Does Pattaya have a future without the exuberant nightlife?
(Tang Yan Song / Shutterstock.com)
The Pattaya Tourist Business Association has drawn up a wish list (I wouldn't call it a plan yet) to promote tourism to the Thai resort in the short and long term.
What I found most remarkable was the desire, as soon as Pattaya can and may receive tourists again, to keep everything related to the infamous nightlife closed, perhaps for good.
The BTA advocates that Pattaya should become a commercial center and have numerous attractions to offer tourists a pleasant leisure activity without coming into contact with the sex industry.
Well, that's quite a bit! So no “Walking Street”, no discos, no massage parlors, no beer bars, etc. It could well be that this direction attracts new visitors, who previously – also on this blog – were disgusted by the idea of going on holiday to Pattaya.
The other side is that a large group of tourists also come to Pattaya for the exuberant nightlife. Bad luck for them, they will have to make do with a less vibrant city and try to enjoy the many other things that Pattaya has to offer tourists.
However, it is to be feared that this group will turn away to enjoy themselves elsewhere. That could be in another city in Thailand, but it is also likely that they will avoid Thailand and seek their entertainment in another country.
What do you think of the idea that nightlife in Pattaya will die a quiet death in this way?
I wonder what are the numerous attractions for which tourists would want to go to Pattaya.
A beach of sandbags with a layer of sand over it, which seems to be washed away regularly?
And what are you going to do in the evening, eat out and then go to sleep?
I don't think there will be much money in Pattaya then.
Yes, the white knights on their donkey.
Yes, the ladies "must" be rescued. Not that the same ladies are asked anything.
Think they get plenty of opportunities to work in a factory or 7/11, but they don't/didn't (damn) all the time.
Crazy enough…
And the “market” for 'indigenous sex industry' is many times larger than that aimed at the farang.
Yes, abuses are there to be addressed. They can be found anywhere if you dig deep enough.
For me and (probably) many with me, it's more the combination. Beautiful country, good food, great weather…and a vibrant nightlife.
To each his/her own choice, I say…
Best regards,
Frankyy
A wild guess, but within a year after the opening, things are back to normal.
In the beginning it will of course be a bit of a wait for tourists, but you will soon see everything rise again.
I never believe that Pattaya is dead.
Very pessimistic I think. As soon as tourists are welcome again, almost everything will continue as before
Especially and fortunately because the Chinese are not allowed to travel yet. So for them they don't have to adjust it.
And what is so pessimistic about my reaction?
If that wish list becomes reality, it will be a bit busier on the other side of the Gulf. (Hua Hin)
Why shouldn't Pattaya do without its formerly exuberant "sex city" image?
Why shouldn't Pattaya offer much the same as many other cities in Thailand.
Why "normal" tourists in Hua Hin, Chiang Mai, Kanchanaburi, Phuket and many more cities.
Thailand is too beautiful and attractive a country to associate it with a sex industry. Let's stop it quickly.
Let's put that vulgar stuff behind us now, the time is right and let's make an effort to make Pattaya an interesting, beautiful and fun Thai city like there are many.
A city that has something to offer for everyone.
We can't start it soon enough and let's stop just talking about the past. Hopefully that's over.
You write;
“A city that has to offer everyone”
That was it, wasn't it? Culture, food, drink, shopping and nightly entertainment.
And otherwise you are not obliged to stay there.
Best regards,
FrankyR
They have been demolishing the bars for years, according to that female minister of vacation. 10 years ago, she wanted to turn Pattaya into a family city without the bars. Now it's good to demolish everything. In my opinion, Pattaya will never be as as usual
Life also goes on without the sex and bar industry, which hopefully has had its day and people have been able to sense that things can be done differently. There will always be a part and we can be at peace with that. The massiveness is apparently a thorn in the side of the government and many others. The conviviality is important, so (good) restaurants and bandstands, among other things, should not be skimped on. The sporting events can still be expanded and the beach entertainment brought back up to par. So there is still some work to be done, but where there is a will there is a way. However, it will be important to also tackle disguised prostitution, such as the fake massage parlors and some karaoke bars and all the profiteers linked to them. Finally, don't forget the checks on the fanatical group of drivers who drink alcohol, because they still cause a lot of suffering.
Pattaya without bars, cafes, nightlife, massage parlors is as good as dead. It turns out that 80% of the tourists came for that. Do you think they will come back? Forget it… And I hope it will be back to normal.
If there is no demolition, permits continue to be granted on the old scale, there is no renewal and no different enforcement, the old will return.
Given the past, I expect that the longing for the old will be the deciding factor. The attention that is already being given to Pataya by the authorities says enough,
Old Pattaya is not knocked out.
If I am anywhere in the world and I say that I am a Dutchman or Dutchman, everyone shouts ooo Amsterdam and Keukenhof … .. If I say that I am from France then it is oooo Paris, the Eiffel Tower … ooo I say that I am from Italy then it is ooo the tower of pisa…. I can go on like this for a while. If I say I'm going to Thailand on vacation then it's ooooo Pattaya, nice sex and a lot of drinking for little money ...
It is quite possible that the latter would change, but unfortunately we will never experience that again or you will have to live to be 150 years old. You will not easily lose a stamp on your name. By the way, Thailand is huge and there is a lot to do. Stay away from Pattaya if you don't like it in this wicked city. Thousands and thousands of people enjoy this and it is certain that thousands and thousands of people earn a living from it and also to support their family in Isaan. Let's hope that these bizarre times will be over soon and that Pattaya will bustle again as before, those who survived this time deserve it!!
Last month I was in Pattaya and what I expected for some time happened... I already told my Thai wife that a political game was being played with Pattaya. I think the Covid 19 outbreak suited the Thai government very well... because they want Pattaya to move more in the direction of Phuket... where richer tourists and farang reside... That was confirmed when I drove through Walking Street... Seems like now on a deserted street with all kinds of dilapidated buildings and a street where you can hardly walk properly. This is in contrast to everything else that is being renovated in Pattaya, including the renewal of the beach, roads that are being renovated and of course the major water drainage problem that is already happening. lasts ten years...
There is also talk of placing a jetty where larger yachts and sailing ships can moor….
I think that if Walking Street closes, tourism in Pattaya will drop by 30 or 40%…and a city will be found elsewhere where people can do what Pattaya can no longer do…Hua hin maybe????
It's true that the pavement of Walking Street hardly deserves that name anymore. Just as it is an irrefutable fact that the buildings have been completely unlearned without exception.
But it is rather unreasonable to assume that this would (only) be the result of 18 months of vacancy and a political conspiracy.
The old center of Pattaya is simply in need of a thorough and complete renovation and beautification.
The tourist of tomorrow will no longer be satisfied with the archaic but above all impoverished setting in which the classic nightlife and nightlife are concentrated.
While the first waves of mass tourism in the 70s and 80s still experienced this as authentic and even romantically adventurous, the young generation is horrified by so much impoverishment, neglect and urban mismanagement and ugliness.
And hygiene??? A bar complex with potential for hundreds of customers and barely a few toilets (still paying and sometimes 100m away or more) where is that still accepted???
No, I think: it (nightlife in Pattaya) has been good, but times are changing, and in order for it to remain beautiful, a solid urbanistic and architectural sweep through the core areas of nightlife in Pattaya must be done.
Color
Indeed, and people were actually already working on that before Corona.
It was also clear that the nightlife was already moving from, say, the coastline and its side streets, to inland (area between Second and Third Road). Before about 2000 there was actually little to do in that area.
And in time Walking Street would have been the turn of that. Been collapsing for a long time.
Corona times will mean that everything will be broken down more quickly, but will also be quickly rebuilt somewhere else. Only it will move within Pattaya as was already happening. Perhaps the coastline will indeed develop more towards the “family tourist” and it will become a bit quieter there. But I never believe that Pattaya itself will change.
Moderator: Please don't generalize.
Before Pattaya can change, tourists will come again and everything will remain the same.