kinyara

No big deal, people come and go all the time for their own reasons. Their decisions have zero impact on me.

While I'm sure it will be busy, in pure number terms the continued absence of the Chinese is unlikely to make it the biggest high season ever, far from it. Just as an indication monthly numbers are running at 70% of the same month in 2019, I can't see that dramatically increasing in 2 or 3 months time.

What's their policing situation like ?

I'm sure Asean Now readers are chomping at the bit to take advantage of a price reduction to visit Thailand's national parks and historical attractions. Finally their time has arrived.

Possibly if you bought with a short-term investor outlook with borrowed money, but why would that matter if you bought your property in the last few years as your long-term retirement home. You've made your financial commitment, taken exchange rate uncertainty out of the equation for what would be your major expense if you hadn't bought, and you can get on with enjoying life in the comfort of your own home.

Seems a lot of people on here make the mistake of automatically assuming every news article concerning tourism is quoting the same original source, when exactly the opposite true. Everyone was criticising TAT on an article either yesterday or the day before, and the people quoted in the article had nothing to do with TAT. I don't know why anyone would expect consistency of opinion from multiple different sources. I think it's the case a lot of posters don't even read the content of original posts and just trot out their usual bias.

It's no mystery, there was the usual increase due to the Chinese holiday and the following week, i.e. now, it has returned to the pre-holiday level. The jury is out on future outlook due to economic factors and the favourable visa concessions granted, let's see the impact with the actual numbers for November and December as an indicator.

One of the hardest questions to answer with any degree of certainty now more than ever. So many different factors at play both on the domestic economic and political policy front and with regard to potential foreign investment and its global economic impacts. I enjoy the place and wouldn't want to live anywhere else, but taking an objective viewpoint I'd find the decision to buy a lot harder to make now than when I did 20 years ago, it was a no-brainer to me back then, now I don't think it offers the same all round value/living proposition for a number of reasons, social, political and on pure economic grounds.

You're 7 foot 5 tall and wrong. ????

TAT's original target for Chinese arrivals for 2023 was 5 million, so 4 million would represent a 20% shortfall from their expectations at the start of the year.

A weekly drop is no big deal in the consistent bigger picture, should achieve around 27 million which is exactly in the middle of TAT'S 2023 forecast range of 24-30 million. All about the Chinese returning if 2024 is to increase into 30 million + territory, the jury is out on that one at the moment.

" Sadley " ????

I actually witnessed an old boy dying in a bar last week despite the best efforts of the emergency services to revive him. It didn't really make me question my own lifespan, my first thought was I hoped he went out with a well stuffed check-bin.

The article is about the difficulty of Israeli tourists currently in Thailand returning as per scheduled due to flight disruption caused by the outbreak in hostilities at the weekend, nothing to do with your imagined refugee influx. For the record re Ukranians, 22,452 in total came to Thailand from January to August this year, 51st lowest country in terms of arrivals, and less than the 27,135 Israeli tourists that came in the month of August alone.

The nearest I'll get is walking past on opening day just to see our resident protestor with his cheeseboard shouting " Reduce wine tax, reduce wine tax ", and giving the sommelier the finger through the window as the Thai and foreign wealthy enjoy their 5 star priced meals.

Pattaya and Thailand's mass customers know good value and Hooters didn't offer it. Let us know what you think of El Gaucho in Jomtien when it opens up, if you can afford the wine,

Fortunately for Thailand there will likely be around 27 million or so tourists this year that don't share the same negativity as a small group of jaded posters on this forum.

With Chinese arrivals only 30% compared to Aug 2019 YTD interested to see how much of a difference this concession has on the arrival numbers in October, the first full month in operation.

I wonder if the extended distance from the shoreline this has created means condo developments will be permissable closer to beach road in future. All recent developments have been quite a bit back but there is a lot of prime vacant land that runs directly up to the road.

Christ almighty, why don't you just leave and go to a country that serves you cheap wine and you can mingle with tourists that fit in your social bracket. Thailand isn't going to change for a whinging American, you're irrelevant.

Actually if you strip out the Chinese effect which has a huge bearing on the headline number, tourists have been returning in their numbers from all major markets except Japan, so your rant about all things you specifically dislike seems to ignore the reality for the millions returning . I myself flew in last week from Dubai on a full flight, the airport felt very much back to normal and as I looked for my booked taxi there were plenty of signs being held from the top hotel chains. The continued existence of these 5 star options indicates there are wealthy clientele visiting, even though Thailand always has been and always will be primarily a mass tourist market catering to all budget levels.

Bye Reg 1) Was the airport packed with friends and family eagerly welcoming you home ? 2) How was the party, they did organise a party for you surely ? 3) What about the rest of life partner, it's only been a few weeks but any luck down the bingo club ? But more importantly georgegeorgia want to know R U Okay ?

Indians and Chinese tourist numbers increase - " No good for Pattaya, only spend in 7-11's " Farang takes back a 100 baht packet of bin bags to 7-11 for exchange - " Thai customer service is terrible".

It's always more credible to make these observations at the time, strangely they tend to be absent when Pattaya is in full swing. However low season observations are always real time, but as I said shouldn't be a surprise to anyone as the core clientele are indeed still seasonal visitors absent in their numbers at this time of year. Hopefully establishments will be better geared up staffing wise this high season, as a shortage of staff relative to custom was a common complaint from owners and customers I saw and experienced.

I seem to remember the exact same prediction for high season this time last year, high flight costs, cost of living, electricity prices etc etc. As per normal didn't make a blind bit of difference to core European long-haul markets, I know my friends took advantage of the extra 15 days visa free on entry. Bars are empty in low season, could set my watch by that old chestnut that gets trotted out every year..