Pattaya booming!: European tourist arrivals "up 10%" - 'FIT' tourists up 30%

[observer90210]

TAT is back in da house !!

[PatOngo]

The increase is actually upcountry bag snatchers coming in droves to Pattaya in anticipation of the projected tourist arrivals.

[Expat68]

5 hours ago, wakeupplease said:

I will believe it when those who live here say so, not the J boys or liars, the real guys who have nothing to loose by telling the truth.

 

The sad thing is its 17 days to the Christmas Holidays in Europe right now, so no one leaves early at this time of year, The Christmas rush has not started yet so the 10% up on European arrivals is a bloody lie sunshine.

Actually before I retired this was exactly the time I came to Thailand for my holidays. Factories close over the Christmas break, people save their holidays and add two or three weeks on, cheap flights also. My long time friend has just arrived in Thailand will be meeting up with him in 10 days time.

[elgenon]

There seems to be more Russians than last year. 

[geriatrickid]

3 hours ago, AhFarangJa said:

Now I know why Hua Hin is dead......They all went to Pattaya...

Hua Hin is not "dead". Try and get a hotel room at some of the popular resorts and you are out of luck.

[Ossy]

7 hours ago, rooster59 said:

'FIT' tourists up 30%

Ah . . . I guess by 'FIT' he means the non-smoking tourists and let's face it, they are fitter. Strange that he didn't mention the likely 50% downturn in the unfit tourists who'll be smokin' their heads off in Tenerife.

[Kaoboi Bebobp]

1 hour ago, The Deerhunter said:

Here we go again.  Sounds like the minister of sports and tourism has changed but nothing else.  Meanwhile in Cambodia and Vietnam......???????

 

Lack of detail in Thai stats leads to disbelief. The Viets do it right. In Vietnam, tourist arrivals are soaring, year over year and month over month. First 11 months, up 28%. Lots of Chinese and Koreans but the numbers are up double digits for Europeans and North Americans. 

[steven100]

Hang on ... !!    but the TV nayers keep saying everyone is leaving and it's going down the drain ...

just goes to show they know sweet far kall ... 

 

Go Thailand  !!   Go Khun Prayuth Chan O Cha   !!     We love Thailand 

[The Deerhunter]

3 minutes ago, Kaoboi Bebobp said:

 

Lack of detail in Thai stats leads to disbelief. The Viets do it right. In Vietnam, tourist arrivals are soaring, year over year and month over month. First 11 months, up 28%. Lots of Chinese and Koreans but the numbers are up double digits for Europeans and North Americans. 

Yes exactly.  If I was not married to a Thai who owned her own land........   BTW, if you look hard enough even the pictures can nearly looks like the same person. Re: Vietnam..... probably full of 65 y.o. Americans looking to see if any 35 to 40 year old part Vietnamese look like them.  555

[JSixpack]

1 hour ago, rtco said:

I live in Pattaya and am a frequent visitor to some of the bars and pubs etc. Apart from the odd few these places a devoid of customers some are even empty and that is even in the supposed high-season. Pattaya is dying as a tourist destination and nothing TAT do or say is going to stop the process.

 

You can rest assured it will be the worst high season ever. The Golden Egg Layers (the only tourists) have all fled to Cambodia or whatever paradise-of-the-week. In a few short years, Pattaya will be merely bleached ruins and all the Thais now working here will be working in rice fields. Heh heh. And you know exactly why. We have lists of evils.

 

TAT: TVF has been pronouncing Pattaya dead at least twice a year, once for low season, once for high, for at least a decade. You must awfully new here never to have heard of the Pattaya Perpetual Death Spiral. The phenomenon was first noted in the Pattaya Mail around 1997, but commentary reached full fruition here in the forum.

 

2007: Pattaya's Dead

2008: Is Pattaya Dead Right Now?

2009: Pattaya Is Dead Dead Dead

2010: Why Is Everything Closing Down?

2011: Even More Dead Than Last Year?

2012: What'S Next For A Beach Tourist Destination Like Pattaya?

2013: Widening Of Beach Rd Started At North End

2014: Is Pattaya really on the bones of it arse at the minute?

2015: The beach walkway? Low season is really low Pattaya is dead.

2016: Pattaya going downhill! (32 pages of autopsy, death certificates, and reburial)

2017: Economic recession in Pattaya?

 

Waiting for this year's high season Death thread.

[Retiredandhappyhere]

10 minutes ago, steven100 said:

Hang on ... !!    but the TV nayers keep saying everyone is leaving and it's going down the drain ...

just goes to show they know sweet far kall ... 

 

Go Thailand  !!   Go Khun Prayuth Chan O Cha   !!     We love Thailand 

Steven, we are all so pleased that you believe all the statistics and  promises this Government comes up with.  When is the next Election by the way?

[JSixpack]

6 hours ago, wakeupplease said:

I will believe it when those who live here say so, not the J boys or liars, the real guys who have nothing to loose by telling the truth.

1

 

But you didn't disbelieve this part: Ekasit accepted that the Chinese group tour market was still the biggest thing for Pattaya tourism. So looks like you'll just selectively believe what feels good.Expats who live here, BTW, are notoriously near-sighted, can't even see anyone in the malls.

 

Quote

The sad thing is its 17 days to the Christmas Holidays in Europe right now, so no one leaves early at this time of year, The Christmas rush has not started yet so the 10% up on European arrivals is a bloody lie sunshine.

 

 

Actually some do leave early, as Expat68 verifies for us. Did you have something to "loose" by telling the truth sunshine?

[Kadilo]

8 minutes ago, JSixpack said:

 

You can rest assured it will be the worst high season ever. The Golden Egg Layers (the only tourists) have all fled to Cambodia or whatever paradise-of-the-week. In a few short years, Pattaya will be merely bleached ruins and all the Thais now working here will be working in rice fields. Heh heh. And you know exactly why. We have lists of evils.

 

TAT: TVF has been pronouncing Pattaya dead at least twice a year, once for low season, once for high, for at least a decade. You must awfully new here never to have heard of the Pattaya Perpetual Death Spiral. The phenomenon was first noted in the Pattaya Mail around 1997, but commentary reached full fruition here in the forum.

 

2007: Pattaya's Dead

2008: Is Pattaya Dead Right Now?

2009: Pattaya Is Dead Dead Dead

2010: Why Is Everything Closing Down?

2011: Even More Dead Than Last Year?

2012: What'S Next For A Beach Tourist Destination Like Pattaya?

2013: Widening Of Beach Rd Started At North End

2014: Is Pattaya really on the bones of it arse at the minute?

2015: The beach walkway? Low season is really low Pattaya is dead.

2016: Pattaya going downhill! (32 pages of autopsy, death certificates, and reburial)

2017: Economic recession in Pattaya?

 

Waiting for this year's high season Death thread.

Class. Far too intelligent for this forum. I'm amazed you have lasted so long. 

[steven100]

2 minutes ago, Retiredandhappyhere said:

Steven, we are all so pleased that you believe all the statistics and  promises this Government comes up with.  When is the next Election by the way?

I don't always believe all the figures this government puts out but I am sure Thailand is not going down the drain as some nayers on here would have us believe. As for the next election... I would not haz a guess, but I expect 2019 possibly,  but that depends on alot of things, security is one of them.

[JSixpack]

3 minutes ago, Retiredandhappyhere said:

Steven, we are all so pleased that you believe all the statistics and  promises this Government comes up with.  When is the next Election by the way?

 

But you've conveniently ignored the stats from other sources. U jes' ain't gon' bleve nothin', r u? Heh.

 

Asia Pacific Top 20 Destinations by International Overnight Arrivals (millions):

 

Bangkok 19.3 
Singapore 14.1 
Tokyo 12.6 
Seoul 12.4 
Kuala Lumpur 11.3 
Phuket 9.1
Hong Kong 8.9 
Pattaya 8.1

          --The world's most visited destinations 2017: Mastercard release Asia Pacific Destination Index

[NanLaew]

3 hours ago, phantomfiddler said:

...this once charming little fishing village...

You still believe in Santa too?

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, observer90210 said:

TAT is back in da house !!

Nothing to do with TAT. This guy in the OP is the fairly new president of the Pattaya Business & Tourism Association. When he got the job last March, he said he will continue the work of (his predecessor) Sinchai, who made a name for himself over the past four years as one of the staunchest critics of the city government he was asked to join last year. Now he's at the big trough, I hope he remembers his promise.

[NanLaew]

44 minutes ago, Kadilo said:

Class. Far too intelligent for this forum. I'm amazed you have lasted so long. 

He does have his acolytes.

[harleyd61]

[geisha]

Im in Jomtien. At the moment it’s busy because’ of the jet ski world championships. The night market is full of Russians , some small restaurants are busy, as is Kiss and Surf . Otherwise, coming back from Pattaya, from the Mata Hari, Mantra, the two nice restaurants each side of the court, then Gians, Bruno’s , Pan Pan, Indian by Nature, Lynda’s, all empty at 8.30  Pm ! Akvavit was nearly empty too. It’s been like that for a while too. No buisness with overheads can manage living only on a busy weekend or short high  Season. 

[lkv]

How can tourism NOT be up??

 

Located on the shores of the Gulf of Thailand is a breathtaking coastal city with unparalleled natural beauty. In Pattaya, you can marvel at the stunning architecture that shapes the historic city, take a day trip to a beautiful remote island, or simply admire the vibrating floating market. This is a place where an unforgettable experience is waiting at every turn.

 

This is what Qatar Airways would want us to believe. :)

[HLover]

FIT tourists up 10% and unfit Pattaya tourists up 78%

[charmonman]

9 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

 

Wow!

 

By my calculation and reading, tourism in Pattaya is up several thousand percent in the last few years.

 

It must be soooo crowded that walking down the street is a struggle.

 

My sympathies, poor Pattaya-ites...

Actually it is a bit of a struggle walking down some streets, particularly Walking Street. I remember when could catch a baht bus from one end of second road to the other in ten minutes or less. Now the whole road is one long traffic jam 

[IAMHERE]

Up 10%   Up 30%  Well whatever they are doing is working. Keep up the good whatever. I do wonder why Pattaya is up and not all Thailand, better counters I guess.

 

Anyways, who cares about these numbers? Don't hurt me in the least whatever the number is that they publicize. Go Pattaya number crunchers.

[JSixpack]

10 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

 

Wow!

 

By my calculation and reading, tourism in Pattaya is up several thousand percent in the last few years.

 

It must be soooo crowded that walking down the street is a struggle.

 

My sympathies, poor Pattaya-ites...

 

17 minutes ago, charmonman said:

Actually it is a bit of a struggle walking down some streets, particularly Walking Street. I remember when could catch a baht bus from one end of second road to the other in ten minutes or less. Now the whole road is one long traffic jam 

 

So we have choice of believing TVF calculations and reading, or some eyewitnesses on the ground. Now a lot of eyewitnessing is done at random intervals by the near-sighted; hence all the malls are deserted, and at least one member thinks he sees boarded up shops in Central. But the traffic has greatly increased at pretty much all hours, esp on weekends. Check any "crossing Beach Rd." topic.

 

However, those "calculations" were an anomaly. According to TAT: TVF, tourism in Pattaya should be down several thousand percent in the last few years and up by that amount in the surrounding countries where the great Golden Egg Layers have fled. (See Death threads above.) Even in 1997, when pollution and thugs had already taken over Pattaya and were driving away the tourists, it was observed portentously by a doomster in the Pattaya Mail that Cambodia tourism is growing by 50% a year. Since then, Pattaya has at least quadrupled the size of its economy—and it really shows. Yep, walking down the street, let alone crossing, is much more of a struggle than it was. We have an expert here to verify who may weigh in shortly. Then there's parking, sigh.

[rtco]

2 hours ago, JSixpack said:

 

You can rest assured it will be the worst high season ever. The Golden Egg Layers (the only tourists) have all fled to Cambodia or whatever paradise-of-the-week. In a few short years, Pattaya will be merely bleached ruins and all the Thais now working here will be working in rice fields. Heh heh. And you know exactly why. We have lists of evils.

 

TAT: TVF has been pronouncing Pattaya dead at least twice a year, once for low season, once for high, for at least a decade. You must awfully new here never to have heard of the Pattaya Perpetual Death Spiral. The phenomenon was first noted in the Pattaya Mail around 1997, but commentary reached full fruition here in the forum.

 

2007: Pattaya's Dead

2008: Is Pattaya Dead Right Now?

2009: Pattaya Is Dead Dead Dead

2010: Why Is Everything Closing Down?

2011: Even More Dead Than Last Year?

2012: What'S Next For A Beach Tourist Destination Like Pattaya?

2013: Widening Of Beach Rd Started At North End

2014: Is Pattaya really on the bones of it arse at the minute?

2015: The beach walkway? Low season is really low Pattaya is dead.

2016: Pattaya going downhill! (32 pages of autopsy, death certificates, and reburial)

2017: Economic recession in Pattaya?

 

Waiting for this year's high season Death thread.

You must awfully new here ... nope been coming here since 2006 and lived here since 2011 ... it's been going down hill ever since.

[JSixpack]

2 minutes ago, rtco said:

You must awfully new here ... nope been coming here since 2006 and lived here since 2011

 

Well, there went your cover. Sorry. Next.

[Borzandy]

10 hours ago, rooster59 said:

European tourist arrivals "up 10%"

Where are they, Pls I would like to meet them.

[newnative]

Was that a typo and they meant to strike the 'A' key rather than the 'I" key in FIT tourists?

[free123]

an old saying proves again....sex sells...