Thai media Siam Rath went down to Pattaya to investigate after the words "La Laew Pattaya" - Goodbye Pattaya - were trending on Facebook site Pattaya Talk.

It appeared that everyone was loading their possessions onto pick-ups and heading back to the villages.

There were supportive comments but there was no hiding the abject depression.

Pattaya, once packed full of tourists  and life especially in the high season is now deserted.

To confirm this Siam Rath went to the resort and saw that many apartment complexes were for sale or lease - some didnt have a single person staying in them any more.

Phasakorn Suntharot - the owner of Suntharot Apartment - said that his tenants started to leave during the first wave of the pandemic. Then just when it looked like there was to be a recovery along came the second wave.

His tenants were all people who worked in the entertainment industry and they have just gone home to save money.

He has just one room rented out now.

Pattaya has nothing left, he lamented. 

Goodbye Pattaya! Almost everyone in the entertainment industry has left - apartment complexes empty - Pattaya News - Thailand Visa Forum by Thai Visa

Accurate

 

accurate right now  but it doesn't mean much when we think about the future,

There's empty lot in my area but I know that  when time comes - in November it will be busy and full as it's where they sell Christmas trees.

When we return then will Pattaya  resurrect to it's former glory. Amen

Pattaya is certainly quiet and it must be tragic for many people who were trying to run an average business, with many of them shuttered.  Some of those running exceptional businesses are still surviving.

However, there's still enough to keep me entertained.  I just carry on holidaying as normal, patronising the businesses that deserve it and not worrying about what is beyond my control.

Go just slightly outside the tourist area, say to Naklua market and it looks almost like normal.

I think that is true for most places that rely on "entertainment."   In Bangkok, only HotMale beer bar is going on and having seen 2 guys from there this week, they both said it was dismal and no customers. Walking through that area last week, it was like a ghost town. It will return. I don't think all the owners can survive all the months (or years) with no business, but I also know when one closes, another one will pop up if there is a demand. For example, the apps are very busy as are the massage places in Bangkok.

I was in Sunnee Plaza a few months back and it was dead quiet. But, Nice Boys was lovely! I had a great time.

On 2/7/2021 at 12:58 AM, Michael said:

I was in Sunnee Plaza a few months back and it was dead quiet. But, Nice Boys was lovely! I had a great time.

Haha, I defy anyone not to have a good time in NIce Boys ! haha - my favourite gay bar in Pattaya; happy, hands-on, debauchery!

More generally, I have an exPat friend who lives not to far away from Sunee and I get regular reports from him, indeed he may wish to comment further himself......

It would seem that Sunee hangs on, with Nice Boys and Winner Boys being the main draws; Jomtien Complex also hangs on, particularly @Home Bar and Sun Bar, but it is BoysTown itself that is really struggling.

Drink prices in BT are almost twice that of JC or Sunee.  Sunee offers hands-on fun, JC offers companionable open fronted bars, and basically BT is a tourist trap for the wealthier foreign visitors.

Ok so that's obviously a pretty simplistic assessment, but it does help explain why JC and Sunee can (mosty) struggle-on with exPat custom and BT lies mostly closed up (my long-time from Toy Boys says his bar is simply resting up, but thinks BBB has now gone for good - others may know different of course).

I have been in Pattaya since the end of December. Nothing in Boyztown has been open, apart from Cupidol on the odd night. Walking through there is similar to walking through an unlit Mersey Tunnel!

As nothing has opened since 1 February when bars were allowed to open again, I wonder whether it will ever be back in business.

Here's an appropriate guide to how the Gogo scene has shrunk.  I might be slightly out with bars and dates,  but we're currently down from 9 bars about a year ago to 2. 

Since Nice Boys is a "rough trade" bar, that leaves just Winner Boys that's of interest for me.  Back in 2017, 5 or 6 out of the 11 bars were of interest to me.

To be fair there are signs of life at Cupidol, but I'm not going to count it whilst their 2 boys are on stage fully clothed.  X-Boys seems to have the boys outside eating. 

I presume some Gogo bars might reopen when tourists return, but at the moment Grindr and Hornet get a lot of use !

 

5 hours ago, Vessey said:

Haha, I defy anyone not to have a good time in NIce Boys

The bar I enjoy the most....

And the apps? I have sometimes had a look (just for old time's sake) and Romeo, at least , seemed reasonably busy even at the height of the emergency.

 

 

Error:  I intended to write "approximate guide" in my previous post but thanks to the evils of Android autocorrect, it reads as "appropriate guide".  

Thanks z909 for that rather interesting and appropriate guide which If printed it would occupy perhaps one third of an A4 sheet of paper. If you were able to extend it to say year 2003 or 2010 I think you would have to compress it to stay within 1 page !. Maybe not, but in the period 2002 to 2003 when I discovered Pattaya there must have been 20 + gogos and many more gay bars. The apps are not substitute for the bars although they do have their place.
I’m like a 100 metre sprinter poised on the starting block waiting for the gun to sound so as to return and spread prosperity amongst the bars and boys. Cant see it happening for at least 6 months. Government here in U.K. are warning us not to book any sort of travel until the pandemic situation is clearer.