The biggest stories of the last week in Pattaya: A dry Songkran, Police crack down on beaches and alcohol, massage shops protest to open, and more!

Hello Pattaya News Readers and Supporters!

The following is our weekly feature in which we highlight the top local stories in our area, Pattaya and Chonburi, for the past week. The number of stories differs from week to week.

These are chosen and curated by our editorial team and are designed for our readers to get a quick “catch-up” of important stories they may have missed as we publish many stories daily and it is easy to lose track of important events or changes in our area. We do national recaps in a separate article.

They are in no particular order of importance. These are from Sunday, April 18th, 2021, to Saturday, April 24th, 2021.

Let’s get started and see what the top local stories were!

1. New Covid-19 restrictions start in Chonburi and Pattaya

Well, you likely all know this by now, but this did start last week for “two weeks.” Despite Chonburi’s situation seemingly improving, Bangkok and a few other provinces have not and it appears that the “two-week” red-zone closures may last a while yet. As a side-note, there have yet to be any final announcements from the government on definitive aid for force closed businesses or those, like most in Pattaya, suffering from lack of domestic tourism.

Today officially starts new Covid-19 restrictions in Chonburi and Thailand

2. 11-year-old boy helps his family by selling corn during the Covid-19 crisis

This “feel-good” story got lots of reads and shares last week and we wanted to share it again as during the current times everyone needs some news of people trying to make the best out of a difficult situation.

An 11-year-old boy from Chonburi devotes his time while out of school to sell boiled corn everyday to support his family during Covid-19 pandemic

3.  For the second year in a row Pattaya’s biggest party and busiest day, Songkran “Wan Lai” is dry and essentially canceled.

Will we see the biggest party in Pattaya’s yearly calendar return next year? Many business owners (and those who enjoy partying) hope yes, although a fair number of our readers who aren’t into the event or getting wet hope it stays quiet for another year. Regardless of where you stand, the loss of Songkran “fun events” overall country-wide is in the billions…and billions…of Thai baht to the economy.

For the second year in a row, Pattaya’s biggest party, Wan Lai, Songkran Day, is cancelled, bars are closed, and the city is under Covid-19 restrictions

4. Massage shop owners protest force closure orders, ask to open or for financial aid

As of press time, neither of their requests has been met. They claim (which seems to be backed up by daily Covid-19 timelines released by the Chonburi Public Health Department) that there is no sign of massage shops being a major spreader of Covid-19.

Dozens of massage shop and spa owners gather at Chonburi City Hall to petition governor to reopen their businesses

5.  Pattaya Police warn restaurants-no alcohol sales, they are watching

In case you had not heard, there is currently a ban on selling alcohol for dine-in at local restaurants. This is, according to Chonburi officials, meant to discourage people from gathering at restaurants.

Pattaya police inspect restaurants around Pattaya to ensure no alcohol is being sold

6. Honda LPGA will take place in Pattaya, but no fans

Golf fans will be pleased that the Honda LPGA tour in Pattaya will take place but not so happy to find out that no fans, even with social distancing, will be allowed.

Honda LPGA Thailand 2021 tournament to still be held in Pattaya next month, no fans will be allowed in person

7.  Cobra Gold to proceed in August says US Embassy, thousands of US soldiers to come without quarantine?

Things can change very quickly currently due to Covid-19 but as of now, the US Embassy is planning to let thousands of US soldiers, all vaccinated, tested negative for Covid-19, and having spent several weeks at sea essentially at quarantine, visit Pattaya in August. Even with all the precautions, some people remain concerned on social media.

US embassy meets with Pattaya City officials about Cobra Gold in August, allowing up to 2000 soldiers shore leave

8.  Watch out for fake Covid-19 timelines!

Several fake timelines, according to Pattaya City officials, have been going around falsely naming businesses and places as having Covid-19 cases. Officials have warned people to not fall for these social media shared timelines as they are not real and only follow official or reputable sources.

Pattaya Deputy Mayor warns of fake Covid-19 timelines, fake news around curfews and lockdowns

9. Banglamung police inspect the Naklua area after reports of prostitution, find nothing.

We suppose this doesn’t need much commentary.

UPDATE: Banglamung police inspect Naklua area after complaints of alleged prostitution, find no signs of illegal activity

10. Police breaking up groups of people drinking and socializing on area beaches

Due to Covid-19, socializing, drinking circles, parties, eating in large groups, and similar behaviors are banned on area beaches. Technically, they are only supposed to be for exercising according to Chonburi officials. Alcohol has been banned from beaches for many years but very rarely enforced, however, due to Covid-19 is now more prominent.

Pattaya police break up groups of people on local beaches allegedly violating Covid-19 rules – VIDEO

That is all for this week. As always, thank you so much for your support, and have a very safe and blessed week ahead.

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Adam Judd
Mr. Adam Judd is the Co-owner of TPN Media since December 2017. He is originally from Washington D.C., America, but has also lived in Dallas, Sarasota, and Portsmouth. His background is in retail sales, HR, and operations management, and has written about news and Thailand for many years. He has lived in Pattaya for over nine years as a full-time resident, is well known locally and been visiting the country as a regular visitor for over a decade. His full contact information, including office contact information, can be found on our Contact Us page below. Stories please e-mail Editor@ThePattayanews.com About Us: https://thepattayanews.com/about-us/ Contact Us: https://thepattayanews.com/contact-us/