Is it quiet right now

[Londoner]

OD is right about those Youtube "why I now hate Thailand" clips. Very tiresome. But the absence of tourists is noticeable....an old masseur mate still on the scene claims it to be worst period he'd seen in the nine years he's been working.  

Two days ago we ate in my favoured restaurant, Pon's, in Terminal 21- forgive me if you've already read this in another forum-  and it was almost full at 1700.The mall as a whole was heaving with customers. 

But here's the rub; I seemed to be the only non-Asian customer there. My partner claimed to have spotted another falang in a restaurant...but I didn't.

As our taxi took us back along Beach Road, we reminisced about our first trips to Pattaya....1995 for me, 2001  for him....and how we were astonished by a dizzying array of lady bars from the Dusit  to Walking street, and little else.

All but a couple have been replaced  by high-end hotels and restaurants.  And they are overwhelmingly for Asian visitors. As we approached the rad to Jomtien, the scene was darker, quieter , more down-market, a remnant of the old Pattaya. but without the crowds.

 

[vinapu]

2 minutes ago, Londoner said:

....an old masseur mate still on the scene claims it to be worst period he'd seen in the nine years he's been working.  

.......

As we approached the rad to Jomtien, the scene was darker, quieter , more down-market, a remnant of the old Pattaya. but without the crowds.

 

not saying he is wrong but in my 40 trips there I never heard  from boys that last or current season was kind of good, no matter low or high season. It's always ' no customers "

Needs to be said that once I heard from boy that he had  " good week last week" and also once  from massage boy " good day today , 5 customers "

.............

as for no crowds situation I'd say enjoy while it lasts as those  days we hear more about overtouristing and overcrowding  and in places signs ' tourists go home " appear

[bkkmfj2648]

2 hours ago, Londoner said:

OD is right about those Youtube "why I now hate Thailand" clips. Very tiresome.

It depends.  With the strong anti-defamation rules in LOS - often the truth about things are either opaque or hidden from us.

If you live here full time - it is often refreshing to see a Youtube blogger (who lives outside of Thailand) post something that you know is the truth (that you have experienced by living here) but are not allowed to discuss or dare to write down and share for public consumption - especially if you are a foreigner.

Here are some examples:

• New entries to the PFC (Pattaya Flying Club).  The local press will often report on what happened by explicitly avoiding to use the word "jump" - instead, preferring to use the term "fell".  These locally written articles only have 1 round - and 90% of the time there is no follow up information.  So, if you are curious to learn/know more you need to do it yourself - until you are politely asked to STOP - as we have an image to protect.  Over time, this type of societal censorship makes you become a censorship conformist yourself because you don't want to create issues with those you see everyday.  What I have learned by living here - if you want information about these awful events you need to do so within the first 48 to 72 hours of said event.  Within that time horizon there is a frenzy of gossip (especially amongst the Thais - they are the best sources - especially in person if noone else is around or in their Thai FB posts) until a type of edict and/or mandate goes out that states that what has happened - happened - and we need to protect our image and gossiping or talking about those inconvenient truths is no longer permitted.  So, with that learned reality - I have discovered that I need to move fast to gain information that will never be published by the journalists - often I cannot move too fast in the first days because when a PFC event occurs (especially if it is in the building where I live) I am often shell shocked and depressed - thus reducing my ability to make a quick investigation.

 

• Events that are criticized by Thai journalists - Recently here in Pattaya - there was a rapidly put together type of gathering (the word protest was interestingly not used) by the local community which occured at the Bali Hai pier area of Pattaya.  The name of this "gathering" was labeled as "SAVE PATTAYA".

https://www.pattayamail.com/news/pattaya-community-demands-apology-over-mafia-city-claims-556345

As I am not Thai and I cannot understand the Thai language - I missed the Thai TV broadcast where this "mafia town" broadcast was made - the source of the irritation of the local citizens of Pattaya.  Once I started investigating what happened (thanks to the availability of translation apps) I found the written source of the comment that sparked this local uproar but I was never able to find the video to the TV show in Bangkok where these remarks were made verbally.

I was fascinated to learn more about this popular Thai journalist media personality.

https://x.com/sirotek

Below is the written representation from July 2, 2026 that gave cause to the "SAVE PATTAYA" gathering on Friday July 3, 2026.

In my 4 years of living here I have rarely seen people be named with these types of allegations.  The involved bank was intentionally not named - as I would imagine that this would be considered as "going over the top".

What I can't understand is why Pattaya has received the "mafia gang" label when the issue of "mule accounts" was deemed a national problem, that the BOT (Central Bank of Thailand) had to intervene last year from August - September 2025, where they froze or suspended around 3 million bank accounts - of which it was discovered that around 177,000 bank accounts were actually core mule accounts - around 6%.  I have tried to investigate what percent of those 177,000 bank accounts were linked to Pattaya but I was not successful.

So, I can kind of understand the irritation of the local Pattaya citizens - especially when this "mule account" issue was on a national level and not specific to Pattaya.  Pattaya is found in Chon Buri - one of 77 individual provinces in Thailand.

Lastly, here is the link to the actual arrest video that took place on July 1, 2026  https://x.com/Pancakecy/status/2072279739117572485

which then started the spiral of all of these events.

So my point with this 2nd example is that the local journalists (often farangs) cannot or will not provide the in-depth background information that you desire - to help you to understand what is really going on.  My understanding is that the 2 primary local farang newspapers do not want to take on unnecessary journalistic risk and will instead provide a superficial type of reporting.  It is up to you to follow-up with your own investigations - until you are made to understand that your enthusiastic investigative spirit may not be appreciated - so you learn to self-censorship.  But, when you see someone on Youtube who lives outside of Thailand do a deep dive - it is sometimes refreshing to know and/or confirm what you believed all along but are not allowed to express.

 

 

 

[floridarob]

On 7/6/2026 at 10:21 PM, BjornAgain said:

Knowing our Antipodean VIP is a size queen, you could get a whole rugby team in that space!

But him in the jacuzzi 😝😝😝

[floridarob]

On 7/6/2026 at 11:11 AM, Olddaddy said:

turn it three times right etc 🗝️🗝️to open the door 🚪 

Twice to the left.... there's your problem, not knowing left from right 🧐

[PeterRS2]

On 7/7/2026 at 12:34 PM, bkkmfj2648 said:

  What I have learned by living here - if you want information about these awful events you need to do so within the first 48 to 72 hours of said event.  Within that time horizon there is a frenzy of gossip (especially amongst the Thais - they are the best sources - especially in person if noone else is around or in their Thai FB posts) until a type of edict and/or mandate goes out that states that what has happened - happened - and we need to protect our image and gossiping or talking about those inconvenient truths is no longer permitted.  So, with that learned reality - I have discovered that I need to move fast to gain information that will never be published by the journalists

This is so true, and it also covers news media outside Pattaya. The Bangkok Post sometimes follows up on 'protecting our image' stories - but rarely. I can recall when the Pattaya Daily News covered what at the time was regarded as a sensational story involving an underage youth that made it outside Thailand. While the PDN rather quickly dropped following the story, the Bangkok Post and certain high placed officials had a field day about how this individual had brought Thailand's name into disrepute. Somehow the farang involved did what many others would never dream of doing and claimed to trust the Thai justice system. He fought the case - and after more than half a dozen court hearings over several months, the case was dropped. Did any Thai newspaper even give this one column inch? Not one. Because to have done so would have brought ridicule on too many important people. Too many alleged facts had been totally made up to give credence to their lies! Far too much loss of face!

Another case that the news media was relucant to follow up after a few days was the 2012 murder of the traffic cop by the heir to the Red bull fortune (that fortune is the second largest in the country). The government has made up so many false stories to enable this killer to remain free to travel the world - and even to be seen in Thailand on several occasions. It even alleged that it had arranged for Interpol to put the man's name on its Red List, meaning if any country finds him he is to be arrested and repatriated. Yet after learning this I carefully went through the many thousands of names on that list. Surprise! Surprise! His name was not on it. And he had been living in a house in London. In 2020 a Panel set up by the Prime Minister confirmed there had been a conspiracy to shield this man from prosection. Yet he remained and continues to remain a free man. It was ordinary Thais who took to social media in their droves to get something done. Sadly that was merely to have a few officers and others transferred to other posts! Yet with the on-line fury not dying down, a national police chief was indicted in 2024 - 12 years after the event. What happened to him? No one seems to know!

For anyone wishing to know more about the justice system, the infamous gay Utopia Tours/Spice Trade case in 2004 gives many disgraceful facts - 

https://web.archive.org/web/20050606015724/http:/www.yawningbread.org/arch_2005/yax-435.htm

[vinapu]

9 hours ago, PeterRS2 said:

 

.... the justice system, ... Utopia

quite fitting , those two words in one sentence

[mauRICE]

On 7/6/2026 at 4:29 PM, Olddaddy said:

Still not many dropping their rates though ⏬I

But plenty were willing to drop their pants?

We were in Pattaya for four days recently; my partner had some work at Bangkok Hospital and he asked me to tag along. Pattaya keeps changing and I enjoyed myself this visit because I've accepted that the city is an aberration and not really "Thailand" in the cultural and communal sense that I've learned, understood and loved in the last twenty years. Even the languages I heard on the streets were alien and that's okay.

I don't do trip reports as I feel that's more for tourists and Thailand is practically my second home. Moreover, I spend most of my time in Thailand away from the bars and fleshpots which seem to be of primary interest here. But at some point I will write about my visit to Supertown which I found very entertaining and also to Boyztown, which wasn't nearly as bad as some have made it out to be.

[Olddaddy]

I love Bangkok and last time in March I dropped my pants for many free guys rather than money boys , has free guys from India 🇮🇳 Philippines 🇵🇭 and I need more cock 🍆