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  • Is Pattaya dying?

    Jay Arthur, on LBLB forum  made frequent references last year about the economy in Pattaya and how it was on a down turn. Well Pattaya has passed through another high season and bar owners are talking about it being yet again the worst on record. Almost anyone who has a bar has it up for sale. Estate agents each have 25 webpages of property - houses and condos up for sale and the same number for rent.

    A very knowledgeable aquaintance of mine has lived here and been in business here for over 20 years. He owns both quality hotels and gogo bars. He said his takings are almost non existant and his occupancy is the lowest EVER. He pointed down the street from his hotel at 4 pm in the afternoon. He said 5 years ago- the bars and restaurants were packed at this time of day. Now look at them, either closed or open with no customers.

    I know of girls bar hopping from one bar to another, hoping to find a bar with a salary and a customer base which means she might get 6, sex 4 pay customers in a month. I remember when almost every girl was out at least every other day. Now - it getting almost pitiful- My knowledgeable aquaintance believes that half the bars and restaurants will be closed within 3 months.

    So what will happen to the girls. Most of the RGs will go home and wait to hear if things improve. At home they can subsist- broke in Pattaya, they cannot.

    And also look at the expats situation that live here. 12 months ago it was 74 Baht to the UK pound or nearly 40 Baht to the US $. Now its 62 and 31 respectively. Expats incomes from home are now severely under pressure with less money to spend in Bars and on sex4pay. We wait for a new kind of equilibrium to be restored- for prices to fall to reflect the reduced customer base and the reduced income of many expats. So far its the same old prices. Thais dont get it mostly. No customers- put up prices to compensate!

    Now how this is all going to impact on the LB scene, I am not yet sure. In recent months weve seen Goldfingers LB agogo and Litas Bar closed. Their closures were not really to do with the economic situation. But some LB venues are now struggling. Others with quality management, maybe backed by websites and forums are thriving. Lbs are a niche market and Thai ladyboys can barely be found elsewhere. They are also imho the most beautiful in the world with the exception of some girls from PI. So Thai LBs are probaly the way to go. But only under quality management and probably in a quality environment. So shagging prices will I think fall in the short term- only to rise to new hights when quality venues open to quality discerning customers.

    Thats my take on Pattaya at the present but whats the score in Bangers. I really dont know as Im only an occasional visiter there. Are there any board members with info on numbers of guys going into Nana or elsewhere. In the bars are there plenty of bums on seats or do they look largely empty.

    Oh and likewise Phuckett and Samui where I hear things are thriving and prices going up. Let us know what you think is going on.

    Thanks
    Somchai

  • #2
    Pattaya will be fine with the influx of Russian and Chinese tourists. More bars spread out which is why I think individual bars look less busy.

    Comment


    • #3
      The "powers that be" seem intent on destroying Pattaya.

      Early closings, lots of dry weekends, etc... all affect how much money the bars can make

      The change of tourists from Westerners (+Australians) to Asians and Russians have also affected things. The Asian tourists (Chinese and Korean from what I've seen) don't frequent the bars.

      The Russians drink (not sure where) and a lot of them enjoy the company of the local lasses, but not all since many come with their family. I would guess that percentage wise the Russians barfine less than western tourists.

      Throw it all together with rising prices ( both in Baht terms, and certainly if foreign currency terms ) and you got a real shitty business environment.

      To sum up my rambling, you have 'natural events' making life hard (currency, less westerners); and you have 'controlled events' fucking things up, early closing, dry weekends, focus on Asian tourists, etc...

      All in all, I would hate to be Bar Owner in Pattaya right now.
      "Snick, You Sperm Too Much" - Anon

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      • #4
        well regarding to the exchange-rates...then some of us... actually is faceing good times... when i was there last time i got just below 6 baht/DKK....now i get 6,5...so will have 8% more to spend...
        all the ladyboys i know laughs when we have sex.....no matter what book they read

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        • #5
          It's changing, not dying.

          If the shitty mom and pop bars die off and big resorts take over then that's fine by me.

          Maybe someone will fix the horribly disfunctional infrastructure... water, roads etc...

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          • #6
            Pattaya shall always survive and as one bar/gogo brings down the shutters so another guys dream is born Only recently I heard that the final approval had been given for the largest tower in Thailand to be constructed in Jomtien
            SB makes a very valid point about the infrastructer because, the sewars,water supply, traffic flow and (to a lesser extent) mains electricity are in a dreadful state however, I see very little being done to solve these issues. Sure us Brits and the Yanks are suffering with the current exchange rate although the scandanavians and those in the Euro zone have never had it so good
            It's interesting, although I tend to think the problem in the main is that Pattaya is developing much more quickly in some places than others and as a result; more and more fledgling business owners in the adult entertainment industry are looking for a slice of the cake, while the successful joints in Walking St always seem to prosper, even in low season.

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            • #7
              Came back from Bkk last night. Pattaya was like a ghost town tonight. I never seen it so quiet. I´m not complaining though. It´s nice to be able to walk around without the touristtrash.
              I was the only "costumer" (they don´t even bother to push me for drinks or barfine anymore) in both Stringfellows and LaBamba. Had a chat with the girls and mamasans, and they confirmed, very quiet. I offered 100baht to every girl for a photo with kaeng, basically everyone took the offer.
              Went to Naklua around 2 pm and it was more action there, but nowhere close what it used to be. Never bothered to go to WS but i was there last week and when the bars closed there were hundreds of lb´s between JSB and LindaBar. Amazing!
              Bkk seems a bit more busy, at least Nana and GuessBar where i hang out, but they close 1 am now. Obsessions and Cascades were both packed the sundaynight , but i understand it varies alot from day to day. Fridays and Saturdays are very slow, they say.
              "I can see it in the eyes.....they get hollow and soulless a year or 2 after the Op .... I coined the term ''shark eyes'' to describe that look"

              Jaidee 2009


              The other white meat

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              • #8
                I don't visit Pattaya too often these days,but when we drove through on La Bamba party night
                we couldn't believe how quiet it was..still hard to park there though..
                I did notice how many commies are there these days.They must make up the largest
                population of tourists in Pattaya now..
                x
                Forgot how this forum works  

                Comment


                • #9
                  (stogie bear @ Apr. 04 2008,16:08) If the shitty mom and pop bars die off and big resorts take over then that's fine by me.
                  Can't agree with you there SB...

                  A lot of the character of this place is from all the different average bars and funs places around, but each to their own.

                  I know your disdain for Phuket, and lets face it, its the mass tourism, big developments that are ruining the charm Phuket- and now its in full swing in Pattaya as well.

                  ~~~~~

                  Personally Pattaya is a curiousity to me... so much condo development and shopping malls etc and the constant eradication of the bar scene... yet why??
                  Pattaya is only popular for its bars and bars alone, not the seaside, nor the abundance of anything else in particular to do.
                  If they push out all the bar scene to build all this commercial crap, somebodies gonna loose a lot of money some time in the future.

                  But everyone is in for the quick buck while they can i guess!

                  Personally i think Pattaya is a shithole and if it did not have the bars i would not go - ever - period - it has no other redeeming features whatsoever.

                  ~~~

                  A have been going to Phuket of a few years now and also noticed such a change. When i first went it was many guys and locals having a great time. Now its so couple orientated - they have every right of course.
                  But quite frankly it fucking shits me a lot - when i am down in some bar off Bangla road, i don't want to be the source of the someones curiosity - those weak units who like to watch what others are prepared to do - yet too scared themselves to indulge. Sometimes i feel like those animals in the zoo. How i wish things could return to what its was like only 5-6 years ago.

                  ~~~

                  From what i have scene, i think the bar scene is dying a slow death in both Pattaya and Phuket, its of course got many years to run, but in 10 years i think it just wont be the anywhere near the same as it is today.

                  Speaking to owners of bars in Bangla, the rent is getting out of control as property prices spiral and it will only push more places out.
                  Many places were really shocked how quiet things were and i think were struggling just to pay the wages of staff, let alone make $$ for themselves.
                  I think i went to maybe 7-8 LB bars on my last trip and was often only one of a couple of patrons~~ i often wonder how all these girls survive.

                  Enjoy things while you can and make the most out of everything..... its not gonna last


                  Azza


                  A worthy trip report

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                  • #10
                    (azza33 @ Apr. 04 2008,12:00) Enjoy things while you can and make the most out of everything..... its not gonna last
                    Well, I've had a good run (20 years) and hopefully another ten left.

                    That'll will do me before I head to the Hua Hin retirement village

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                    • #11
                      What astonishes me about Pattaya is the complete lack of commercial good sense in the commercial development boom that is going on there. A ninety-one story condo? Give me a fucking break. Even assuming the damn thing ever gets built, and thats a big assumption right there, do you want to be the first guy to stand on the ninety-first floor of a building built by Thais? No? Somehow I didn't think so.

                      And look at the shopping malls being built. For who, you ask? Good question. The Avenue is lovely and has some nice places in it, but it's nearly deserted. Next door to it is being built another center (nearly identical in design, naturally, since this is Thailand) of about the same size. Who's going in there? Across the street and next to the Royal Garden Mall is some kind of silly commercial center running from Second Road all the way to Beach Road that has been under construction for at least three years and now looks mostly abandoned. Down in South Pattaya, the Central Group is building a massive mall that looks like a bomb shelter for giant blimps. Incredibly ugly though it may be, it looks to have more floor space than the Paragon. In Pattaya. Good God, what are they going to put in there?

                      How can it be that so much utterly nonsensical construction gets done in places like Pattaya, then left half empty and nobody seems to care? Let me whisper two words to you: H-O-T M-O-N-E-Y. If it weren't for graft, theft, and corruption, Thailand wouldn't have an economy at all.

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                      • #12
                        stoggie bird is right - pattaya is changing - just as bangkok did 10 years ago - seoul 15 - singapore 20 - hk and tokyo 25....
                        old-fashioned are packing - farewell

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                        • #13
                          well said suk rd
                          remember the asian economic chrisis??10% growth based on inflated real estate prices along the east sea board pattaya area
                          eventually something has to give, and it did. :
                          just a sex tourist looking for hot fun

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                          • #14
                            (SukhumvitRoad @ Apr. 04 2008,19:44) What astonishes me about Pattaya is the complete lack of commercial good sense in the commercial development boom that is going on there. A ninety-one story condo? Give me a fucking break. Even assuming the damn thing ever gets built, and thats a big assumption right there, do you want to be the first guy to stand on the ninety-first floor of a building built by Thais? No? Somehow I didn't think so.

                            And look at the shopping malls being built. For who, you ask? Good question. The Avenue is lovely and has some nice places in it, but it's nearly deserted. Next door to it is being built another center (nearly identical in design, naturally, since this is Thailand) of about the same size. Who's going in there? Across the street and next to the Royal Garden Mall is some kind of silly commercial center running from Second Road all the way to Beach Road that has been under construction for at least three years and now looks mostly abandoned. Down in South Pattaya, the Central Group is building a massive mall that looks like a bomb shelter for giant blimps. Incredibly ugly though it may be, it looks to have more floor space than the Paragon. In Pattaya. Good God, what are they going to put in there?

                            How can it be that so much utterly nonsensical construction gets done in places like Pattaya, then left half empty and nobody seems to care? Let me whisper two words to you: H-O-T M-O-N-E-Y. If it weren't for graft, theft, and corruption, Thailand wouldn't have an economy at all.
                            so you found the solution lucky you - stay away from pattaya - away

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              No Pattaya is not dying
                              Pattaya has-beens are dying
                              difference !

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