Pattaya, Thailand-
For much of the past two and a half years Thailand and indeed Pattaya has been essentially cut off and shut down due to the Covid19 pandemic and mandatory business closures, border measures, quasi lockdowns and restrictions.
So, it’s no surprise that after this extremely long and painful period many businesses are pleased to see Pattaya having events every single weekend designed to drive domestic and foreign tourists to the city and, of course, assist the battered hospitality, entertainment, and tourism industry. In Pattaya, roughly 90 percent of the GDP comes from tourism and the devastating closures caused severe damage to the city.
However, not everyone is happy.
With constant events comes, of course, more traffic and visitors. Nobody argues against the fact that Pattaya is a tourism town and tourist dollars are critical for the city. Nobody argues that the events aren’t driving tourists to the area, especially the recent music festival.
The concern, however, is that the city has too many outstanding construction projects and drainage works that make having these events that draw tens of thousands of visitors every weekend a poor experience for both tourists and local residents.
At the Pattaya City Council meeting yesterday , some city leaders expressed concerns from their constituents who felt the projects were still moving too slowly and that in their opinion all focus and resources should be placed on finishing the major projects, especially second road, before scheduling more events that will bring more visitors and clog more roads and cause traffic issues.
Other city leaders however said the events must continue as the battered tourism industry, especially local hotels and restaurants, needed the critical income from visitors coming for the events and festivals.
For now, leaders said they would do everything in their power to expedite the construction projects, knowing that they essentially must be finished or paused before the high season in December and January. What do you think? Tell us in the comments below.
