While 10 percent of all foreign visiting Thailand coming to Pattaya may sound good, the country is only drawing a pittance of its former arrivals, so the city remains quiet.
Fewer than 300,000 people are expected to arrive in Thailand in the final two months of the year. Current trends say that about 30,000 of those will come to Pattaya. That will do nothing to help the city’s moribund tourism industry.
Pattaya City Councilman Thanet Supornsahatrangsi, who also heads the Chonburi Tourism Council, said 95 percent of all tourists in Pattaya this month are Thais and expats.
He, like other industry leaders, said a major reason for the city’s stagnant environment is the current ban on restaurants selling alcohol and the fact the city’s bars remain closed.
A German expat, identified only as Stephen, wants to see the alcohol ban lifted, so much so he’d even agree with a vaccine mandate that requires eateries to only admit customers with proof of full Covid-19 vaccination.
 |
 |
 |
