Pattaya Reports

[LittleBigMan]

April 13th, Based on the new directive and map I started my journey today just before 12 Noon, from the Darkside I went by the old 1st checkpoint north the tent was still there with one BIB (no longer Army) the guy is basically there to help local fill out the form needed to cross the restricted areas to be enforced. FYI, the tent at old checkpoint #2 Siam Country was just in the process of being removed while I finished my morning coffee at 10 am.

From North Hwy 36, I came up Sukhumvit, as I near the Marivit School I noticed a large tent on the right far two lanes it was set up like a toll booth, above the tent there were signs if you need to go West into Banglamung (Naklau) you enter these lanes based on vehicles motorbike cars if one stays left that is for thru traffic not going into Naklau and traveling South. As for the tent, there was no one in sight!

The next two / three lights thereafter there is right turns into Naklau as of this time there was no cement blockade preventing vehicles from entering, basically, right turns leads to the Naklau seafood market and the road south leads to the Dolphin Circle. Made my left up Pattaya Nau all the way to Sukhumvit at the intersection made an illegal you-turn no set up checkpoint in sight made a left up this Soi, forgot Soi name but it leads straight up South to Big see Extra, I didn't notice any cement blockade on any of the small Soi's that lead from Sukhumvit into this road. All the way up until I got to Big see Extra, there weren't any checkpoints nor any cement blockade.

Drove down 3rd road, to Pattaya Tai, no checkpoint made an illegal you-turn at KhaoPai up the Soi to Theppassit left towards Sukhumvit no checkpoint. Right at Sukhumvit down to Soi Boom / Soi Chayaiphrek the final two checkpoint areas nothing insight. By now it was getting dark the wind was picking up was already surprised it hasn't started to rain. I headed back north to Khao Talo to head home just as I got to the top of Khao Talo the rain came.

Will it happen it is anyone guesses but to make it so they will have to work quickly in the middle of the night!

[Mr Enternational]

A restaurant owner told me the latest plan was to partition Pattaya in 3 zones, Naklua, Pattaya proper and Jomtien. In Jomtien restaurants would be totally shut, with only 7/11 allowed to open, otherwise home delivery only, no take-away. The hard lockdown in Jomtien would be because of the strong Russian presence there and the many cases among them.

Russians were the very last tourist wave to swoop down on Pattaya.

So what division would Pratumnak be in? There are nothing but Russians there, but it is located way before Jomtien.

[XXL]

A restaurant owner told me the latest plan was to partition Pattaya in 3 zones, Naklua, Pattaya proper and Jomtien. In Jomtien restaurants would be totally shut, with only 7/11 allowed to open, otherwise home delivery only, no take-away. The hard lockdown in Jomtien would be because of the strong Russian presence there and the many cases among them.

Russians were the very last tourist wave to swoop down on Pattaya.

[LittleBigMan]

I did a short run today but will do the complete run tomorrow since the projected new checkpoints are to start 14th? Today there was no change whatsoever unless the plan is to do things at the last minute and place all the barriers after midnight.

Today, I came down from the Darkside the back way coming down Soi Chaiyaiphrek the original checkpoint still in place with one soldier sitting playing with his phone. I went to Thai Watsudu to buy some home fixing items then a stop at Makro. The place was surprising empty for a Sunday grab my items at check out no customer but me.

One thing about the last of vehicles on the road always felt the police at the lights added to the problem by holding the lights too long. Now they seem to have set them at 30 seconds or less so now it is a short wait hope they learn something from it if they are inside those A / see booths?

Will report back tomorrow if I see any changes to the setup, particularly the Welcome Town area it is of interest to me since I like to eat at Tequila Reef.

[XXL]

Yes Welcome Town would be beyond the restricted area but what shop is still open in Welcome Town that would need to get to?

Unless things have changed in the past 24 hours all that is required to get past a checkpoint is your Passport and "Receipt of Notification" confirming you are a resident of Pattaya so if you are not a tourist you can move around freely still...

I rent a P. O. Box and a safe with Siam Secure at Wellcome Town. This is not a big problem if it only lasts weeks. What I would be worried about in crossing the checkpoint is not so much getting through one-way as not being allowed back "home" to Central Pattaya.

I've read on Pukhet they're forcing asymptomatic people who test positive into hospitals, something no country has been doing as far as I know. Not only have tests not been around for long enough to be trusted, but a hospital is the last place you want to be to stay healthy if you are healthy.

[LittleBigMan]

https://thepattayanews.com/2020/04/1...ntil-april-30/

It is now. Total ban on alcohol sales ordered by the Governor last night.

I'm not a drinker so I can easily say it. I wish they would do a ban this time of the year every year for Songkran this is what is wrong with Songkran in my opinion. That opinion are Thai have a drinking problem in their culture, in general, compare to how we view drinking in the west. I've seen Thais drinking in gathering, wedding, funerals, Birthdays, store openings just simple gatherings of all shape and size it seems if one doesn't get drunk they aren't having fun. In the beginning, Songkran was fun but something happened one year I will never get that date out of my head 18th of April, thereafter I hated Songkan. Each year celebrating Songkran it was a celebration as to what is wrong with so many things in their country and culture it wasn't until my granddaughter was born that things changed a bit she was born the 18th of April, as I celebrated her birth Bangkok / Pattaya Hospital looking out the window to Sukhumvit I prayed for her when she grows up.

On the Darkside, one rarely can get banned for anything especially if you are Thai, there are so many independent Thai mini-marts and suppliers even on holiday bans can get what you want. If they have seen you before buying the sale is a done deal ban or no ban but you never will know my neighbor prior few doors down operates a mini-mart, his family every day has a small table set up across the Soi in a small dirt area they sit outside and drink all day and all night. Now with the ban they just moved things inside to a small area in the mini-mart. My renter has a small patio each night out there with his buddies from the Nongprue Police station the rules don't apply to them Thais been doing this their whole lives growing up tough to think any Virus is going to stop the drinking.

[LittleBigMan]

Yes Welcome Town would be beyond the restricted area but what shop is still open in Welcome Town that would need to get to?

Unless things have changed in the past 24 hours all that is required to get past a checkpoint is your Passport and "Receipt of Notification" confirming you are a resident of Pattaya so if you are not a tourist you can move around freely still.



How are these checkpoints set up? Are there police at every single alley way off Soi Arunothai / Paniad Chang to prevent people on their motorbikes to turn down one of these alleys or someone walking to cut through one of the bars/restaurants? That's a lot of streets to block!

I actually am in agreement with the Pattaya lockdown to the neighborhood you reside in. Just don't know how it will be effectively enforced. Wish the city where I'm riding out the COVID pandemic would do the same type of lockdown.

I actually missed gauge the first lockdown based on the checkpoint just to show you Thais do have something upstairs. I was thinking manpower but they came up with the cement blockade. That was what I was looking for as I entered the back way off Sukhumvit whether they will put them there as noted this road runs from Pattaya Klang all the way down Pattaya Nua but right now it is too early to tell. For sure the next few days I will make visits and report back.

If the location are right and they put up all the blockade to these small Soi you will not be able to get to Tree town. From what I understand from the soldier I spoke to at the old checkpoint Soi Siam Country, it isn't as easy as just carrying your passport and you reside the authorization must document a reason for you to go into and out of Pattaya. The reason residents must provide proof of working in town or on the Darkside which obtains will allow you to go back and forth. Like myself, I can't go to Big see, Extra because I want to shop there.

It is my opinion consistent with things that come out of their mouth the shutdown is to contain the dirty farangs in town not allowing the clean Thais on the Darkside to venture into town will contain the Virus within which is one of the reasons they are moving the blockade West of Sukhumvit allowing traffic flow up and down Sukhumvit many of the vehicles coming off Hwy 7, which is where the photos were taken of the backup? Right now without the new Hwy open to Sattahip traffic must travel on Sukhumvit.

Projected date is the 14th, I will cruize down to Makro today that will allow me to see if they have Soi Boom and Soi Chaiyaprek block off yet.

[GettingFedUp]

.... Restricted hours in Chonburi but no outright ban, yet..

https://thepattayanews.com/2020/04/1...ntil-april-30/

It is now. Total ban on alcohol sales ordered by the Governor last night.

[Arn Poddict]

If you want them to go to the beach with you the next day then you need to have them stay with you the night before.

There is one major issue for me with overnight stays. I have to sleep with a sleep apnea machine. The full face mask I have is not exactly sexy for the girls. It is like sleeping with Darth Vader who whispers in the middle of the night "You want to fuck?" This machine cramps my style a lot and I prefer not to take overnight guests anymore. This sucks a lot, I hate the bloody machine. In the end it means for me mostly daytime fucking at soi 6 (which I like actually a lot) or ST agogo hookers. LT as well until 02-03 am. But goodbye morning fucks.

[Banana Boi]

I'd like to be able to reach Welcome Town Shopping street from within. That's beyond the Big C (as seen from central Pattaya).

Yes Welcome Town would be beyond the restricted area but what shop is still open in Welcome Town that would need to get to?

Unless things have changed in the past 24 hours all that is required to get past a checkpoint is your Passport and "Receipt of Notification" confirming you are a resident of Pattaya so if you are not a tourist you can move around freely still.

Revision April 14th. Old checkpoints will be abandon new ones will be setup.

Pattaya Klang at Soi Arunothai (Big see extra).

How are these checkpoints set up? Are there police at every single alley way off Soi Arunothai / Paniad Chang to prevent people on their motorbikes to turn down one of these alleys or someone walking to cut through one of the bars/restaurants? That's a lot of streets to block!

I actually am in agreement with the Pattaya lockdown to the neighborhood you reside in. Just don't know how it will be effectively enforced. Wish the city where I'm riding out the COVID pandemic would do the same type of lockdown.

[Turgid]

..........There's a total ban on alcohol sales in Bangkok. ............

Wow, good thing there's poontang to be had in Bangkok otherwise blokes there would be going crazy.

[XXL]

At 2 pm I went into town wanted to see any progress with the new suggestion. Came up Soi Siam the tent was still there soldiers were helping locals fill out forms that need to travel in and out of the checkpoints. With the suggestion of a checkpoint at Pattaya Klang/ Aroi which is right in front of Big C extra wanted to travel the backway to see if they will block it off maybe too early but no cement blocks as of yet nor any sign of any tent in the area. This is important since I want to know if I can still go to Big C after the 14th from behind?

I'd like to be able to reach Welcome Town Shopping street from within. That's beyond the Big C (as seen from central Pattaya).

This is what I read about next Tuesday: "New plans from Tuesday will target the citys area popular with foreign residents which is a priority. The new arrangement will come into play on Tuesday and will see checkpoints at Dolphin Circle, the entrance to North Pattaya and also Central Pattaya, South Pattaya and on Jomtien Sai 2 Road."

This is getting increasingly vexing. Feels like getting penned in.

[LittleBigMan]

Maybe the lockdown is a blessing in disguise for Pattaya. Imagine Pattaya bursting to the seams with people and the extra spilling of water during Songkran.

Thunder far away today over Pattaya but no rain.

Here on the Darkside, not sure if they really understand the problem since the majority don't use much water anyways. For a while now they have been selling Songkran shirts and water guns. Today overcast over the house but down the block sunny, it rains for 2 seconds at best then another front hit again an hour later that was much heavier 2 minutes.

Nevertheless, water doesn't seem to be a problem for the government in my area, this week they were washing down parts of Soi Siam again, the Pattaya United Stadium they still water the field like clockwork and last week trucks loads of water running up and down Sukhumvit watering the medium.

At 2 pm I went into town wanted to see any progress with the new suggestion. Came up Soi Siam the tent was still there soldiers were helping locals fill out forms that need to travel in and out of the checkpoints. With the suggestion of a checkpoint at Pattaya Klang/ Aroi which is right in front of Big C extra wanted to travel the backway to see if they will block it off maybe too early but no cement blocks as of yet nor any sign of any tent in the area. This is important since I want to know if I can still go to Big C after the 14th from behind?

[GettingFedUp]

This makes zero sense. There are no new people in Pattaya. The few people that are here now have been here for some time.

You overlook some pertinent facts.

1. The virus has been more prevalent in Bangkok. Well off Bangkokians may look to escape the city for somewhere with fewer cases if the numbers spike, which mercifully they have not yet.

2. Next week is Songkran. The public holidays may have been postponed but to Thais it is still Songkran, which means more than just the water fight it has developed into around here and elsewhere. Normally a significant number of Thais pack up the pickup truck and head to the beach for the week.

3. There's a total ban on alcohol sales in Bangkok. Also in Rayong. Restricted hours in Chonburi but no outright ban, yet. Another reason for Somchai to head here for a few days.

This exodus from Bangkok is what the hotel closures, checkpoints, etc are seeking to prevent. Agreed, trying to do it by blocking off Sukhumvit was not a good move.

[Arn Poddict]

It will NEVER work out the way you are trying to do things.

You just have to tweak your strategy.

Yes. I have always tried too hard to do things my way, as I would like things to work out. And then got disappointed.

Next time different tactic.