StayinThailand2much

LOL. Says it all! - All mentioned places, except South Korea, and, perhaps, Taiwan, are way smaller tourism markets, not only for international, but also domestic tourism. Thailand bookings on Klook surged by 1,200%... So what? Meaningless if the earlier numbers are not given. Could have been, say, 30 booked activities in early 2022, and now 390 (or 80 per month)... ????

Sausages and rice? Those kids are lucky! I've seen kids at private schools being served some Mama noodles, perhaps with a chicken bone with a little meat on it, or a few teeny tiny vegetables... Perhaps the parents pay 3,000 baht a month for their kids' lunch at those small private schools, but what the kids actually get is worth more like 300 to 500 baht a month. Once more, people (here parents) are getting scr****...

Yeah, maybe he promised to pay his bills with crypto.

My experience too. Basically two categories of women now; A) Wants to meet, but is only interested in quick cash, and B) Is either scared of foreigners, or is 55+ years old and/or weighs 110kg.

Especially the Russians, who have it very easy, as they can do overland entries as often as they like...

Yes, plausible.

Okay, but not having paid yet while having stayed there seems odd.

There are probably many. My current landlady refuses to do the report, and, I suspect, (at least) another landlord in the past did as well.

But no explanation 'how'. When I rent a hotel room in Thailand, I always have to pay upfront. Or I pay for an apartment, where staff also insist on punctual payment. How can someone run up a bill of 66,000 baht?

Not quite. It started under Thaksin...

Where do we start? 1. They came to Thailand in person, rather than just transferring all their money there. 2. ... 3. ...

Not to mention that Ukraine is only a sideshow in Cold War II, with Xi Jinping watching how the West slowly depletes weapon arsenals...

That would be interesting. What if there are no flights from Chiang Mai to Norway? Obviously, there wouldn't be 'automatic' admission in Laos for the OP either...

Great report, thanks. Out of morbid curiosity, would it be worthwhile to hang out a night or two in Tachileik? If yes, what currency could I use there, only kyat, or also baht and dollars?

I think that's mostly for 'flushing'.

The problem is that they can always deny you at will, if they want to, claiming that you "don't have enough funds for your stay", even if you waved bundles of 100-dollar notes in front of their face.

While I agree that such generalisations don't usually help, it is still a fact that recent 'asylum seekers' to Europe are often (just) young single men in their 20s and 30s, paying large sums to people-smuggling rings, travelling on obscure routes to their 'favourite' country, where (as some admit in interviews) they can get 'rich' from welfare payments, while, possibly, improving their income in shady careers... - What 'real' refugee from war, or political prosecution does all that?

I used that app. I think, I had to give my phone number. Now, what happens if I move? (I tried to change the address in the app, but it isn't possible. Of course, I could un- and reinstall the app, but I worry that I cannot register a new property with the same phone number.)

What do you mean 'recently'? At the time you did your 90-day report, or earlier?

Even now the size of Chinese tour groups in Pattaya is much smaller than pre-Covid. The TAT is dreaming big, but another lockdown in China or not, numbers like in 2019 won't return anytime soon. Ironically, while Pattaya is full of Indians, they are not mentioned much in tourism strategies anymore.

That seems quite high. Here in Bangkok, next to an MRT station and close to a major shopping mall, shops go for a monthly rent of 8,000 baht. But yes, many areas in Pattaya seem to be in a property bubble, with tenants willing to pay any price for a shop... Just imagine opening a barber shop there, profit for a cut, etc. (not incl. rent, but incl. wages, etc.), say, 50 baht. You'd have to get every day 20 customers just to cover that rental payment.

LOL. So this is in comparison to early 2022 when there were still pandemic-related restrictions?

Well, Thailand is after tourists because they mean income. If you think of some locations (Pattaya, Patong, Hua Hin, Chiang Mai, etc.), why would they not care/write about returning expats, esp. as a good number left during the pandemic. And expats, obviously, stay longer than tourists, and can be of importance for local economies (e.g. Pattaya, Phuket). But, using your argument, why write about tourist arrivals at all?

So, if (returning) expats are not counted as 'tourists', why shouldn't their number turn up in other news or announcements?

Have you ever heard or read about in Thai media/publications/announcements/ statistics, etc., about the 'number of non-residents in Thailand', or something along the lines of 'XXX tourists arrived in March, and XX expats/non residents...'? - I certainly haven't since I follow Thai media, and that is for 26 years now...