Like a rubber band or the markets, or Newton's third law, Pattaya, and the entertainment hubs of Thailand will bounce back with a vengeance. Yes, the entire world is itching to come. Numbers will be up, money will be spent, but the scope of the rebound will be much much narrower indeed. The wealth gap will continue to grow, leaving many left behind in education and experience. This rebound will be short lived BECAUSE of that distribution. The answer to many may not seem evident, but is really quite simple. The THB/USD must fall another $10. Prices for airfare, hotels, and entertainment must fall as well, and near 0% loans need to be given to certain, proven, "super small" Thai business people that are actually spent. Prop up the prices upon any kind of opening to try and make up for lost time, and the boom WILL be short lived! Build Thailands NEW reputation upon the OLD reputation. Value and COVID discounts, easier and extended visas, and slowly rebuild over the next 10 successful years. Something akin to a 10 year happy happy happy hour! Keep trying to gut westerners by offering $6-15 hamburgers, ฿500 cab fares around the corner, 2KST 5KLT, and good riddance to you. A select few Thai's might well pay off their outstanding loans but that will surely be the end of that. Again. The money spent will not be circulated. This is true worldwide. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, and..... It's not even close to being over. New, unrealistic business loans will be given to people that want a piece of the gold rush. Money will be spent on LV bags, Louboutin kicks and fancy whips, just to lure in that big fish, or to impress their neighbor. As the person said earlier. People that used to frequent pawnshops can't pawn and they certainly can't buy. I've been coming to Thailand for 6 years. Every year I hear, "This year Is not as good as every year prior.". This is an ever changing event for every person on the planet. And not any more so than in Thailand. If you think "normal" will ever return, if you fear the unknown, this is certainly not the time for you. The change is right in front of your faces, and we're not even standing for the 7th inning stretch. Not to mention, without a whiff of GFE, simply a PayPal transaction and a pre-negotiated message on TF, and the lottery winners will be even more few and far between. Let's face it folks. The people we are mostly referring to on this Expat-ish forum are Expats. I mean, Thai ladies, on the whole, fancy who the best lovers are. The French kissers, the machismo Italians, or the well spoken Americans. Are people from neighboring countries going to fill that particular void? Ummmmmmmm... No! They will mostly be unwelcome and resented. They will, however, fill the coffers of the elite. The affordability is why Expats have come to Thailand for such a long time. Now is the time, i suspect, Thailand will chose to welcome neighboring tourists, as Westerners will NOT easily adapt to rate hikes and digital transformation. Unfortunately, the Thais, most likely, will not put up with wage declines and their own neighbors as hospitable as they have us Westerners. Kiss the Bar-girl monthly salaries, bar-fines and ฿180 lady drinks goodbye. The business model is changing right before your eyes. You can be change or stand in the way of it. Change is inevitable. The normal we knew from even 3 years ago is gone! It will be nice to be a rare relic and valued commodity in Thailand come 2030.
