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As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing singing the Blues for Pattaya's reopening. I thought of making this video after reading an article in ASEAN NOW, that  is aseannow.com, that is a legacy of thaivisa.com for the old school folks around, the article is titled: Pattaya new “B.L.U.E.” Future Envisaged - forget entertainment the focus is business and leisure. Well okay. Quoting directly: "When tourism finally gets off the ground again in Pattaya, they will have to forget the resort's notorious entertainment industry." Well who says? I am getting sick and tired of, frankly, I don't mean to go too far off on a rant here. I see this a lot, "well we are just going to have to get used to this!" Who? Why? Why do we have to get used to anything? I am not trying to make a thing about this, I just have seen this a lot in the past year reading through the Press where it is almost, I hesitate to use a term like brainwashing, that is not exactly what I mean but it is nudging; it is nudging by influence. "Oh we are just going to have to use to not having it." Well why? It is a huge industry in Pattaya. If it goes away on its own, I don't mind journalistic reporting that says: "wow the demography, the way that the overall tourism landscape is changing, we are not going to see this anymore", but this whole "well we are just going to have to forget about that!" Well who said? Why? Quoting further and they are talking about there has basically been this new plan, I will quote directly: "In an 8-point plan aimed at ensuring that foreign tourism can get off the ground, came an acceptance of the situation from the Pattaya Tourist Business Association.” Well the Pattaya Tourist Business Association isn't the end be all. Just because they have certain beliefs, doesn't mean that is the end of the story. However quoting further and I thought this was interesting: "Number eight assumed the entertainment industry is expected to remain shut whenever Pattaya reopens." Well for how long? I mean honestly and at what point. So entertainment is just done? Is that what we are supposed to take from this?

A lot of people have poked at me on the comments and things and said "well why are you so concerned about that industry and whatever?" I have had clients that have been in that industry; I have a lot of clients in the food and beverage industry. Me personally I don't like to see any major especially tax revenue earner, and for those who say “well you know certain places, they were running off the books or all in cash”. Well, they still had to pay excise tax for their liquor; there were still rents that had to be paid and then there are taxes associated with that. I mean these were economic drivers, whether people like them or not, the entertainment industry exists in Thailand and there are different levels, degrees, whatever you want to call it. There are different kinds of entertainment in Thailand but this notion that “oh well you know we are just done with that.” I really don't get where this is coming from. Quoting further: “Number six on the TBH chief’s list is stopping any reference to “sandbox” in the Pattaya moves on brand.” Okay, bully for them. Quoting further: "Marketing materials will refer to party as new image as B.L.U.E. This stands for Business, Leisure, Ultimate Experience. I think what kind of bothered me about this whole article and what has been bothering me the past few months, one man's opinion I know, but this notion of micromanaging what kind of Tourism we are going to have; what people are going to do: under what circumstances, well you know what that is not what has historically built the Tourism Sector in Thailand. If you look at the history, it grew up organically and quite frankly it grew up organically because Thailand is a very free place. It is very tolerant, as long as people aren’t hurting each other, or overtly committing crimes and things like that. I heard it referred somebody was talking about sort of changes in the United States. In fact it was a guy named Simon Mikhailovich who was an émigré who left Soviet Russia in the late 70s in the Brezhnev era and he was talking on podcast I was listening to the other day about what he loved when he came to the US was that in the US and he went to the US in like the late 70s everything unless it was specifically legislated against, it was presumed you could do anything; you could do what you wanted unless it was specifically prohibited, and I think those are his exact words. “Unless specifically prohibited by law, it was presumed that everything was okay.” Then there was some switch in America, it especially started happening at the turn of the millennium in the United States and has only gained pace unfortunately, but we have gone to this "oh well you have got to presume you can't do anything and then we will tell you what you can do!" I really don't like to see that. Frankly I don't think anybody that values personal choice, liberty is going to enjoy that. Frankly it is not what made Thailand's tourism industry great. Frankly, it is not what made Thailand great if I may be so bold. Thailand's tolerance and her "Live and let Live" attitude is what has made this country such a great place.

Now I do understand when exigent circumstances arrive, sometimes restrictions are just part and parcel with that but this notion and it seems implied in some of these articles I have read recently, that “well we are just going to micromanage into infinity”. Yeah I am sorry that just doesn't make any sense to me and I will hazard to guess and say I think you are going to have a real problem getting a number of tourists to come to a place that has that kind of paradigm.