Pattaya is Back - and Ready to Rock!

[goji]

Well, on Wednesday, the bars open in Sunee were Nice Boys, One and what I presume you call the Green Chair bar. Winner was padlocked shut.

For the first time in a few years, Nice Boys actually had one nice boy amongst the collection, or at least he looked cute. However, he spent the entire time engrossed in a game on his phone. Experience tells me not to disturb them from matters of such great importance. Both a colleague and I noted that the staff didn't seem that interested and they all eventually migrated to drink together, which I think was their main objective for the evening.
Beer 200 Baht. Jeans worn. Commendably low music volume.

Boyztown was quite busy, with probably over 100 people in the soi and the bars making the effort to put on a show in the street. Presumably Jomtien bar closures helped customer numbers. Sat outside Boyz Boyz Boyz. Beer 90 Baht, so good value and well done to them for trying to restart trade.

[Dodger]

Regardless of the recent setbacks, e.g., Test & Go suspended, periodic bar closures, antigen test mandates for restaurants, etc., Pattaya is still showing more signs of life now than it has in nearly 2 years. Things are moving again!

Today was my first visit to PTY since before the holidays and it was great to see the obvious elevation in the city's tempo in general. The beaches have gone from being practically deserted - to bustling scenes, where tourists and residents are filling the beach concessions, visiting the local shops and dining in the restaurants. Note, I didn't see any signs of rapid antigen testing going on during my travels, and have to assume that some of the restaurants have side-stepped this mandate...at least at this juncture.

The only down-side for me personally was the noticeable increase in traffic, but in all honestly, I'll learn to live with it as long as life can return to normal over here. One blessing is that the monster tour buses loaded with Chinese won't be polluting the environment in the foreseeable future. And just to be clear on this, I have nothing against the Chinese at all - it's the monster buses that have to go.

With more tourists...more business reopening's...and more boys starting to appear in-and-around the scenes, I think it's fair to say that we can finally see a light at the end of this very looooooong dark tunnel.

The best part of my recon mission today was being able to enjoy a few taco's at Taco Bell on Beach Road - which now opens at 8:00 AM versus 10:00 AM. There is a God!

[arsenal]

"And just to be clear on this, I have nothing against the Chinese at all - it's the monster buses that have to go."

How naively sweet. Hahaha. Just joking Dodger. Let me tell you...All the Chinese on their tour busses is preferable to them running around unsupervised. I always smiled when ever I read complaints about Thai drivers and think 'you should have twenty minutes driving in China.' You wouldn't last that long, you'd have a crash of some sort and perhaps kill granny and her 7 year old grandson. Not because of anything you've done but she just rode out in front of your car without looking. Imagine that let loose in beautiful Bang Saray. Leave them on the busses.

[christianpfc]

...The beaches have gone from being practically deserted - to bustling scenes, where tourists and residents are filling the beach concessions, visiting the local shops and dining in the restaurants.

The only down-side for me personally was the noticeable increase in traffic,...

One blessing is that the monster tour buses loaded with Chinese won't be polluting the environment in the foreseeable future. And just to be clear on this, I have nothing against the Chinese at all - it's the monster buses that have to go.

I can't compare to the last two years (I was out of Thailand) but being in Pattaya now, I would describe it the following way: a few lost souls on the beaches, restaurants at 20% occupancy during meal times, very light traffic (a blessing for a pedestrian like me: look left, look right, cross; no waiting for minutes for a gap in traffic or at traffic lights). The one thing that is plentyful is boys, old acquaintances and new recruits from online.

Buses are the most economical (saving energy and space) way to move people around on roads. They are unsightly and block the view (compensated by a nice view when you are in the bus and have a window seat), but how else would you move these numbers of tourist around?

[StevieWonders]

You have to admire Dodgems' boosterism. A reality check is administered by a story in today's Bangkok Post: "The average hotel occupancy rate for Pattaya in January will not exceed 30% because of weak tourism sentiment"

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business...son-ends-early

[Dodger]

......Buses are the most economical (saving energy and space) way to move people around on roads. They are unsightly and block the view (compensated by a nice view when you are in the bus and have a window seat), but how else would you move these numbers of tourist around?

Answer: You move these numbers of tourists around in buses that are well-maintained - that don't pollute the environment by leaving huge plumes of black smoke in their paths. That's exactly how it's supposed to be done.

[goji]

The following sign is on all the shuttered bars in Boyztown, including BBB, Panorama etc
Only Serene was an exception looking as though it is open

[Dodger]

According to CCSA's last meeting announcement - eating and drinking in Blue Zones is OK - but no dancing or fucking.

https://pattayaone.news/booze-can-be...ut-no-dancing/

[goji]

no dancing

So if bars can open, but with "no dancing", surely most Gogo bars would be compliant if operating as they normally do?

[Moses]

So if bars can open, but with "no dancing", surely most Gogo bars would be compliant if operating as they normally do?

Dancing on the stage isn't dancing - it is performance.