Buoyed by holidays and special events, Pattaya’s nightlife has seen more life in recent weeks, with bars, discos and even temple fairs drawing more people.
While a large number of bars remain closed, boosting numbers for those that are open, it’s obvious even normal weekends look busier than weeks ago.
The same cannot be said for weeknights, however. Where once everything from the beach to Walking Street buzzed thanks to large numbers of foreign tourists on holidays, today’s Pattaya is driven by expats who either work during the week or don’t have the money to party every night.
October got a boost from the long Chulalongkorn Day holiday and its Colors of the East festival and, the following week, the triple-header of Loy Krathong, Halloween and the Pattaya Bikini Run. November has a government-created long weekend on Nov. 18-22 and the International Fireworks Competition at the end of the month.
For bars, operating hours remain a limit to some degree. The law of the land under the coronavirus emergency decree still requires nightlife venues to stop selling alcohol and close at midnight. But Pattaya’s police force has allowed Walking Street and Soi LK Metro bars to remain open until 2 a.m. Thai venues also have seen some leniency.
That’s not to say things are good: They’re not. Most businesses are still struggling and empty shophouses litter the downtown area. Restaurants have closed that will never reopen. The true extent of how a stream of tourist cash powers the city beyond bars, hotels and restaurants is evident with tailor shops, jeweler stores, massage parlors, even barber shops now shuttered.
The government’s various subsidized travel schemes have made Pattaya more affordable for Thai tourists, but that’s not enough to make up for the loss of international travelers.
The question is whether the upward swing can continue. Certainly Pattaya City Hall is filling the year-end calendar with events, but what happens after New Year’s remains unknown. For now, people are just hanging on and hoping foreign tourism will resume sooner than later in 2021.
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