Pattaya Domestic Tourism Growth

[Tripadvisor]

Pattaya with increasing tourism growth, but mostly domestic !

Pattaya has been frustrated for being passed over for an exemption from the national alcohol ban that other tourist areas like Phuket have received as a tourism “Blue Zone”, but nevertheless, one of Thailand’s most popular resort cities is seeing tourism slowly emerge from its Covid-19 pandemic induced slumber. With a menu of events through the end of the year, hotels have been booking up for upcoming holidays and celebrations. The Pattaya Music Festival has been going for the past 10 days, and next week the city will host a big Loy Krathong festival followed the week after by a fireworks festival.

The Chairman of the Pattaya Business & Tourism Association points out though that the crowds are not coming from outside the border. About 80% of the holiday business is from Thai domestic travellers and most of the foreigners that are coming in with the new Test & Go entry program launched November 1 are expats that already have a Thai family that they are jumping through hoops to be with.

Though Test & G0 is a big step up from the one and 2-week quarantine options that came before it, even those from the 63 countries who can enter “without quarantine” are still required to take an expensive RT-PCR test and be sequestered while they wait at least 6 to 8 hours in an approved hotel for the test results. If they are negative, travellers can then travel freely throughout Thailand though.

But the Tourism Association Chairman says this is still too much of an inconvenience for many travellers that aren’t interested in jumping through hoops to get into Thailand, especially for Pattaya, a city world-renowned for its nightlife which is all shuttered, or supposed to be anyway. And the recent announcement that entertainment venues like bars, clubs, pubs, karaoke, and gentlemen’s clubs will remain closed until at least January 15 is a kick in the gut to an industry that has been brought to its knees already.

The closure creates a chicken-or-egg situation where tourists aren’t coming because so many businesses, restaurants, and nightlife are closed, but many business owners and operators are holding off on attempting to reopen and bring all their staff back because of the restrictions and the low tourist numbers that result.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand’s Pattaya office says that about 10% of Test & Go arrivals – about 2,000 people total – are heading to Pattaya or Chon Buri, despite limited transportations options. Officials are working on getting more vehicles and services SHA+ certified to help and creating a drive-through Covid-19 testing set-up on the way to accommodations to streamline the arrival process. It remains to be seen if the efforts are enough to generate the 50 billion baht in tourist revenue that the TAT Pattaya are expecting in 2021’s fourth quarter.

[Paul]

Pattaya tourism quiet until entry and booze rules are eased

According to the acting president of the Chon Buri Tourism Council, Pattaya is still quiet, and 95% of tourists there are Thai since the reopening to international tourists on November 1. Of the 200 to 300 people per day who do come, the majority are not tourists but businesspeople and expats. And many of the tourists who do come end up leaving quickly when they discover that everything is closed and that there is no entertainment or nightlife allowed.

The president estimates that, of the 1,000 to 2,000 international tourists the Tourism Authority of Thailand says enter Thailand each day, about 10% of travellers make a stop in Pattaya. The city is seeing what averages to about 6,000 to 7,000 visitors per month – a far cry from the pre-pandemic days when during the busy season from November to March, an average of 1 million people would visit Pattaya per month. He says that the turnover rate is much faster now than it was earlier in the pandemic offsetting the increase in the number of bookings. People are booking one night and leaving afterwards whereas, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, a single booking would often stay 10 nights to 2 weeks.

A deeper dive into the people booking reveals the reason for so many short stays: the majority of international arrivals coming into Thailand are expats coming home. They arrive and take their RT-PCR test and check into the required hotel while awaiting their results. As soon at the test is returned negative, they head straight to their homes or condos or apartments.

The Tourism Council leader sees the lack of tourists in Pattaya as a direct result of the complicated hoops people have to pass through to arrive in Thailand, discouraging potential tourists. Other holiday countries require vaccination and a negative test before boarding a flight and… that’s it! No complicated document submission processes or quarantine or required hotel bookings. He suggested at least switching to antigen test kits that are exponentially cheaper and much faster so that arriving travellers can start their holiday right away.

But the other thing that has massively disenfranchised international travellers is the draconian restrictions on drinking and entertainment venues. The unnecessary confusion of opening 17 tourism Sandbox destinations but then allowing alcohol in only 4 of them just angers travellers and spreads negative reputations online for potential travellers.

Even when not catering to the wild partying demographic, a large percentage of foreigners want to have a drink with their meals and denying them that is enough to dissuade potential tourists from booking tickets. But speaking of the partiers, while it’s not everyone’s interest, the draw of nightlife and entertainment to Thailand and especially Pattaya is undeniable. And even for those who aren’t going clubbing, nightlife brings more tourists that allow more local businesses to open and thrive, creating a butterfly effect that benefits all areas of tourism in Pattaya.

The Tourism Council president said he fully supported all the efforts of hundreds of local bar and business owners and 8 major tourism associations that have petitioned the government to reopen nightlife and entertainment venues in Pattaya sooner rather than later. Under then, it looks like the holidays will be very quiet in Pattaya.

[Sundance2020]

Pattaya reveals ugly side of Sin City: rats, rubbish, & rat-arsed



The morning after the night before in Pattaya reveals the ugly side of the popular party city. “They danced and sang, and the music played in a da boom-boom town” on New Year’s Eve but now the clean-up of Sin City begins.Pattaya woke this morning to garbage strewn all over the pavements and beach areas, witnessed drunks sleeping among the litter and rats dodging in and out of discarded rubbish. It wasn’t quite Ratatouille but rodents were seen gorging on a New Year’s Day feast of leftovers.

Police were busy trying to keep the peace between the city’s ladyboy community and Indian tourists who were holding tight to their gold chains while the expat community partied hard into the early hours of this morning on Walking Street.


Not only that! Police also broke up a small illegal gambling ring on the beach after being tipped off by some members of the public, reported Pattaya News. Maybe the aftereffects of alcohol were playing tricks on the group but the scene resembled a Carry On movie, with one alleged gambler trying to escape the long arm of the law by taking a plunge into the sea. The arresting officers were in no hurry, however, and waited patiently on the beach for him to return before collaring him and his two friends.

Pol Lt Col Krirkrit Saiwana, deputy superintendent of the Pattaya Police Station, and his team arrested the three gambling suspects on Jomtien Beach in front of The Now Hotel at 9am. Police told the Thai media that the men were partying and playing an illegal Hi-Low game on the beach. Pol Lt Col Krirkrit told the press that the three men scattered in all directions when police arrived on the scene. They impounded the Hi-low tools, dice, and cash from the suspects and took them to the Pattaya Police Station.

Pol Lt Col Krirkrit revealed the suspects admitted they were gambling but said they were only playing for fun among their group. The Pattaya Police chief refused to acknowledge their defence and said they will pursue legal action. Fines for gambling are generally about 1,000 THB. Gambling, other than betting on horse races or the government-sponsored Thai lottery, is prohibited in Thailand. The prohibition dates back to the Gambling Act of 1935. The Playing Cards Act prohibits private ownership of more than 120 playing cards without the approval of the government.