The future of the board

[Dodger]

No disrespect to the OP, but this board has "done it's dash", there is nothing left to post about that has not already been done to death .
SP is indeed dead, so too is this board, it just needs to be buried. Its over. The virus has killed off any new "material " which was the life blood of the gay boards, Moses pull the plug from the life support machine and let it slip away with a little dignity. Sad but true.

We're on the verge of recovery from a pandemic that completely altered the demographics of Gay Life in Thailand, and one thing there won't be any shortage of in the near future, and that's interesting topics on this forum. We'll be talking about things like; which bars and other gay venues reopened, what the new staff is like, which boys returned from exile, what's becoming popular, what's not, as well as updates on what will hopefully be the reemergence of places like Sunee Plaza and Boyztown, which, as dark and dismal as they appear right now, just may surprise all of us when the dust settles.

Gay travelers who have been banned from returning to Thailand during this pandemic will want to know about these changes, and it's up to those of us who are here to provide that information. Regardless of which gay area becomes the most popular, Boyztown, Sunee, the Complex, or possibly a new area, the bar owners will rely on us to help promote their businesses and get the wind back in our rainbow sails where it belongs.

[christianpfc]

We're on the verge of recovery from a pandemic...

I would say we are at best in the middle, maybe just at the end of the beginning. Once the virus is under control (in one or two years?), it will take many more years for governments to reduce restrictions and for tourism industry to recover. We might never reach the level of tourism pre-Covid .

[Armando]

Gay travelers who have been banned from returning to Thailand during this pandemic will want to know about these changes, and it's up to those of us who are here to provide that information. Regardless of which gay area becomes the most popular, Boyztown, Sunee, the Complex, or possibly a new area, the bar owners will rely on us to help promote their businesses and get the wind back in our rainbow sails where it belongs.

There seems to be an assumption that the gay travellers who used to flock to Pattaya (and Bangkok as well, for that matter) will start to return in droves once the pandemic is more under control and international flights become far easier. Only a rare visitor to Pattaya I do have some happy memories, although few in the years leading up to the pandemic.

I do wonder, though, which tourists are going to return. Those who contribute to this Board, certainly. But how many does that total? Those, like me, whose visits were more around 2005-2015? Not so many, in my view. They will want to return to what they remember as a thriving Sunee and Boyztown. How long will it take to get these back up and running - if ever? With so little on offer, casual readers of this and other Thai Boards will surely wonder can the experience ever be anything like that of even a few years ago? In my view it was the volume of gogo and other bars that made Pattaya. And to a certain extent the sleaze factor. Will the sleaze ever come back? Will the volume of bars ever come back? Which is the chicken and which the egg? Lots of bars reopening but with few visitors in the first year thereby making them even more uneconomic. Or lots of visitors desperate to find something that no longer exists and who vow then to move on to pastures new for their next vacations? Do we live in a dream world when we expect everything will return to normal after a gap of well over two years and a near total meltdown of the tourist economy?

[Dodger]

There seems to be an assumption that the gay travellers who used to flock to Pattaya (and Bangkok as well, for that matter) will start to return in droves once the pandemic is more under control and international flights become far easier.

Most of the expats that I know seem to agree that the return of gay travelers will be a very slow and gradual process. I've honestly never heard anyone suggest that gay tourists would be returning in "droves" any time soon...even the bar owners.

I do know that of the handful of farang friends I have that have been unable to return to Thailand because of this pandemic, ALL are chomping at the bit to return as soon as they can.

When the gay tourists start slowly and gradually returning, the Boys will start slowly and gradually returning.