Iranian tourist fleeced during visit to Walking Street in Pattaya

Chinese businessmen are helping to feed people in Pattaya after handing out over 1,000 meals to the needy last night. The handouts occurred near Third Road with Pattaya City Police nearby to help ensure social distancing and other safety measures.

Hundreds of locals were seen queing for the event well before it was scheduled to start, indicating the increasing need for aid. As Pattaya is part of Chon Buri province, an area that has been indicated as “highly controlled” due to the second wave of Covid-19 that hit Thailand in the past couple of months.

That wave, sent businesses and venues into shutdown, with many struggling to survive. But recently, Pattaya has recorded only 1 new case of the virus in the past 4 days, and only single digit cases in the past week. Local businesses are hoping this decrease in virus numbers will help speed up the reopening of businesses.

Although many venues can stay open, such as restaurants, their opening hours are restricted as well as seeing hardly any customers due to the travel restrictions in the province, which requires permission from a district official in writing in order to enter or leave.

Previously, Pattaya was relying on domestic tourism to keep it afloat after Thailand placed measures that essentially stopped foreign tourists from arriving. Now, many hotels in Pattaya are struggling to keep their staff and have resorted to selling their restaurants’ food on the streetsor offering delivery in an attempt to support their remaining staff.

Despite multiple requests for the government to force businesses to shutdown, which would put many formal workers at hotels on social security, it has been denied. Chonburi Public Health Officials say they will be reviewing the strict measures at the end of the month, but warn it isn’t a promise of allowing businesses to reopen.

Despite the area restricting tourism, Pattaya city officials have announced they will spend funds to clean up the Walking Street and decorate the streets for Chinese New Year on February 12.

SOURCE: The Pattaya News

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Pattaya’s hotels are taking their restaurants to the streets by offering food stalls outside and delivery in a bid to save their businesses during the Covid-19pandemic. Such changes in their attempts to avoid closing, come as city officials say they will use funds to spruce up the city for Chinese New Years on February 12.

As Chonburi province is still declared as a “high-risk” and “highly-controlled” area, all hopes of domestic and foreign tourism have been dashed as visitors are essentially banned. Even with recent virus infections down to just 1 over the past 3 days and single digits in the last week, the strict measures have not been lifted.

After Covid hit, hotels in Pattaya relied more on domestic tourists, which appeared to be working for several months after the city held more outdoor festivals to increase tourism traffic. Now, without domestic tourists helping to curb the financial downfall, the hotel industry has met many times with province leaders and represetatives from the Social Security Office of Thailand to ask for a forced legal closure which would allow their formal staff to get paid through social security benefits at roughly 50% of their daily wages.

The requests so far have been denied, leaving 30,000 hotel workers in Pattaya alone out of a job. Some hotels have managed to keep their employees and even providing meals and lodging for them. But smaller hotels have run out of money and are having to lay off staff without pay.

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Pattaya City is planning to clean up its Walking Street act in time for the upcoming Chinese New Year. But, as the second wave of Covid-19 mostly destroyed what was left of any foreign or domestic tourism, it might all be in vain. Thousands of businesses remain closed due to Chon Buri province being a “highly controlled” Covid-19 zone, which effectively controls the number of people moving in and out of the province, including Pattaya.

In other words, not many.

Banglamung has had 0 cases of Covid-19 for almost a week now with only 1 case being reported in Chon Buri in the past 3 days. But the new downturn in Covid infections hasn’t helped to ease restrictions that have left many local businesses shuttered. Chon Buri health officials are taking note of the recently diminishing amount of Covid cases and say they will review the strict measures probably at the end of the month, but warn that there is no promise that measures will be eased.

Even if the restrictions are lifted, Covid has had a profound and lasting effect on tourism in Pattaya, like the rest of Thailand. Last March, borders closed to foreign tourism, only allowing those who were able to physically and financially get through the mandatory 14 day quarantine and mountains of paperwork.

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