Pattaya is Back - and Ready to Rock!

[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.