sambum

Ah, Anutin says ".............................."

Always seems to be the total opposite of what was said  yesterday - sometimes including what he said himself! ????

16 hours ago, Nojohndoe said:

It has occurred to me that given the degree of political dissent and the accompanying allegations and denials and counter allegations etc that are a very public part of media "news" that it is possible "manipulation" of fact is being utilized ?

It is obvious Thailand is not currently in possession of sufficient vaccine to provide for blanket inoculation yet behind the scenes Provincial programs seem to have been quietly been ongoing in targeted areas which have included foreigners despite the claims of neglect.

 

OK, programmes have "included" foreigners, but how many have actually  been vaccinated (very few I suspect), and how many have had their appointments cancelled? (quite a lot, I suspect. Personally, I registered in May and am yet to receive an appointment date! (Message received on phone confirming registration, and was told to wait for another SMS with appointment date - still waiting!)

On the one hand, we have the PM flexing his muscles saying "do NOT cancel appointments for vaccinations"  against Covid-19, and on the other hand we have hospitals saying that they have no vaccines!

So what are the hospitals supposed to do? Let people travel (possibly for a long way) and tell them "We knew LAST week that we didn' t have any vaccines, and we knew that we weren't going to be getting any THIS week, but the PM says that we aren't allowed to cancel your appointment!"

Maybe he has a "cunning plan"? Maybe he is collaborating with another source whose leader claimed to be able to change water into wine?

Somehow, I think Prayut is letting the situation get out of hand, and of course, being Thai, will not dream of admitting it! Anuthin is off the hook, as Prayut has taken full responsibility for handling the situation, but who will tell him that he isn't handlng it very well? 

42 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

I would say No you will be forced to go as it is all about the money being distributed.

That is all part of this scheme Koh Samui has been aggressively vaccinating and are 50% fully vaccinated already claiming to reach herd immunity and ready by July 1.  So, they want a piece of the tourist dollar pie.

 

And if so, where are the tourists going to spend it? The situation is the same in SAmui as Phuket - the bars are all closed, and no alcohol is allowed to be consumed in restaurants. Or is there a nice surprise for Samui hiding round the corner?  

"Earlier Thaivisa reported that bars and entertainment in Phuket would not be open for tourists to enjoy on July 1st prompting many to say such news would hardly inspire foreign tourism. "

Got news for ya baby! Neither are the bars in Samui!!!

17 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

If this starts a trend then one thing is a given.

The Australian ambassador will not give a Yelp. 

I fear the same might apply to the UK. They send me periodic updates re the Covid situation and vaccination programme but they stress that they are not going to have anything to do with the acquisition of distribution of the actual vaccines. Basically, you have to stand in line (at the back of the queue?) and do as the Thai Government tell you!

We've been registering since the late May in our neck of the (tourist) woods!

47 minutes ago, Mayhem11 said:

Natural immunity? 

Yes - confused me too!????

1 hour ago, sambum said:

"government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisiri is now telling non-Thais to wait until things become clearer."

 

Dosn't really need any explanation, does it?

 

 

 

 

Obviously, my comment confused a few people!

OK - explanation - "Go away and wait until everybody else has been dealt with"

Clearer now?

53 minutes ago, SymS said:

Wouldn't it just be easier to have the same program for everybody, regardless whether somebody is Thai or not?

Yes, it would, but..............................TIT.!!!

"government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisiri is now telling non-Thais to wait until things become clearer."

Dosn't really need any explanation, does it?

10 hours ago, ezzra said:

This is not his first or last apology, more to come, infect, the way the he handled this Covid business, he should have resigned and go home...

"infect the way ............." Nice play on words, and I agree!

17 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

who can explain please.... if you have an appointment but there are not enough vaccines, how can you get vaccinated than?? and the appointment must not be postponed...

Thaispeak?

2 hours ago, Silencer said:

Could have fooled me that Thailand wants to attract another million expats to come live here. While life is generally good they sure do put up many barriers that could make it so much better.

"It's only words, and words are all I have ..............." (Bee Gees)

4 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

No Burmese around to blame???

And where was the Headman's son at the time? (sigh!)

11 hours ago, Willy333 said:

Is there a plan to remove the ban on alcohol too? Tourists like to get drunk.

Not necessarily drunk, but the majority of tourists will be expecting to be able to have a beer or two in a  bar, or a couple of glasses of wine with their meal. 

I enjoy a drink and most of my friends do, so if they were going on holiday and found out their destination was under the law of "Prohibition",  they would choose another destination where they CAN have a drink,. So before Thailand (and TAT in particular) start spouting about how many million tourists are going to come back this year, they will have to get beer and wine back on the menu!! 

8 hours ago, Geoffggi said:

I am surprised to hear this as I have several friends in Finland who are all in their late 60's or early 70's who have all had phizer

Similarly, I have 2 friends in the UK who are in their early 70's and they have both had the Pfizer vaccine (with no side effects) Their daughter (in her 30's/40's I would think) had the Oxford AstraZeneca and was in bed for a day with flu like symptoms.

On 5/29/2021 at 2:32 PM, khunPer said:

The future – "going forward" – of Chaweng Beach and Lamai Beach is not what you see right now during a Covid-19 lockdown, it's what's coming after the pandemic.

 

The visitors to Samui already began to change during the last decade from it's original mix, originating from old time back packers, however with some major changes after the airport opened in late 1980s, when some people began staying in many star resorts, and more families arrived, and not to forget more Asian turists.

 

Asian tourists had already become the majority in Thailand before the Covid-pandemic, but Samui was still a destination for a huge amount of Westerners. Where 43% of visitors in Chiang Mai were Chinese in 2018, and 40% in Pattaya, and 35% on Phuket, there were only 15% Chinese on Samui. Pattya counted India as second largest group with 10% and South Korea as number three with 7%, whilst Samui had 10% Germans and 10% Brits in those positions. But the mix of guests on Samui might well continue to change in favor of more Asians in the future.

 

Furthermore I have an impression of that the interest from later visitors in general are for high-end accommodation rather than budget solutions. Especially in the later years befor the C-19 the number of several star resorts increased, and there are still a number under construction, whilst the "old fashioned" resorts were already suffering from little less customers. Also "old-timer" Westerners came in smaller numbers – some of the original returning hippie-era backpackers might simply have grown too old, or, as some of my friends, older and well-established enough to seek higher end accommodation with aircon, and travel by air instead of train and boat – the trend for experiencing amazing Thailand seemed to have topped around 2012-2014, so that also resulted in a little decline of Western tourists. Furthermore, in the period 2012-2014 the total number of foreign tourists in Thailand were about 25 million, whilst in 2019 it was almost 40 million, so relative the number of Westerners in total might seem halfed; but not on Samui, however both relative fewer, and in real numbers also little fewer.

 

Statistically have European tourists the lowest spending per day with average $125. Americans are second lowest with $147, but very small in number, 0.55% of the total arrivals in 2019; some individual European countries ranged higher with 1.98% Brits, 1.29% Germans and 0.92% French. However Russians made it up for the Caucasians with 6.78%, helped by o.48% from Ukraine. In 2019 the tourist stats showed 57.80% Chinese arrivals, 5.19% Japanese, 4.05% South Koreans and 2.90% from India, the latter has been mentioned as the future tourists for Phuket, and perhaps also Samui, don't forget India is within range of Airbus 320-family airplanes. Chinese are the highest daily spenders with $192, Middle East came in second with $190 a day, but low in numbers, and Asians in average (excluding ASEAN) spends $175 a day; i.e. Asians are more attractive tourists than Westerners, from en economical point of view.

 

Just looking at the numbers justify my impression of Samui turning more into higher end accommodation, and also a different shopping interest. Chinese tourists are said to love shopping in brand name malls, which justify places like Central Festival and the number of small brand name shopping malls replacing the old market stalls with mainly cheap clothes and copy-ware, paintings and souvenirs. However Chinese and Asian tourists are said to stay only 4-5 days, whilst Westerners typically stay two weeks – which might partly justify the lower daily spending – so the much higher number of Asians in arrivals stats are relative less viewed in daily number of residents compared to Westerners.

 

I've been noticing the young folks that are coming for partying. They are widely replacing the old time backpacker folks that created the party reputation of the islands, with stories about bonfires and guitars on Chaweng Beach on full moon nights – Time Magazine had a story about that the Full Moon Part originated on Chaweng's beach and later moved to Phangan, I'm not sure it's the true story, but it's one of many – and all other nights they were later also partying. They lived from next to nothing in cheap huts on the beaches of Chaweng and Lamai – some have posted that in the beginning a hut would cost 5 baht a day, but 100 baht is often mentioned, and when I came first time in 2001 then 300 baht the going rate – they were eating fried rice chicken for 30 baht, or less, from street kitchens, or like affordable restaurants, so they had enough spare money for Meekong-Coke and/or mushroom-shakes. It's changed; today's young folks want nice aircon rooms, good restaurants, and sit in trendy cafés or pubs before partying on beaches, or in clubs; and they seem to have enough funds piled up in their plastic cards for spending. That's why places like Ark Bar could grow so big from a modest palm-leaf roofed beach bar, to a huge resort with standard hotel-quality rooms.

 

The beaches of Chaweng and Lamai have become two different places, even both of them originates from the happy hippies. Where Chaweng Beach became party-zone and grew big based on that, including a number of several star resorts, Lamai Beach changed to more typical Thai beach destination with numerous bars spread widely over the beach road-area and more affordable life-style, where the few nightlife clubs slowly disappeared. Later it also seemed like some of the bars couldn't survive, as Samui is no longer an attractive destination for middle aged single gentlemen, who rather wish to spend the holiday budget in the nightlife, than on accommodation and domestic travelling. In Chaweng the typical beer bar era already began to fade out a decade, or more, ago; the party tourists are not heading for beer bars, and the family tourists neither; but the trendy pubs, attracting the party people, not only survived, but also grew in size.

 

I don't think the future after C-19 will change much of the already began progress, rather cement and forward changes from old style to the new era. Especially Asian tourists will quickly return and head for their 4-5 days in several star resorts, head out for gourmet restaurants, if not dining inside the walls of their resorts, and some of the guests will also seek trendy evening life and nightlife. A number of young folks will also return and pick-up the party where they left it, they seem to already really miss festivals and parties, not to forget a sabbat-year in South East Asia. However, some more of the old-time Samui-style will disappear, or just not reopen, but it will simply be replaces by something else within reasonable time.

 

Another already ongoing change that I also believe will continue is accommodation in pool villas and like, rather than old-fashioned rooms. Two pairs, or families, travelling together rent a private villa with their own pool, and might even cook a few meals "at home". Compared to the price of two or more, depending of eventual children, ordinary double rooms in the old-fashioned resorts, the private villa might cost the same; i.e. 1,500 to 2,500 baht a day times 2 easily justify a daily pool-villa rate of 3,000 to 5,000 baht; a private pool-villa might even be a cheaper solution in some cases (experience from my friends). Larger groups will head for luxury villas with more bedrooms. A trend for both Westerners and Asian is that the price is not as important as the quality of the holiday – I hear that often – in older time a holiday budget was limited, so the price was the most important for at all making the adventure of travelling possible.

 

So my "forward" crystal ball view is that it might take little time, perhaps up to two years, but both Chaweng Beach and Lamai Beach will come back alive when the pandemic is under control, but the already ongoing changes from old era towards a new time will just happen little more rapid than it would without the C-19 pandemic...????

 

Good post, but are your fingers not sore?  I had to give my eyes a rest half way through! ????

10 minutes ago, Tropicalevo said:

Up here at the pointy end (Bangrak, Plai Laem and Choengmon) all of the roads have been widened and tarmac'd along with new footpaths, drains and street lights.  ????

 

and yes - they always put the street lights in the middle of the footpath.  ????

 

The bad news - it can be a bit of a race track at night.

Maybe available at Lazada?

20 hours ago, Airalee said:

With this news, plus all the hotels, tour agencies, etc etc etc closing, how is it that they arrive at an official 2%(ish) unemployment rate?

They asked TAT!

On 5/21/2021 at 10:42 PM, gearbox said:

More businesses are still closing permanently. A lot of the staff has moved outside Samui,  so when eventually they start to reopen there won't be enough workers initially.

A lot of places look a bit dilapidated now, they would need some investment for a bit of refurbishing before opening.

Some of the public infrastructure like footpaths is slowly degrading,  hopefully they'll find money for it later as very few businesses are paying taxes now.

"Some of the public infrastructure like footpaths is slowly degrading"

Actually to give credit where it is due, the roads have improved tremendously - especially in and around Lamai - don't know about Chaweng - never go there.

5 hours ago, pacovl46 said:

That year! ???????????? Just goes to show that he doesn’t know the first thing about coke other than how to snort it!

Sorry -"that year" was said tongue in cheek!

I was implying that (as you have just said) that Novocaine is a totally different animal to the snorting tackle!

7 hours ago, Rocking Robert said:

That’s life deal with it

I bet you're a fun guy at a party!

7 hours ago, Rocking Robert said:

If you are a US citizenship just fly back to the US and get your shots it’s that easy it’s not free the taxpayers pay for it

And will you pay the bills for the flights, quarantines , fit to fly certificates, Covid free certificates and insurances etc -  just say yes, it's that easy!