Pattaya Businesses non-Bar -How are they doing ?

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Pattaya Businesses non-Bar -How are they doing ?

Post by Jun »

How are other Pattaya businesses in Pattaya coping in the absence of tourists ?

Top of my list of favourites would be Gafae, the coffee shop near Tuk Com. I adore their coffee, so really hope they survive. As far as I can tell, they have regular customers, who are a mix of expats and tourists who come back year after year.
Are there enough expats to keep it ticking over ?
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Re: Pattaya Businesses non-Bar -How are they doing ?

Post by Gaybutton »

Jun wrote: Wed Aug 05, 2020 8:17 pm How are other Pattaya businesses in Pattaya coping in the absence of tourists ?
I have no idea about Gafae, but most non-tourist-dependent businesses are doing just fine. I can't think of any that have closed or are lacking for customers.

Other than the bar and tourist dependent businesses, you wouldn't know there are any problems at all. As far as I can tell, virtually everything else is open and doing fine, so I would imagine so is Gafae.

I have seen posts from people who assume Pattaya is finished as a city because of the lack of foreign tourists. WRONG! Pattaya is doing just fine.
firecat69

Re: Pattaya Businesses non-Bar -How are they doing ?

Post by firecat69 »

Seems like a pretty rosy outlook. All Hotels are doing terrible along with the majority of restaurants that depend on tourists . We already know the Gay Bars are doing terrible . I'm sure all the beach concessionaires are doing terrible . Shopping Plazas are starving . Tuk Tuk drivers are starving. The thousands of Bar Girls and Bar Boys are starving .

Just because some Full Time Westerners are doing ok , it hardly has anything to do with the overall economy. I bet even the Banks are starving. Builders of Condos are starving as are the owners of Condos who would like to rent or sell their units.

The number of full time Western Residents are like a pimple on an elephant!

Please enlighten me as to what businesses are not Tourist Dependent at least for part of their income?
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Re: Pattaya Businesses non-Bar -How are they doing ?

Post by Gaybutton »

firecat69 wrote: Wed Aug 05, 2020 9:03 pm Please enlighten me as to what businesses are not Tourist Dependent at least for part of their income?
Your post is very interesting considering you're not in Thailand and haven't been here since this whole Covid crisis began, so I'll enlighten you on your entire post. You're not here seeing for yourself. You're only guessing. Are you really trying to tell me all about what is happening in Pattaya without even being here? If you don't want to take my word for it and think you know more than people who live here, fine with me. Believe whatever you want.

It just so happens that the shopping malls, taxi drivers, and banks are doing just fine. The shopping malls are as full as ever. They are not tourist dependent. Condos are still under construction. Restaurants are doing quite well. They are all open, even the ones you think are tourist dependent. I don't know where you're getting your information from, but I get mine mainly from what I see for myself.

The bar boys and girls who have not already given up and returned home don't look any leaner. The free food lines have disappeared. Not because generosity has disappeared, but because they are no longer necessary. Most of the people who needed those lines have returned to work at businesses that reopened or managed to find other employment. Many did give up and returned to their home provinces. During the time free food lines were common, that was when there was no transportation to their home provinces. Now transportation is available throughout Thailand.

Only yesterday a bar boy who I have known and liked for a couple years came to me and told me he has had enough, is not making any money, and wants to return home, but has no money to even pay for the bus fare. I paid it for him. He told me a lot of the go-go bar boys who had returned to Pattaya when they thought the bars were all going to reopen are giving up, returning home, and will try again once tourism opens up.

All the rest of the non-tourist-dependent businesses are far too numerous for me to start listing specifically which ones have plenty of customers. I'm sorry but I'm not even going to attempt to tackle that question.

Pattaya's farang tourist industry consists of Beach Road, Second Road, parts of Third Road, parts of Naklua, Jomtien, and Dongtan beach. That's it. Those are the only areas of Pattaya most gay and straight farang tourists ever see. There is much more to Pattaya than that and everything else, and I mean everything else, is open and doing quite well. Thais are their customer base, not farang tourists.

Businesses that cater to large numbers of tourists remain closed, such as the swimming parks and shows such as Tiffany's Show and Kaan are still closed. However, the Alcazar show reopened.

The problem for the gay businesses is the lack of enough expat and local customers. So yes, most of those businesses are still closed or are not doing well. As I've mentioned in several posts, the gay scene in Pattaya, especially Sunee Plaza, was already in trouble long before anyone ever heard of Covid-19.

Regarding tourism and farang, Thailand is now trying to focus on expats - who are far more numerous than you seem to think. Here is the latest on all of that:
____________________________________________________

‘No Immediate Plan’ to Permit More Foreigners Into Thailand

By Khaosod English

August 5, 2020

BANGKOK — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday said there is currently no plan to expand the list of foreigners allowed to enter the country, including retirees with homes and families in Thailand.

Press officer Yajai Bunnag said only four groups of non-Thai nationals announced in the latest regulation are permitted into the Kingdom at the moment. They include those holding a certificate of permanent residency, a work permit, those who have a special arrangements with the government, and migrant workers.

Many had hoped the list would be expanded to cover retiree visa holders and unmarried couples.

One of the campaigns was launched by Love Is Not Tourism Thailand, a Facebook page dedicated to couples and families who are torn apart by the pandemic. They are calling on the government to take their loved ones into consideration.

“We’re asking the government to issue visas or allow entry for family members and lovers to reunite with each other for humanitarian reasons,” the page wrote. “Evidence such as a passport with an entry stamp into Thailand, photos, and text messages should be able to verify their unions.”

Since the coronavirus pandemic broke out, Thailand closed its borders to tourists and visitors, standing many Thai overseas and foreigners in the kingdom.

Though some of the restrictions have since been lifted, the new measures prioritize professional and wellness travelers, rather than couples who have not tied the knot and those who hold other types of non-immigrant visas.

Thailand has recorded no local transmission of COVID-19 for 72 days.

Panprapa Yongtrakul, assistant spokeswoman for the government’s response center, said seven new coronavirus cases were reported inside state quarantines on Wednesday.

The new patients are Thai students returning from Egypt, a masseuse returning from the UAE, and an American teacher coming from the U.S.

The country’s cumulative cases of infection now stands at 3,328 with 58 deaths. 126 patients are being treated at hospitals, while 3,144 have recovered, she added.

https://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/cri ... -thailand/
_______________________________________________________

Thailand’s Tourism and Sports Ministry aims to introduce expat travel packages and explore ending dual pricing practices to boost the country’s domestic tourism industries

By Adam Judd

5 August 2020

Thai Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said today, August 5, that proposed domestic travel packages should attract around two million expats in Thailand to help stimulate the domestic economy during the current period in which international tourists are still banned from entering Thailand.

He told a press conference earlier today: “Because of the present Covid-19 situation, foreign tourists are unable to visit the country, so we decided to propose stimulating domestic tourism through foreign expats in our country.”

“We are also planning to discuss offering foreign expats equal pricing, the same as locals, with the Prime Minister of Thailand. This will allow them an equal chance to visit major tourist attractions across the country such as national parks and temples.” Phiphat continued.

By offering the packages, the ministry and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) expect domestic tourism to benefit to the tune of roughly ten million baht.

The first campaign being proposed is to offer free booking on Thursdays at participating hotels in the country for expats. TAT is currently planning to work with the finance ministry on 40-60% off for future trips for expats in participating destinations. The campaign is expected to be finalized this month.

Yuthasak Supasorn, the Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, said that Thai authorities would also issue special cards for expats to show at accommodations and attractions for discounts.

He told the Associated Press this afternoon: “The travel packages do not only target the expats, but also aim to lure twelve million Thai people who normally would go abroad during this time of the year.”

“Expats deserve to be treated like locals. Hopefully, this campaign would help them travel more in order to increase revenue in the tourism industry and urge more local businesses to reopen.” Yuthasak concluded.

These measures come, The Pattaya News notes, as a campaign on social media has been gaining steam during the Covid-19 crisis called #2priceThailand. Foreigners on the group have long been calling for the matter of dual pricing, in which Thais and Foreigners are charged two separate prices of admission, to be abolished, especially for those who reside in Thailand, pay tax and contribute regularly to the local economy. Comments on social media, however, regarding the plan were mixed, with some foreign expats claiming that they felt the measures were “too little, too late” after what some claimed were years of the Thai government not listening.

Some critics on social media also added that they felt these measures would never have come or been offered if the government was not in the current situation they were, with millions of people unemployed and an estimated forty million tourists unable to enter the country this year due to closed borders and the Covid-19 situation. Some comments said that regardless if the practice was abolished and packages offered they would still not participate as they feel the reasons are wrong for abolishing dual pricing and are only being done to make money, not because authorities are admitting the practice was and is wrong.

The Pattaya News will provide more information on these packages and information regarding the controversial issue of dual pricing as they are released.

https://thepattayanews.com/2020/08/05/t ... ndustries/
___________________________________________________________

'Safe and Sealed' plan brings hope for inbound tourism

by Narumon Kasemsuk

Tourism operators are proposing a new inbound tourism plan, called Safe and Sealed, to replace travel bubbles and keep Thailand from realising a worst-case revenue scenario of 675 billion baht next year, down from 3.01 trillion baht in 2019.

At Wednesday's joint meeting of the Tourism and Sports Ministry and the private sector chaired by Tourism Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, tourism-related groups offered a proposal to let inbound tourists restart their trips to Thailand in the fourth quarter. The plan envisages safer screening procedures tied with greater flexibility for many countries than the bilateral travel bubble scheme would have afforded.

Vichit Prakobgosol, president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents (Atta), said that while Thailand has started to welcome certain groups of foreigners, the total number will be less than 100,000 and cannot prevent tourism-related businesses from going bankrupt.

The new inbound plan is expected to draw at least 500,000 tourists to Thailand and generate 50 billion baht in revenue. The cost of the package would be 100,000 baht per person, higher than the average price of 50,000 baht before the pandemic.

Mr Phiphat said the scheme offers the last chance to help the majority of tourism businesses survive and avoid layoffs in the fourth quarter if Thailand continues to close its borders to international tourists.

“'Safe' means we will select only guests from cites with a record of no infections for at least [the previous] 30 days, and they can travel under the 'sealed' conditions provided by tour operators in designated hotels and provinces that agree to welcome those tourists,” he said.

Other screening processes are also required, such as an infection-free certificate 72 hours before flights, as well as insurance and swab tests.

Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) governor Yuthasak Supasorn said Mr Phiphat will forward the proposal to related organisations, including the idea of setting up a tourism fund to provide soft loans to the industry, which has struggled to secure loans from commercial banks.

Tourism businesses want the government to help start the fund with a 100-billion-baht budget.

Mr Yuthasak said employment in the tourism sector totalled 4 million workers before the outbreak.

As most operators have had zero revenue in the past six months, unemployment in the sector could grow to 2.5 million as businesses cannot bear more losses, he said.

The agency also shared its 2021 tourism scenario with representatives from the private sector.

The worst case sees Thailand earning only 675 billion baht in revenue, down 9% from this year's estimated 742 billion baht -- a plunge of 75% from the 3.01 trillion baht achieved in 2019.

If Thailand can gain momentum by receiving international tourists, the best case indicates that tourism revenue could recover to 50% of 2019 levels, or 1.52 trillion baht.

The National Economic and Social Development Council previously set the Thai tourism target at 3.9 trillion baht for 2021.

Mr Yuthasak said that goal has become a far-fetched ambition unless a vaccine is found.

Supawan Tanomkieatipume, Thai Hotels Association (THA) president, said the Thai hotel industry saw 30-40% of 1.5 million jobs disappear during the past six months, and just 50% of hotels have reopened.

She said the greatest burden for hotel operators is loan payments for investments made before the outbreak, an amount totalling roughly 700 billion baht.

Hotel operators are asking banks to extend the suspension period for principal and interest payments for an additional six months because tourism has not yet recovered.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/19 ... x#cxrecs_s
firecat69

Re: Pattaya Businesses non-Bar -How are they doing ?

Post by firecat69 »

I grant you that you have an advantage of being there. However I was still there in the 3rd week of Feb. and even a blind man could see that Pattaya was hurting.

For example I went to have a great burger at Arnos twice. One visit was at 1pm and the other was at 7pm. We were the only customers period. There were Thai people in the Mall taking advantage of the A/C and pleasant surroundings but there was no money being spent. I'm sure it is much worse now. People in the malls are not worth much unless there are customers.

Of course building continues because loans are made by banks and the construction will continue because the money has been allocated . The question is as the construction ends what will happen to the empty buildings and the life savings of many people who invested in Condos , hoping to either sell for a profit or rent to cover their costs.

Hotels in Pattaya have thousands of employees who no longer earn any money since there are no tourists and have not been for many months.Same in Bangkok . Biggest Hotel chains closed down and all or most of their employees let go.Plus how much do those tourist related businesses contribute to other hard working Thai businesses such as delivery of food and beverage no longer needed.

You neatly forgot to answer what happened to all the employees at the beaches, boat rentals etc. They 're all out of business. What do you figure the % of passengers in the various transportation possibilities in Pattaya have been reduced by.

It is easy to think you know what is happening in the place you live just because you live there. You have repeatedly posted about no short term rentals allowed in apartment buildings and I have repeatedly told you when there were tourists, thousands of rooms were being rented on nightly basis. Makes absolutely no difference what the law is , but rather what is actually available because of blind eye being turned.

Just like when there were tourists in certain Discos were supposed to close at a certain time but of course since they in some cases were owned by law enforcement members they would be open all night. I don't know but I would guess they are all closed now and all their employees out of a job.

You never answered where have all the concessionaires at the beach and all of their employees gone in order to make a living. Do you really think their lives are normal? I wonder where all the money changers have gone to make a living and likewise hundreds if not thousands of employees at banks who have a job because of tourists.

How do you think all the Limo drivers are doing now that they have no or few passengers transport between Bangkok and Pattaya.

I don't doubt that there are some restaurants etc that are surviving on ex-pat business but for how long.

How many factories in Pattaya that have not lost substantial parts of their businesses because of the shutdown. How many 7/11's etc that are clinging on to their businesses with no tourist revenue.

You sound like Trump trying to tell people in the US that everything is ok. Yet I live live in a thriving city and when I go out on the streets , I find a large % of restaurants still closed and likely will never open again. Yes there are still high rises being built along with shopping centers because the loans have been allocated and construction will continue. But it is still a disaster for many.

Just like it is a disaster for thousands of Thai people in Pattaya and not likely to improve for a long time and even a longer time if ever for it to return to previous successes.
Jun

Re: Pattaya Businesses non-Bar -How are they doing ?

Post by Jun »

Here's a video including the Central Mall in late July: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEC-aSvRmK4
Best watched at 2x speed, since there is no faster mode.

Whilst they managed to capture a shot with a fairly full escalator, overall it' seems very quiet & I don't see many of the shoppers carrying purchases.
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Re: Pattaya Businesses non-Bar -How are they doing ?

Post by Gaybutton »

I am not going to have this absurd argument with you. As I said, if you are convinced of what you are saying, fine with me. I couldn't care less what you believe. Nothing I can say is going to change your mind. It doesn't make any difference to me what you believe. I am here and I know what I see and I have already posted the current situation in Pattaya. What on earth a hamburger you had in February has to do with the way things are in Pattaya six months later - that goes beyond me.

Since you seem to want me to tell you about the beach scene, that will have to come from someone else. I don't know and I'm not going to guess about what I don't see for myself. I haven't bothered going to the beach in the better part of two years, maybe longer. When the boys stopped going to the beach, so did I.

Yes, some businesses are having problems due to lack of foreign tourists. I don't deny that. Meanwhile, most businesses are doing quite well, including some you think have virtually died. Things have changed since February.

You really think you know more about the goings on in Pattaya than I do? Fine with me. Think whatever you want.

One last thing - Don't EVER compare me to Trump again - for any reason. You can compare me with just about anyone else on the planet, or who has ever been on the planet, but Trump? I won't stand for that . . .

Jun wrote: Thu Aug 06, 2020 7:15 pm Here's a video including the Central Mall in late July
I have to wonder what time that video was shot. It just so happens I was there just today and it was crowded. It took time just to find a parking space.

Again, you doom-and-gloomers who are not here and cannot possibly have any more clue as to the happenings in Pattaya than I can have about the happenings in Dubrovnik, go right ahead and convince yourselves of whatever you want.

Post away. I can use the good laugh.
gera

Re: Pattaya Businesses non-Bar -How are they doing ?

Post by gera »

I am not in Pattaya either but my bf is still there and he stays in my condo. Moreover, he gives me from time to time guided tours through video phone calls. One should take into consideration several stimulus packages that Thai government implemented to promote domestic tourism and infra structure money which Pattaya gets through Eastern corridor investment initiative , reconstruction of Utapao airport etc. Plus, of course, every weekend a lot of Thais come from Bkk to Pattaya. Anecdotally , this dynamic is reflected in what is happening in our condo. It is virtually empty except for weekends.
I have no doubt that what GB is saying reflects the current Pattaya reality. The question is for how long can it last because it totally depends on government hand outs. And it does not change the fact that Pattaya depends almost entirely on tourism ( with possible exception of the fish village in North Pattaya and several small factories on its outskirts).

GB, thanks for allowing us to compare you with anything except for Trump 555.
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Re: Pattaya Businesses non-Bar -How are they doing ?

Post by Gaybutton »

gera wrote: Thu Aug 06, 2020 8:16 pm GB, thanks for allowing us to compare you with anything except for Trump 555.
I don't know who you might have in mind, but it has to be better than Trump . . .
Jun

Re: Pattaya Businesses non-Bar -How are they doing ?

Post by Jun »

Gaybutton wrote: Thu Aug 06, 2020 7:22 pm Again, you doom-and-gloomers who are not here and cannot possibly have any more clue as to the happenings in Pattaya than I can have about the happenings in Dubrovnik
I'm not claiming to have any more clue than residents. Just posting a video.

I know nothing about current trade in the main shopping malls, but do know that when I'm there on holidays, there are an awful lot of farang & Chinese in there. It's pleasing to hear that with the probable absence of most overseas tourists, the locals & expats are stepping up and filling the void.

Or more accurately, I hope they're doing that with my favourite cafes and restaurants. I don't lose much sleep over whether or not the big malls survive, but the best small businesses do matter.
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