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How Essential are the bars being open to your visit to Pattaya?


Jambo

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In case anyone hasn't noticed but Pattaya has not been included in the Ist November opening up master plan.

I wonder if all the returning tourists sharing a taxi to  Pattaya today know the bars are still (officially) shut?

 

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52 minutes ago, Jambo said:

In case anyone hasn't noticed but Pattaya has not been included in the Ist November opening up master plan.

I wonder if all the returning tourists sharing a taxi to  Pattaya today know the bars are still (officially) shut?

 

If not then they will soon find out .......

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1 hour ago, Jambo said:

In case anyone hasn't noticed but Pattaya has not been included in the Ist November opening up master plan.

I wonder if all the returning tourists sharing a taxi to  Pattaya today know the bars are still (officially) shut?

 

Pattaya seems pretty open to me apart from the bars and nightclubs not being open and restaurants not allowed to sell intoxicating liquors.  Shopping malls open etc.  Some hotels in Pattaya registered for the new scheme.

Unless you know something different.

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12 minutes ago, Butch said:

I notice the curfew has ended for Pattaya, but it is still not a "blue zone" for entertainment. We can only hope they allow booze sales soon, so as to tempt the thirsty out to spend some money...

It will be interesting to see how businesses price their beer.

For me the "big 3 " early morning places for cheap large beers were Prom's, Katesiree and the bar by the market. I can't be assed with small beers but Bodega was cheap and cheerful too.

Of the places I've mentioned I think Prom's is the only place ready to start selling beer.

I've started walking different routes aswell so it will be interesting to see what is available nearer to home.

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13 minutes ago, john luke said:

There is no shortage of beer wine or spirits in 7/11 and Family Mart.  

And more importantly off licenses that aren't restricted in the hours they can open. I buy my cheap sato a stones throw away from Treetown at 8am.

EDIT = I've just counted there are 5 shops selling booze at 8am within a 5 minute stagger from where I live!

Edited by Derek Dangleberries
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53 minutes ago, Derek Dangleberries said:

And more importantly off licenses that aren't restricted in the hours they can open. I buy my cheap sato a stones throw away from Treetown at 8am.

EDIT = I've just counted there are 5 shops selling booze at 8am within a 5 minute stagger from where I live!

If you're up at 8 a.m. you didn't drink enough the night before.

Edit: Unless you are on your way home.   :default_biggrin:

Edited by bob lt
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There are going to be queues of tourists lining up to holiday in Pattaya even though the bars are shut!

One day in hotel quarantine then 2 weeks sitting in their hotel room drinking the alcohol of their choice. They may nip out to the shopping malls to buy overpriced designer clobber and a knickerbocker glory but most will be happy just to sit in their rooms watching Sophon.

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For me, as a night Crawler who generally goes to bed at 4am and gets up at 2pm whilst in Pattaya, it is essential that the bars are open and that alcoholic beverages are widely available. Therefore, even though I could be there by next week, apart from the warmer weather, personally, I am not prepared to travel 6k miles and back right now. 

If I wanted a quiet holiday by the beach, then I guess I would not need to visit Pattaya, and head for Cha Am or somewhere similar. 

Maybe I am a bit selfish, but I am heavily relying on the experiences of the early returners to guage the timing of my next visit. Arguably, I would probably end up spending a fraction of what I would normally spend  in the pre pandemic days, but having visited the place countless times over the last 20 odd years, I am not sure what I would find that stimulating in the daytime. 

I normally need a weeks rest when I get back home 😁 and a chance to detox. 

If I had a regular GF of wife etc, living in Thailand, then I guess that I might take a very different view and want to spend some quality time with her.

For me, places like Pattaya and BKK have always been about the social aspect, even though I confess that even under the pre covid circumstances, I had days when I became bored, perhaps through the simple repetition and take one or two trips to Ban Chang etc. 

But for now, I am keen to read and hear from those who are currently experiencing a return, and keep an eye on the developments unfolding, regarding the lifting of restrictions. But I dont believe that bars will just suddenly open up over night, one they get the green light and there may still be further restrictions on social gatherings, physical contact and even the number of people allowed in or at a bar at any one time. 

So for me, it is absolutely essential for bars to reopen before I consider my next trip. 

I am also aware that having reached the later years in life, that I should be taking a SAGA Cruise ship holiday but would drive me nuts, especially if their was a Covid outbreak on board and became a ghost ship stuck  in the middle of the nowhere. 

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On 11/1/2021 at 7:05 PM, forcebwithu said:

A few are walking around clueless. Saw that last night. Sat at my usual spot at Prom Bar/Coffee/Guesthouse across from Tree Town enjoying my Coke Zero and a book. During my time there heard a couple of people come in asking for beer and when told takeaway only they left empty handed. Also noticed a few more with that wild, where can I get a beer look in their eyes, looking into Prom with hope in their eyes.

Just insane the continued ban on alcohol sales, especially at the open air places. That's what happens when you have teetotalers in charge in an authoritarian govt.

 

Your comments touched on one of my earliest thoughts when reality began to sink in during the initial stages of Corona. I was living in Pattaya at the time and gleefully awaiting the return of my passport which I had submitted for my first "O" visa.

At the time there were the reports coming out regarding Corona, but that things had appeared to be isolated in Wuhan as it was totally "locked down". Most people seemed to not be paying much attention, but then things began to percolate. WHO began to make concerning statements and those that paid any attention to the news began to see reports of cases in other parts of the world. I believe an outbreak on a cruise line somewhere made a big splash and then it seemed as if more stories began to hit the press.

Within what seemed to be a few days more and more stories were pouring out regarding outbreaks throughout the World. Then we began to see images of the overwhelmed hospitals and the bodies piling up. It couldn't be glossed over anymore, assholes appeared to be puckered up in some places. But it appeared leaders throughout the world were trying to make sense of it all (kind of seem like they were in somewhat in a sense of disbelief). Then suddenly the puckered holes could not hold back the tension anymore and the shit really began to hit the fan.

Next we literally see "all hell breaking loose". People scrambling to get home, others not sure what to do, and people actually paying attention to the news.

As I watched events unfolding and began watching the nightly news both locally and back in the U.S. the impact of the situation really began to settle in. There wasn't much to do by that point (my decision had already been made to stay in Thailand, as I had fortunately received my visa just 2 days before the official lockdown. So, it was then more a matter of mapping out a strategy for how to survive and get through whatever was coming. 

As I positioned myself as well as I could in hunker down mode I of course had a lot of time to think.... not only about what I was going to do in the short/medium term, but regarding how this massive pandemic would change things beyond the changes that I would experience personally. Obviously there was not much anyone could accurately predict long term as there were just too many unknowns at the time. Also many of the changes that would unfold could take years or even decades. 

------------------

One of the initial thoughts I did have regarding Pattaya primarily (and some other parts of the country) was regarding the challenges that were sure to confront the "entertainment" industry. 

As I sat on my balcony the first night of Pattaya's lockdown I looked down 2nd Road in almost utter disbelief. I see nothing, no movement of any traffic, no flashing lights, no bands playing (most nights before lockdown I could literally hear four or five bands playing at the same time, often to 5 in the morning).

I stayed up all night and watched a brilliant sunrise. It was a pivotal moment for me as I thought to myself as sort of self encouragement, "well, one things for sure... no matter what happens the sun will rise every day, and life will go on".

Anyway... there are two things that stood out in my thinking that night.

1. The challenges for Pattaya will be extremely difficult, both in the short term and long term. The power relating to the regulation of the "entertainment" industry will now be shifting to the "moralists", "anti-boozers", whatever you want to call them.

There has always been a movement to "clamp down" and/or change the image sort of thing. This will surely give those who hold that belief a hammer on putting a damper on the fun stuff. Much greater regulation in the least, perhaps eventually totally outright banning it in the future. I think we are now seeing this play out, although it is a slow process, but clearly I think will continue to head in that direction. The impact and political authority of Corona has just given the representatives of those groups huge power.

2. As I looked out on the city skyline, in all directions I could literally see thousands and thousands of vacant rooms, with several huge new buildings being built. I thought... "holy Jesus, it's going to take a long long time for those rooms to get filled".

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I don't go to Thailand to drink but having drink available is part of my holiday.  I am more likely to find myself in Koh Samui or Hua Hin than Pattaya and I do like to go out to the restaurants with my family so a drink there would be good but after it is nice to unwind with a drink in a bar.  I also might be with friends and drinking soft drinks or tea/coffee is not my idea of a socially relaxing night out.

If I was in Pattaya I would head for the Rockhouse so a drink is a must and I don't want to drink out of a mug behind closed doors or run the gauntlet of the BIB popping by, that just isn't a holiday for me.

As long as there are other destinations offering alcohol I will put my hard earned cash in their pockets.

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I put up with a week of the original bar closures in March of last year before I left Thailand and I have no desire of repeating the experience - if the bars and other entertainment venues are not open, I am simply not interested in going; I have waited this long and if I have to wait another couple of months for the Thai authorities to get their act together, so be it - it isn't going to kill me. 

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