Special Feature: Life after tourism in Pattaya post Covid-19, a tour in photos

Pattaya, Thailand

We have covered several times in the past few months a feature here at The Pattaya News around what Pattaya looks like post Covid-19.

Today we will once again show you around Pattaya and highlight what the situation is on the ground with borders closed to foreign tourists. Although Thailand, officially, has no locally spread cases of Covid-19 and everything, including bars, nightclubs and movie theaters, are open and even events like music festivals and Halloween are taking place the situation in Pattaya remains dire.

Last year Pattaya welcomed almost ten million tourists and was the 19th most visited city in the world. This year, the pandemic has brought that number to basically nothing now with what the Thai Tourism Authority calls a 99 percent year over year drop in foreign tourism this quarter. Pattaya, according to city officials, depends on tourism for about 80 percent of it’s GDP officially. Unofficially, that number is well over 90 and the virus has shattered the city putting tens of thousands out of work and closed hundreds of businesses.

The effect goes far beyond the famous nightlife industry as nearly every single business in Pattaya from hotels to restaurants to hospitals to dentists to real estate companies, diving groups, salons, tailors, malls and more have been devastated by the lack of tourism. Of course, some businesses have managed to succeed despite the tough conditions and many have altered their business models to focus on Thais or expats or even rebrand their business. Here is a brief look around town.

Many famous foreign brands are closed with a lack of tourists. This shop used to have lines daily of tourists.
These common souvenier shops that are all over Pattaya and once had many customers are all nearly shuttered now.
This was a popular massage shop and bar on Beach Road. Like many massage shops it is now closed.
Many small guest houses like this have shut down forever.
Gem stores, tailors, pharmacies all shut in the heart of the tourist area.
This was a busy market for tourists near Walking Street. Now it is shut.
Many 7-11’s in the tourist area are closed due to lack of foot traffic.
This row of once packed massage shops near Walking Street is now mostly closed. A few remain open.
Many foreign facing fast food places are closed like this once packed McDonald’s near Walking Street.
Many restaurants that are not fast food that relied on tourists are also closed.
It’s difficult to find an open currency exchange with many closed forever.
Although a few places on Walking Street are doing ok the street has been hit hard.
These once common souvenier shops are now closed across the city.

We hope you enjoyed this brief tour and will have further #lifeaftertourism articles soon.

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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/