Planning your holiday in Pattaya yet?

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Gaybutton
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Planning your holiday in Pattaya yet?

Post by Gaybutton »

With all the talk about Pattaya opening up to tourists in October, if Pattaya does indeed open up (which I doubt) I'm wondering who is going to go.

In my opinion it would have to be people:

Who have been vaccinated
who also meet Thailand's insurance requirements
who also are willing to to be tracked wherever they go
who also are willing to wear a face mask at all times
who also are willing to eat in restaurants that have to close at 9:00pm
who also are willing to pay much higher airline prices
who also cannot drink in restaurants
who also don't mind that the bars are all closed
who also don't mind that convenience stores are closed overnight
who also don't mind there is virtually no nightlife
who also don't mind looking for sexual encounters only with use of apps
who also don't mind that public transportation availability is now very limited
who also don't mind that most tourist attractions are closed
who also don't mind that many shops are closed
who also don't mind that shopping malls have to close early
who also don't mind that they cannot sit with friends on the beach
who also don't mind that they cannot eat or drink on the beach
who also don't mind that the movie theaters are all closed
who also don't mind that all swimming pools, including in hotels, are closed
who also don't mind they will have to maintain social distancing virtually everywhere
who also don't mind the possibility if there is another outbreak, they risk being stranded in Thailand

If that's you, great! See you soon . . .
Jun

Re: Planning your holiday in Pattaya yet?

Post by Jun »

Going to Thailand right now would not be a good idea. We're heading into the summer in the northern hemisphere, so it's not exactly a priority anyway.
By the time I want to travel in the winter, the rules will probably have changed several times. I imagine most other members are thinking of a winter trip. I also see no need to plan it until the last minute as there will be vacancies.

As for costs, well flights from the UK are at normal prices, just reduced frequency. There are additional costs for insurance, covid tests, quarantine etc, but for anyone who is prepared for a long holiday, some of that could be recovered by lower hotel prices.
The last hotel I stayed at in Bangkok was 500 baht a night & I estimate it would be 1500 in normal times. My saving in Pattaya was much lower, although I took a suite for less than the price of a normal room. The total holiday cost was not that different to normal.

Obviously the numbers are less attractive if anyone wants to take a short trip, but that makes no sense anyway with quarantine.
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Re: Planning your holiday in Pattaya yet?

Post by gerefan »

I agree with Jun.
I do not see any point in any discussions about potential openings, closings or restrictions months ahead.
As Jun says, review the situation closer to the time and book at the last minute to avoid as much disappointment as possible.
If you like what you see go...if not look elsewhere.
Simple.
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Re: Planning your holiday in Pattaya yet?

Post by Gaybutton »

I hope you are right. I do, but from where I sit that is only a nice dream. The emergency decree already has been extended to the end of July. Even if it is not extended beyond that, do you truly believe what you hope to find open in Pattaya will be open and thriving 2 months later? It would be great if the bars are open by then and full of boys while able to stay open until at least 1:00am. It would be great if the beaches are open and you can sit with friends while enjoying a meal and a drink. It would be great if you can go to restaurants you like and can enjoy a dinner with a glass or two of wine. It would be great if there are plenty of baht buses and motorbike taxis to get you where you want to go, when you want to go.

I hope all that really does happen by October, but if I were you I would not be holding my breath or booking hotel rooms just yet . . .
Jun

Re: Planning your holiday in Pattaya yet?

Post by Jun »

Gaybutton wrote: Sat May 29, 2021 8:09 am The emergency decree already has been extended to the end of July. Even if it is not extended beyond that, do you truly believe what you hope to find open in Pattaya will be open and thriving 2 months later?
I have no idea if Pattaya will be open and thriving at the end of September.
However, I'm fairly confident it will be open and adequate by the time I want to travel, probably December.
Even with a few closures, Pattaya is likely to offer the essentials next winter: food, coffee, beer, boys & warm sunny weather.
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Re: Planning your holiday in Pattaya yet?

Post by Gaybutton »

Jun wrote: Sat May 29, 2021 3:46 pm Pattaya is likely to offer the essentials next winter: food, coffee, beer, boys & warm sunny weather.
Along with everything on my list above, or at least most of it. But you are different from the average farang tourist. You go to Thailand to spend months there. That's a far cry from farang who go to Thailand for a couple weeks.

You know why I'm being so negative about it? I want farang to go to Thailand and hopefully things start to be the way the way they used to be. I don't want farang to spend a lot of money for an enjoyable, happy holiday in Thailand, but end up so disillusioned that they'll probably never return. If people are going to travel for a holiday in Thailand, they need to really know and understand what they are getting into - before they get into it.

There is very little on my list in the OP that is not accurate - and I've probably left out a few things. How much of it will improve and can be crossed off the list by October, December or whenever remains to be seen. If nothing else, I just hope there won't be yet another outbreak and the situation in Thailand becomes even worse.
Jun

Re: Planning your holiday in Pattaya yet?

Post by Jun »

Gaybutton wrote: Sat May 29, 2021 5:00 pmThere is very little on my list in the OP that is not accurate - and I've probably left out a few things.
Agreed -almost all is likely to be accurate.
The only major omission is the advantages -such as low hotel prices in Bangkok and hardly any Arab tourists etc.

Gaybutton wrote: Sat May 29, 2021 5:00 pm How much of it will improve and can be crossed off the list by October, December or whenever remains to be seen. If nothing else, I just hope there won't be yet another outbreak and the situation in Thailand becomes even worse.
I would have thought that current measures might contain the current outbreak and by December the vaccination roll out OUGHT to be well under way. None of that is guaranteed.

Once they do allow businesses to reopen, well for anyone to consider a 2 week trip, I am now stating the obvious: They need to delete the quarantine.

For short trips also to appeal to a mass market & numbers to increase, they need to tackle the one off costs, including:
1 Insurance. Either delete the scam covid insurance or price it properly. Proper pricing ought to be about 10% of the current cost, given the abnormally low payout ratio. No competitive and fairly priced insurance market pays out just 2~3% of premiums in claims. Average payouts are more like 95%, or over 100% in a bad year.
2 Testing. Delete or reduce covid testing. ie Zero testing for those vaccinated or require just one test.
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