kinyara

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..

I'd say she's referring to current monthly levels which have gradually recovered from the low early months, which is likely why she used the word " typically " rather than " every ". Jan - 91,841 Feb - 155,656 Mar - 269,773 Apr - 328,414 May - 285,547 June - 311,888 July - 410,311

A nationwide computerised system recording every tourist arriving and departing daily through every point of entry in the country vs the opinion of an Asean Now poster. Tough call.

I'm not sure a PM who is less than 1 week in the job and whose Cabinet has yet to be formally sworn is in a position at this stage to enact any policy change, that is unrealistic and legislatively impossible. However it appears to be a priority in his to do list and I expect we'll see action somewhat quicker than the 2 years and 2 weeks of hemming and hawing and protesting from every tom, dick and harry led Committee it took Vietnam to finally enact a change. I wonder if Thailand will insist on compulsory insurance like Vietnam.

https://www.mots.go.th/more_news_new.php?cid=411

Absolute nonsense, Vietnam's visa situation has been a disaster for their tourism industry since the end of Covid. While Thailand sensibly increased visa free entry from 30 to 45 days ahead of the last high season to kickstart tourism the Vietnamese pen pushers were still shuffling paper from department to department. It may have taken them 2 weeks to sign it off but it's actually taken them almost 2 years to get there. The tourist numbers before and after Covid speak for themselves. In 2019 Vietnam attracted 45% of Thailand's total, in 2022 that number had reduced to 33%, so far to July 2023 it has still not recovered to 2019 levels. at 43%. Hence why they have finally decided to awaken from their coma and do something. To tout the Vietnamese government as a model of fast responsive law making is laughable, it remains the epitome of a slow moving Communist style committee bureaucracy.

Although no one you know is going to Thailand, the fact is over half a million Americans, ( 534k ), do find Thailand an attractive destination and have chosen to visit Thailand already this year.

Not seen any evidence of them increasing their estimate of 5 million Chinese this year, they have however admitted they are likely to fall short of that target.