Photo from archive (View Apart / Shutterstock.com)
Last weekend it was busy again in Walking Street as usual, for the first time since 2020. Even the tourist police were present again.
Although bars and nightclubs are not officially allowed to open yet, they can easily get around this by applying for a restaurant license, something many have apparently done. Go-Go bars and nightclubs have reopened as “restaurants” with the help of required permits. Well with a very limited menu, but with a huge selection of drinks. All this again brought crowds to the world famous street that was still quite dark until recently.
Amporn Kaewsaeng, owner of 'The Stone House' live music bar, said she, like all entertainment operators in the city, has waited two years to get a green light from the government. They and other entrepreneurs are more than ready to operate under the 'new normal' rules. The tables are further apart, there are temperature scanners upon entry and the staff are vaccinated and tested.
So, if you want, you can go 'loose' again in Walking Street.
Source: Pattaya Mail
Was the Bamboo Bar also open?
It's completely closed. The shutters are down.
Well that seems a bit exaggerated to me. One of our sons is co-owner of a tourist co. in Pattaya and also lives there.
Just had him on the phone yesterday: Very few Farangs, he says only Thai.
It's not nearly as it should be.
Break ecen is still far away.
All a matter of time
I already said it in 2020 when many shouted that Pattaya was dead and buried and would never survive this.
Open Thailand as usual and Pattaya will also rise again in no time.
You will see bars rise from their ashes again and see Pattaya overgrow again…
You can't get small because of COVID or whatever. The Pattaya part for which Pattaya was known worldwide. 😉
Oh well, another nonsense message from “The Pattaya News”, part of “The Nightwish Group” that owns a number of bars in Soi 6. Unreliable news and certainly not independent.
I've been to Pattaya a number of times over the past few weeks and it's still deserted. Hardly anyone walks on Walking Street. 95% of the bars are empty and about 50% on Walking Street are still closed. It is true that it is a bit busier during a national holiday day, but please don't pretend that “tourism in Thailand has resurrected” and “the tourists are back in Thailand” because they are far from that.
The number of registered arrivals in Thailand stands at 500.000 this year compared to 40.000.000 pre-covid19 – That means there are currently 1-5% tourists. A recent study by the Krungsi Bank makes a conservative forecast of 5 million tourists in 2022 (that means a maximum of 14% tourists of what it was pre-covid19). Busy as usual? no definitely not
It's all a matter of time before the weather returns to normal.
That this will not be from today to tomorrow seems quite normal to me. It will also be limited this year as far as foreigners are concerned.
But only open the door again and they will pour in again, even those who then shouted loudly that they were going to call up other places will soon be scratching the door again 😉
I agree. I think once we go back to 'normal' things will be even more intense than before 2020.
Of course Fred.
Do people really think that in all those streets, where the ground floor used to be a bar, that this will not come back. Those bar complexes may be gone, but the big bosses are the owners of all those houses that guesthouses were made of in the past. And once everything is open again, there will always be farangs who, under the influence of their Tilakje, put money on the table to open the umpteenth bar … down in such a building.
It's only a matter of time like I said..
Rest assured that in many places there are those who are auctioning and painting their nails again to be ready… Whether or not under pressure from the family….
@RonnyLatYa
After all those defensive interventions it seems that you are very homesick for it …..55555 , well, having been a military saltwater sailor once …..I understand ….
Don't worry... 😉
Those were wild years in Pattaya with long nights that started before dark and usually ended when it was already light… we didn't see much sunlight.
Especially in the 90s / early 2000s had a wonderful time and had a lot of fun.
Usually near Soi Post Office/Soi Yamoto.
But the craziness has also gone a bit over the years and the years also make it feel that you can no longer go at it the way you want...
And of course there are also many who are no longer with us.
It is now only the memories that remain of the Pattaya of that time.
It's been about 7-8 years now, I think I've been there again.
Have to work on it again soon
Now quiet days, no crowds and I like it that way.
In those years and certainly those before, the music in most bars was also a lot more atmospheric. More ambiance because it was not uncommon for us to be able to sing along to many songs at the top of our lungs.
It was music that evoked emotions. Many bars and certainly go-go bars were also decorated even warmer and cosier. Velvet seats and fitted carpet. Now it's all killer interiors in metal and then again that cold techno polish.
The mentality of the girls was also a lot more pleasant.
Oh well, there was simply more freedom and happiness. Fewer rules and a lot more relaxed.
Those were the days that much is certain.
You no longer have to go to Pattaya for going out and that has been the case for a long time.
Jomtien is the place to be.
Soi 7, Soi Whitehouse, Soi 5, Soi 12 (secret tip) are cozy like never before. Covid? Nobody is talking about it. And more importantly: nobody behaves like it.
Everything closes at 23.00 and I don't even mind. Nightlife moves from 23.00:2.00-20.00:23.00 to XNUMX:XNUMX-XNUMX:XNUMX pm and I only experience benefits and I am not alone. You have to adjust to it, and that has been necessary lately, but then: go to bed on time and wake up healthy again tomorrow (Sonja Barend). Or: close your eyes, close your beaks (Meneer de Uijl).
It is indeed still very quiet in Pattaya, except for soi Buakhao where it is a bit busier, but that is actually the only exception. And certain places in Jomtien are also doing reasonably well, especially by farangs who live there or stay there for a longer period of time. It will stay that way as long as the 23.00 p.m. closing time applies and there are still restrictions on entering the country. However, we have already started testing before and after arrival (provided you are vaccinated), now the Thailand Pass. If that also disappears, and everything is allowed to open again as before, you will see that Pattaya will just come back to life and go back to the old normal (especially if the Chinese are allowed to travel again and Putin stops with glands so that the Russians also can come). I own a number of restaurants and hotels in Amsterdam. At the moment it is just business as usual there, as if corona did not exist. There are virtually no Asians and no Russians either, but fortunately we don't really have to worry about that, and that is also compensated by more Europeans who now do not go to Thailand, for example. It is already so busy that the Municipality of Amsterdam feels called upon to take measures to curb the crowds. Pattaya also just rises from the dead once all measures are lifted.