where pattaya headed

[ikarus]

Here are several random observations regarding today's Pattaya. It was the lowest high season ever in my experience.
It was the most expensive holidays I ever had in Pattaya. The reasons are complex (one: I wanted to stay in a decent hassle-free hotel which is at least 100 US per night nowdays). The other obvious reason is baht appreciation on top of very visible inflation. I feel very sorry for expats living on fixed US dollar-denominated income (and progressively UK pound income which goes down even faster than I predicted on this message board). Unfortunately things are going to be much worse before getting any better in this respect. The other probable reason the fear of political instability and terrorist attacks. We are very fortunate that we did not have (at least so far) any of that outside deep South. Despite stunning and completely unfair (from my point of view) results of vote certification, I keep reminding myself that this is up to the Thais to sort out their internal affairs. From farangs perspective what is important is that Thailand remain stable and free of muslim terrorist attacks. Another less significant observation is that there are more Russians than ever in Pattaya. I predict, however, that the number of Russian tourists picked this year as US most probably entering the recession and the price of oil (and natural gas) is going to plunge taking back Russian fortune which is solely based on this commodity.
IMHO Pattaya is moving towards catering to more affluent visitors. While it was always the official goal, I think the move is unavoidable due to the price reality. It manifests itself in growing number of hassle-free hotels (within 100 US per night),
growing number of recent ethnic restaurants (good quality but not chip) and even in terms of enertainment venues. Numerous complains about go go bars in Boys town are fair to some extent but I have to add that Sunee plaza is not better and progressively caters more and more to never ending influx of pedophiles. The future IMHO is with venues like Body langauge and X-ray which are extremely popular with locals (but more expensive if one seeks the same type of entertainment as go go bars offer) and much more fun. Those who are interested in venturing into business in Pattaya should be ready for serious investment to achieve any degree of success in this new envornment.
All in all Pattaya offers more than ever before but be prepared for more expensive holiday if you are looking for good and safe fun.

Similar Threads:

• Re: Young Aussie headed to Thailand next year; I need some t
• Erawan Museum (giant three-headed elephant)
• Where Pattaya Headed !

[lonelywombat]

I have never heard of Body language. Would you provide some details please.

[naklua]

IMHO Pattaya is moving towards catering to more affluent visitors. While it was always the official goal, I think the move is unavoidable due to the price reality. It manifests itself in growing number of hassle-free hotels (within 100 US per night),
growing number of recent ethnic restaurants (good quality but not chip) and even in terms of enertainment venues.

Yes, that is the official goal, but I have not been able to confirm any success in this regard during the recent past. It would not make too much sense in my opinion, as tourists with more money and who are not intestered in the naughty nightlife would be ill-advised to go to Pattaya for some sort of "quality-vacation" as:
* the beach is rather ugly (full of deck chairs, flying vendors all over, the street right in your back, etc.) although it had to be very, very beautiful some time back in the distant past,
* traffic on the main roads becomes more and more BKK-style,
* crime is said to be growing by the year,
* more and more gogo bars are operating (especially lady gogo bars),
* more and more shopping complexes encroach one the few vacant spots and make the city of Pattaya even more ugly than it was before (regarding architecture),
etc.

People with money who are into SE Asia and want to enjoy beautiful beaches and hate mass tourism maybe would rather like to go to Vietnam?

Numerous complains about go go bars in Boys town are fair to some extent but I have to add that Sunee plaza is not better and progressively caters more and more to never ending influx of pedophiles.

I am not an expert in the pedo field, but I have got the impression that the overt part of this trade has been on a decline in the recent past. I think the closure of one in this context notorious bar (now a hotel) helped in this regard. Nevertheless I am not so bold to argue that there is nothing going on any more with under-age guys (as farangs are always said to be punters I refer to guys below the age of 18 years; age of consent in LOS is 15 years; thus it is a little bit quirky to call people paying sb. in the age-range of 15 to 18 for sex a pedo, but if there is no money involved it is non-pedo...; also this terminology insinuates that all people under the age of 18 are kids and are instantly becoming adults on their 18 birthday; there is no room for something like adolescents in this framework. I got off-topic; the only point I want to make here is: under-age and pedo is not always the same), but IMHO it is not that visible.

The future IMHO is with venues like Body langauge and X-ray which are extremely popular with locals (but more expensive if one seeks the same type of entertainment as go go bars offer) and much more fun.

I agree to this one to some extent. Nevertheless I do not think it is a question of gogo bars or Thai gay discos like the above mentioned, but that we will see both types of venues co-existing in the future.
I very much enjoyed Maya (Walking Street; closed already), X-Ray and Body Language (they had one or two stunning coyote dancers) but I also went to the gogo bars. Going to the Thai discos was in addition to going to the boy bars. More generally speaking I think that there is only very limited competition between gogo bars and these discos and therefore not one type of venue squeezing out the other, as they work more or less in different time frames, i.e. the bars have to close at 1 - 2 a.m., and the discos get busy at that time. In other words: The discos are reserved for the later part of the night out, after having visited the bars.

[naklua]

I have never heard of Body language. Would you provide some details please.

This venue is not far away from Happy Boys but outside Sunee Plaza. I think the best would be to go with a motorbike taxi from Sunee Plaza, as the taxi drivers working there should know the location.

[fedssocr]

not sure why you think the price of oil will "plunge". Demand continues to rise and refining capacity seems to be fairly stagnant. I don't think the price of oil will be going down much in the short term future. The world-wide recession that is on the way may cause some slackening of demand but even if that happens I can't imagine that will push the price down more than a little.

... It manifests itself in growing number of recent ethnic restaurants (good quality but not chip) ...

I can't think of a restaurant in Pattaya where you can't get good quality chips





Gary is Fat & Balding

[ikarus]

IMHO Pattaya is moving towards catering to more affluent visitors. While it was always the official goal, I think the move is unavoidable due to the price reality. It manifests itself in growing number of hassle-free hotels (within 100 US per night),
growing number of recent ethnic restaurants (good quality but not chip) and even in terms of enertainment venues.

Yes, that is the official goal, but I have not been able to confirm any success in this regard during the recent past.
I aggree with that. However, due to baht appreciation and inflation they have no choice as to try to cater to more affluent tourists. There are clear signs of that as I mentioned in my post.
I also would like to respond to the price of oil comment. If US go into recession, the price of oil will go down quite substantially. That is all they I have said.

From farangs perspective what is important is that Thailand remain stable and free of muslim terrorist attacks. ........

Another less significant observation is that there are more Russians than ever in Pattaya. I predict, however, that the number of Russian tourists picked this year as US most probably entering the recession and the price of oil (and natural gas) is going to plunge taking back Russian fortune which is solely based on this commodity..........

IMHO Pattaya is moving towards catering to more affluent visitors.

Ikarus, I beg to differ.

Although I hope that Thailand will become free of any terrorist attacks (Muslim, or otherwise), there is no sign of this happening.

As a resident farang, I (like most farangs and Thais) am not directly affected by who happens to be running the country, so some political and economic instability would actually be quite acceptable (particularly to the exchange rate)!

I fail to see any connection between the vast majority of Russian and East European tourists, who are mainly families on budget package holidays, and the price of oil and gas. Most are spending any surplus money buying clothes in Tesco-Lotus and eating food from the supermarkets rather than in "good quality ethnic restaurants". What I can see, however, is their sheer numbers driving other holidaymakers elsewhere.

I cannot agree that Pattaya has "no choice as to cater to more affluent tourists". This has long been the City administration's stated aim, but given the total lack of anything which would attract affluent tourists here over, for example, the Maldives, the Caribbean, Mauritius, the Seychelles, and a myriad of other destinations (not including Vietnam!) it appears to be totally unrealistic.

The beaches have never been stunning, they are now narrower, more polluted and less attractive than ever, the traffic is a major problem (regardless of whether you are staying in a "hassle free" hotel or not, and armed and violent crime against farangs and Thais alike is spiraling.

The housing market is stagnant, at best, and only a Pattaya real-estate agent / developer could seriously write that prices and values are continuing to rise while admitting that no-one is buying! Any commodity is only worth what it can be sold for, nothing more. If Ocean 1 fails to go ahead as planned, as seems more than likely, this could spark a worse collapse in the condominium market.

Pattaya is now openly under the control of Kamnan Pho (Somchai Khunpluem) and his family, the best known of Thailand's "dark influences" and this, together with the still possible opening of a casino at Ambassador City, could have a dramatic affect on Pattaya's future.

The Pattaya area, as I have said elsewhere, has a lot going for it as somewhere to live. What it can never be is a prime destination for "affluent tourists".

Deleted

Deleted - sorry, delete function has "disappeared"!