Pattaya moans: Nothing but rude Indians, Chinese and Arabs - "they treat the place like they own it"

[webfact]

Pattaya moans: Nothing but rude Indians, Chinese and Arabs - "they treat the place like they own it"

 

Picture: Sophon Cable

 

As a Pattaya hotel association were upbeat over an increase in hotel bookings came a stream of racist comments that the tourists were not to the locals' liking.

 

Posters on Facebook were moaning that all the tourists in the resort were either Indians, Chinese or Arabs - they don't spend much, cause trouble and have no manners, they spouted.

 

The message was clear: Where are all the nice ones - like Americans - who spend cash and behave well!?

 

Sophon Cable TV on Facebook quoted Sanpetch Supphabowonsathian, head of the Eastern Seaboard Hotel Association, as saying that the boat show week was a great success and advance bookings for this high season showed a 5-10% increase on last year.

 

Though prices remained static due to oversupply it was positive news for the industry, he said.

 

But this was met with scorn by Thai posters many of whom seemed to be operators at the resort.

 

Nong Samnak said: "Yeh right...but it's only the Chinese".

 

Precha Likit bemoaned the fact that it was just Indians and Chinese asking, Where are the Americans?

 

"I Love You" clearly doesn't love the tourists much at their massage shop. They said: "Don't ask me about the Indians. I would prefer Russians any day but there aren't any".

 

Anchalee Julakhot chipped in: "It is just Chinese groups. What's the use? They won't even buy a drink from you".

 

While Lihi Kittyhili really turned on the guests to Pattaya: "It's just Chinese, Indians and Arabs. They have no manners and treat Pattaya like it's their own country".

 

Source: Sophon Cable

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2017-11-27

[sanemax]

Reading on Thai visa about peoples posts on Facebook

If I reply to those posts on facebook , will TV post any  replies here or will I have to go to FB to read the replies ?

[marko kok prong]

Tat must be getting a hit squad together to silence these people.

[ezflip]

15 minutes ago, webfact said:

The message was clear: Where are all the nice ones - like Americans - who spend cash and behave well!?

They ain't coming back because you treated them like $hit with all your scams. Much better places to go instead.

 

They've been asking the same question for the past 5 years but refusing to accept the answer...

[lupin]

" they don't spend much, cause trouble and have no manners, "

 

Are they talking about themselves?

[jonclark]

And to those moaning locals we give you.....Tearful Kobkarn

 

 

[PatOngo]

The bag snatchers and ladyboys don't discriminate in who they rob!

[Just1Voice]

Thailand has destroyed their tourist image for the good tourists who come and spend money, with all the jacked up dual pricing, piss poor attitudes, total lack of language skills, rip off prices, and high crime.  The "cream" has been scraped from the top, so now all they're left with is the dregs.  And no one but themselves to blame. 

 

[lonewolf99]

Anyone want to add to this list of only a few reasons why the Westerners are not coming in the numbers they did in say 2005?

 

Overly strong Baht.

Too many scams.

Blinkered tourist board courting the wrong nationalities  i.e. now over run with Chinese, Indians, Middle Eastern, Madagascans ?

Not listening to advise from Westerners already in LoS.

Filthy beaches and Sois.

As mentioned, bag snatching.

Brutal unprovoked assaults.

Deadly roads.

Ineffective Policing combined with corruption.

Unsafe balconies........

Junta.

Restrictive legitimate Visas for extended periods.

Obese gogo dancers and bar girls...............

 

 

 

[chrisandsu]

8 minutes ago, lonewolf99 said:

Anyone want to add to this list of only a few reasons why the Westerners are not coming in the numbers they did in say 2005?

 

Overly strong Baht.

Too many scams.

Blinkered tourist board courting the wrong nationalities  i.e. now over run with Chinese, Indians, Middle Eastern, Madagascans ?

Not listening to advise from Westerners already in LoS.

Filthy beaches and Sois.

As mentioned, bag snatching.

Brutal unprovoked assaults.

Deadly roads.

Ineffective Policing combined with corruption.

Unsafe balconies........

Junta.

Restrictive legitimate Visas for extended periods.

Obese gogo dancers and bar girls...............

 

 

 

Yep women have gotten older and uglier for sure . ITS expensive now to visit . It’s going the way of Spain , Mexico  , Las Vegas , rubbish over saturated tourist dumps . 

Luckily for Thailand it has not had as much competition . I’m still waiting for Burma to get interesting 

[ezflip]

To follow up on my previous post - If Americans are truly dead-set on being scammed and fleeced, they might as well go south of their own border. No jet-lag, airfare is cheaper, plenty of spicy food and the beer/tequila is the same.

 

Otherwise, for near enough the same airfare price, going to Vietnam is a much better deal.

[Samui Bodoh]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

"It's just Chinese, Indians and Arabs. They have no manners and treat Pattaya like it's their own country".

 

But, you'll still take their money, right? 

[chrisandsu]

1 minute ago, ezflip said:

To follow up on my previous post - If Americans are truly dead-set on being scammed and fleeced, they might as well go south of their own border. No jet-lag, airfare is cheaper, plenty of spicy food and the beer/tequila is the same.

 

Otherwise, for near enough the same airfare price, going to Vietnam is a much better deal.

I think whomever wants the Americans back must be remembering with nostalgia the Vietnam war ! Americans are not big travellers at all ! I think they are getting confused with europeans . Plus Mexico does not have decently women . Anything over 30 (most are in pattaya now ) in Mexico are normaly overweight and have a shed load of kids .

[Lingba]

19 minutes ago, lonewolf99 said:

Anyone want to add to this list of only a few reasons why the Westerners are not coming in the numbers they did in say 2005?

 

Overly strong Baht.

Too many scams.

Blinkered tourist board courting the wrong nationalities  i.e. now over run with Chinese, Indians, Middle Eastern, Madagascans ?

Not listening to advise from Westerners already in LoS.

Filthy beaches and Sois.

As mentioned, bag snatching.

Brutal unprovoked assaults.

Deadly roads.

Ineffective Policing combined with corruption.

Unsafe balconies........

Junta.

Restrictive legitimate Visas for extended periods.

Obese gogo dancers and bar girls...............

 

 

 

You hit it right..and lets remember that this is exactly the quality tourists they chose to go after...you get what you wish for...good luck

[Lingba]

6 minutes ago, Samui Bodoh said:

 

But, you'll still take their money, right? 

exactly!

[nausea]

This is so comical; you know, I haven't been to Pattaya in years, must pay a visit, just too see if it's really got as bad as people claim.

Edited November 27, 2017 by nausea
Spelling

[trogers]

Ahhh... bemoaning that dual pricing doesn't work on these nationalities...

[impulse]

28 minutes ago, chrisandsu said:

Yep women have gotten older and uglier for sure . ITS expensive now to visit . It’s going the way of Spain , Mexico  , Las Vegas , rubbish over saturated tourist dumps . 

Luckily for Thailand it has not had as much competition . I’m still waiting for Burma to get interesting 

 

Possibly true of some parts.  But if you're willing to put out the same money and effort it took 20 years ago just to get to Thailand, you can get to relatively unspoiled places in LOS. 

 

The problem is that cheap airfare and tourist companies made it so easy to reach and spend your money in the cesspits that most web enabled tourists don't bother going any further.  Most are wannabe adventurers (myself often included), and won't spend the effort to get to the nicer places because they don't have to, and won't spend the money to stay at nicer places in the cesspits because they don't have it.

 

[HiSoLowSoNoSo]

Phuket and many of the other seaside resorts will go the same way, they only got themselves to blame for this.

[mok199]

if we lose these tourists we have a ghost town...Thailand new this going forward  5 years ago,as they began selling this low cost tour bullsh*t..Thailand drove off all our better people now we are left with these clowns..just build another mall that will solve all our problems......AMUSING THAILAND

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, JoePai said:

rude Indians, Chinese and Arabs

What else do they expect from these 3 nationalities     

 

Well, they've been pushing for "quality" tourists for a long time with all their various policies and government foibles... and now they've got them. Good luck with that!   

[Destiny1990]

Many farangs have left because visas procedures became a hassle.

[Baerboxer]

47 minutes ago, Samui Bodoh said:

 

But, you'll still take their money, right? 

 

Are you suggesting that excuses bad manners?

 

 

[Rimmer]

Some troll posts have been removed

[chrisandsu]

11 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

Possibly true of some parts.  But if you're willing to put out the same money and effort it took 20 years ago just to get to Thailand, you can get to relatively unspoiled places in LOS. 

 

The problem is that cheap airfare and tourist companies made it so easy to reach and spend your money in the cesspits that most web enabled tourists don't bother going any further.  Most are wannabe adventurers (myself often included), and won't spend the effort to get to the nicer places because they don't have to, and won't spend the money to stay at nicer places in the cesspits because they don't have it.

 

Yes for sure there is a few decent places one of my favourite places on earth is in Thailand (won’t say where)it’s beautiful and rural but not good for tourism ! You need a good mix of nighttime entertainment , things to do and see , restaurants , to make it a worthwhile place . Thailand does have that but it became oversaturated ,tourists became bountiful then they forget how it became special ! To have a decent holiday in Thailand costs about the same as going on holiday in Europe these days ! Of course you can scrimp by eating off the street food vendors and staying in a guest house but that’s not really a holiday is it ?  

[craigt3365]

18 minutes ago, mok199 said:

if we lose these tourists we have a ghost town...Thailand new this going forward  5 years ago,as they began selling this low cost tour bullsh*t..Thailand drove off all our better people now we are left with these clowns..just build another mall that will solve all our problems......AMUSING THAILAND

Other than the mass tourists, Pattaya is starting to look like a ghost town. Driving around, I see lots of shops closed. Lots.

[impulse]

6 minutes ago, chrisandsu said:

Yes for sure there is a few decent places one of my favourite places on earth is in Thailand (won’t say where)it’s beautiful and rural but not good for tourism !

 

Smart man, keeping it a secret.

 

A lot of my favorite places in the world have virtually no tourism, but that's what keeps them great, affordable, and not inundated.

 

Edit:  Reminds me of the Eagle's song, The Last Resort:  "Call someplace paradise, you can kiss it goodbye" (I may be paraphrasing...)

 

 

 

Edited November 27, 2017 by impulse

[Kerryd]

The demographic started changing (dramatically) around 10 years ago. Back then when you walked down Walking Street (for example) you saw a couple of Indians (once in awhile), a few Arabs, 1 or 2 Asian tour groups following the tour guide's flag and...............planeloads of "Westerners" spending money like they were "2 week millionaires" (which most of them were).

Friends of mine were in a motorcycle club that was made up mostly of local (Thai) business owners (30 or so). They owned restaurants, hotels, bars and bike shops and everyone had a Harley. Used to be common for groups of us to ride down to Walking Street in the evening, park outside an "establishment" and party to the wee hours of the morning (as many of the owners didn't finish work until it was nearly sunrise in some cases).
Not only were the owners making money, but their staff were as well and it showed as they were spending money like drunken sailors as well. All of that translated into more business for other businesses (restaurants, karaoke bars, gold shops, sick buffalo sales & servicing, etc, etc). The "trickle down effect" as it is known.

But then things started to change. Thailand started pushing for more "Asian" and Indian tourists, thinking that sheer numbers would equate to increased revenues. Fewer "Westerners" and a lot more "non-Westerners" started arriving.
Many of the business owners were complaining 6-7 years ago that they were having a hard time as there were lots of people on the streets, but no one was spending any money. If the tourists aren't spending money, then hardly anyone else is making any. Looks great when you see hundreds of "Asian tour groups" on the streets, until you realize that they aren't spending any money. They go to a place (say a go-go), sit for 1 hour and drink the beer (or coke) that is included with their package deal, then head off to the next venue (i.e. a "Muay Thai" fight), do the same thing, then off to (perhaps) a restaurant where they can pick a couple things from a set menu, then it's back to the hotel, all without having spent (or tipped) a baht. 
The business owners aren't making a huge profit off of them, especially if they represent the majority of their business.

I was sitting in a friend's beer bar on Walking Street one evening when a group of Indians (6 in total) came by. One of them started chatting with the owner, trying to get a discount on the price of the (cheapest) draft beer because he was bringing "all these customers" to his bar ! (That bar already had about the cheapest draft prices on the Street.) The owner said no to giving them a discount. They sat down anyways and ordered.........................................

 

2 small glasses of draft that the 6 of them then shared.

Couple years ago I was riding with a couple of the guys from the aforementioned motorcycle club. Seems most of the other members had sold their bikes as they were a pricey "luxury" they couldn't afford anymore. A lot of the "business owners" no longer even had businesses and some have had to cut back, a lot, on other activities.
Talked to some other guys from another club (also local business owners) a couple weeks ago to see if they were going to the Buriram Bike Week (which used to be one of the "must do" trips every year) and they said "money was too tight" and they had to choose between going to Buriram or Chiang Mai as they couldn't afford to do both.

I think another thing that has lead to a decline in business may be the crackdown on the 30 day stamps so many people depended on. Could be that a lot of "business" finally gave up as they couldn't meet the requirements for a proper Visa and still afford to be in the bars every night and with the reduction in time given at the (land) borders and the limit to the number of Visa Exempt stamps you could have in a year, I suspect a lot of people have moved on.

I don't think the baht is that much stronger, though to some who reminisce about the "good old days" it may seem so. Most (real) tourists wouldn't have a clue about how strong the baht is or factor that into their travel plans. The strength (or weakness) is primarily a concern for those that live here for extended periods.

 

The "coup" and the current government isn't really a factor either. Sheesh, I've been here for 2 coups so far and it didn't faze things a bit. There were far more problems when all the "reds & yellows" were running around raising havoc. Considering how peaceful things have been since the last coup, I'd say the country has been better off. Most tourists wouldn't have a clue as to the local political situation and wouldn't care as long as the air-con in the hotel worked and beer in the bar was cold.

 

As for the "rip offs" and the like - again, most people who plan on travelling to Thailand probably don't have a clue about any of that stuff. You may find this hard to believe, but there is very little news about Thailand, outside of Thailand, unless it is a major, dramatic event like the Koh Tao murders in 2014. That made the UK papers but I doubt they had any real effect on the overall numbers of people planning on travelling to Thailand (from anywhere let alone the UK itself).

I noticed that a long, long time ago. There was a headline about a couple of monks that had been beheaded in the "South" that made the news internationally. I was talking with some friends overseas and they had no idea about all the problems that had been going on in that area for years as the average shooting/bombing doesn't make the news at all (outside of Thailand). Same for all the motor vehicles accidents, necklace snatching, "ladyboy encounters" (or "cashier shortchanged me 10 baht" stories that expats in the country see/whine about all the time).

For that matter, think about Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Malaysia. How much do you see/hear in the news about the day-to day events happening in those countries ? Almost nothing at all unless it is something really big. Believe it or not, stuff happens in those countries on a daily basis as well ! I went to Cambodia last January for a short trip. Guess which things I never even bothered to check ?
The news and the exchange rate. 

(Still had a great trip and that place (Siem Reap) was overflowing with people in January. In just one of the many parking lots near Angkor Wat there had to have been nearly 60 of those double-decker tour buses alone and everywhere else we went was the same. Downtown was jam packed as well but we didn't stay very long.) 

I suspect that eventually the "demographic" will change again, but to what I have no idea. It depends on the people "at the top" and what they envision the best options are. Who knows, if enough of the business owners can make enough noise, maybe those people at the top will rethink their strategy. 
Probably not until long after the next election though. If then. If at all.
 

 

 

[Peterw42]

17 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

Smart man, keeping it a secret.

 

A lot of my favorite places in the world have virtually no tourism, but that's what keeps them great, affordable, and not inundated.

 

Edit:  Reminds me of the Eagle's song, The Last Resort:  "Call someplace paradise, you can kiss it goodbye" (I may be paraphrasing...)

 

 

 

You can check out any-time you want but you can never leave.

[Eff1n2ret]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

 

Sophon Cable TV on Facebook quoted Sanpetch Supphabowonsathian, head of the Eastern Seaboard Hotel Association, as saying that the boat show week was a great success

They've been trying very hard to big up the boat show, but whatever the hotel occupancy rate, I question how many of them were there for that reason. I was there on Thursday, and it was very quiet - hardly surprising really, as there were only half-a dozen or so boats exhibited, and nothing remarkable. There were actually more Harley Davidsons on display than boats. Apart from that a few marquees with a small number of equipment suppliers, a couple of food stalls, some of the international schools, a few other specialist bits and pieces, and that was it. It's a dog and pony show, and I can't imagine international buyers jetting in for what was on offer.