Why European tourists are turning their backs on Pattaya
By Pattaya Mail
May 4, 2025
Once a dream destination filled with exotic promise and genuine hospitality, Pattaya is now witnessing a quiet but noticeable exodus of European tourists. For decades, these travelers were some of Thailand’s most loyal visitors — but now, many are walking away, and they may not be coming back.
The reasons are layered. For some, it’s about safety and quality of experience. For others, it’s the growing sense that the Pattaya they once knew is fading — replaced by a city chasing quick money and tolerating bad behavior.
“I’ve been back and forth to Thailand for 25 years,” said one long-time traveler. “The changes in both tourists and Thai people are undeniable.” He recalls a time when European tourists were mostly adventurous backpackers or retirees looking for peace. Today, that mix has shifted. “In Europe, the ‘larger lout’ types used to go to Spain, party all night, and fight with their shadow. Now they’ve discovered Thailand.”
Pattaya, once a bit too far and too expensive for the casual party crowd, has become more accessible. Low-cost flights, influencer exposure, and lax enforcement have made it appealing for those seeking fun without rules. Unfortunately, this shift is changing the fabric of the destination — and not for the better.
Some veteran visitors say it’s not just the tourists who have changed, but the locals too. “Thais used to think highly of tourists. Now they know better — and want better for themselves,” the same expat noted. “It’s not about blame, it’s just the world evolving into something more self-centered. Respect and decency seem to have morphed into a ‘Me First’ attitude.”
Others echo the sentiment, pointing to deeper societal decay both in Thailand and back home. “Society in the West has gone down the toilet,” one commenter wrote, frustrated by a world that no longer values politeness or peace. “No wonder people act out wherever they go.”
The nostalgia is real — and painful. “The years from ’55 to ’90 were the best,” another added, mourning not just a different Pattaya, but a different world.
And so, many Europeans now view Vietnam, Cambodia, or even staying home as better options. “Thailand hasn’t become awful,” one said, “it’s just not the same. And we’re not the same either.”
https://www.pattayamail.com/news/why-eu ... aya-499711
Where Are The Western Tourists?
Re: Where Are The Western Tourists?
The fiction department of the Pattaya Mail are out again. I almost suspect the article was written by AI.
Whilst there are probably some truths in the article, is there any EVIDENCE to show that European tourist numbers are declining ? No.
I just added up the numbers from the Wikipedia site.
2024 was a record number for European tourist arrivals in Thailand. If we exclude Russia, 2024 was the third highest year on record. Numbers are still recovering after the Thai government tried to kill tourism in 2020~21.
Then they interviewed a few expats.
If interviewing a selection of elderly people, you're guaranteed to find some that say it was better in the old days. No matter what the topic.
Of course it's possible these tourists are going elsewhere in Thailand, but Pattaya Mail didn't bother providing data.
Whilst there are probably some truths in the article, is there any EVIDENCE to show that European tourist numbers are declining ? No.
I just added up the numbers from the Wikipedia site.
2024 was a record number for European tourist arrivals in Thailand. If we exclude Russia, 2024 was the third highest year on record. Numbers are still recovering after the Thai government tried to kill tourism in 2020~21.
Then they interviewed a few expats.
If interviewing a selection of elderly people, you're guaranteed to find some that say it was better in the old days. No matter what the topic.
Of course it's possible these tourists are going elsewhere in Thailand, but Pattaya Mail didn't bother providing data.
If you don't want money boys or a gay scene, well Nha Trang in Vietnam is far nicer than Pattaya. I can't say the same for Saigon, which is very unpleasant & almost like a different country.Pattaya Mail wrote: ↑Sun May 04, 2025 5:27 pmAnd so, many Europeans now view Vietnam, Cambodia, or even staying home as better options.
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Gaybutton
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Re: Where Are The Western Tourists?
That visa free program brought in a lot of tourists. Unfortunately far too many of the wrong kind. Phuket seems to be having the most trouble with problem tourists.
As for evidence, I only know what I keep reading in the news. Hotels, restaurants, and tourist venues have been complaining about low tourist numbers. Some restaurants have closed.
I don't venture into the touristy areas very often, so I haven't really seen for myself.
Re: Where Are The Western Tourists?
Here's a graph of total foreign tourist numbers (below).
In 2024, total tourists of all nationalities amounted to just under 35 million. Only 2018 and 2019 were materially better.
The main problem has been idiotic government policy in 2020 & 2021. Followed by a slow recovery.
Numerous businesses closed at that time and have not reopened.
Some businesses will always complain.
There may be various reasons for that. The business may not offer a competitive service. The business might not have adapted to changes in the profile of tourists.
It's possible that a smaller percentage of tourists visiting Thailand go to Pattaya these days, but it certainly didn't feel like that over the high season. Pattaya was unpleasantly crowded at times.
That's despite the local authorities doing their best to discourage tourists, for example, digging up the Jomtien beach walkway at peak season & taking months to reinstate it. Plus not providing a proper public transport system etc.
Pattaya is designed around the car. Most foreign tourists don't bother hiring a car.
I like going to SE Asia in the winter, but the gay scene is the only reason I spend so much of the holiday in Pattaya.
Source data from Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Thailand
Graph by me.
Log scale on Y-axis.
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christianpfc
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Re: Where Are The Western Tourists?
Don't confuse the current 60 day visa free (to be reviewed) with the long running (as long as I can remember, which is 15 years) 30 day visa free for most developed/rich/first world countries.
Re: Where Are The Western Tourists?
I agree with Jun.
According to the data (closest thing we have to facts) 2024 was a great year for tourism, including high numbers from the West.
If the hotels aern't booking enough rooms it's certainly not because of a shortage of tourists - it's most likely caused by their inflated prices. Tourists are much more cost-conscious now than they were in the past due to the effects of global inflation. Some businesses in the service industry seem to have adjusted to this, and some haven't. The bottom line: There are plenty of tourists - but they're spending less money.
Most of the people I know from the West who routinely holiday in Thailand have either altered, or canceled their plans to visit this year for this very reason. Inflation is hitting their pocket books and there's just too much uncertainly regarding the economy right now.
My opinion in a nut shell: Thailand, especially Pattaya, is still the best place on earth for gays to holiday...or live...with more entertainment venues and available cute boys than any other piece of real-estate on the planet.
According to the data (closest thing we have to facts) 2024 was a great year for tourism, including high numbers from the West.
If the hotels aern't booking enough rooms it's certainly not because of a shortage of tourists - it's most likely caused by their inflated prices. Tourists are much more cost-conscious now than they were in the past due to the effects of global inflation. Some businesses in the service industry seem to have adjusted to this, and some haven't. The bottom line: There are plenty of tourists - but they're spending less money.
Most of the people I know from the West who routinely holiday in Thailand have either altered, or canceled their plans to visit this year for this very reason. Inflation is hitting their pocket books and there's just too much uncertainly regarding the economy right now.
My opinion in a nut shell: Thailand, especially Pattaya, is still the best place on earth for gays to holiday...or live...with more entertainment venues and available cute boys than any other piece of real-estate on the planet.
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Gaybutton
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Re: Where Are The Western Tourists?
What I notice is Dodger is here. Jun was here - for several months. They both frequent the tourist areas. The author of the Pattaya Mail article is not identified and he writes "Some veteran visitors say . . ."
Guess whose observations I believe are the accurate ones . . .
Guess whose observations I believe are the accurate ones . . .
Re: Where Are The Western Tourists?
Surely it’s time to stop bashing Pattaya
By Barry Kenyon
May 5, 2025
The last few weeks have seen a veritable explosion of negative news about Pattaya in both mainstream and social media. The main emphasis has been on the loutish behavior of tourists (often Brits) variously found peeing disgustingly in public places, attempting copulation on the beach with varying degrees of success, attacking strangers or policemen in a drunken stupor and getting badly beaten up. The professional name for such news is doomscrolling, though it’s actually click bait or enticement to click on the story. Pattaya Mail is certainly no exception.
The most recent moan is that the 60 days visa-exempt policy is responsible for a decline in the number of quality tourists and a rise in the arriving hordes of riff-raff. Yet there is absolutely no evidence that naughty boys need two months to create mischief, or that a reduction to 30 days visa exempt would reduce their quantity. In any case, these guys could easily double their 30 days visa exempt to 60 days by obtaining an easy extension at local immigration. The belief that shuffling round how many days tourists can receive on entry will actually improve the respectability of arriving visitors is a doomscroller’s fancy.
Pattaya or Sin City, of course, is well used to being rubbished in the media. The shock-horror began in the 1970s when the News of the World found out there were actually brothels for foreigners in Walking Street. In the 1980s, the magazine Your Travel predicted that the advent of AIDS would drive the cesspool Pattaya back into the stone age. Next came the unsavory publicity about underage boys servicing pedophiles via bars in Sunee Plaza (all of which were permanently closed by 2014). The COVID crisis of the early 2020s also gave rise to the Facebook clairvoyance that Pattaya would remain a permanent ghost city.
City Hall’s attempts to reorientate Pattaya’s future have been mostly ignored by doomscrollers: they don’t want to know about luxurious condos and hotels, family entertainment venues, the expansion of sports facilities, international music festivals and high class restaurants to rival those in Bangkok or most other Asian capital cities. Critics have also ignored the establishment of the internationally-funded Eastern Economic Corridor which has already transformed Pattaya’s hinterland with circular roads and improved communications. To the doomscroller, nothing much has happened to change Pattaya since the end of the Vietnam war, except the influx of Chinese and Indian tourists who are invariably seen as bad news.
Nobody denies that night revelry and commercial sex are still part of the vibrant Pattaya scene. But many of the traditional playgrounds have been knocked down in redevelopment programs, whilst Walking Street has radically diversified and now contains many fewer gogo clubs actually still open. These days the main night spots are Soi Buakhao and Soi Six, whilst the gay crowd can relax in Pattaya’s Boyztown or Jomtien’s Complex. Mayor Poramet Ngampichet believes that the sex trade has declined substantially, as a percentage of gross revenue, and stresses the region’s economic growth potential for both Thai and foreign investors.
Of course, Pattaya’s transition is far from complete. Many of the same historic problems, flooding in particular, remain in parts of the city. Chaos on the roads is getting worse as traffic police retreat to clamping vehicles and towing away motorbikes rather than actually being on duty. The “new” or “neo” Pattaya may be years away from completion. But the idea that the city is sinking into the abyss is as ridiculous as ever it was.
https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/ ... aya-499733
By Barry Kenyon
May 5, 2025
The last few weeks have seen a veritable explosion of negative news about Pattaya in both mainstream and social media. The main emphasis has been on the loutish behavior of tourists (often Brits) variously found peeing disgustingly in public places, attempting copulation on the beach with varying degrees of success, attacking strangers or policemen in a drunken stupor and getting badly beaten up. The professional name for such news is doomscrolling, though it’s actually click bait or enticement to click on the story. Pattaya Mail is certainly no exception.
The most recent moan is that the 60 days visa-exempt policy is responsible for a decline in the number of quality tourists and a rise in the arriving hordes of riff-raff. Yet there is absolutely no evidence that naughty boys need two months to create mischief, or that a reduction to 30 days visa exempt would reduce their quantity. In any case, these guys could easily double their 30 days visa exempt to 60 days by obtaining an easy extension at local immigration. The belief that shuffling round how many days tourists can receive on entry will actually improve the respectability of arriving visitors is a doomscroller’s fancy.
Pattaya or Sin City, of course, is well used to being rubbished in the media. The shock-horror began in the 1970s when the News of the World found out there were actually brothels for foreigners in Walking Street. In the 1980s, the magazine Your Travel predicted that the advent of AIDS would drive the cesspool Pattaya back into the stone age. Next came the unsavory publicity about underage boys servicing pedophiles via bars in Sunee Plaza (all of which were permanently closed by 2014). The COVID crisis of the early 2020s also gave rise to the Facebook clairvoyance that Pattaya would remain a permanent ghost city.
City Hall’s attempts to reorientate Pattaya’s future have been mostly ignored by doomscrollers: they don’t want to know about luxurious condos and hotels, family entertainment venues, the expansion of sports facilities, international music festivals and high class restaurants to rival those in Bangkok or most other Asian capital cities. Critics have also ignored the establishment of the internationally-funded Eastern Economic Corridor which has already transformed Pattaya’s hinterland with circular roads and improved communications. To the doomscroller, nothing much has happened to change Pattaya since the end of the Vietnam war, except the influx of Chinese and Indian tourists who are invariably seen as bad news.
Nobody denies that night revelry and commercial sex are still part of the vibrant Pattaya scene. But many of the traditional playgrounds have been knocked down in redevelopment programs, whilst Walking Street has radically diversified and now contains many fewer gogo clubs actually still open. These days the main night spots are Soi Buakhao and Soi Six, whilst the gay crowd can relax in Pattaya’s Boyztown or Jomtien’s Complex. Mayor Poramet Ngampichet believes that the sex trade has declined substantially, as a percentage of gross revenue, and stresses the region’s economic growth potential for both Thai and foreign investors.
Of course, Pattaya’s transition is far from complete. Many of the same historic problems, flooding in particular, remain in parts of the city. Chaos on the roads is getting worse as traffic police retreat to clamping vehicles and towing away motorbikes rather than actually being on duty. The “new” or “neo” Pattaya may be years away from completion. But the idea that the city is sinking into the abyss is as ridiculous as ever it was.
https://www.pattayamail.com/latestnews/ ... aya-499733
Re: Where Are The Western Tourists?
Considering the landscape I imagine publishing too much non-fiction could be risky.