Well-appointed Cat Flaps shown here shortly after opening. Pattaya On Fire! The latest nightery entertainment wreck is at Cat Flaps, Pattaya Pratumnak’s racy venue, the result of a faulty bug zapper after hours.  City firemen labored till cockcrow according to the saloonkeeper.  Reconstruction is promptly underway with a planned reopen date well before September.  Last month Chalawan Beer Bar in Soi Buakhao went up in smoke and likewise, in June, Anne’s Island Spice Bar also in Pratumnak.  Previous bigtime fires included the 2018 flareup on Walking Street which blitzed two bars, including Titanic, and wrote off 16 motorbikes thanks to a power transformer explosion.  Doomscrollers often suggest barracking (fraudulent insurance claims) for business fires, but it’s reality that Pattaya’s electrical safety leaves a lot to be desired.  Nuff said. ֍ The two words El Bleko in scrawly chalk or painted writing have started to appear on empty buildings and lampposts all over parts of Pattaya.  Assuming they are not promoting a well known art bar in Havana, Cuba, they might refer to a similar-sounding  Mediterranean restaurant nearer home.  I’ll keep you Posted. ֍ Pattaya just can’t stop winning awards in 2025.  They include Thai Garden Resort traveller review award from Booking.com, Bangkok Hospital Jomtien’s health care Asia award and a global prize for the resort’s extravaganza fireworks festival late last year.  Pattaya was particularly congratulated for its safety precautions and risk management during the bangs and rockets. ֍ Mac TV Network (Travel Learn Inspire) gives regular updates on expat life in Pattaya.  We hear that July and August, low season, are the months when bar sales are brisk with new risktakers willing to find 12 million baht which is approaching 300,000 in sterling.  What exactly you are buying – it certainly won’t be the building – is presumably a negotiating matter. ֍ “Better Pattaya” is the new city hall label for publicity purposes together with the dolphin mascots which adorn some adverts.  The new Walking Street entrance 3D LED animated display will eventually promote the new logo to enhance the city’s image, but the workmen removed the first sign a month ago and haven’t come back.  The former city hall logo phrase, Neo (New) Pattaya, was dropped after nothing much new happened.  Any comment would be superfluous. ֍ Buzzin Pattaya, according to host Trevor, now has more than 100,000 subscribers worldwide.  The videos are all about fun, food and nightlife presented breezily with enthusiasm.  He might like to consider doing a video on why the many British bar owners and managers in our resort all seem to have bald heads.  Likely something they put in the water. ֍ The current crackdown by Thai banks on “tourists” opening or maintaining accounts is one of the biggest talking points in town right now.  Some say a coup might help.  I’ll let you know if one happens. ֍ Tinnies Pies in Jomtien has recently produced a really professional colour brochure menu.  The pies are second-to-none and it’s one of the few restaurants where you can build your own sandwich on bread or baguette.  Mosey on over. ֍ Has it really rained in Pattaya as much as they say?  The weather predictions about sudden storms and downpours usually herald a bright sunny day. ֍ No denying it’s a low, low season right now. The gay bars in Boyztown and Jomtien Complex are selling fewer suds and firewater.  The idea that gay marriage in Thailand  would result in thousands of extra international tourists has not borne fruit.  Honeymooners tend to avoid Sin City. ֍ According to the tomtoms, the new ladyboy bar in Soi Pothole isn’t busy with punters.  Most gays don’t find ladyboys attractive.  There’s a kinda straight male market but, to borrow a phrase, it hasn’t come out publicly.  Not an easy venture. ֍ From the ru mor mill and thus unconfirmed.  The Thai-Cambodian temples and borders dispute is cooling, especially since China uttered a few tut tuts.  Expect single day visa-related border hops to resume nest month.  At the moment, the nearest option is the Laos capital, Vientiane, and you can’t get there and back in one day.  Expect to pay 15,000 baht plus. But I don’t give a hoot!