Pattaya’s Walking Street Feeling the Crunch

[Undaunted]

Walking Street facing hard times: https://www.pattayaone.news/end-road-walking-street/

[belg0001]

and Euro is still going down …… if it is the end for Walking Street , it looks very bad for Pattaya ……...

[Jun]

Economic growth does not go up in straight lines. Sometimes there is a dip and the less competitive businesses have to raise their game or close.

Not only that, there are probably hundreds of girly bars and massage places across Thailand. Pattaya has streets and streets of them. Travelling further afield, small places like Ao Nang beach & Udon Thani probably get into double figures on the number of girly bars, whilst there are no gay bars.

I'm not going to worry about the number of girly bars.

[Gaybutton]

Remember the old saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"? Go back about 10 years or so, everything was fine. Plenty of bars. Plenty of boys. Gay Dongtan Beach with plenty of customers and plenty of boys. No problems about beach concessions. No beach closings. Holiday beach parties. Traffic problems, but nothing nearly as bad as now. Much better exchange rates. None of this effort by prudes in official positions trying to change the Pattaya paradigm and turn it into a "family" resort. None of the policies driving tourists away or difficulties about retirement visa extensions. Much easier for farang to open a Thai bank account.

I'm sure there is much more that I'm leaving out, but the point is while complaints might have been legitimate, nothing was seriously "broke".

But noooooo, the powers that be just had to step in and change things. Result: total fuck-up.

[ISAC69]

You are right , Before you could make visa run every month or ask as many 2 month visa as you want
without any problems . retirement or marriage visas were very easy renewed every year, also
There weren't any restrictions on opening hours of entertainment venues at all then came to power Taksin Shinawatra whom start messing things with ridiculous restrictions and the military Junta continued to apply more and more restrictions and fucked up everything. If numbers of tourists continue to fall down the authorities in Thailand will have no choice but to rethink their policies.

[Gaybutton]

Thailand will have no choice but to rethink their policies.

Two reasons why I doubt that will happen:

1. Doing so would make sense. As far as I can tell, there seems to be an unwritten law that prohibits making sense.
2. Doing so would cause some of the higher ups to lose face. Can't have that.

The way things are now, the only way I can see a significant improvement happening would be for the baht to crash, but at the moment that seems unlikely. I would love to be wrong about that - selfishly especially now since I have to buy a new car (which I am currently in the process of doing).

[Jun]

Here are Thai tourist number statistics off Wikipedia. The numbers in the first 6 months of this year are considerably more than for the entire year in 2009.
I'm not sure how the numbers are distributed between the first and second halves of the year, however the total for the first half of this year is more than 50% of last years value.

No disaster here. I suspect the government can carry on as it pleases.
I guess they also care about the income of a few female hookers on walking street about as much as I do (which is not at all, since Thailand has practically full employment and they can earn a living).

Jan-Jun
2019 19,769,347 [45]
2018 38,277,300 Increase 7.54%
2017 35,381,210 Increase 8.57%
2016 32,588,303 Increase 8.91%
2015 29,881,091 Increase 20.44%
2014 24,809,683 Decrease 6.54%
2013 26,546,725 Increase 18.77%
2012 22,353,903 Increase 15.98%
2011 19,230,470 Increase 20.67%
2010 15,936,400 Increase 12.63%
2009 14,149,841 Decrease 2.98%

[belg0001]

But if the increases are coming from people that spend less, and the big spenders stay home, the impact on economy is negative. If an 'institution' like Walking Street disappears, it means that the spenders stay home....

[ISAC69]

Yes I suspect the increase is mainly due the Chinese hordes coming on group tours everything paid in advanceand practically spend nothing in Thailand.
Westerners coming to Thailand more than twice a year might get refusal for a one month visa at the airport , 2 months visa at the Thai Embassy at your country is way too much bureaucracy and at neighboring countries almost impossible. The Thai government is probably targeting to the short stay families. The statistics are lying there are a sharp drop of westerners who spend more and raise of Asia tourists who spend almost nothing. It's ridiculous when east Asians receive one month visa at overland border and can make it every month with no problems, but Westerners no more than 2 weeks or nothing. Depends on the mood of the Thai officers in shift.