jupiler

Sorry to see this happen, but wearing a waste bag out in plain view in that area is an advertisement for trouble.

You mean probable: walking arround in Pattaya is nowadays an advertisement for trouble...

If they closed, the employees would be gainfully employed in other areas of the growing service and manufacturing sectors and the buildings re-rented to more socially useful business.

Your serious aint you ???........

Most definitely...get out of the fereng ghettos sometime and see the real Thailand and its booming (non-fleshpot) economy [Thai stock market up 20% YTD...USA market flat YTD!].

"The global financial crisis of 2008-09 severely cut Thailand's exports, with most sectors experiencing double-digit drops." (Thailand economy 2010,CIA World factbook)

I bet theyr is not 1 disco in WS build with 'honest earned money'!

If he is blacklisted he can never return to Thailand. Considering he has got his family here, that's as good as prison.

I feel sorry both for him and his family. Lifechanging stuff. <deleted>**, there's a bunch of sleepless nights right there...

Oh well, Cambodia is not that far...

1. Worldwide crisis

2. Bad currency rate

3. Political instability

4. Bad publicity (scams,suspicious foreign deaths, pedhofile cases..)

Its gonna take years before Thailand tourism shall recover.

I can remember it in the middle eighties . Walking street was much the same as it is now , but there was not a lot on the he other side of Second Road .

Here is a common picture that often gets put on TV of walking street in 1980 and you say it is much the same as it is now.....ok

Great picture.

Narri's gallery is still there at thesame spot!

Why are so many post so negative about the possibility Thailand Tourism Industry will recover.

Maybe because most people say it like it is, period.

Most of the arguments come from people who live here a long time and only want to see the things in their own small world.

The highest number of tourist are the Thais themselves. So don't worry they have the money and the desire to travel.

Next time you go to the 7eleven, you can ask the girl behind the counter when whas the last time she went on a holiday.......

85% of the Thai people don't have the money nor the time to go on a holiday!

The political situation, and for the mentioned scams, etc, this will not effect the Tourism Industry so much, because they are not so important issues for most normal holiday makers.

Ever been scammed? Ever walked arround in a city with a curfew?

Tourism to recover in 6 months ............ Hmmmmmmmm

The western world is broke, unemployment high, wages down.

Air fares to Thailand are two to three time what they were (2009 I paid 245UKP for a return LHR to BKK, 2010 cheapest was 650UKP)

The Baht is 20 percent more expensive (2009 I got 54Bht to 1 UKP, 2010 47bht to 1 UKP)

Western news portrayed Thailand as a war zone

None of Thailand's problems have been resolved

I don't think tourism will ever recover in Thailand, in fact I think it will get worse as new bookings are unlikely to be made.

UK travel agents don't advertise holidays to Thailand any more, and the Baht is not listed in UK currency exchange shops.

If I didn't have a Thai wife, I would have left last month.

I fully agree, Thailand tourism haven't seen the bottom yet!

When they catch 1 mule, 5 others getting true customs.....

All the eyes are turned to an suspicious Iranian, while on thesame plane a blond Scandinavian beachbabe goes true.....

Those things are arranged!

.

For 2000 baht i can get:

- a taxi drive from Bangkok airport to Trat, a 3 hours drive (240 km) or

-R/T flight with Airasia BKK-Chiang Mai or

- rent a car for 2 days.......

With all scams( jetski,tuktuk,motorbike) arround,maybe in the future the US marines gonna have theyr R&R back in the Philipinnes.

Why book you're ticket at a travel agency? Book it at internet,strait with the airline. Cheaper and safer.

How in heavens name, would Colombian men who only speaks Spanish, get the information that theyr is 12.000.000 baht somewhere in a car at a parking lot in Thailand?

And why would they stay in the country and not flee to Malaysia,Cambodia etc?

Everyone knows these days that theyr are security cameras at every ATM, bank, hotel....etc!

Maybe the 12.000.000 baht whas not from a curreny exchange trader, but drug related money.

Wow, maybe whe now have not only the Russia maffia, but also the colombian kartels in the Kingdom!

Colombia = drugs

People come people go.

15 years ago allmost everyone(in Europe) went for a summer holiday to Spain, now they go to Turkey,Egypt etc.

The big Thailand hype is over. And this has nothing to do with the political crisis or currency rate.

She gives 5k to her mom and her room rent (Maybe around 3k-4k?)

so she has 11k left for herself and her kids.

If she tighten her belt. She can live with that amount of money.

but Since she has kids, I think give her 25k per month is OK. but shouldn't give her more than that.

You forget the Thai boyfriend, he deserves also a piece of the pie!

Looking at latestay, i was amazed that near all hotels at Chidlom, are sold out till the end of the month.

Theyr now more journalists in Bangkok then tourists i suppose.

You can't beat Kiss food.....

If money is no issue: Bruno's

Maybe Pattaya is changing, but theyr have never been as much bars as theryr are now!

15 years ago theyr where only 2 disco's on WS, 3th road whas unknown, and soi baukaow had hardly any bars.

If you want to go shopping theyrs no better place in asia then Bangkok (not now unfortunately)

The market is just waiting for a total real estate collapse and exactly the same as it took the Spanish real estate market to collapse.

The entire Spanish GDP was, for a large part, totally depending on construction.

The result is -VISIBLE- more than 1 million houses on the market, for sale...but no buyers. In a country with 40 million people and even more than 50 (!) million tourists. Thailand doesn't even have 10 million on a yearly basis; forget about the visa running expats and returning visitors from Malaysia and other neighbouring countries, and 99% of those will never consider buying property in Thailand.

And, what's more, that's the visible part of the -for sale- market in Spain; there is a very large and very painful real estate market from owners who do not even dare to put their property on the market and hope for better times.

WHO is paying for the maintenance in the coming 1, 2 and more years...?

If you leave a house empty for some time...go back and look what happened in the past 6 months...

It's the same, maybe on a smaller scale, in Thailand; waiting for a disaster.

LaoPo

Amen!

Civilised nations do not shoot protesters!!

I understand the pros and cons. But do not shoot protesters. You're going back into the dark ages.

Many (probably most) army people in BKK puke at the thought of what they are being asked to do.

Do you honestly think the Redshirts are being overly violent ??? There were a 100,000 of these people not so long ago. Think of the mayhem they could have caused. They didn't !!!

Sure if the army shoot real bullets into you, you are going to be pretty angry.

Vested interests don't care a toss.

You must be joking dude!!

Didn't they (red shirts) killed 4 soldiers before ???

Anyone who rents a jet ski at this point is a complete fool. There has been more than ample press warnings about these scams and only a fool would expose himself to that, especially for something he could do cheaper at home. Maybe someday they will scam someone who actually has some balls and will do something about it. If there is no legal recourse there is no reason to feel any restraints based on conscience and there is always a way to get even.

Here's an Idea. copy this text in to word.doc. etc

Please print this and take it on your next flight to Thailand Add / Edit more scams as you feel fit.

Thailand

Wealth Warning

Please Read this, then pass too the next Westerner seated near you.

Thailand airport scam

Beware if you buy ANYTHING in the airport, it has be said that you also get a FREE GIFT an item is placed in with your purchase. Allegations have been made that a number of passengers are being detained every month in the duty free area on suspicion of shoplifting, and then held by the police until they pay large sums of money to buy their freedom. Note- Best avoid all duty free shops.

Holiday Club Scams & Time Share.

Beware scratch and win holiday / time share card and all time share touts. TIME SHARE in Thailand is illegal and you will lose your deposit or full payment if you are foolish enough to pay.

Jet Ski Scams

NEVER RENT A JET SKI IN THAILAND EVER. Fraudsters, usually working with the cooperation of local police force high payments out of tourists for alleged damage. Rent a Jet Ski anywhere in Thailand could cost you more than you have paid for your whole holiday. This scam is well documented world wide BEWARE.

Thai gem scam

If ANYONE mentions ANYTHING about gemstones to you, just walk away. This is the oldest of all the Thailand scams. Don't fall for the promise of making money with gems, Oh I mean pieces of glass.

Tuk-tuks

These guys are such con-artists that they usually end up making more than what a regular AC taxi with meter would cost. Be ready – everywhere you go they will be pressuring you for a ride and they are masters at Thailand scams! Always, always, always negotiate a price before you get inside a tuk-tuk. Make sure you make it known it's the whole price you are paying not PER PERSON.

Taxi scam

There isn't a working taxi meter in the entire country – or so they say. Taxi drivers will almost never use the meter for foreigners, choosing rather to negotiate and make a better profit. Simply insist that a driver use the meter before you get inside – this is an easy Thailand scam to avoid.

You forgot the motorcycles for rent!

Stay as far as possible from the muslim guys/girls on Pattaya beach road, who have motorcycles for rent.

They use thesame tactics as the jetski scum. You rent a motorbike, the moment you bring it back theyrs a scratch or more, somewhere on the bike.....Seen the discussions over and over for many years. And at the end (with or without the police) you pay, thats for sure!

Every weekend its on the beach road bumper to bumper, thats now and that whas 15 years ago also the case.

Besides, 99% of those cars are Thai tourists, and they just come for the weekend.

The main reason for the standing still is because all those (way to many)songteaw's who stop for every tourist they see.

Throwing a bomb (whatever the size) to a places like Mac Do,sky train etc, a raid at a hospital even without any casualties, has just 1 reason, to scare the public and tourists away. and theyr succeed in that, very well!

People have been warned since early Feb. 2010 about possible problems and still they came why are they crying foul play now..........?

Nobody exept maybe a fortune teller from Sukhumvit, new in feb. about a coming vulcano eruption in Iceland!

Reading is fundamental .............

Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said that 63,601 workers were temporarily out of work due to the closure of 13 hotels, five department stores and 30 bank branches.

And comprehension is even more fundamental. If you want to be a smartass, then do the math first and then come back with an intelligent retort. The typical bank branch employs 6-10 people. A department store has no more than 100 and a large hotel around 250. Do the math; 500+3250+ 300 = 4050. Even if the head count is doubled that still only gives 8100. The fact of the matter is that the department stores and hotels have still kept staff onsite to maintain and guard the premises. For argument's sake, I have not even deducted those people who probably account for 10-20% of the 8100.

My question remains, how is the 63,601 arrived at?

Central world alone counts 5000 shops!

Go look for yourself, if you don't believe....

Hysterical, heavily biased nonsense - just another day at the office for the Nation writers. This is not journalism.

I guess the truth hurts!!!

Good for the journo!!

Only saying what most people think and know!!

He is spot on!!

Exactly!