Phuketboy

What a wonderful way to encourage tourism. An alcohol ban at New Year? That is one of the craziest ideas I have heard yet. So many people will stop coming here for the Christmas and New Year holidays if they go ahead with this ban.

People already have stopped coming here, just look around.

I was just saying to my partner today that the police don't have to be corrupt to make good money. There is so many things happening right in front of them each and everyday they could probably rack up a lot more money doing the right thing. Just as an example how much could they make for fining people not wearing helmets (passenger included), driving on the wrong side of the road, crossing double lines, cutting corners, driving and riding dangerously, unroadworthy vehicles, not stopping at pedestrian crossings, not stopping at red lights, failure to indicate, driving with un-care due and attention and the list goes on and on. If they cracked down on this they would make much much more money and make the road much much safer as well.

I used this example to point out to my partner just how much could be made each time we saw something on our short drive. In less than 10min, I could have racked up close to 20,000 baht without doing anything other than fining those actually doing something wrong.

You can add Pattaya to that list.

Without a fail, News Year is already booked out.

In one my hotels, we only have 2 bookings over that period.

At the moment(which is high season) the same hotel is only half booked and its doing great, because 1 hotel next door has only 2 rooms out of 14 and another 9 rooms out of 75

Expedia provides some marketing tools to see market movement etc.

Current bookings for 2-2.5 star hotels market average is 31 bookings per month. Its laughable.

Thanks for that - I can only speak to the segment of Pattaya that I'm familiar with and that's the nightlife precinct. No idea how that's reflected in hotel occupancy rates as I dont believe the majority of tourists in 2014 have much interest in Pattaya after midnight - happy to hear otherwise.

If my only experience of Pattaya post-midnight was these pages and the odd foray to Central World, I could easily agree with some of the doomsayers - fortunately, it isnt. For some, that will be cause for hand-wringing and gnashing of teeth - 'another quality retiree' yada yada - all I can say is that I spend money on everything from audio to travel right here in Thailand and my opinions are all based on firsthand experience, not something I read on a forum. if that makes me a barfly, so be it - I just want to make it clear that I dont simply park my carcass in the same bar night after night and order the proverbial bottle of Chang. My wallet would thank me, but that would be right up there with staying home and watching Thai TV on the excitement scale.

if I could use a single word to describe crowds in various bars over the last few weeks, it would be patchy - last night was the deadest I've EVER seen Buakhow and the pathetic attempts to generate some life in Soi Made In Thailand via parties were complete fizzers from where I was sitting, but the previous night there were bars in Soi Diana and LK Metro where the balloon chasers were out in force - in some cases, not a spare seat to be seen. Saturday night was a similar story - massive party on Buakhow and even MiT had a party that I thought was crowded (not difficult in those small bars, admittedly, but the Buakhow bar was a monster by beer bar standards with over a hundred people).

Moving on to Walking Street in the early hours of Tuesday morning and the street itself was pretty much dead - the Chinese tourists must have all been tucked up in bed by then - but it was a completely different story inside I-Bar : as we waded through two packed floors of (mostly) under-35s, I remember thinking 'Where the hell are all these young Farang during the day ?'. Granted, its a major freelancer hangout but between 2 and 4am I estimate that there were at least a thousand people in that club, and roughly 60% were male. No aggro, no-one staggering around / throwing up etc - with the exception of the ear-splitting doof-doof, it was a surprisingly good venue.

OK, so a couple of nights does not a high season make, and perhaps we'll never get back to the high seasons of old - as someone who has to deal with the traffic already being generated by the Thais I'm not entirely averse to that possibility. Having spent plenty of time in the nightlife precinct right through this epic low season, I like to think I have a slightly better understanding of what attracts the available punters - the people actually willing to buy a beer and/or meal as opposed to the gawkers wandering up and down WS.

1. Location - check out the big bar at the Beach Road end of Soi 8 any afternoon from about 3pm. Consistently good numbers even when the other bars in Soi 8 are dead.

2. Knowing your market - the Australian bar owners who've gone to the trouble of making the football codes (AFL, NRL, Intl' Rugby) available for their customers have been rewarded with consistently good turnouts, even with the slide in the our dollar. How many bars have you walked past that are content to play nothing more riveting than a Thai soap or - worse - something insanely banal like a wildlife doco. Just turn those TVs off and leave them off if you cant tailor the content to your customer base

3. Actually giving a crap about repeat business - if you're going to hire girls who do nothing more than sit at the bar engrossed in their smartphones, why bother ? This is where pool tables actually make a difference, IMO - they get people interacting beyond the 'One drink for me ?' stage. The attitudes of many in the bars is a topic which has been discussed on various fora at length so I'll leave it there. I prefer venues with live music, but the quality varies immensely - I may have reached my limit on the number of times I can listen to 'Highway to Hell' and not run screaming into the Soi.

None of the above is rocket science, but I think the days of simply hiring a few girls and sitting back waiting for the baht to roll in are gone - bar owners either differentiate themselves from the bar on either side of theirs or pray for a miracle. I know a couple of Farang bar owners who've already cashed in their chips and cut their losses, but the Thais seem willing to grind it out - just not sure that having a 'me too' party and juicing the girls up on cheap rotgut is a formula for instant success. What worked on Saturday night clearly wasnt working last night, but that's showbiz. Tonight could be very different, but any suggestion that Pattaya doesnt have (potential) customers makes me laugh - it just doesnt have an endless supply of middle-aged men prepared to sit in cookie-cutter bars with disinterested women or even men dressed as women, although Stickman would probably disagree with me on that last claim. Stick, I'll have to defer to you on all matters relating to Katoey bars - it's just not my area of expertise

Happy to discuss any of the above with those who actually leave the safety of their homes to sample what's on offer in Pattaya after dark - considerably less so with the moral minority on this board. This isnt about prostitution or the evils of the demon drink - it's about whether or not Thailand can still attract tourists. I believe it can, even in a destination as cliched as central Pattaya, but its going to take a few attitudinal changes. I have no desire to see the beer bars replaced by condos and boutique shopping centres, but I just dont see Pattaya sustaining the massive oversupply of bars and go-gos, regardless of what this high season brings.

Great feedback guys. In 9 years of living in and all my travel around Thailand, the one place I have never been to is Pattaya, but that will change this month when i make my way for business. It will certainly be interesting to see the differences (if many) from Phuket and Koh Samui and explore what the city has to offer. Maybe, we could even catch up.

Usually, December is peak season in Phuket, and hotels/guesthouses in my area (Phuket Airport) are all fully booked and charging peak season prices.

Yesterday, I did a check on Booking.com for hotel availability of the 30 or so properties in my area.

26 out of the 30 still had rooms available, at room rates not much above low season prices.

My guesthouse wasn't one of those 26 and I'm charging twice my low season rate, so I'm happy

That is very unusual for Phuket, and certainly suggests that the tourists are not coming. I know quite a few guesthouse/hotel owners who are at a loss what to do. Even if they reduce their room rates to low season rates, the tourists are not there

This confirms what other friends with hotels and guest houses have told me as well. Some are still half empty and are still charging low season rates. They haven't put them up cause they need the numbers and are trying to entice customers to stay there. Not looking good at all.

Even if the lecturer had gone through with it, is it a criminal offence? What I mean here is, yes it is both inappropriate and unprofessional and yes he would face dismissal from the university for his actions. However, as far as the girl is concerned being a university student would make her 18 years old at least yes? So even though it's unprofessional in his actions, it is hardly illegal as they are both adults.

Grow and pair and tell her not to control you unless of course you want to continue being her puppet

It was only the Thai owners that were going to protest and close. Every foreign owner I spoke with at a meeting about this said they were going to stay open regardless of what the others were doing. It wasn't a directive from the police, army or any other authority. Even after the Asian Beach Games, the majority of bars will not close, unless instructed by a government authority. The 2am closures might be around for another week or so, but the bars will still be open everyday. If some want to close let them. Just means more customers for the others and the chance the staff will jump bars because they still need work. :-)

"Obama loses his shine in Asia as Xi and Putin steal the limelight" Maybe from the writers perspective only! After all, the U.S. and China have reached some "agreement" on global warming. Where was Putin? Posturing and doing nothing! Perhaps the writer is a Putin fan?

Not a Putin or Obama fan however, while you mention China and the US to coming to some agreement on global warming, China and Russia have come to agreements on oil and gas trade. They also want to change the currency used to trade oil from dollars to ????. What will this mean? This will mean the collapse of the dollar as the dominant currency and the crash of the American economy as well as those countries that follow them. America is the most in-debt nation in the world and at the brink of collapse and other nations have already started selling off US assets and stocks. So of course Obama is scratching the barrel and trying to stop other countries joining Asian banks.

If Russia really wanted to take Australia, who would stop them? They have backing from China, Saudi Arabia and North Korea. Now before you say anything about the US etc remember this… Russia is the biggest producer of gas and oil and China is the the biggest buyer, the saudi's know this as well. All could rid the dollar being the dominant currency and it will happen within the next decade. If they wanted to take America as well they simply start selling all oil and gas in another currency and the dollar crashes. This means that they can literally win a war without even firing a missile. If the dollar crashes, the entire American and Australian economy crashes as well.

This guy's been kicking around Pattaya for years, anyone know what he does for cash?

Work permit? Real job? He seems to just go to the beach and walk around all day with no shirt on.

Apparently he claims to charge bar girls 500 baht a week and in return he offers them protection from there punters, basically a PIMP, not my words but his.

Apparently he takes care of 350 girls so thats 175000 baht a week tax free. No wonder the police are pissed at him, hes treading on there toes.

Go to you tube and type in Tim Ward and then watch his video named pimp, its all there.

So, no work permit, no visible [legal] means of support.

Ship his pathetic, ugly, troglodyte, steroid-filled ass back to Oz. {Hey Tim, if you're reading here, bet you had to look up "troglodyte", didn't ya?}

He's admitting on Youtube he's breaking the law, I hope the creep gets deported.

He doesn't need to work. Tim owned night clubs and hotels on the Gold Coast as well as running as well known loan shark in the area. He doesn't need to work, he is worth millions of Dollars. How's that for means of support?

If you are not suppose to be in a room alone with a female then what is your take on the following scenarios?

a) you are alone in the consult room with a female doctor or nurse?

you have a meeting with a female account or lawyer who works by herself in her office?

I call BS. I have never heard this, neither has my Thai girlfriend, her mother or any of her friends who are sitting here now.

Never encountered any of those situations, alway plenty of people around or the door left open.

Really, you never encounter these situations? My accountant is on her way and will be here in 30min and i am the only one here. I also had a meeting with my lawyer today and she was the only one in her office. I encounter this many many times. If I go and see my doctor, sure there are people outside but she is the only one in the room with me. At a school there would be children, other teachers around outside as well.

Does this only relate to teachers? If you are not suppose to be in a room alone with a female then what is your take on the following scenarios?

1) you are alone in the consult room with a female doctor or nurse?

2) you have a meeting with a female account or lawyer who works by herself in her office?

3) you are in a private meeting regarding business with a female?

I call BS. I have never heard this, neither has my Thai girlfriend, her mother or any of her friends who are sitting here now.

I have never been ripped off, scammed, robbed had a motorbike accident or any real problems in Thailand. I think it comes down to ones behaviour, attitude and who they associate with. I understand that there is obvious corruption etc here, however there is in every country. I would much rather be here in Thailand say for example where you know it happens and who does it than in Australia where the Government rip everyone off behind their backs but the population just accept it. I have lost more money in Australia than I ever have in Thailand. Right now the Government in Australia are holding $120000 of my money which I am still trying to get. Then there is all the taxes and high cost of living. Stuff that, I'm never going back to that s$%t hole again.

There are two sorts of people who don't get scammed in Thailand.

1. Those who never understand what's happening.

2. Those who are essentially broke.

You forgot number 3. The ones that keep their wits about them.

I don't say they haven't tried but the same thing happens in my country and your country and any other expats country. Why continually pick on Thailand?

You can keep your wit,BUT

Say you bought a tshirt for 200 baht, while 3 shops down it is sold for 180.

Guess what? you have been scammed

To make matters even more funnier, both shops are owned by the same person

It does not have to be "in your face" scam to be scammed, so to claim you have never been scammed = you living in total and utter oblivion.

And this would never happen in any other country would it? LOL it happens in every country. Walk into one shop and the item is a different price to the next. You must be a complete idiot to think it only happens here.

Parent's must be so proud of their Thai sons, what a disgrace. I'm sure Buddha would be proud as well

"he went over to his motorbike and got his gun"

So he just happened to have a gun on him?

Normal people don't ride around with a gun on them.

He had a plan.

Maybe he was an American

You would be surprised at the number of Thai people that own and carry weapons with them. At a meeting once and a thai wanted something out of his bag and in order to get to it he had to remove his gun. Well the gun ended up on the table for the meeting, the Thai's thought nothing of it but the few foreigners present were surely shocked.

And members of this forum continue on a daily basis to tell the world how dangerous Thailand is and to stay away. If it was so dangerous, why are you all here? Just look at other stories such as this from around the world and you will clearly see that Thailand is no different.

How many people are murdered in say New York for example each and everyday, but tourists still go there. Murders happen all over the world, so why would it stop tourists from travelling to those destinations? The Koh Tao murders are horrific and the way things have and are being dealt with is appalling. However, this is now being further investigated.

The people who initially set up the first petition, should now set up another, getting the UK investigators to get the DNA from that little s%^t bag Nom Sod (physically). That little chicken sh&t who ran away like a scared little mouse and who the police never DNA tested. They also need to get Sean to come in and give a proper statement without hiding anything. I firmly believe he knows something and the blood splatter on his guitar suggest he was there. As I have mentioned many many times on here the UK don't need the Thai police to check the DNA in Hannah against that of the accused. They already have Hannah's body back in the UK and the family of the accused can provide DNA by simply giving to the UK investigators, a hairbrush or toothbrush that the accused has used. The UK investigators don't really need the Thai police for anything.

There has to be more to the story. Who would let an eight year old go down to the beach for a swim by herself? Just asked my daughter 7 who goes to the same school if she knows her and where she may have gone. She said she does and she wouldn't go to the beach by herself. Trying to call her other friends as we speak.

Where was her guardian?

Whens Thailand gonna get a paid surf lifesaver team?

Australia will help train you, just ask!

Patong Beach does have lifesavers and they have been trained by Surf Lifesaving Australia

They can do their own accurate DNA tests without even coming to Thailand, I don't understand why they haven't. Maybe they have and are not saying or maybe they haven't thought about this yet. The UK have the bodies and the DNA inside of Hannah. They could easily get the DNA of the accused from family. This only has to be so much as a hair from a hair brush or a toothbrush they have used. Why is nobody doing this?

Is this story real or just taking the pi$$? It's normally the other way around, in fact here are a few true stories that I have witnessed to make you laugh.

2 girls who work for me asked me the other day if they could have a week off for a holiday. I told them they could and best to do it this month or before high season. They were a bit excited and said they needed to get money from their boyfriends. One of them asked if she could use my computer for Skype. While on Skype with one boyfriend she was texting another. The other girl was talking to her Swedish husband on the phone while her French boyfriend was waiting for her just outside. Funny enough they organised money from each. All I could do was sit back, smile and shake my head in amazement at well these girls pulled it off so easy and with such confidence, like trained professionals. Maybe I need to set up a little call centre company and have the Thai girls call stupid people for donations. i'm sure i will make an absolute packet.

Once I was with a Thai girl, in the middle of the action on the workbench (bed) when her phone starts ringing. She ignored it the first few times and put it on silent however the person trying to call was persistent and kept trying. I told her to answer it. It was her boyfriend calling her to see what she was doing. So here she is talking to her boyfriend telling him she's a good girl, that he's the only one and that she is at home waiting for him all while I'm taping her from behind. Once she got off the phone (rather quick 2min call) she said to me, "I'm sorry, he not come Thailand but he send me money tomorrow, keep <deleted> me more". Another stupid boyfriend. He's sending her money while I'm keeping her entertained. Still friends with this girl and when I ask how her business is going she simply says "If man stupid to send me money, I'm happy to take, but my boyfriend not know".

Now if this isn't scamming 101 I don't know what is. Maybe they need to look at how many scammers there are in Thailand before sending warnings to the Thai women. Could it be that this warning is simply a means of letting them know others are copying them, so be careful or maybe change you're style? hahahaha only in Thailand.