News Forum - Pattaya reopening likely to snub nightlife, favor other attractions

[RobMuir]

3 hours ago, JohninDubin said:

I don't doubt that the Indians are there for mongering, but they have an extremely poor reputation among the working girls.

Yes, the Indians treat the working girls as if they are just dirty whores.

No houses in Issan, no money sent via Western union all year until they come back, no paying for school fees for their kids to other men, or extended families and sick buffaloes. No paying for their drug and gambling debts.

They should be ashamed of themselves.

[EdwardV]

Just means I go somewhere else instead. Be that Bangkok or Phuket or another country. Without the entertainment establishments open, there is just no reason to visit Pattaya. The other attractions are mostly lame, certainly better elsewhere in Thailand and the same goes for the beach. Pattaya’s loss will be Bangkok’s gain. 

[HolyCowCm]

1 hour ago, Soidog said:

Well it’s not as bad as what they’ve done to Golden bar. It was “upgraded” three of so years ago. They messed around with the seating and did something to the bar where you rest your feet. They also “cleaned it up” which took away some of its shabby charm. I like having to lift my feet occasionally to allow the passing rats to get by It’s still my favourite for the reasons you say. Action starts around 4pm when the ice man delivers bags and bags of ice to all the bars in the plaza. Then as the sun sets and the food stalls set up, the girls and ladyboys arrive on the motorbike taxis and the vibe gets going. You can also observe the fiasco of Nana security men checking ID’s  

Oh OK. You had me worried there. I thought something recent. Ive been there many times since then. It is still the best view point perch going so we think the same on that one. Hell, who knows if we have ever even seen each other or spoken to each other there before. Chances are it could be. What I also like is looking at is across the street where the Nana Hotel sign is and who trolling and who is looking. Have a few not so bad looking at all deaf girls moonlighting there. ID checking Hahahahaha. There certainly are som odd foreign characters walking in there too. Almost creepy.  Anyway false alarm as you had me saying oh no now what!

[HolyCowCm]

1 hour ago, Soidog said:

Yes agreed. It was a bar where you could drink without too much hassle from the girls and convenient for the Nana Burger van

It sort of reminded me of bleachers watching a game. 

[RobMuir]

2 hours ago, Soidog said:

Nana Plaza and soi 4 showed how little they understand the selling points of those areas when they placed a roof on the Plaza and removed all the ground floor central shabby bars

Do you understand Nana was forced to put on a roof to shield the view into it by nearby high rises.

 

The nearby Landmark and JW Marriott hotels – both 5-star properties – towered above Nana Plaza and many rooms had a ringside view of what went on in the plaza.  This view, the owners of Nana Plaza were told, had to be blocked.  The solution was the roof.

 

 

[HolyCowCm]

1 hour ago, dmacarelli said:

It appears to me that there was a deliberate sabotage of the tourism industry here. And if that is the case, the most likely reason is to eliminate the nightlife. No doubt the fake puritan leaders consider it offensive. 

But what is a tourist destination without nightlife? 

The dreaming continues. These ministries consider Thailand to be the center of the universe. The world cannot live without Thailand. The level of superiority within Thailand and Thai society on so many levels is obvious. The world sees that, right?

No. Wrong. The world can live without that which Thailand has to offer. And the world is a different place, post Covid. Tourism was already in decline here based on occupancy levels over the past several years, and declining tourism income, despite higher arrivals. Now? The industry will be decimated for a long time to come.

Trillions of dollars have been invested  in tourism infrastructure, with the faith and the hope that should anything terrible happen, the government would be there, they would step in and they would do something to assist and to help both Thais and international companies that have invested vast amounts of money.  Instead what are they getting? Absolutely nothing, sheer timidity and an extreme and pathetic lack of courage and a do nothing attitude.

Well I would bet the Japanese will reroute if there is no fun nightlife going on. I sort of see it the same, some screw brain like Fathead with a P in his name trying to change it to be what he snd some of them want to. Take away the street carts and food everywhere, the night life and what do they have left? Not much of what drives tourism. 

[Bluesofa]

18 minutes ago, RobMuir said:

Do you understand Nana was forced to put on a roof to shield the view into it by nearby high rises.

The nearby Landmark and JW Marriott hotels – both 5-star properties – towered above Nana Plaza and many rooms had a ringside view of what went on in the plaza.  This view, the owners of Nana Plaza were told, had to be blocked.  The solution was the roof.

I'd never heard about that before. Why buy/stay in a location overlooking Nana if you're a prude?

It reminds of the story of a foreign tour group visiting Japan years ago. They came upon a group of Japanese women bathing naked in a river.
One of the foreign women appeared to be offended. She asked the tour guide to ask the naked bathers if it was considered rude to bathe naked in Japan.
The reply came back, "No, but it is considered very rude to stare at naked bathers."

[RobMuir]

14 minutes ago, HolyCowCm said:

Well I would bet the Japanese will reroute if there is no fun nightlife going on. I sort of see it the same, some screw brain like Fathead with a P in his name trying to change it to be what he snd some of them want to. Take away the street carts and food everywhere, the night life and what do they have left? Not much of what drives tourism. 

I think everyone maybe reading into it a bit much.

I see it as just an effective measure to limit the spread of covid. Drunk people in nightclubs have to get in close to hear each other, a lot of drunk people also spit when they talk.

And the hooker bars obviously have a lot of close up action. Some mongers get carried away and even kiss the hookers on the mouth, which would be a good way to catch covid. Also hookers are not famous for caring about not spreading diseases. Usually they irresponsible types. And drunk monger customers are  similar.

Makes sense to open the small beach going groups as it is low risk, nightlife is high risk.

Most tourists to Thailand are not mongers, let them come. 

[RobMuir]

17 minutes ago, Bluesofa said:

I'd never heard about that before. Why buy/stay in a location overlooking Nana if you're a prude?

It reminds of the story of a foreign tour group visiting Japan years ago. They came upon a group of Japanese women bathing naked in a river.
One of the foreign women appeared to be offended. She asked the tour guide to ask the naked bathers if it was considered rude to bathe naked in Japan.
The reply came back, "No, but it is considered very rude to stare at naked bathers."

A lot Thais are horrified by the open way farang mongers do their whoring in public. Cringeworthy to them but farangs don't get it because the Thais also are reluctant to tell you believing it would cause you face loss.

The Thais are much more discreet.

Nana used to have a sign at the entrance "Disney land for adults" or similar. The owners were told to change that also at the same time and they alsocomplied with that.

[Paco]

What about the bars ? What they expecting that they will be full, over crowded? The few that want and can go drink a beer... what are they thinking this over paid ...how can you call it....

 

But...

 

Phuket Vegetarian Festival gets “green light” to run from October 6 to 14

Asses they are

 

Edited September 16, 2021 by Paco

[Bluesofa]

1 minute ago, RobMuir said:

A lot Thais are horrified by the open way farang mongers do their whoring in public. Cringeworthy to them but farangs don't get it because the Thais also are reluctant to tell you believing it would cause you face loss.

The Thais are much more discreet.

Nana used to have a sign at the entrance "Disney land for adults" or similar. The owners were told to change that also at the same time and they alsocomplied with that.

'Thais also are reluctant to tell you believing it would cause you face loss.'

I think that's a very good way of describing it.

It doesn't matter what goes on in the country as long as it's not in the open, and no one admits to it.
Then no loss of face.

[Bob20]

3 minutes ago, Bluesofa said:

'Thais also are reluctant to tell you believing it would cause you face loss.'

I think that's a very good way of describing it.

It doesn't matter what goes on in the country as long as it's not in the open, and no one admits to it.
Then no loss of face.

Some nationalities have a very direct approach.

There's something more respectful in the Thai approach.

But it also makes for problems to linger and worsen without change...

It's always difficult, because we are here and see the problems, but if the country changes too much, it may lose its charm...

[Bluesofa]

3 minutes ago, Bob20 said:

Some nationalities have a very direct approach.

There's something more respectful in the Thai approach.

But it also makes for problems to linger and worsen without change...

It's always difficult, because we are here and see the problems, but if the country changes too much, it may lose its charm...

I suppose that's one way of looking at it.

[RobMuir]

13 minutes ago, Bob20 said:

Some nationalities have a very direct approach.

There's something more respectful in the Thai approach.

But it also makes for problems to linger and worsen without change...

It's always difficult, because we are here and see the problems, but if the country changes too much, it may lose its charm...

Being a farang we have the upper hand if we understand the Thai face concept.

I use it all the time to get what I want, better service, revenge and sometimes just for the fun of sหเt stirring etc.

We can pretend we don't know when it suits us and will be excused for not knowing. The Thais can not.

Part of the fun of living here.

 

[Stonker]

6 hours ago, Thaiger said:

... snub nightlife, favour other attractions.

What "other attractions" for tourists?

There are plenty of "other attractions" for those living there (hospitals, vets, shops, book shops, malls, restaurants, sports, an expat community, etc, etc,) but for tourists?

6 hours ago, Thaiger said:

... islands like Koh Larn, Nong Nooch Gardens, Khao Kheow Open Zoo, The Sanctuary of Truth, the newly repainted Big Buddha, and local temples. 

Seriously?

They're going to attract tourists, not just be somewhere to go for a quiet day to recover from the "other" attractions?

[thai3]

5 hours ago, Bob said:

Just how many times are we meant to visit these “cultural experiences”  we’ve all visited them. Once you’ve seen them you don’t need to visit them again. What else are we meant to do when we visit Thailand numerous times each year if they move away from having nightlife 

There is more to Thai culture than temples and crappy street food. Nightlife really means sleaze, bars are really brothels, or at least pick up joints for prostitutes and massage parlors in Pattaya are hardly from the Wat Po school  It's a move in the right direction, they should actively start to discourage the sex trade and the low life's who come here for it. 

[EdwardV]

1 hour ago, RobMuir said:

Most tourists to Thailand are not mongers, let them come.

And most tourist's don't visit Pattaya. The ones that do and are not there to monger, only do so to see what you want gone. The Chinese are a perfect example of that. They bus in the morning, visit the city, visit Walking Street and bus right out again all in the same day. You can see the line of buses leaving on 2nd road late every night. Even Thais don't visit Pattaya other than as a day or weekend trip in order to visit the bars and nightclubs (per dozens of articles on this very site). I guess you can always visit the fake floating market, or the dirty beach, how about the world class aquarium instead? I know every time I've been there, I can't tell if I'm in Pattaya or Monterey. 

[Saneboy]

5 hours ago, Soidog said:

Some really good points there @pascal  we all want to see life return to normal (not new normal!). However, we have tolerated this situation for 20 months now. I think another 3-6 in order to vaccinate more and hopefully see this virus future mutations being less lethal  is worth the wait. I’m not in my 30’s anymore and so life is ticking by faster than ever before. But I can wait another 12 months if it means myself and those around me are less likely to suffer illness and even premature death. 

It will be very interesting to see how Thailand recovers from this situation. With good governance (I know, I know), and a well thought out strategy, it’s an opportunity for Thailand to tilt away from such a large percentage of it foreign income coming tourism. 

All of these posts are making sensible and intelligent observations on the situation here in Thailand …but there is only one solution and that is mass vaccination similar to uk …and a vaccine that actually works in protecting against infection and severe illness….not the Chinese vaccines as has been proved in countries like Chile who used sinovac for their population and found themselves in a worse situation than before they gave out the vaccine as it doesn’t work …the people in charge here couldn’t acquire western vaccine as the government decided to buy from China…this will result in all the people in the countryside being given sinovac will return the cities to work and will fall sick in their thousands ….So we will never get Thailand back to anything near normal again for at least 2 years ….I feel so so sorry for the people of Thailand who will suffer from this bad governance

 

 

 

 

[Soidog]

3 hours ago, HolyCowCm said:

Oh OK. You had me worried there. I thought something recent. Ive been there many times since then. It is still the best view point perch going so we think the same on that one. Hell, who knows if we have ever even seen each other or spoken to each other there before. Chances are it could be. What I also like is looking at is across the street where the Nana Hotel sign is and who trolling and who is looking. Have a few not so bad looking at all deaf girls moonlighting there. ID checking Hahahahaha. There certainly are som odd foreign characters walking in there too. Almost creepy.  Anyway false alarm as you had me saying oh no now what!

Oh sorry to worry you. Yes I forgot about the guys and the Nana hotel girls. You see some of the walking back and forward a few times sizing the girls up and then they make the deal . I wouldn’t be surprised if we have seen each other. I’ve been there more times than I care to count. I’m the good looking guy you see there

[Soidog]

3 hours ago, RobMuir said:

Do you understand Nana was forced to put on a roof to shield the view into it by nearby high rises.

The nearby Landmark and JW Marriott hotels – both 5-star properties – towered above Nana Plaza and many rooms had a ringside view of what went on in the plaza.  This view, the owners of Nana Plaza were told, had to be blocked.  The solution was the roof.

No I didn’t know it was for that reason. I just assumed it was an upgrade to ensure that when the biblical floods of Bangkok arrived, people would still be able to drink. It’s spoiled it for me. Now I know that, it’s the last time I stay at the Royal suite in either of those hotels

[MelBurn]

With the so-called re-opening - will there be Visa On Arrival? If not - forget it.

[Soidog]

59 minutes ago, Saneboy said:

All of these posts are making sensible and intelligent observations on the situation here in Thailand …but there is only one solution and that is mass vaccination similar to uk …and a vaccine that actually works in protecting against infection and severe illness….not the Chinese vaccines as has been proved in countries like Chile who used sinovac for their population and found themselves in a worse situation than before they gave out the vaccine as it doesn’t work …the people in charge here couldn’t acquire western vaccine as the government decided to buy from China…this will result in all the people in the countryside being given sinovac will return the cities to work and will fall sick in their thousands ….So we will never get Thailand back to anything near normal again for at least 2 years ….I feel so so sorry for the people of Thailand who will suffer from this bad governance

I think you’ve captured the concerns of many, especially those in Thailand and having little choice of which vaccine they receive. As you will know, the U.K. today started its booster programme which will mean all people over 50 and front line or vulnerable younger people reviving a third vaccine before November. I have mixed feeling regarding nations like the U.K. issuing boosters ahead of other countries who are struggling for decent first shots 

[Bob]

3 hours ago, thai3 said:

There is more to Thai culture than temples and crappy street food. Nightlife really means sleaze, bars are really brothels, or at least pick up joints for prostitutes and massage parlors in Pattaya are hardly from the Wat Po school  It's a move in the right direction, they should actively start to discourage the sex trade and the low life's who come here for it. 

Thanks for letting me know. I’ve visited many places in Thailand over a 25 year period. I don’t visit the seedy side of the nightlife thank you. I was on about normal bars. Nightlife doesn’t mean sleaze. Many a Thai friend are bar owners. We visit their bars every night. No sleaze involve. Perhaps you need to change your assumptions of “nightlife” 

[JamesE]

16 minutes ago, MelBurn said:

With the so-called re-opening - will there be Visa On Arrival? If not - forget it.

Meaning Visa Exemption? Yes, it's available currently for Phuket/Samui or AQ entry. True Visa on Arrival will depend on whether that's available for your country and if your country is on the allowed list. (The list is rumored to be removed for the new entry rules.)

[ace035]

Absolutely, good call, do not open up the entertainment venues or nightlife or else there will be another 4th wave coming up and another surge of COVID-19 virus then will be shut down again forever. From what I read before, almost 80% of all the bars/ gogo clubs will not open & closed forever. Also, those 20% will have at least 10 times more expensive when they open so they can recover from their losses since the pandemic began last March 2020. I don't think it will be an issue when it comes to reopening because all the entertainment/nightlife venues are being closed. So, I am telling all the farangs are coming to Pattaya & if you know have a lady who works in a bar or gogo bar, you will not be seeing them anymore & possibility they have a good decent job in Isaan.