A tragic aspect of the collapse of tourism in Pattaya is the sight of closed down shop units with piles of uncollected post and a clutch of unpaid utility bills taped on the padlocked doors.
It is estimated that one third of all businesses have closed in the resort since the foreign tourism lockdown. Massage parlors, small retailers and bars and entertainment venues have been particularly hard hit.
Some renters simply emptied their premises of anything of value and left an empty shell. A Provincial Electricity Authority spokesperson said that 20 percent of customers had been cut off for non-payment.
In some cases, property owners have stuck court orders on the windows of premises ordering tenants to attend court hearings for failing to
pay rents. But some landlords have struck deals to allow renters to pay less or suspend payments until better times return. Sadly, any improvement is not round the next corner.
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