maybe the last push they need to not to open up more.
Time will tell in Pattaya, it was actually almost dead there, perhaps it is wise to look further, in my eyes Pattaya was at a dead end, think if they go in a different direction there will still be what to save,
If the 1,5 meter society enters and is strictly enforced, Pattaya is of course doomed .... (wink)
Things are apparently going in the right direction with Pattaya and Thailand, but it's sad that such a pandemic has to take care of this. Common sense should prevail, but that is secondary to many.
It is also possible in Thailand, but corruption is still rampant, especially in the prostitution and bar world and the big money lures and does strange things to people. A change and adjustment in the near future as written in the piece, I warmly welcome it.
I highly doubt that it will go the right way in which you wish. I expect prostitution to get an impulse because there are fewer jobs available, employment is falling sharply and unemployment is rising sharply and wages are falling. I myself know women who consciously chose to work in Pattaya because the alternative for the vast majority of people is a job with a salary of around 10.000 to 15.000 baht, which means that they have no future because they survive every day with a meager budget. and not enough for any luxuries let alone a normal house or household affairs, clothing, food, children, school, family care and a series of other things. And become redundant after their 40th year because too old for many employers. I expect the supply to increase because who would be happy to work for 300 baht a day in a regular job with all the financial restrictions as mentioned? The 300 per month will now drop quickly due to the oversupply of staff, I expect and the supply of prostitution will increase because everyone needs money and many will choose this option because there is no alternative.