The end of Walking Street as we know it? Bars ordered to rip down signs

[sawadee1947]

16 hours ago, Jonathan Fairfield said:

Bar owners are furious and say the move will have an adverse affect on their businesses.

 

Yes, that might be....then go for planting rice or potatoes.

[Justgrazing]

11 minutes ago, kingstonkid said:

 

Yes there is but it will get the result that everyone be they Thai or tourist wants

 

I would love to say I wholeheartedly concur with you're ideas but unfortunately the reality of this place suggests otherwise .. The ability of the authorities here to perform even the most elementary of tasks beyond a perfunctory level is almost legendary .. Or put another way they have great difficulty filling a hole in the pavement or making safe dangerously hanging electric cables so I fear initiating you're plan will be beyond them .. You have to remember obfuscation is all part of the national psyche here .. 

[Destiny1990]

Removing the neon signs is not enough.

[MyFriend You]

8 hours ago, mark01 said:

Lost count of all the "orders" issued with nothing really happening.

 

Next....!!!

When I owned  bar there in 73-77, what is now Walking Street area, we would get a letter every week it seemed by the Thai Navy, who owns the entire coast line that our bars n the sea side were going to be torn down as we were encroaching on the beach.    I finally sold out to a Japanese restaurant , sure enough, my area was torn down and  he lost his place.........but alas, last time I was in W.S,, someone else had erected another bar - such is Thailand.

[Chrisdoc]

Is reallybigken suggesting volunteering without a permit. Illegal unless you have the proper visa.

[ttrd]

18 hours ago, z42 said:

A few neon signs moved around won't end walking street. Far too much money being made there for the whole thing to die a death yet.

Far and away the most lucrative area of the city as is. Just some empty suit dishing silly orders around, nothing more

Yes, and maybe the most important - as long as the decion makers and their allies earn from it - which they do - it will remain....

[Justgrazing]

2 hours ago, Bantex said:

If these so called "Quality Tourists" are true afficiardo's of Motzard then they will know of his perversion of ass & shit. In a letter to his cousin he stated he wanted to shit on her nose and watch it run down her chin. He also wrote a piece entitled "Lick my ass" so Walking Street would be perfect for the Pattaya Winter Motzart Festival if not a little tame.

He did what .!! Well who would have thought that .. an Austro/German getting involved in that " skat " nonsense .. Are you sure Man .?  I mean his Ode to Joy will never sound quite the same again if this is true .. 

[kiwikeith]

18 hours ago, Kerryd said:

Fire trucks have had no problem getting down Walking Street in the past........

 

maybe the hose never had a problem, given the high rate of suicides in Pattaya then the many tourists who don't like the idea of making the street safe for fire trucks might also like bungi jumping.

[sambum]

"Tnews intimated that the authorities felt the signage was bad for the image of the resort"

 

 

 

So what about all the dead fish and stinking rubbish on the beach?

[Eagleizer]

If they are concerned about dangerous signs, they should start with the ones on all the sidewalks. 

More than once have i hit my head on signs that are only 180cm or so off the ground. And then 

there is the shades that seller put up on the sidewalks with steel pipe poking your eye as you walk 

and look for something to eat.

[thailand49]

Actually interested to know if they even know the actual height?

As for fire trucks you mean those little toys they claim to be trucks?

 

Enforce it if they have  broken the law but please be consistent and check also those hanging wires of all kinds which I think 90 % might be old and useless while you at it check those electrical boxes than seem exposed. Didn't one blow up and burn down a bar on W.S. recently?

[Rimmer]

A couple of off topic posts about Mozart have been removed

[owl sees all]

6 hours ago, Pattaya46 said:

A lot of noise for nothing. Just look at the original article on Bangkok Post and you will see that only a few signs misplaced or too low may be concerned. This TV "article" is written as if all signs had to be removed, and it's obviously false news.

Good of you to point this out. Chill pills needed for many.

[thaianon]

8 hours ago, hutchings1963 said:

Sounds like to me some body is not getting there brown envelopes regular.

Wishful thinking! This has nothing to do with brown envelopes. As I said in a post a couple of months ago when this type of stuff started happening, it has everything to do with the military junta imposing its will. If they are serious about shutting down the sex trade in Pattaya, there's nothing that anyone can do to stop it. Hopefully, that won't happen, though.

[brewsterbudgen]

Removing the neon signs is not enough.

You want the non-neon ones removed too? The neon "Vegas" glitz is one of the main reasons for its appeal.

[marino28]

I think is a good idea . What happen if one of the sign go down ? Better be safe then sorry 

[thaibeachlovers]

14 hours ago, gbswales said:

Forbid that Thailand should legalise and regulate prostitution- tourist flock to Thailand either because of this trade or because they want to gawp at it.  It is about time society recognised that there is nothing wrong with sex being sold commercially.  Providing it is limited to certain areas those who want to avoid it can.  What are tourists going to photograph at night when all the colourful signs have gone?  This is 2017 and the world seems to be going more Victorian by the minute.

Singapore went down that route many years ago when they shut down Bugis St, which was the equivalent of Walking St. Tourist groups would go there to gawp at the kyties ( katoeys ).

Following that, Singapore became so sterile and boring that the authorities tried to reproduce it, without success.

However, the difference between Singapore and LOS was that Singapore was a small country and not corrupt, and became a shopping mecca and hi tech manufacturing country. Thailand is too chaotic to succeed in the same manner, IMO, and all that will happen as the tourist "attractions" are closed down in Pattaya will be increased crime and less tourists.

 

Let's be frank, Pattaya is far too decrepit, dirty, disreputable and disorganised, with shocking traffic, nil city planning, flooding, collapsing infrastructure, crime and extortionate ( non ) taxi meters to ever attract high end tourists.

Sadly, by destroying the vibrant night life, and having nothing worthwhile to replace it, it's not looking good for the workers.

I guess there will always be some semblance of the bar scene tucked away along Buakhao, but it's not the equivalent of the "Ginza", is it? Perhaps Pattaya will become a beach strip of big hotels catering to the tourist sheeple that think it's worth travelling thousands of miles to blob beside a pool, and a slum of decrepit zero star hotels where poor expats can stay, from Buakhao back to Sukhumvit.

Whatever, it's never been as good as it was in the 90s since Purachai tried to destroy it back then, and I can't see it ever recovering even a semblance of what it was.

Perhaps it's just as well my remaining time on planet earth is limited, as it makes me sorrowful to see everything I enjoyed being shut down in favour of a boring, humourless and chav ridden world.

 

If there is anything to make one quietly satisfied about the present situation, it is that members of a certain organization will be suffering as their revenue stream vanishes before their eyes. Couldn't happen to a more deserving bunch.

[thaibeachlovers]

2 hours ago, marino28 said:

I think is a good idea . What happen if one of the sign go down ? Better be safe then sorry 

OMG let's tear down every sign in the entire planet in case somebody gets hit on the head. Can start with Times Square in New York.

 

More dangerous by far are the coconuts along the beach promenade- they DO fall down.

 

PS, the most dangerous signs in Thailand are the big adverising hoardings. There was a spate of them collapsing a while back.

[thaibeachlovers]

3 hours ago, thaianon said:

Wishful thinking! This has nothing to do with brown envelopes. As I said in a post a couple of months ago when this type of stuff started happening, it has everything to do with the military junta imposing its will. If they are serious about shutting down the sex trade in Pattaya, there's nothing that anyone can do to stop it. Hopefully, that won't happen, though.

LOL. Then they should be shutting it down in Bkk, Hua Hin, Chaweng, Bangla and every town in Thailand.

Why just Pattaya?

[thaibeachlovers]

20 hours ago, Thechook said:

Is an eyesore and only advertising prostitution.  It's  a step towards cleaning up Thailands seedy international reputation.  Still a long way to go before they can replace sex tourism with quality tourism.

If anyone thinks "quality" ( something that doesn't exist anywhere- it's just tourists that spend lots of money vs ones that don't ) tourists are going to flock to Pattaya, they are, IMO, seriously deluded.

Anyone that thinks it's going to happen has obviously never lived in Pattaya.

 

BTW, "quality" ( tourists with money that think they are special ) have done more to destroy Thailand's beaches than the bars ever did. There are still nice beaches in some areas of Thailand, but most have already been destroyed, and the few that are left are under threat.

[thaibeachlovers]

5 hours ago, owl sees all said:

Good of you to point this out. Chill pills needed for many.

Given that Pattaya has many, many dangerous obstructions everywhere, this is, IMO, the "thin end of the wedge". If they succeed getting those signs removed, it will then be the ones not obstructing at present.

Pattaya has an overwhelming number of problems of far more importance than a few signs on W S, but nothing is being done about them. Think about it.

[hottrader77]

On 8/1/2017 at 9:41 PM, z42 said:

A few neon signs moved around won't end walking street. Far too much money being made there for the whole thing to die a death yet.

Far and away the most lucrative area of the city as is. Just some empty suit dishing silly orders around, nothing more

but its another step in the direction of a family image resort BUT what family is going to go inside a go go bar ?????  the authorities STILL dont get it .... without sex and turning pattaya into a family resort WILL MAKE IT DIE A DEATH !!  just LIKE no seats on beach road for the thousands of tourists to sit down on they used to have many seats until some less than bright spark thought it a good idea to destroy them , now you have to sit on the filthy pavement with the cochroaches !!! and the non tidy up of the beach where farlangs and beach road girls piss and defacate along with the dogs makes it a beach and sea with litter in it makes it a place that is dying a death and without sex it will die a death quickly 

[joepattaya1961]

Just let a firetruck blast through WS with 80kmh around 5 in the morning.

Everything that's not hit remains......what's hit is gone anyway!!

First hit will be the most ugly LED "gate" at the beginning of WS, which was erected on initiative of CityHall BTW.

 

[lamyai3]

Pretty harsh to crack down on the business owners, when it's well established that the fires are started by squirrels. 

[Justgrazing]

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Singapore went down that route many years ago when they shut down Bugis St, which was the equivalent of Walking St. Tourist groups would go there to gawp at the kyties ( katoeys ).

Following that, Singapore became so sterile and boring that the authorities tried to reproduce it, without success.

However, the difference between Singapore and LOS was that Singapore was a small country and not corrupt, and became a shopping mecca and hi tech manufacturing country. Thailand is too chaotic to succeed in the same manner, IMO, and all that will happen as the tourist "attractions" are closed down in Pattaya will be increased crime and less tourists.

 

Let's be frank, Pattaya is far too decrepit, dirty, disreputable and disorganised, with shocking traffic, nil city planning, flooding, collapsing infrastructure, crime and extortionate ( non ) taxi meters to ever attract high end tourists.

Sadly, by destroying the vibrant night life, and having nothing worthwhile to replace it, it's not looking good for the workers.

I guess there will always be some semblance of the bar scene tucked away along Buakhao, but it's not the equivalent of the "Ginza", is it? Perhaps Pattaya will become a beach strip of big hotels catering to the tourist sheeple that think it's worth travelling thousands of miles to blob beside a pool, and a slum of decrepit zero star hotels where poor expats can stay, from Buakhao back to Sukhumvit.

Whatever, it's never been as good as it was in the 90s since Purachai tried to destroy it back then, and I can't see it ever recovering even a semblance of what it was.

Perhaps it's just as well my remaining time on planet earth is limited, as it makes me sorrowful to see everything I enjoyed being shut down in favour of a boring, humourless and chav ridden world.

 

If there is anything to make one quietly satisfied about the present situation, it is that members of a certain organization will be suffering as their revenue stream vanishes before their eyes. Couldn't happen to a more deserving bunch.

Can't find too much to disagree with there tbl .. This initiative is the latest in a line of decree's aimed at the sex trade ( Soi/6 opening times , girls have to keep their kit on inside the GoGo's etc ) It remains to be seen if it will achieve its stated goal .. But it does give an insight into the agenda going forward that is being set at the highest level .. The contempt with which Chairman P holds for the West is barely concealed sometimes and the perception that Westerners are in part responsible for this den of iniquity is all consuming at boardroom level .. And now he is in a position to do something about the seedy image it has taken Pattaya decades to perfect Chair' P aint wasting time .. The signage along Wlkg St is all part of the allure of the place to every strata of visitor and as we all know the Chinese love nothing more than swamping the place stopping every 2 mts to take loads of photo's in the process ..  But that is of no importance in the bigger picture to those at the top this is also a moral crusade .. As for the signage itself its haphazard " chucked together  " nature simply mirrors Pattaya itself .. 

[FarangJon]

6 hours ago, thaianon said:

Wishful thinking! This has nothing to do with brown envelopes. As I said in a post a couple of months ago when this type of stuff started happening, it has everything to do with the military junta imposing its will. If they are serious about shutting down the sex trade in Pattaya, there's nothing that anyone can do to stop it. Hopefully, that won't happen, though.

Even it would happen, than maybe just for a few weeks. Who would come to Pattaya then?
The tourism would go down to 10% shortly.

[champers]

17 hours ago, owl sees all said:

Obviously gearing up for the International marathon next month. Just a part of the big picture. Hua Hin is the future! Already the ferry is operational. High speed rail links to China. It's own airport.

They have a Walking Street too.

[pegman]

7 hours ago, thaianon said:

Wishful thinking! This has nothing to do with brown envelopes. As I said in a post a couple of months ago when this type of stuff started happening, it has everything to do with the military junta imposing its will. If they are serious about shutting down the sex trade in Pattaya, there's nothing that anyone can do to stop it. Hopefully, that won't happen, though.

There isn't a Farang alive that understands the tug of war dynamics taking place amoung the Thai elite. 

[Justgrazing]

13 minutes ago, champers said:

They have a Walking Street too.

Hua Hin is the future .. Made so but the chances are tardy signage will be targeted there also not forgetting that H H considers itself a cut aove Patt .. As for the H S T's to China you'll be waiting around a while for one of those geez' they are mammoth engineering projects that take years to build and test .. 

[Shaunduhpostman]

You can bet money that they aren't even remotely concerned about fire hazards. I will never like how the culture is such that you can't just do or say anything directly. I will never understand the point of not really doing what you can and want to do. Of course if you do there will be a price to pay that is much too much, people will not stand for anything that gets underway too deliberately. Seems like that is what is going on with the monthly hits on the bars etc. It's probably going to drag on for years, all of these indirect attacks on the sex industry, its better, they think to just erode it at some agonizingly slow glacial pace than get together make extensive plans, don't mess around and  just let the busineesses know where you stand, "Well sorry the jig is up. We have another idea for what we want Pattaya to be. We want to put up not very colorful or interesting condominiums everywhere. Keeping the beach clean is a hassle, requires too much management and asks too much of hotels and apartments to treat their own sewage, but maybe people will buy the condos for some mysterious reasons anyway and Pattaya can become a bedroom community we know it really was all along for...who knows.The whole tourist industry can leave and go back to farming or  just sign up for work at the American registered business that is a Thai owned oil fracking operation in Khon Kaen or the potash strip mine in Sakon Nakorn or work for the new Chinese factories in Isaan and wherever else. No bars, no alcohol, no music starting next year. Party's over." But no, that would be too direct, and someone might have to get real, the whole world might notice and then the Daily Mail or some other publication in Europe would start in, would print something that embarrassed someone by noticing what was going on and commenting. None of that,  its, No, you have to wait till 6 pm to open now. No, you can't have big neon signs. No, You can't have ladies in short skirts advertising alcohol out front. No You can't have upstairs short time rooms but you can carry on with providing ladies for tourists. NO you cannot have a place to sit on beach road we are taking down the benches we put up 5 years ago. No you can't have businsses on the beach. No, yes you can have businesses. Now, no you can't. This will go on for ages during which time they will forget why they are always every month putting a new restriction on the bars. Mirthfully chuckling over his ice cream sundae  in a May 2047 interview,  Pattaya Mayor incumbent Pramote Vriyayakitoriumsomartnabalampoowataysat commented, "Well, its just a tradition, I suppose...Nobody knows why we have to slap the businesses around every month and make a demand. Its all in a good spirit anyway, it is just like big brother to little brother.  Western people just don't understand, there is never any harm meant by any of these things, you see. The businesses  want to feel safe that a strong authoritative government is running Pattaya and we want to feel that we are in control of the bars and restaurants. My grandfather was a mayor of Pattaya and my father was a mayor and they always said, "If you don't make a new restriction for the bars every month they will take over everything in Pattaya and turn it into a sex tourist zone. Can you imagine if that happened to Pattaya?  Luckily, and as we all well know, its been the kind of place that nature lovers and sports enthusiasts flock to from around the world to take advantage of many of the city's one of a kind attractions and enjoy a beer at the bar before retiring fo r the night at 6:00 pm.