willyumiii

This will sound offensive, but it`s not meant to be. You don`t come out for 10 years and that`s your guide on whether tourism is down or not? I mean what an idiotic post. I have many friends, along with myself, with tourist dependent businesses across many parts of Thailand and let me tell you for a FACT...tourism is down. But `down` compared to what? well certainly last year for a start.....massively.

Like I said, I really don`t mean to sound rude, but unless you have a business relying on tourists you just aren`t going to understand.

I do understand that those in the tourist industry want more tourist, or should I say more revenue from tourist?

I also understand that revenue may be down due to huge numbers of tourist ( mostly Chinese ) coming to Thailand on cheap package tours and spending very little, as well as more Euro/ American tourist touring on a shoestring budget.

But, from what I saw this month while traveling the tourist areas, the number of people is up.

After hearing tourism was down, I was looking forward to seeing smaller crowds and enjoying the beauty and experience of Thailand more.

I was very disappointed.

Many places were so crowded that they were uncomfortable and you felt like you had to compete with the crowds to even get a good look at what you came to see.

Many places have been so wesernized, they did not feel like Thailand, they felt like a theme park in the west.

The bigger the crowds get, the less enjoyable the Thailand experience will become.

I think many first time visitors to Thailand will never come for a second visit.

This will eventually result in not only a drop in revenue, but an actual drop in the people who want to visit Thailand.

The problem facing those of you in the tourist industry is not just how to increase the number of tourist, but to increase the quality of the experience and attract tourist willing to spend good money for that experience.

Good luck with that.

I sincerely hope you can pull it off!

Example: 500 sq meters of beach on an island with 200 tourist ( rotated every 20 minutes) on it is not a quality experience!

Not many pro junta supporters on here.

They are still lurking here but their illustrious leader is not giving them much to rant and rave about. Hope they do not round up all the bar girls and shave their heads and put them in white robes.

Hummm....I kind of like Asian girls who have been shaved!

Morals Police!

That's one step away from the _{Thought Police!}

_{Next comes the Dream Police!}

_{I am doomed!}

My Thai wife once got upset with me when I removed all the stickers from a new computer I had just bought.

I asked why I shouldn't remove them.

She replied that if I ever had problems with the computer they would need the info from the stickers to repair it!

I smiled.

They do sell special sticker remover fluid, you know. I found it at Central or Tops or someplace and attacked the stickers on the toilets and appliances in our rental condo. Those stickers had to be at least 6 or 8 years old and boy-oh-boy they sure were hard to remove. That fluid did a real number on my manicure, too.

WD 40 works well to remove old adhesive from stickers and tape.

We have all been reading that the tourism industry in Thailand is suffering and the number of tourist is at tan all time low.

I live in rural Thailand where we see very few if any tourist at all.

A friend from America just came to LOS for his first visit and I spent three weeks showing him all the places I enjoyed visiting as a tourist.

I haven't done any touring in Thailand for over ten years and found the changes interesting.

The thing that impresses, and disappointed me that most whas the increased number of foreigners everywhere we went!

A couple of examples,

In Krabi / Ao Nang I saw more white faces than I have since I left my home country and huge numbers of Asian tourists.

Twelve years ago it was very common to meet local Thais and get a taste of the local culture.

Now, the only Thais you meet are working in the service industry ( and many of them are Burmese, not Thai).

The only music you hear is western rock and roll, and only a small percentage of the food venues available are real Thai food.

Day and night, the streets all looked like Main Street Disneyland, or Walking Street in Pattaya, all speaking either English, Chinese or other European languages.

The sidewalks were so crowded with tourists, it was difficult to walk

Twelve years ago, this was not the case!

In Bangkok, even in the seedy areas I have enjoyed in the past, there are white faces everywhere now. I do not believe most of these faces are expat residents, dressed and acting like foreigners on vacation.

Hotels were packed with loud groups of Chinese.

Places like The Grand Palace were so choked with tourists it was difficult to get around and almost impossible to take a photo that was not full of people.

If there were any more tourist present, I do not think I would even enter!

Agian, it was not like this ten or twelve years ago.

So, my question is, is tourism really down in Thailand, or is this just another fantasy?

It seems to me that number of tourists has increased, not declined!

I tried to avoid photographs with a lot of tourists, but here a couple.

This is the solution to a lot of the world's problems.

If Israel is not a democracy, the US can not support them ( kind of like what is going on with Thailand and the US right now )

If the US does not support Israel, there is no Israel.

Problem solved!

When is Pattaya going to get a serious douche.

The same day you use some mouth wash.

You think that language is amusing?

Get back into your toilet khawibuh.

To find the answer to your question, you need to realize that morals and ethics vary from culture to culture.

It is not that their morals and ethics are bankrupt, they are not.

Their morals and ethics are just different from where I ,and probably you come from.

It's just a different value system.

I have heard that buying through a corp you start is not legal and the new government may be putting a stop to it soon.

You could lose everything..

Possible fines or punishments too?

Who can say for sure?

Your best bet is probably just to rent as others have advised.

Hot water is never a problem.

With water lines installed above the ground, I often need to wait a while for water cool enough to shower with!

I have often thought about a water cooler...

Sometimes I need a cold shower!

I understand that you are upset.

But I fear that if you go in Monday with the attitude you have expressed here, you will have a snowball's chance in hell of getting what you want.

I would be kind, courteous and cooperative.

But I guess that is up to you and how much you want to stay in Thailand.

Choke dee!

willyumiii, on 18 Mar 2015 - 21:31, said:

This is old news...last December!

Does it really matter?

You can now do your 90 day report online!

Why go to any immigration office to report?

Decembers old news, comes as new news in March, when you only report every 90 days.

I suspect that even when online reporting is available, they can still refuse if you haven't crossed the 't's and dotted the 'i's.

I have been traveling and have not been on TV for about two weeks.

I may have missed something.

I read on TV about a month ago that they had started online reporting for 90 day reports, but still had some "bugs" to work out.

I know if I read something on TV, it must be true! 555

Now it sounds like it may not be available yet???

My next 90 day is in May and I hope it is up and running by then.

Anyone have any details on this

I don't like going to Homepro, they are too hard sell, too many staff and always choose the highest priced item, I think because I am farang. Naturally because they are Thai the wife believes them, but doesn't ask hard questions and I end up walking out and going to one of the smaller stores that I know where the staff are usually much more knowledgeable. Watsadu has so much stuff it's rather like Bunnings, if you know what you want fine. I think the staff there are shy of engaging with farang. Nevertheless I prefer going to hardware stores on my own. I think they make money from buying from China on a huge scale and them marking it up. Don't forget their customers are overwhelmingly Thai, we may think they are probably undertrained however training does not replace experience and really most of them just don't have it. In the local hardwares I know staff who've been there the entire 6 years I've been h

" I think they make money from buying from China on a huge scale and them marking it up."

Exactly as they do in USA where I am from.

It is difficult to find merchandise in the US that is not produced in China.

Can you say "Walmart"/?

The largest retailer on earth???

I have always found everything I need in Korat.

Op is looking for a day trip for shopping and some farang food.

Why all of the wana be Lonely Planet reviews of culture, bars, populaion, architecture and the like?

For what he asked about, Korat is very convenient.

Go to the "Power Mall" or " Klang Plaza", or both..they are close.

You will not be disappointed.

This is old news...last December!

Does it really matter?

You can now do your 90 day report online!

Why go to any immigration office to report?

If this law is implemented,

it will never be enforced.

This is Thailand.

Subject closed.