Thailand has seen some of the worst flooding in over a century. The total dollar figures in damages are still coming in, but most news sources now tout this flood as being one of the major billion dollar disasters of the last hundred years. Entire areas of the country were or still are under water. It is no surprise that the flooding sent many people looking for dry land in other parts of the country. Pattaya, a beach resort town about an hour and a half south east of Bangkok was one of the major recipients of flood refugees.
This has been both a good and bad things for the residents, business owners, and tourists of Pattaya beach. For the residents, whether they be expats or nationals, there has been an increase in the population of the city. This could be looked upon as a bad thing as their favorite spots are now inundated with people. However the good new is that any additional revenue coming into the city is a good thing for them. The global financial crisis has caused havoc with the tourist trade and businesses have been shutting down across the city. This new revenue stream is sure to bolster the local economy and keep many favorite bar and restaurants a float.
On the other hand, this is not your normal tourist crowd looking to spread their cash around at all the local establishments. Many are truly refugees looking for a place to stay while they wait out the natural disaster. They are spending money, but not at the same rate as international tourists. Businesses are happy to have the money, but I’m sure they would much prefer the hotels be booked full of western tourists looking to blow their cash reserves on a wild holiday.
For the tourists of Pattaya this has been more of a negative. Hotels are usually hard to come by in high season, and with many families from Bangkok on the move down to Pattaya it is even harder to find a hotel. The streets and tourist venues both naughty and nice don’t seem to be affected in a serious manner.
The aftermath of the flooding should be over soon and things will once again return to the ‘crazy’ normal that is Pattaya. In the mean time, it is best to just go with the flow and try and empathize with the plight that many of the citizens of Thailand are now facing.
