Major changes in Bangkok and Pattaya

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BANGKOK

A tourist’s guide to major changes in Bangkok for foreigners who are planning to visit the city after the pandemic

By Nop Meechukhun

29 August, 2022

It’s been a long while since Bangkok welcomed such a large number of tourists after the government scrapped all of the complicated Covid-19 preventive arrival measures in January. The city has become lively again with more foreign tourists and local people themselves who also tend to gradually start living their lives again.

And it may also be a long while since some tourists have visited the city. So here, TPN media has covered some of the major changes in the capital for our readers who are still deciding to travel here anytime soon to help them see more of Bangkok’s ‘atmosphere’ and what the city is now like after several clusters, closures, “lockdowns”, and pandemics in the past two years. So here goes:

1. Bangkok held its gubernatorial election for the first time in almost 10 years. It was a busy election as there were many candidates from all political ideologies, from both party affiliations and independents, making a significant political diversity for the ‘democracy’ country.

And we got our new governor “Chadchart Sittipunt” who was elected in a landslide victory.

2. As we all know that the arrival preventive measures and complicated procedures, such as Sandbox and Thailand Pass, at all international airports had been canceled, and several domestic measures have also been relaxed – especially the removal of the mandate on wearing masks in public places.

Wearing masks in public has become a matter of personal judgment and choice. However, some places still strongly recommended their service users wear masks at all times, such as some shopping malls, theaters, cinemas, restaurants, museums, temples, and in BTS Skytrains as well as the MRT.

Foreign tourists who are deciding to visit Bangkok should notice and be noted whether attractions they are visiting have a mandatory mask and/or other preventive measures or not, and they should strictly abide by those requirements. Most Thais in Bangkok are still wearing masks in all public areas.

3. Tourist attractions in Bangkok are noticeably bustling with more tourists, especially in tourist landmarks like Rattanakosin Island, the Temple of Dawn, or popular shopping destinations like Siam, MBK, and Chatujak. The city has come back to life and become lively again. Several souvenir shops in the tourist attractions also reopened after having to close their businesses for almost two years.

4. Entertainment complexes, pubs, and bars that had survived the pandemic are back in full swing. Alcoholic beverages can be consumed in restaurants and can be purchased in convenience stores just like in the pre-pandemic period.

Every night, more tourists, both Thais and foreigners, are seen coming out to drink and enjoy music at the entertainment venues in popular places like Patpong, Silom, Khaosan, Ekkamai, Thonglor, Asoke, Nana, Groove@Centralworld, etc. It is as if the ‘city never sleeps’ has truly returned because the venues are allowed to close at 2:00 AM. as usual. However, various venues still have measures to prevent the spread of the Covid-19 Coronavirus that the customers need to follow strictly. Four AM legal closures are still being considered by authorities.

5. Cannabis and hemp have been decriminalized in Thailand since June. But due to the vague announcements and no laws enforced since the decriminalized period, the use of the plants is still unclear as to what is known as “illegal” or “having legal effect”. Although the Public Health Ministry issued a statement after a long while that the legalization is meant for medical purposes only and the use for recreational purposes is strongly prohibited, the absence of clear legal regulations is still there.

This makes the use of marijuana and hemp lie in the gray area. Tourists may find their parts and extracts (with less than 0.2% THC) mixed in food and beverages. The plants may be found grown at home and smoked in private. And if any foreigners who plan to visit the country, think that smoking pot in public is fully legal here, they are wrong. Plus, our Public Health Minister Anutin once said that Thailand does not welcome foreigners who come to the country for this particular purpose. That being said, due to the current grey area cannabis vendors and dispensaries are all around Bangkok. Final laws on cannabis are still being debated by lawmakers. For now, buying and selling are decriminalized and private smoking is allowable.

Many Thais think that the full reopening of the country will benefit the country and the country’s economy more than cause negative effects. Many believe that the Thai economy is clearly recovering as tourism has always become Thailand’s main source of income.

In addition to a better economy, the full reopening to welcome foreign tourists also resulted in an increase in employment rates, causing people in the provinces to start returning to the capital to find jobs and gradually earn a living like a pre-pandemic life again.

Opening the country without complicated requirements also increases the number of tourists which will result in related-tourism businesses across the country moving forward with full efficiency.

https://thepattayanews.com/2022/08/29/f ... -pandemic/
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PATTAYA

A tourist’s guide to some of the biggest changes in Pattaya for visitors who have not been since before the Covid-19 pandemic

By Adam Judd

26 August, 2022

Haven’t been to Thailand since before the Covid-19 pandemic took place, say before March 2020?

We have you covered here at TPN media. The following article is designed for visitors and tourists, not expats, and is focused on some of the changes in venues, atmosphere, and the town in general since pre Covid. For the ease of use in this article we will call that period PC. AC will be after Covid.

This article isn’t designed to list every single change, business opening, closure, etc. It’s only a general guide for those who haven’t been in a while, not meant to be all inclusive. We also aren’t covering requirements with visa, or covid vaccines etc. To come. This is more focused on Pattaya itself.

We here in Pattaya have already seen many people returning for the first time in two years plus and the number of people returning will only likely increase as we move into Quarter Four and the first high season without strict border entry restrictions since 2019. Let’s begin.

-Road construction may actually be worse now than PC, especially on Second Road. Be aware of potential traffic delays and roadworks. The city blames this on transitioning to a new mayor (see next point) and months of Covid-19 restrictions that saw construction workers locked down in their camps.

-The city got a brand new mayor several months ago, Poramase Ngampiches, whose actual Thai nickname is Beer, who is making strides on projects like Walking Street and digging into speeding up road construction and flood management. However, there is a long ways to go and little to no work was done during Covid19 restrictions.

-Treetown, and LK metro has really come into its own during the pandemic as it became a base for expats and the more tourist reliant areas like Walking Street struggled. Many visitors here for the first time in years may be surprised how vibrant this area is and how much it has grown.

-Soi Chaiyapoon has also changed quite a bit during the pandemic with many new businesses for a variety of audiences. The road, however, is still well known locally as Soi Pothole for obvious reasons. Soi Honey and Soi Boomerang also have many new venues.

-Predictions of Walking Street’s demise during the pandemic proved to be way off and the Pattaya mayor has pledged to continue to develop the area and support nightlife. The street has been going through a painful road resurfacing project but it is finally starting to near a more complete phase.

-Walking Street is, however, changing. Visitors will notice significantly more Indian visitors and venues and discos for Indians compared to PC. Many new discos and venues are under construction as well. The street is much livelier than it was a few months ago but still has a ways to go to real recovery.

-Cannabis was decriminalized this year in Thailand and is currently in a grey area legal wise. The Thai government continues to say it is for medical use only, but, in reality the grey area currently as of press time allows private self use and buying/selling, but not public smoking legally. That being said, visitors will likely be surprised by the number of cannabis vendors and cafes. These laws may be tightened in the near future.

-Several major projects continued work during the pandemic and are either open or almost open. These include the Space hotel and conference center which is an impressive landmark in North Pattaya and the massive Copacabana condo in Jomtien. Additionally new markets like the Runway market near Soi 6 have opened and several new markets in Jomtien near the Grand Palace and Rescue coffee shop on Jomtien Beach. However, some markets that were busy before Covid-19 like Jomtien Night Market are only about half full now. Threpprasit market, however, has fully recovered.

-Of course, covid did take away some beloved complexes and venues as well. Of note is Made in Thailand and Drinking Street, both gone during Covid. Some new bars have relocated to SOI 7/8 and that area has several new venues. Soi 6 is slowly reopening many of its bars and is in much better shape in terms of venue selection than a few months ago.

-Covid severely damaged the massage industry and small shop/restaurants, most noticable on Second Road where whole sections of the area are still shuttered. This is slowly improving but until roadwork in that area is complete won’t truly move forward.

-Ramayana remains open for waterparks but Cartoon Network Amazone was purchased by Columbia Pictures and as of press time has still not reopened.

-Two years without almost any tourists brought major recovery to the beaches, environment, and water. Visitors will notice significant improvements to the natural attractions in Pattaya, primarily driven by the lack of tourists. This is also highly evident on Koh Larn which due to months and months of being closed to all non residents during Covid and limited to no Chinese tourists has recovered well. As China is still pursuing a zero covid policy there are limited Chinese tourists still. This also means less tour buses, although there are some.

-Jomtien Beach has been undergoing a major expansion project for the beach and is about halfway done as of press time. The new wider beach has been a hit to most and driven heavy domestic tourism on weekends and holidays. However, there has been some tension from local residents about the traffic it has brought.

The city has installed mini sports fields under the Bali Hai overpass, a brand new park in Jomtien by the Rivieria, and have many plans for the Naklua floating market area.

Planned upgrades and expansions for Pattaya Beach were put on hold due to concerns from environmental activists about cutting down ancient trees on the beach. For now, the area is about the same as before Covid19, but cleaner and much busier at night with mostly Thais relaxing on the beach.

You will likely notice more events, especially on weekends, around the city. This is part of a drive to improve tourism, especially domestic tourism. This holiday season will see food festivals, fireworks festivals, Indian themed festivals, Loy Krathong, Halloween, concerts, and much more.

That should be a brief guide to some of the biggest changes since PC. Again, this list isn’t meant to be definitive and many things likely will and are left out. However it should give those who haven’t been here in years a glance at some of the changes. As for the rest, you will have to see for yourself on the ground.

https://thepattayanews.com/2022/08/26/f ... -pandemic/