Pattaya is dead now

[mercman24]

POST 22 i find that hard to believe i live in beach road , hundreds of parking places, beach road empty, no traffic what so ever, so you went shopping, there are allways queues in grocery stores, and you waited behind one person wow, yes agree this place where i live JOMTIEN is DEAD and i LOVE it, no ignorant RUSSIANS for starters, ha ha, but for some us who live here there is plenty to do, but thats our secret.

[tabarin]

I just flew from shit hole A *CNX* to shit hole B *UTP* and can confirm the plane was nearly empty, UTP airport is getting much nicer though. Jomtien is dead too, the dirty roads and people are significant after having been away for 6 months again.

You can say what you want, argue what you want but PTY is simply a dirty city that can hardly be compared with the rest of Thailand. In general I would say most cities in Thailand are super clean and nice.

Aside of that, can not deny to keep falling in love with the ocean view here and that it is still better than being stuck in Bangkok, if one would need to choose between the two.

But in terms in holidays or as a tourist? No way I would go to Thailand unless it would be my first time and clueless, and that would be the last time then too. Too much nonsense / costs compared to value.

[BestB]

2 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

Go and stay in any hotel, have a look at the rack full of tour brochures in the foyer, you will find 20-30 places that offer free hotel pick up for their attraction, restaurant, tour etc. All the floating restaurants off pattaya have fleets of buses for just that purpose. You call the number on the brochure, 4 people from Acme hotel, they send a bus around to get you.

Not sure what part of that you find so unbelievable, I can call big  restaurant right now and book a free pick up from my condo/hotel for tonight

I do not need to go anywhere. I own hotel and restaurant for past 15 years.

 

You can feed BS to everyone else not to me. Chinese will not step foot into your bus or restaurant unless guide tells them and for guide to tell them, he/she gets minimum 30% commission

 

some places having bus service only

means it’s an overpriced place and only way they can get customers is to bring them in, in hope they do not see similar places at half the prices .

[stanleycoin]

1 hour ago, worgeordie said:

31 years living in Thailand,been around most of the country and

Islands, but never been to Pattaya,what am i missing,and should

i visit before it dies.

regards Worgeordie

Yes , give it a go, alone that is 

[rott]

3 hours ago, KittenKong said:

Only some do, and even with the discount the prices are still very high for what you get.

 

Overpricing is what will drive people away from Thailand. Why come here and be ripped off when you can go to somewhere nice like Portugal and pay less? Better weather too.

Actual price comparisons would be interesting (plus names of towns) hotels, med/long stay rentals, beer, wine, food etc, transport and fuel.

[Peterw42]

49 minutes ago, rott said:

Actual price comparisons would be interesting (plus names of towns) hotels, med/long stay rentals, beer, wine, food etc, transport and fuel.

Numbeo is good for that sort of thing, enter 2 cities/countries and it will give you a comparison across a range of things.

 

 

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/comparison.jsp

[dotpoom]

" What do you think is going to happen with the makeup of pattaya in the next few years? "

      ----------

   When I get home tonight I'm sure gonna give it a lot of thought.

 

[legend49]

Pattaya is dead now

 

When was it alive?

[champers]

2 hours ago, worgeordie said:

31 years living in Thailand,been around most of the country and

Islands, but never been to Pattaya,what am i missing,and should

i visit before it dies.

regards Worgeordie

Visit before you die. Pattaya will never die; it will keep growing and constantly changing its appearance.

[Suradit69]

5 hours ago, Pattaya46 said:

 

Soi Buakhao is a very special street. Many cheap accommodations nearby, mainly massage places and bars, bars, bars... A place where you can see nearly 24/7 old fat Cheap Charlie farangs drinking beer 

And those who spend all their time there think that is all there is to Pattaya ... or even all there is to Thailand.

 

I've been here for around twenty years and during that time there's been a continuous spewing from those predicting the impending doom of Pattaya, while at the same time there's been a continuous increase of houses east of Sukumvit as well as a proliferation of condos, malls, hotels etc. Probably the building boom has gotten ahead of what it should be, but, as an example, whenever I go into Big C extra or Friendship or Tukcom ( which was a vacant building 20 years ago), those places are crowded. 

 

Pattaya may may be changing, but if that involves the demise of much of Soi Buakow or Walking Street, it would indicate it's a positive change.  

 

 

[DoctorG]

I do love a good "Pattaya is dead" thread.

[Rimmer]

A couple of off topic posts have been removed

[JHolmesJr]

I dont care if it's dead or not....as long as the discos are well stocked after 11pm.

[jackj]

2 hours ago, BestB said:

I do not need to go anywhere. I own hotel and restaurant for past 15 years.

 

You can feed BS to everyone else not to me. Chinese will not step foot into your bus or restaurant unless guide tells them and for guide to tell them, he/she gets minimum 30% commission

 

some places having bus service only

means it’s an overpriced place and only way they can get customers is to bring them in, in hope they do not see similar places at half the prices .

One person with knowledge and experience without spreading Chinese fairy tales
The rest probably have a condo for sale .

[Thingamabob]

Low season. 

[Caine]

8 hours ago, Pattaya46 said:

Wrong title. Should be "Soi Buakhao is dead now", but Pattaya is booming, thanks to real tourists, not sex tourists.

 

Soi Buakhao is a very special street. Many cheap accommodations nearby, mainly massage places and bars, bars, bars... A place where you can see nearly 24/7 old fat Cheap Charlie farangs drinking beer while watching the horrible traffic in this Soi… What an exiting life and Soi! Not a bad thing for Pattaya if Soi Buakhao is dying... IMHO.

What a load of rubbish 

[xxeo]

I, to the restaurant owner next door:

 

-- High season seems to be over!

 

-- I had no high season this winter!

[Pattaya46]

4 hours ago, BestB said:

You can feed BS to everyone else not to me. Chinese will not step foot into your bus or restaurant unless guide tells them and for guide to tell them, he/she gets minimum 30% commission

That was probably true still a few years ago, but what we see in Pattaya are more and more Chinese people who travel in couple or small group of friends, not in big organized group with guides.

They make their itinerary the same way western people do: using Internet and travel social websites. They are autonomous and can change their program if in route they discover another interesting place they didn't know about.

[BestB]

Just now, Pattaya46 said:

That was probably true still a few years ago, but what we see in Pattaya are more and more Chinese people who travel in couple or small group of friends, not in big organized group with guides.

They make their itinerary the same way western people do: using Internet and travel social websites. They are autonomous and can change their program if in route they discover another interesting place they didn't know about.

Those who travel alone do not go on buses to be taken to restaurants.

 

if they have money , they do not need a “lift” and if they do not have money , they eat mama from 7-11. 

 

As I said, I am over 15 years in the business, do not believe fairy tales posted by some posters 

[SeeRTB]

I came across this fabulous website of Pattaya with a cleaned up NEW LOOK for tourists and not the usual larger lout maps of all the barbia on offer ... 

Http://pattaya.cityviewmaps.com maybe Pattaya is going through some sort of image upgrade ?

[Peterw42]

4 minutes ago, Pattaya46 said:

That was probably true still a few years ago, but what we see in Pattaya are more and more Chinese people who travel in couple or small group of friends, not in big organized group with guides.

They make their itinerary the same way western people do: using Internet and travel social websites. They are autonomous and can change their program if in route they discover another interesting place they didn't know about.

Yes thats right, the first wave of Chinese tourists were the package tour and guide. Nowadays a larger proportion are normal independent tourists, no different from any others. They are not hard to spot as they are often at the table next to you in a restaurant or down at the condo pool.

[wolf81]

When I visited Pattaya last week with GF and daughter and we went to the beach near Walking Street to see the fireworks, it was packed with Thais and tourists. It was extremely busy and I had to wait like 15 minutes in the 7-11 near the McDonalds to pay for some products, due to it being so busy. 

 

I don't believe Pattaya is dead.

 

But Soi Buakhaow might indeed be dead. Not sure about that. 

[KiChakayan]

TV gives you a lead...

[Tajasia]

12 hours ago, user305 said:

Pattaya has become so polluted over the years that my body has developed a strong allergy response to the air and water.  Until they clean it up I see no reason to return.

l got a skin rash from the place and moved

[NoshowJones]

8 hours ago, BestB said:

It is indeed dead and getting worse year by year. 

 

There is no one here at all, including no Chinese.

 

my commercial laundry shop has just laid off 60% of its staff and saying possibly will close down in the next few months if it does not pick up.

 

some places have closed down for a month as no customers at all.

 

its hard to say why no one is coming but I would say bad exchange rate, bad attitude of service staff, high prices, and yes attitude of girls would be the reason, plus immigration hassles and questioning. 

 

Many offshore workers who use to be here on every rotation off do not come as immigration giving them hell and demanding they get “proper” visa’s

IMHO Pattaya is dead because mainly of immigration hassles, closely followed by the low exchange rate.

If a place like Pattaya is the way it is just now, what must the rest of the country be like.

Pattaya is full of cheap hotels, guesthouses, all sorts of cheap Western  and Thai food, cheap transport. there are people all losing their livelihoods and businesses because of the Thai government and it's immigration policies.

[Traubert]

18 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

Yes thats right, the first wave of Chinese tourists were the package tour and guide. Nowadays a larger proportion are normal independent tourists, no different from any others. They are not hard to spot as they are often at the table next to you in a restaurant or down at the condo pool.

I come in to Pattaya from China, maybe four times a year. I'm usually the only whitey on the plane.

 

If there is a large tour group, you can spot them near check-in with the guides handing out itineraries and stuff and holding a group meeting. Don't see that any more, they travel in two's, four's, sixes now, especially the young ones. The oldies might travel in a group of ten or a dozen. You can spot them  by the matching caps the guide has handed out but they're a rare sight, in my city airport anyway.

 

The flight is six days a week and it's usually full. This is a third tier city.

 

Younger Chinese are more affluent, better dressed, infinitely more polite and cosmopolitan than previous generations. They would rather be shot than spit or crap on the street.

 

It makes me chuckle when I read the quotations from the Expat Book of Chinese Myths on here, you are only showing your own ignorance, not demonstrating theirs. Particularly when the sentence starts 'I once saw one......'

 

Keep 'em coming. ????

[BestB]

28 minutes ago, Peterw42 said:

Yes thats right, the first wave of Chinese tourists were the package tour and guide. Nowadays a larger proportion are normal independent tourists, no different from any others. They are not hard to spot as they are often at the table next to you in a restaurant or down at the condo pool.

Do you have any evidence besides you said so that larger proportions are normal and independent tourists. 

[bkk6060]

Gosh, I hope it is dead.

My rotating list of 10 young sexy girls may be much more desperate and provide a discount 

Great times for me. ????

 

[Traubert]

3 minutes ago, BestB said:

Do you have any evidence besides you said so that larger proportions are normal and independent tourists. 

I do, I just provided it.

 

He's right.

[BestB]

14 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

IMHO Pattaya is dead because mainly of immigration hassles, closely followed by the low exchange rate.

If a place like Pattaya is the way it is just now, what must the rest of the country be like.

Pattaya is full of cheap hotels, guesthouses, all sorts of cheap Western  and Thai food, cheap transport. there are people all losing their livelihoods and businesses because of the Thai government and it's immigration policies.

Yup totally agree. For past at least 20 years there were always 2 flights per day between Bkk and Sydney , now there is only 1.

 

sure as hell daily flights do not get cancelled when there is demand for it.