Flawed attractions – The Village Shopping Centre

On the road south out of Pattaya there is a “floating market” which has proved extremely popular. The car parks are always busy, particularly on a weekend.

On the other side of the road, heading back into Pattaya, is another attraction which, judging by the car park, is not doing so well. This is The Village Shopping Centre:

In fact the contents of the car park rather overstated the popularity as I appeared to be the only visitor on a Saturday afternoon. It wasn’t hard to see why. Although the surrounding gardens are quite attractive….

….the shopping blocks contain outlets which hardly encourage a trip out from Pattaya. There are two huge shops selling nothing but swimming costumes, a handful of restaurants selling the usual pizzas and burgers (including a Fatboy’s Diner which is already up for sale. Form a queue) and an assortment of other outlets offering nothing that hasn’t been seen elsewhere. But if you have an idea for a shop that will bring in the customers, there are still plenty of units available.

The whole place is faintly depressing and has the air of failure hanging over it. This reality is a long way removed from the recently published puff piece in the Real Estate magazine. According to the magazine, The Village is an “authentic lifestyle destination.” Which is different from an unauthentic lifestyle destination. It’s also different from a scattering of sad empty outlets in a complex which will be shut down in the next few months.