1 minute ago, SheungWan said:

Tell us where you are and we'll do a comparison.

Went on a trip to Vietnam recently. Has all the things Thailand used to have and none of the things Thailand has now. Don't think I saw one Indian whilst I was there.

the world is small now ... everyone knows what's going on here

2 hours ago, possum1931 said:

"What? If anything Thailand's visa rules are easy for tourists".

Not for the under fifties who want to stay long term they are not.

The thread relates to tourism , ex pats or those wishing to stay year on year are not tourists.

8 minutes ago, Spidey said:

Yes, I get that but the invasion is complete, you can't get away from them. Went for a swim and lunch in the Areca Lodge last week. Mostly farangs with their farang wives, a few farangs with their Thai "girlfriends. Large group of young Indians spread round the pool and started acting like complete idiots. Really annoying. Most people, us included, packed up and left the pool area.

Sometimes one has to move on elsewhere. Sorry about the Areca though.

1 minute ago, joecoolfrog said:

The thread relates to tourism , ex pats or those wishing to stay year on year are not tourists.

Yes they are. Long term tourists.

8 hours ago, onera1961 said:

8 hours ago, mercman24 said:

all the agents Agoda etc do this to try and get you to panic buy, its a sells routine,when you get in touch with the hotel direct , and the answer has always been , *yes no problem, we have a room for you *

But they of ten charge more. And each hotel site is allocated a certain number of rooms to market and fill. 

Yes the Agoda and Booking .com are more expensive than if you called and booked direct. Such is life  ????

Edited November 28, 20187 yr by LomSak27

7 minutes ago, Spidey said:

Went on a trip to Vietnam recently. Has all the things Thailand used to have and none of the things Thailand has now. Don't think I saw one Indian whilst I was there.

Maybe the Communist Party locked them all up.

2 hours ago, madmitch said:

What? If anything Thailand's visa rules are easy for tourists. 30 day stamp for many countries, easy tourist visas. E-visa would be nice though.

 

 

Easy, really? Have you looked at Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia visa rules?

Try being under 50, and being a tourist more than 6 month. See how easy it is, compared to 3 neighboring countries.

I have been coming to Thailand for 20 years , will no doubt continue because I have made friends and frankly im too lazy to start over.

However its far from cheap these days and unlike before I would never now highly recommend it to others.

The reasons for its decline have been well documented on this thread , were I 40 again I would certainly not choose to holiday in Thailand .

1 hour ago, greeneking said:

The visa rules which change all the time.  Are they making it more easy or more difficult this month - I can't keep up!

Malaysia offers, I believe, 90 days on arrival and has done for years without any problems that I know of.

Why is Thailand so paranoid?

Not paranoid. Incompetent. 

9 hours ago, mercman24 said:

hey did you forget the INDIANS i was in Pattaya a few nights ago, thought i was in INDIA lol, even cheaper charlies than the Chinese

 

If you take a stroll down Beach Road in the later part of the evening you will see them negotiating a "5 for the price of 1" deal with the freelancer ladies. 

10 minutes ago, Kim J said:

Try staying here beyond 90 days, having a 60 day tourist visa, with the 30 day extension. Then I think you will understand what was being said.

I know exactly what was being said , just not relevent to this thread.

There are actually travel related definitions distinguishing between 'tourists ' and ' visitors ' but lets not get pedantic. Suffice to say that anybody who stays for an extended period and does not spend most of their time visiting 'touristic ' attractions, is classified as a visitor.

49 minutes ago, joecoolfrog said:

The thread relates to tourism , ex pats or those wishing to stay year on year are not tourists.

Who said they were?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, marqus12 said:

the world is small now ... everyone knows what's going on here

 

this is a very good point when i first come here the only info around was in a Lonely Planet guide

 

 

There is a thread right here, in TVF PattayaNews section about Beach Rd. Some say street is very quiet, some say it's busy. 

 

I walked through Beach Rd, recorded my walk, YT video is in that thread, on last page. People said that because it is Sunday night, we should expect that tourist have left. I never knew tourist leave Sun night.

 

To make sure, I did same thing on Wed night, right now, around 8pm. Below is what Beach Rd and Walking St Wednesday around 8pm.

 

 

Took a baht bus ride from Central to Walking St tonight, Wednesday night 8pm:

 

 

 

Then walked quickly  through about half of Walking St.

Wed, Nov 28, 8.15pm. 

 

 

Does it seem busy?

8pm is very early, no doubt.

 

Beach Rd seems very quiet,  few tourists from India, that's about it. Zero Chinese groups on Beach Rd, nothing to take photos of, before going back to the bus.

Seeing your videos from pattaya i am thinking why does anyone want to go there if it is like this? I dont want to go there for sure. Thanks for sharing this videos!

11 hours ago, Enoon said:

 

Booked hotel in Pattaya for Dec 13 on Agoda a couple of days ago:

 

"Hurry, 44% of rooms in Pattaya are booked for your dates"

 

 

It usually says "only one room left at this price".

RE - Pattaya high season hotel bookings well down on 2017 - but there could be a reason say THA

 

Not that impressive analysis as it's said - there is usually a reason for everything….

11 hours ago, Enoon said:

 

Booked hotel in Pattaya for Dec 13 on Agoda a couple of days ago:

 

"Hurry, 44% of rooms in Pattaya are booked for your dates"

 

 

It means you are going to face aditional and even more satisfying discounts during Your stay….

Edited November 28, 20187 yr by ttrd

1 hour ago, Trollmann said:

Seeing your videos from pattaya i am thinking why does anyone want to go there if it is like this? I dont want to go there for sure. Thanks for sharing this videos!

Don't get a wrong impression,

Pattaya is lots of fun. This fall just less tourists. But city is ton of fun. Actually, for a visitor, Pattaya is better than ever.

It is hard on business owners here.

I can remember somone said Good guys go to heaven, bad guys go to Pattaya. Maybe the good guys in, bad guys out campain has something to do with "empty" Pattaya? Has all the bad guys been thrown out of the country already?

8 hours ago, watcharacters said:

 

I bet you'll be wrong..

you're on

5 hours ago, SheungWan said:

Sometimes one has to move on elsewhere. Sorry about the Areca though.

Again, t5his is a thread about tourists coming here for a couple of weeks, not expats.

3 minutes ago, Spidey said:

Again, t5his is a thread about tourists coming here for a couple of weeks, not expats.

Expats are just tourists here for a longer time.

Just now, SheungWan said:

Expats are just tourists here for a longer time.

Thanks for that little homily, maybe you should go to bed now and sleep it off.

4 hours ago, Trollmann said:

Seeing your videos from pattaya i am thinking why does anyone want to go there if it is like this? I dont want to go there for sure. Thanks for sharing this videos!

Sorry you are not coming.

3 hours ago, whitemouse said:

Don't get a wrong impression,

Pattaya is lots of fun. This fall just less tourists. But city is ton of fun. Actually, for a visitor, Pattaya is better than ever.

It is hard on business owners here.

"Better than ever" ? I think you're over-egging the souffle a little bit here, chum.

37 minutes ago, SheungWan said:

"Better than ever" ? I think you're over-egging the souffle a little bit here, chum.

Probably.

 

If it wasn't for visa rules, the constant uncertainty, I would not complain at all. 

 

But I'm not business owner here, just a customer. Come April, I just leave, no bills to pay, nothing.

I know people who are here 12 months a year, and they depend on high season income, they are not doing very well. 

The Spin Doctors are working over time....truth of the matter is that folks are finally figuring out that Pattaya is a shi* hole....better spots to hang your hat....lol....????

Perhaps the word is out that Pattaya is no longer the place to go to. I used to love Pattaya, and stayed there many times, but the last couple of times made me change my mind on that. The traffic is horrible, the infrastructure is the same broken decrepitude it has been for the past couple of decades. Some pavements haven't been fixed for 30 years. Beach Rd floods after a normal shower because they can't work out how to drain water into the sea, the beach is vanishing, and everything is getting too expensive for the 10th rate experience one now gets in Pattaya.

How different it all is to the first time I rode down Beach Rd in the 90s. Then I thought I'd discovered paradise. Since then, too many bad councils, too much greed has ruined it. Even the girls are a turn off, as they spend all their time looking at their phones, and none on potential customers.

 

Can it be fixed- I doubt it. Bulldoze the whole place and start again, perhaps.