With many citizens expected to wear black for a year in mourning, wholesale prices for black shirts skyrocket from about 60 Baht/pc to 90 or even 120 Baht/pc. Thai visitors to Bangkok who have traveled to pay their respects to His Majesty complain that some Motorbike Taxi Drivers have doubled, and in some cases tripled, their standard rates. Well-earning people are exploiting small-income earners - and still claiming to be Buddhists...

On September 29th Frost opened its door near Regents International School Pattaya and the well-known Pattaya Sheep Farm. Frost is an open air 'Ice Park' crammed with ice-sculptures made from anything but ice and an oversized freezer holding a bar with seats, two slides and a tuk-tuk made from (real) ice. The temperature in the freezer is well below -20 degrees. In our view Frost is made for todays selfie generation as most new entertainment parks in and around Pattaya. Entrance fee is announced as 350 Baht but we paid a promotion fee of 280 Baht. *Frost Magical Ice of Siam has no connection with the Magical Ice Festival presented by Disney on Ice.

On October 11th at about 18:30 Banglamung Police raided a Spa located somewhere on Pattaya 3rd Road and shocked the world with the news that the raided etablisement offered 'sexplicit' practices in addition to the announced massage services. Raids like the one reported above shows our Police services in an extremly bad light and provokes laughing fits around the world, because almost every single tourist knows what happens in Pattaya's so called massage spas and parlours. A few month ago when Pattaya's authorities visited our City's largest massage parlours on Soi Honey and on Pattaya 2nd Road they reported that they couldn't find any irregularities. Pattaya's Cops and their blind eyes amused whole the world. It also revealed that for some 'unknown' reason the City's Authorities are applying differing standards for the very same businesses...

According to a recent report from Thailand's Mahidol University's Institute for Population and Social Research Thais appear to spend 14 hours of the day being inactive - of course in addition to the time they spent sleeping...

On September 27th about 70 (!) officiers raided Pattaya Beach Road vendors and told them that strict rules have been enacted by City Hall's new strong men to free the road from street vendors, rental motorcycles and motorcycle taxi drivers during October 2016.

On September 14th Sinchai Wattanasartsathorn informed the members of the Pattaya Business & Tourism Association that about 60 percent of Pattaya's hotels and guesthouses are operating illegally. He announced a crackdown.

No News so far, please come back in a few days.

Anton, located on Soi 27, reintroduced his popular German Buffet.

Shanghai, a Bar that started as an A Go-Go Club located on Soi Lengkee, is on the block.

At Tukcom IT Mall (South Pattaya Road) Starbucks will open a new outlet on the second floor of the building.

On September 1st at 18:00 Soi Buakhaow's all new Beer Town opened its open air beer garden. Beer Town is serving draught beer among other thirst quencher - and provides comfortable seatings.

On Soi Yamato the So Nice Fun Bar opened in the rooms of the former Las Vegas III A Go-Go Club. The Name as well as the Management and the Service Girls and Dancers are new, but not the Furniture.

The Phantom Golf Bar, located on the Southern part of Soi Buakhaow, closed. P.S. The bar reopened as Unique Blue Sports Bar.

The New Star Inn, a hotel located on Pattaya North Road / 3rd Road junction, closed together with its neighbor, the Pattaya Furniture Center, to make space for an all new - and larger - tourist accommodation.

Soi Diana's popular Bronx Pizza moved a few meters further to Second Road into a larger shop with a lot more comfortable seats. Pizza slices still start from 70 Baht.

The Freeze, once a well-known bar on Soi Lengkee closed. If you should be thirsty or looking out for a nice interlocutor, why not try one of the other bars just across the street?

Where China Garden Hotel used to be an Australian Steak & Co. is serving tasty meats on Soi Lengkee. To its left Smokin' Joe is on the way to open a BBQ restaurant. Please don't ask Joe or his service girls for other services than food...

Soi Chaiyapoon, the street connecting Soi Buakhaow with Pattaya 3rd Road, is not only a threat for all kind of bicycles, motorcycles and cars, it is also a threat for your feet and legs. It seems that our officials think that the city needs an exercise track for budding motocross riders right in the center of our funny town. Nevertheless, even in a sober state, the street is worth a visit: It's not only the home of Lolitas, probably the city's most famous BJ Bar, many of the street's small bars and massage saloons not only change their names and looks but also their service girls almost every month. We promise that every single visit of Soi Chaiyapoon provides another surprise.

Armageddon closed. The threat of a final battle for this world's citiziens ends, but the final battle for the venue just started.

Pol Col Apichai Krobpetch, the Chief of Pattaya Police, revealed that the Governor of Chonburi declared that entertainment venue can open as usual; however, he says, any kind of entertainment would be totally cancelled. People in the A Go-Go businesses told me that real life will resume in Walking Street and in other parts of Pattaya at 00:00 on October 17th, 2016, but that was probably wishful thinking only. According to scientists, doctors and sports physicians any kind of dancing isn't entertainment but a special form of performance sport. And how do our bureaucrats define Thailand's popular aerobic events? Is it entertainment or an event designed to strengthen the heart and lungs of its participants? Nevertheless, the essential question of all our Sports Bars is still unanswered: Is looking an international football game pure entertainment, a stressful necessity of life for the human's well-being or a life threatening advertising event for Beer Chang? Without clarifying the term entertainment, Thailand's Authorities open the door to another round of corruption. Update (October 17th): According to an announcement of the Interior Ministry, Bars, Pubs and Clubs can operate normally as long as nobody passing by can see or hear what is going on. The statement was made after concerns that people working in the entertainment sector may not survive if their places of work were closed for a month or so. For additional information please read Khaosod english.

The Ladies and the Lights are back on Walking Street, but not the music. Insomnia only is distributing some noise to the otherwise quiet street. Bandstands like The Stone's House are providing foods instead of rocking sounds. The world famous Bamboo Bar is open and full of people even without musicians playing dance music. It's now Pattaya's largest 'night market'... Be assured that the rest of Fun City will adopt Walking Street's behavior during the next few days.

Pattaya Mail reports that university researchers from Silapakorn University started work on a 1.5-billion-baht redevelopment plan for Pattaya's Walking Street to provide more public space, convenience and solve the problem of private property encroaching on public land. They revive a 20-year old talk of demolishing Pattaya's landmark.

Land for sale just at the entrance to Pattaya's famous Walking Street between The Stone House and Gulliver's Walking Street Disco. P.S. Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) claims almost every month that Tourist arrivals has reached new record numbers.

On October 12th Overmind, Soi Diamond's House of Madness, closed both its doors, on Soi Diamond as well as on Soi 15. We don't know if the venue closed because it already run out of steam or because its boss was a good observer of the changing situation. The venue reopened on October 17th. It seems the bar replaced some furnitures. If all entertainment venues have to close down for one month at least, it would mean the end of many bars and clubs in this City and many of Pattaya's Service Girls, including their families, will struggle with their debts. Please read What means Entertainment.

Crazy Bar Beer at the entrance to Soi Happy A Go-Go closed down...

to make space for another new A Go-Go Bar.

With the exception of Wildcat A Go-Go all the other shops on both sides of Soi BJ already closed down and are scooped out to make space for Walking Street's new Midnight Pattaya palaces.

Craftsmen are working in the rooms of the former UDOM AGG leather shop (once located across from Marine Disco) to create something new. The opening in the new wall looks like an entrance to a new A Go-Go Club. Update (October 13th): The new venue willl open as Pheromone Club.

In the rooms of the former Sea A Go-Go Club in Soi Diamond, off Walking Street, an all new Diamond Sports Bar opened.

Also on Soi Diamond, Charming Crabs will open a new bar. Located between Cream A Go-Go and the Night Train Bar, the new venue is announced as the Pearl in Soi Diamond. I was told that all three bars mentioned above belong to the same management.

Burger World, located between the small 7-eleven outlet and Insomnia Disco Club, opened on October 14th and provides Burgers made from Australian meat. Burger World claims that their meat is Halal certificated. Let's hope the meat is of a higher quality than the Butter, Margarine and Cheese that we can find at Pattaya's Supermarkets and are originated from that country. The products are everything else than a delicacy.

The small but nice Chinese Restaurant that opened last month on the ailing Soho Square is closed since the beginning of October...

On September 9th Thailand's Tourist Police and Officials from the Revenue, Anti-money Laundering and Business Development departments raided the premises of OA Transport and impounded 2'155 buses and froze bank accounts containing 4.7 billion Baht. It is said that OA Transport Co and 381 firms are operating Thailand's biggest zero-dollar tour* network. Shortly after the raid Tourism Authority Thailand (TAT) released a statement claiming that the crackdown will have a limited effect on Chinese tourist arrivals, but the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA), the Thai Hotels Association (THA) as well as Representatives from Chinese tour agencies claim that their clients have already dropped by 60% on average after the crackdown... The ATTA expected to see arrivals from China drop by 216'000 between September 12th and October 31st, incurring a loss of 4.32 billion baht in tourism revenue.

All larger outlets from Tesco/Lotus and Big C have attractive departments selling bicycles since many years, but their shopping centers still do not provide any bike stands for their customers.