Thailand's entertainment industry can't just do something else instead because of Covid-19, says insider

[Time to grow]

12 minutes ago, redwood1 said:

Sorry but all of us dont plan on boarding the train to the new dystopia...

Have it your way but it's clearly going to be different moving forward. The difference between "different" and "dystopia" is imagination or lack there of. Some can only imagine more of the same in an unsustainable environment which will in fact lead to the dystopian future you mention. It doesn't have to be that way.

[DaLa]

6 minutes ago, kingofthemountain said:

This should be a long way to go

as far as i can remember in 20 years of travels and

residency in thailand i have never seen a Thai reading a book

(Except the young ones with school books)

Well noted and I can verify that.  Wife and I leave Thailand a couple of times a year for a holiday. To help her appreciate the country we plan to visit , I buy her a travel guide written in Thai. 

Anyone want to buy pristine copies of Fodor's guides to Hong Kong / Taiwan / Vietnam / Singapore etc etc etc.

[Patts]

6 hours ago, Oldie said:

But "we" are not all ????

Then why live there you miserable old git?

 

Plenty of other places in Asia that will suit the quiet boring life you seek

Edited May 20, 2020 by Patts

[Mick501]

6 hours ago, Oldie said:

Endless bars here in Pattaya have been without (m)any customers even during the high season. I am always asking myself how they survive or if they are perhaps only used for money laundering.

 

I think this bar business is outdated and should be replaced by more appealing things. Could be the right time now to change this sex and booze image. Alone walking on the Beach Road in not Corona times is a sex hassle for "normal" tourists. But even yesterday when I had to walk to the post office - "I come with you", "boom boom" and other invitations for sex. An open air brothel open at daytime already and this even at Corona times. 

Think you took a wrong turn on your way to the monastery.

[DaLa]

5 minutes ago, Pattaya46 said:

FYI: Biggest brothel in the World is said to be Daulatdia, in Bangladesh.

Internet travel sites see a sudden surge in traffic for bookings.

[Bob A Kneale]

6 hours ago, redwood1 said:

Musicians skills are only gained after years of hard work and do not really apply to any other job......Its a damm sad situation....

 

But things have been getting worse for musicians for decades already........Napster was the start of musicians wows.....Record sales started falling each year.....Then digital downloads stole most of musicians recording income....They only get fractions of a cent for digital downloads....

David Crosby and others have been very vocal about the music theft that is going on in the music industry...

 

Now if musicians cant play live they have almost zero income.....

What's the connection with the OP?

[Burma Bill]

Quote:-

"The sector needs help from the government"

 

Lobby for the legalization of gambling and turn them all into slot machine arcades, casinos and "gorge yourself" buffet restaurants for the first tourists - the Chinese and South Koreans!

[Bob A Kneale]

6 hours ago, redwood1 said:

Sir this is the exact reason we all love Pattaya...

Speak for yourself.

[Fex Bluse]

They should advertise COVID-free HJs

[Bob A Kneale]

6 hours ago, Oldie said:

Pattaya can change and look for tourists with other interests than sex and booze. Perhaps now is the best time for this. 

Plenty of tourists have no interest in the sex here.    Not many tourists anywhere in the world have no interest in having a drink.

[Thomas J]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Dr Khamnuan Ungchusak who suggested at a seminar that the entertainment industry in Thailand should reopen by doing something less risky.

I wonder how he would react if they pulled his medical license and was told " no problem, just do something else" 

[sapson]

23 minutes ago, Pattaya46 said:

FYI: Biggest brothel in the World is said to be Daulatdia, in Bangladesh.

Ok i shall re phrase it as the most user friendly adult themed playground spread out over a few square kms with a vast spectrum of attractions for all budgets!

Edited May 20, 2020 by sapson

[Mac98]

Suggestion to change nightlife: Instead of dancing girls, hostesses, and ladydrinks for companions, feature topless waitresses. Who cares if they are wearing masks and gloves? They could liberally apply gel so you could refresh your hand sanitizer throughout the evening at the mere cost of 100 baht. Also management would save on the high cost of dancing girls! ????????

[RichardColeman]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

But suggesting that businesses and staff could just do something else less risky was nonsense and unrealistic. 

So, not in the running for top bosses at a refunded Thai Airways then

[Pattaya46]

12 minutes ago, Bob A Kneale said:

Not many tourists anywhere in the world have no interest in having a drink.

Unsure about that.

I am a non drinker, but I do like to stay with friends in a bar terrace with a nice view.

I have plenty of friends in the same cases, and surely plenty of tourists too.

The fact that alcohol seems to have a huge importance in life of US and UK students doesn't mean that it's the same in all countries !

Alcohol is not needed to live well and happy.

[phantomfiddler]

4 hours ago, Leaver said:

I would not be surprised if some Walking Street gogo's are bought by the Chinese for cheap and turned into Chinese karaoke bars.  So, part of the night tour is a walk up and down Walking Street, and then drinking and singing, Chinese style, in a Chinese owned bar.   

You may have something there, Leaver ! Do you remember about 20 plus years ago in Manila ? The main entertainment area was called Ermita, and the mayor Alfredo Lim closed down all the bars so that his Chinese buddies could buy them cheap. Probably one of the major reasons why Angeles City regained a lot of steam after the volcano disaster.

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

19 minutes ago, Bob A Kneale said:

What's the connection with the OP?

Haha, the headline's about Thailand's entertainment industry! I know it's easy to see this combination of words and immediately have one's mind drift to naughty things. But musicians are very much a part of this as well.

 

I've been quite entertained by the live acts in several BKK bars. Some have done it for years and made the bars famous, becoming more of a draw than the drinks or the chicks. Belting out classic rock, waiting on the guitars, with skill rivaling the original artists. I can particularly recall them pulling off some of the same distinctive nuances as say, Santana or Dire Straits, made considerably more difficult by the fact their English language skills are certainly quite limited.

[phantomfiddler]

3 hours ago, herwin1234 said:

indeed, horrible if i would lose my freedom and rights to live in a healthy society. 

restricting individual behaviour that endangers other peoples lives and so infringes on their freedom, rightly should not be allowed.

Just like people dont have "the freedom to be drunk and drive a car" people also dont have the right to unnecesarely risk spreading a very contagious and possible legal disease.

"Legal" ? Hahaha, possibly a Freudian slip maybe ?

[Inn Between]

Another "Just do it!" suggestion from this gov't with no support or ideas to back it up. I guess when your party has basically had a monopoly for so long on doing and saying whatever it wants whenever it wants without much thought put into things, apathy and idiocy become the norm.  

 

How about some realistic financial incentive packages and training to convert idle commercial real estate into profitable tourist venues? People get into businesses because they have skills, knowledge, or interest in certain areas, and hopefully all three if they want to be successful. What good is it going to do to just tell people to change everything without giving them the means and support to do it? 

[brianbbb]

How can you reinvent Pattaya. Theirs is more risk going to the local markets than going to the bars

[Parsve]

6 hours ago, time2093 said:

As long as there are horny men on this planet, the worlds oldest profession will never die as well as Pattaya and what it has to offer. Its a love it or hate it Place and I personally LOVE IT!

As someone said, " She had the worlds oldiest proffession, and she looked like she had been there from the start".

[PingRoundTheWorld]

7 hours ago, Oldie said:

I think this bar business is outdated and should be replaced by more appealing things. Could be the right time now to change this sex and booze image.

If you don't like Pattaya's image why are you there? Just move. The days of massive tour group buses crowding the place are gone and they're not coming back. The only ones who will be visiting will be individuals looking for nightlife and excitement. That's the only reason to go to Pattaya for individuals. Without the entertainment industry Pattaya will become a ghost town.

[GAZZPA]

7 hours ago, redwood1 said:

Musicians skills are only gained after years of hard work and do not really apply to any other job......Its a damm sad situation....

 

But things have been getting worse for musicians for decades already........Napster was the start of musicians wows.....Record sales started falling each year.....Then digital downloads stole most of musicians recording income....They only get fractions of a cent for digital downloads....

David Crosby and others have been very vocal about the music theft that is going on in the music industry...

 

Now if musicians cant play live they have almost zero income.....

 

 

 

Well judging by the amount of pirate copies being openly sold in Thailand everywhere they don't seem to want to help themselves. For the rest of the world Musicians seem to be adjusting very well to the new world of downloads. In fact it seems we have a big resurgence in live gigs. I don't have data on this but I seem to see many more in music gigs in the UK. Thailand have no imagination, they cannot rely on locals or tourists right now to support the industry so they are just going to complain and ask for government support that isn't there. Thailand has to create more domestic consumption, no choice, the quicker they see that the better. That doesn't mean a delusional plan to rely on the rich and wealthy filling the bars in "Hookersvile."

[Captain Monday]

The best solution would be to legalize prostitution. Impossible here.

The only way to eliminate sex tourism is to repeatedly jail foreign mongers to long terms in Thai jail for taking a girl.

Then they will go elsewhere.

Prostitutions will never go away, it can be curtailed however.

 

 

[purcho]

4 hours ago, jlwilliamsjr18 said:

Bull-shirt... the girls are working online anyway, more will follow... and why is getting sheet-faced the idea of good time?  Better yet... Thailand could stop pretending and fully legalize casino gambling.  There you go!

Absolutely . The Gambling Chinese will come in huge numbers just to gamble and the gamblers will spend more than the existing type of Chinese tourist . It will also bring in a few Western gamblers who will spend at the High End . As you say ..stop pretending there is no gambling going on now .....One in Patts one in Phuket one in C/Mai and two in Bkk . Money making machine for Govt ...

[Ryan754326]

Anyone who actually believes that allowing the girly bars to open will make the difference between containing Covid and a full scale second wave must not be in Pattaya to see what’s really been going on since the lockdown started. The girls haven’t stopped working; the only difference now is that nobody is paying for lady drinks or bar fines. 
Take a walk down a certain Soi after dark, and tell me that bar closures and social distancing is what has lead to the low number of cases in Pattaya. 

 

 

[phantomfiddler]

Eureka !! The perfect solution ! Have all the bars convert to massage parlors that only do "Soapies" using an anti-virus gel instead of the old Mazola ???? and anyone who is strongly opposed to other people enjoying themselves should find no problem in locating some health drink haven for the oldies ????

[revup]

Thai plans to kick off tourism in a couple of months will not get very far if there are no nightspots. The industry will definitely need support or the infrastructure will be gone.

[George Aylesham]

8 hours ago, Justgrazing said:

Bingo .?

Sorry no - gambling strictly forbidden.

[essox essox]

8 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

horrible where you lose your freedom and your rights.

WHAT RIGHTS?????