The following is our regular feature: we ask our community a question and roughly a week later highlight diverse responses and opinions to that question.
We recently asked our readers the following:Would You Support a Cruise Ship Terminal in Pattaya?
For context and the story behind this proposal please click or tap here. We selected several diverse opinions and responses here. We note that these are the opinions and thoughts of readers and may not necessarily reflect those of Pattaya News Company Limited. -=-=-=–=-=-=-=-= Alfie Bob: If it increases the tourist $ into Thailand then why not. You need to think of all, not just yourselves. -=-=-=-= Chris M:Makes me laugh when people say “no” Why? Maybe they don’t want the place full of tourists which is peculiar as they are basically tourists themselves.
Pattaya exists to make money from visitors it is not an industrial city so the more people that visit the better for business in Pattaya.
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Jan A:
My only question is, what does Pattaya have to offer to some 2000 to 5000 passengers, other than walking street, bar streets etc etc. There is nothing here that would attract this kind of volume of well-to-do people.
Phuket also gets vessels already on a regular basis but definitely has something to offer. The old city for sure is worth visiting. Here in Pattaya, it is only bars, bars, and some more bars.
I would spend the money on something more tourist friendly.
Trying to make Bangkok more accessible for this kind of ship would back pay for sure.
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Jimmer N:
Make it a cruise ship you can gamble on while you take a trip around to Phuket, then yes 
I would have to think that the market is always looking for new destinations. A major cruise line would want to have that partnership.
A few thousand tourists sound great. I don’t think the chill “cruise ship type” would be interested in Pattaya alone. Add a night on Koh Larn, some day trips to gardens, vineyards, temples the sanctuary, and the zoo, then they board and depart.
Not to mention the cruise ship servicing jobs while that beast is at the pier.
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Kevin T: Beach Road needs a major facelift. It’s a prime location and looks ghetto.
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Allen P: Sure bring it on. Nong Nooch Garden, Buddha Mountain, ride elephants, sanctuary of truth, ladyboy show, Sriracha Tiger zoo, some Thai temples, take tourist sightseeing cues from Phuket. Never try, never know
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Ray S:
LOL, it’s almost as if foreigners get a say in these matters.
Cruise ship passengers spend a fair amount of money so they should be welcomed. Ignore the whoremongers and pissheads – they’ll probably be dead by the time that thing’s built anyway.
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George S:
Absolutely.
I’m currently on the west coast of Scotland and we have several cruise ships a week right now just coming to visit a garden.
Pattaya has far more to offer than here.
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Eugene D:
It is a good thing for local businesses. Cruise ship ports tend to drive up prices for the locals and other tourists. A lot depends on how long the ship docks as to what activities and destinations the tourists can visit. I also think local businesses will adjust their business models to the new business opportunities that the cruise ship brings.
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Flemming R:
A Cruise ship will only dock for a few days.
Compared to the cost of building a terminal, there are better ways to attract more tourists.
The plan I have seen, would demolish walking street completely and make it much more difficult for swimmers, jetski,s and speed boats.
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Derek F:
Having cruised for many years and visited Laem Chabang on a score of times, there are only a low percentage who come to Pattaya, the majority of passengers go to Bangkok. To set up the infrastructure of a Terminal is not like throwing up a shop it’s a vast complex. The money would be much better spent on completing what you have eg, roads, drainage, etc.
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John P:
Before settling here in Thailand I cruised a lot
A cruise ship would only spend approximately 10 hrs in port. In the main, the passengers would go on an organized tour. There are enough places to visit to accommodate a cruise ship. And the knock-on would be more attractions would open up
But as some have said they need to start and finish the projects that have been started and not finished
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Nontiya P: Only uneducated brainless people want them, Europe doesn’t want them anymore near big cities, pollution is terrific..
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Andrew M:
Did I miss something as everyone assuming a cruise ship from somewhere will stop here?
I read it and thought the opposite and think the cruise ship starts its cruise from here. So Thai people and ex-pats alike as well as tourists can board a ship in Pattaya and cruise elsewhere.
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Fred B:
No, I do not support that. It will jack up the prices on everything and get more rip-offs”s than there already are. Especially when they come to the shore to do shopping or do anything else because they have some money to spend. And Pattaya has no infrastructure. Only small sois with massive traffic jams everywhere. They are far away from being capable to receive that kind of tourism.
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