[pattaya is a ghost town...

[shygye]

Well, having tourists gunned down by a cop that then gets bail, despite doing a runner, might have something to do with the tourist dropoff. Plus the almost daily bombings and shootings in the South of Thailand would give many a second thought about coming to the LOS.

[Old Hippie]

"...I am also getting calls from BGs and semi-pros all the time now asking if I want to get together..."

 

Did get a lot of sales calls the last trip as well, from girls usually not in P4P so they said, just needed a a little extra that month to get by...some of them quite persistant...

[zion]

keith doug said:

tuesday update sorry guys!! say what ya want i have been in pattaya many years ,, and trust me it aint busy....

all we need is a midnight closing and that will be the end!!

 

was in pattaya 1 1/2 weeks back and although walking street had people and some of the gogos were packed, i thought in general it was less people than before. Lucifer was crowded but not by earlier standards, marine disco was really quite quiet. Outside walking street, Soi 7 was deserted for instance. Some of the beer bar girls outside walking st. also mentioned it was very quiet for high season. Didn't have probs getting a room either. Don't know if this was just for the few days i was there or a longer lasting thing.

 

On the other hand, friends in phuket mentioned that things have definitely picked up there, particularly after the relaxing of the closing hours recently and pick up of tourists. Anyone been there recently?

[Prosal]

Personnaly, I've been liking the "prohibition atmosphere" created by the 2 am closing (was in BKK in September).

 

This give a kind of routine-breaking spicy "flavor", obliging to be recourseful and to follow unknown and unexpected tracks, often bringing good surprises ; I'm used to the crazy Jakarta nightlife, but found BKK not that bad, and essentially BECAUSE of this closing time.

 

The Suk "zoo" with the dozens and dozens of open-air food/alcool stalls open till dawn, making the sidewalks from Soi 3 to 11 the new buzzy "rendez-vous" in town with EVERYBODY going there, is IMO one of the friendliest place to hang around in BKK since years.

 

I wouldn't skip Jakarta for BKK, but this closing time is far to be as bad as it is reported here.

[pattaya127]

The Suk "zoo" with the dozens and dozens of open-air food/alcool stalls open till dawn, making the sidewalks from Soi 3 to 11 the new buzzy "rendez-vous" in town with EVERYBODY going there, is IMO one of the friendliest place to hang around in BKK since years.

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

Thanks for chipping in, Prozie. I think some here only judge a place by how convenient and bona fide is a P4P place (bar/gogos, bar complex with a name, and i understand the new closing rules put them in unsafe "WTF?" mode, as they have a very precise idea of how fun is to happen for them in Bangers or Pattaya).

 

Another segment, more a minority here IMO, like to hang around as you say, with a feel for the street, the happenstance of a night, a moment, an hour in the night, whatever, open to any call of the wild. probably why we can argue at length about P or BKK happening or not. Pattaya is probably down on both counts, but that's only compared to its years of glory.

[chilli13]

it's lucky you like the 'zoo' 'cos there's a consistent lack of alternative all night long venues

[Hardy641]

It might well be that these days people like it refreshing and relaxing to come to Bangkok after wild days spent in Jakarta, Manila or even Singapore. A few years ago it was just the other way round.

However, Prosal mentioned 2am closing, which now became already 1am closing with midnight closing looming. Not sure whether people still enjoy Bangkok if being sent home by midnight.

But not enough of craziness. The government just made new 2 new laws. One regulating the sound level in discos to a max. of 90 and the other limiting the sale of alcohol and cigarettes to 11am-2pm and 5pm-midnight. What will come next? It is becoming really ridiculous here.

Might well be that Bangkok will soon be known as R&R for exhausted sanokers from around the region instead of fun city.

[nick256]

It does appear that the Thai Rak Thai is intent on eliminating the Farang scene from Bangkok in the near future and perhaps all of Thailand in the long term. I'm not sure that this strategy will outlast Thaksin but in the likely event of a second term for him that may not matter. Better enjoy it while it lasts!

To me Pattaya and Phuket are poor substitutes for BKK but ya gotta go with the flow. For me personally I don't care about when they serve alcohol since I'm not there to drink. I also usually make a selection before midnight so early closings don't affect me directly. However I do recognize that it does bother my fellow punters and when the bars lack customers the best girls leave, the atmosphere sucks, and prices get pushed up!

Nick

[Dali]

I was in Pattaya a couple of weeks ago and it was 'jumping' on Fri, Sat, Sun and Mon nights.

 

Quality of ladies was impressive, particularly at Dollhouse. Overall I'd rate walking street higher than what I experienced in NP, SC and PP on my last trip to BKK.

 

The 1am closing was a bummer though - lots of disappointed foreign tourists walking around at that time looking for somewhere to go.

[RayRay]

Hardy641 said:

One regulating the sound level in discos to a max. of 90

 

This is one regulation that I was actually glad to see. Now I wish they would extend the same regulation to those annoying hawkers with their blasted PA systems in the shopping malls.