Special Feature: #Lifeaftertourism in Pattaya, Thailand with no foreign tourists, part three

Soi 7 in particular has been hit hard.

The following is the third in an ongoing series showing #lifeaftertourism in Pattaya, Thailand. 

Pattaya was the nineteenth most visited city in the world last year with almost ten million foreign tourists and about seven million domestic tourists. The city relies on tourism for almost all of its GDP. With the Covid19 pandemic impacting the whole world Thailand has closed its borders to foreign tourists for the time being. Officially, Thailand is Covid free locally. There are very few restrictions and even nightclubs, movie theaters and sport events are open. However, with a lack of tourists the scene in tourist areas is a desolate one. Pattaya is known worldwide for its nightlife but now the town is quiet as local businesses wonder how much longer they can hold on with closed borders.

To be fair some places are doing ok such as expat focused bars and Thai centric venues. However, for the majority of the city the pandemic and closed borders has affected every sector. It goes well beyond the thousands of bars that Pattaya is known for. The impact on tourism has devastated restaurants, hotels, tourist attractions, public transportation, dentists and hospitals who relied on medical tourism, construction workers who built bars, massage shops, clothing stores, repairmen..there is nearly no sector untouched.

We will let the pictures do the talking.

Once busy roads full of tourists in Pattaya are now ghost towns at night
Row after row of closed bars on the normally bustling red light area of Soi Six.
Many of the cities convienence stores have also closed due to lack of customers
A former popular and well reviewed Indian restaurant now a victim of closed borders
An abandoned motorbike taxi stand. Many drivers have given up and returned to their home provinces
Sales offices for once popular condos are now abandoned.
  • Thai restaurants were not safe from the collapse as many Thais have left the city.
    In some areas nearly every store in entire complexes have closed no matter what sector.
    Some signs are still up from when the pandemic broke out in China showing support for the country.
    Soi 7 in particular has been hit hard.
    Abandoned tour booths and shut down restaurants are a familar scene
    Currency exchange booths closed across the city. It’s hard to find an open booth.
    Luck has run out.

      Stay tuned for our next set in the near future.

 

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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/