Can 'sleazy' Pattaya change its image? (BBC video clip)

[Chris100UK 520]

Apologies if this has been posted before. I just noticed it on BBC website

 

Not sure if those outside the UK will need a proxy server to access?

 

It's just a short video about plans to change pattaya's image

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/fast_track/9748412.stm

 

Brief footage inside Alcatraz. I always wonder how they get these shots? Obviously with the permission of management (these are not hidden camera shots and the girls are not nude), but i wonder if they pay?

[woody0563 805]

emm good question chris .. to be honest if pattaya hadnt had the the label of being a destination for the sex tourist theres no way i would ever have thought of even vacating here , if it is going to change its image i think its going to take at least a couple of decades form now before it happens but i wouldnt hold my breath because i think the " slease" has you put it is part of the draw to pattaya ........

[too_mutt 10]

I think as the price of P4P rises, the scene will change, as it has over the years in places like HKG, and Singers.

[Chris100UK 520]

emm good question chris .. to be honest if pattaya hadnt had the the label of being a destination for the sex tourist theres no way i would ever have thought of even vacating here , if it is going to change its image i think its going to take at least a couple of decades form now before it happens but i wouldnt hold my breath because i think the " slease" has you put it is part of the draw to pattaya ........

 

The title of the topic was taken from the video clip, i wouldn't necessarily use the word 'sleaze' in a negative light being a monger myself.

[lolex 154]

I like Sleaze... Don't be so sensitive about how others feel !

[Gary 4,119]

Sex tourism will not go away as long as there is a huge demand. The only way it will go away is if the prices go out of sight and If the government finds a way to tax the industry out of business, that could effectively kill it.

 

If I still had a family of my own with young children, I could easily find other more family orientated destinations. I certainly wouldn't choose Pattaya.

 

The danger of the government taxing the industry out of business is that it will drive prostitution underground. There are always women who are willing to sell their bodies and there will always be a market for them to exploit. The major problem with that is it will bring in pimps and the mafia who will love being in complete control.

 

I say let it be and encourage the family tourists to visit more family orientated destinations. Why kill the Pattaya goose who lays golden eggs? The do gooders in Western countries have gone so far as to entrap and jail the customers who try to pick up street walkers who turn out to be cops. This has destroyed families and ruined lives. Men are men. No way will anyone be able to eliminate the oldest profession.

 

If you don't like the sex scene areas, don't go there.

[DrPat 423]

I’m always surprised by the number of Europeans who seem to be taking ‘family holidays’ in Pattaya. Wherever I visit in the world I do some research on the place, but these guys must have been fast asleep in the travel agent. Either that or perhaps they plan to say to their wives and kids, “Just popping out for a couple of hours - to stretch my, er, legs”.

[sailor mike 0]

I have been vacationing in Thailand for the last 10 years a month at a time, I look forward to a little extercoricular activity, if they start to interfere to mutch with the sex trade they are only hurting them selves,to some of these girls that is all they have for a income and it would be very hard on them,and if you think of the income that comes from Farangs it would be hard on the total economy of the country as it would cut visiters by half

[CheshireTom 1,377]

I say let it be and encourage the family tourists to visit more family orientated destinations. Why kill the Pattaya goose who lays golden eggs?

 

The folk who've been pumping the money into all these nice hotels and family orientated places might have other ideas.

[tomcat76 327]

That pretty well sums it up. Sometimes the trend is your friend, sometimes not... I'm just hoping I can squeeze maybe another decade out of the place. By then, If age doesn't put an end to it, inflation and global nannyism probably will have. Or maybe they'll have invented fully virtual mongering by then.

[JohnnyK 28]

Too many pooyais making too mutt money from sex. Pattaya is cleaning itself up, sex biz moving off Beach Road up to the Buakhao area. My 2 satang is the clean-up is aimed at the Asian market. They have milked and bilked horny lonely falangs long enough to transform the place from fishing village to city. Lots of hotels and condos in place so now its time to go after the huge Asian families market.

[tomcat76 327]

You may well be right, JK - what you're saying makes a whole lot of economic sense. However something tells me that even being the world's No.1 sleaze destination has a certain undeniable and enduring cachet to it, with enough net present value to keep the place going quite awhile longer. While Pattaya has a certain small universe of competitors (like AC) as a sleaze destination, it will have more I think as a family holiday destination.

[CheshireTom 1,377]

While Pattaya has a certain small universe of competitors (like AC) as a sleaze destination, it will have more I think as a family holiday destination.

 

The difference is the couple of billion potential customers within 2-6 hours flying time.

[InternationalTraveler 282]

Did you know that tourist numbers are up yet again and this is nothing to do with the 'City Planning' or in their case lack of planning to improve and promote Pattaya as a major tourist destination.

Falang numbers are low purely down to economics whilst the Chinese and Indian numbers are up due to cheap pakage deals....yes only 2-hours away for a couple of hundred bucks.

As long as the punters keep comming and the money rolling in do you think they care.

Many Russians come as families and are staying a stones throw away down in Jomtien and at Cosy Beach.

 

Unless you are from a different planet or are totaly naive everyone knows SLEAZE is Pattaya's middle name and that is why they come.

Pattaya has always been a place where a certain kind of tourist gravitates toward and that will never change. Should i call it INFAMOUS.

 

 

Nice one Dr Pat must remember to tell my girl...

“Just popping out for a couple of hours - to stretch my, er, legs”.