Where is everybody? Patong businesses suffering worst high season in 10 years

[marqus12]

20 minutes ago, Joe Mcseismic said:

I've been to Vung Tau many, many times. Oil-town Vietnam. Nice enough place, but, a holiday there??!!

I don't think so......

And what Vung Tau does not have what Phuket has outside of traffic jams and crazy drivers ?

[superal]

2 hours ago, NaaKap said:

Ripping people off and robbing them in filthy sleazy “Tourist “ areas can only go on for so long before people get sick of it. All the national park prices are one for foreigners and one for Thai. The once quaint and beautiful islands are rubbish filled cesspits. Myself and the other passengers arrived at Kho Chang.  It had been a Long ferry ride and the few “Songtiew waiting at the pier were asking five hundred bhat per person to be driven to the hotel. Objections as to the high cost were met with dumb insolence, when pressed by some passengers were told they could pay or wait. Everyone tired and hungry coughed up the five hundred bhat per person. Once money had been paid to the drivers satisfaction we finally left for the hotel belching disel fumes into rear. We wound our way up and down hills for some 20 or so minutes in pitch darkness. Suddenly the  ehicle grou g to a halt. The driver and his not small offsider got out and turned on a small light in the rear. He then proceeded to explain that we had paid only to this spot to go on to the hotel would cost a further three hundred Bhat. If we did not like it we could get out and fi d alternative means of transport. The place was a pitch dark small road up in the mountains. Nothing but jungle. No amount of negotaitig made any difference except to make the drivers offsider begin to look very menacingly at the ones who dared to challenge the situation. Seeing we had no choice and this was just another kindly Thai way of helping tourists new to the place LOS = Land of scams. This happened and must have happened on a regular basis to others

Nightmare and a scam that I have never heard of before .  Did you report the incident ?  What a nasty bunch of axxholes . 

[xylophone]

15 hours ago, NamKangMan said:

How can a business owner with a 5 year lease, for example, change their business model, within their lease, and still remain profitable, especially when the change of tourist demographic involves cultural and financial capacity differences????

You make a good point here, because is not easy just to change one's business and even if one has the foresight to see that things are going to change, well that doesn't always happen the way one thinks it will.

 

Sure enough a lot of the bars and small guesthouses are struggling, and some are closing and as I have posted elsewhere, owners and workers alike are saying that this is the quietest (by that they mean spend as well as numbers) they've known it for years.

 

Then one has to consider the fact that worldwide events can affect the tourist demographics and if that is coupled with the stupidity of the TAT plus the greediness of the landlords, then business owners can be in big trouble because these things are out of their control.

 

I have to recount here something which made me laugh the other day regarding Phuket and its reputation.........I was sitting in a restaurant watching one of the largish TV screens on the wall, one which was showing a video promoting Phuket as a holiday destination and a few shots showed a pristine beach or two, palm trees and sunshine, however just a few minutes into this, the scenario changed quite markedly!

 

One shot showed a beach full of plastic rubbish with the commentary that the beach was lovely if you could put up with the rubbish; another shot was of the sea, again with the commentary saying that one had to be careful when swimming here because of the pollution in the sea (not finished yet) then there was one regarding a trip to the islands which included a shot across the bow of a very crowded small boat and the commentary went something like this, "of course there is always a trip to see one of the islands but be careful getting into one of these very crowded boats and even when you get to one of the islands it might be extremely crowded".

 

Well I thought that if ever there was a bunch of video clips which would put tourists off of visiting the place, then I had found it/them!

[xylophone]

1 hour ago, stevenl said:

I don't see that.

Unfortunately it's all too evident in Patong and very visible in the likes of Soi Tan and the small soi leading off from that which comes out next to the Honda garage; the small shop units behind the B-Qik tyre place; Soi Nanai 8 plus some shops in Sainamyen and even a few in Kathu, with a few in Nanai road closing and occasionally opening again.

 

Bars and restaurants are suffering a similar fate unfortunately.

[madmitch]

1 hour ago, stevenl said:

I don't see that.

You need to get out more! ????

[xylophone]

STOP PRESS.

 

I may have found one of the reasons for this falloff in tourists and spend..........

 

There will not be a nativity scene in Patong this year.
The Mayor and local oficials have ruled that there cannot be a nativity scene here this Christmas season.

This isn't for any religious reason.
They simply have not been able to find three wise men in Patong and the search for a virgin continues.
However, there was no problem finding enough asses to fill the stable. 

[Nemises]

On 12/22/2018 at 11:33 AM, kelboy said:

..the girls are getting fat and ugly 

 

...everyone is going elsewhere. 555.

The girls in the pic don’t appear fat and ugly. 

 

Exactly where is everyone going?

[Joe Mcseismic]

1 hour ago, marqus12 said:

And what Vung Tau does not have what Phuket has outside of traffic jams and crazy drivers ?

Pretty scenery and relatively clean sea. The sea off Vietnam is absolutely chock-a-block with floating plastic. The worst I've ever seen. Not much to do there either, compared to Phuket.

[Spidey]

23 hours ago, Joe Mcseismic said:

As an ex-customer of these bars, I can tell you that you post is absolute rubbish. I met Scandinavians, French, Germans, Aussies, New Zealanders, Americans, Canadians etc. etc. at these bars. You ain't got a clue.

In Patong, seemed to be a majority of Aussies.

[xylophone]

30 minutes ago, madmitch said:

You need to get out more! ????

Maybe the area in which stevenl lives has not been so badly affected, but this post from another thread backs up what you and I observe and believe here................

 

A post from “billythehat” on another thread:

 

…and talking to my hotel owner he said that business had been pretty pony all year with no real spikes to smooth out the low season pain. All the hotels in his soi were suffering badly too with a few reports of banks starting to call in the repeated missed payments.

 

The story flowed down to the restaurants/Bars/other businesses, ‘no people, don’t know what happened…’ a common response when asked about the state of the industry.

 

My own observations have been similar to some of the inmates here; packs of rude Chinese and Ruskies but far less Europeans as seen in previous years. The over-supply off massage shops is even more apparent now and a once charming bunch of lasses have become a quite distasteful mercenary pack of Hyena’s – desperate business indeed.

 

Dreadful shame (my opinion as an occasional visitor) as I knew the place in its halcyon days, but nothing lasts forever and the island will evolve into whatever it will for the prevailing demographic.

[cbc]

I am currently in Bangkok and been coming here for a few year's.Never have I seen so few tourist's.Saturday night on Sukhumvit in a well known bar and restaurant,nice decent place and usually full during high season,with families and singles.Was surprised and asked the waitress,isn't tis high season.Her reply was yes but very few tourists now.The time was 8:30 pm and myself,my friend and one other customer,the only customers.The sidewalks normally bustling were practically empty.Later on went to another location and the same thing.

 

Few day's prior was in a northern town and same,hardly any tourists.Surpriseingly in a restaurant I ordered I chicken green curry 1 watermelon smoothie and a piece of apple pie for desert.The check bin was 600 baht.This in a town mostly full of back packers.

[stevenl]

2 hours ago, madmitch said:

You need to get out more! ????

Sad comment.

Xylophone gives a much better founded view, in stead of just attacking another poster.

 

It is definitely quiet, very quiet, but I don't see the boarded up shops yet as you do.

Edited December 23, 2018 by stevenl

[marqus12]

1 hour ago, stevenl said:

Sad comment.

Xylophone gives a much better founded view, in stead of just attacking another poster.

 

It is definitely quiet, very quiet, but I don't see the boarded up shops yet as you do.

Businesses are changing hands, it hides the actual situation a bit
Thais are also very horny for having business on the island.
And Phuket is pretty good at selling dreams. Look around in May and June.

[Joe Mcseismic]

1 hour ago, stevenl said:

Sad comment.

Xylophone gives a much better founded view, in stead of just attacking another poster.

 

It is definitely quiet, very quiet, but I don't see the boarded up shops yet as you do.

Go look around Phuket Town. More and more of them as each year goes by.

[Daveyh]

The Golden Goose is well & truly cooked. Kick a dog too often & they don't come back .... fact. The Thai "Land of Smiles" no longer exists .............. a sad fact.

[madmitch]

1 hour ago, stevenl said:

Sad comment.

Xylophone gives a much better founded view, in stead of just attacking another poster.

 

It is definitely quiet, very quiet, but I don't see the boarded up shops yet as you do.

Steven, the winky smiley thing denotes it's a joke! I wouldn't have a pop at you like that! Not my style.

[nasa123]

On 12/22/2018 at 4:19 PM, CH1961 said:

Please stay there, I'm not missing you ????

Of course you don't miss me, I'm not a ladyboy some you like.

[bkk6060]

On ‎12‎/‎22‎/‎2018 at 7:31 PM, Chippy151 said:

I've been in Thailand for 12 years. Never even considered Phuket for a holiday. Heard too many stories about rip offs. 

I have been there and can confirm it.

Bad attitudes, rip offs, highest food prices in the country.

Waste of time.....

[outsider]

Overpriced rip-off scams, the lot of you. Som nam na.

[3NUMBAS]

same old old muggers ,taxi ripoffs and high prices .south america is a better deal nowadays colombia and cuba especially

[ronaldo0]

On ‎12‎/‎22‎/‎2018 at 11:52 AM, cheapcanuck said:

Vietnam is what Thailand was 20 years ago. That's where my money is going this year. Bye bye Thailand, Hello Vietnam.

Exactly what I thought when I was there in july .

[Soupdragon]

Thailand excelled when it hosted it's first MotoGP this year. Well organized with safety and security, cheap and free transport around the event. Many food and beverage outlets at reasonable prices. All in all a great event which was applauded around the world.

 

Now apply that same philosophy to what should be a great asset to Thailand and you may have a chance of turning Phuket around.

 

Waiting....waiting....waiting.....

 

Edited December 24, 2018 by Soupdragon

[ChipButty]

21 minutes ago, Soupdragon said:

Thailand excelled when it hosted it's first MotoGP this year. Well organized with safety and security, cheap and free transport around the event. Many food and beverage outlets at reasonable prices. All in all a great event which was applauded around the world.

 

Now apply that same philosophy to what should be a great asset to Thailand and you may have a chance of turning Phuket around.

 

Waiting....waiting....waiting.....

 

We have MotoGP everyday in Phuket

[Soupdragon]

21 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

We have MotoGP everyday in Phuket

I know, I am on pole position ????

 

[jinners]

Having just returned from a week trip I can understand why. Phuket is extremely expensive to other (holiday) areas of Thailand. I spent a fortune and did not have a pleasant time. Weather was rubbish (OK I know that can't be helped) drinks expensive. As is food. 200 baht minimum fee for a tuktuk. Traffic horrendous. Lot's of grumpy That's. Too many of our Russki visitors. 

Never again

[NamKangMan]

2 hours ago, Soupdragon said:

Thailand excelled when it hosted it's first MotoGP this year. Well organized with safety and security, cheap and free transport around the event. Many food and beverage outlets at reasonable prices. All in all a great event which was applauded around the world.

 

Now apply that same philosophy to what should be a great asset to Thailand and you may have a chance of turning Phuket around.

 

Waiting....waiting....waiting.....

 

 

"Thailand excelled when it hosted it's first MotoGP this year." - I think you will find in order to hold the event, the track, and associated infrastructure, MUST meet a certain standard, otherwise, the application to host the event is rejected. 

 

This is a little like air safety here. It's regulated from outside the country.

 

I read good reports about the Moto GP on this website, and would like to go next season.  I also read reports of people booking hotel rooms, only to have the hotel cancel on them, then advertise the room again, but at a much higher price. Typical "Thainess."  

 

How do you compare the Moto GP in Buriam, to the below event?

 

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.vietnam-to-host-formula-1-grand-prix-from-2020.5GwYlGbr56A0GCycMuUM0G.html

 

Vietnam is progressing so fast, whilst Thailand is still stuck in its old ways, which in this day and age, will see them going backwards, which, in my opinion, they already are. 

 

[NamKangMan]

On 12/22/2018 at 3:52 PM, cheapcanuck said:

Vietnam is what Thailand was 20 years ago. That's where my money is going this year. Bye bye Thailand, Hello Vietnam.

 

From what I see on my visa runs, and exploring the country, you are not alone in your decision.  

 

I have said for some time that I see Vietnam as Thailand's main competitor in the future.  I guess the "future" has quickly become the "present."

[Soupdragon]

9 minutes ago, NamKangMan said:

 

"Thailand excelled when it hosted it's first MotoGP this year." - I think you will find in order to hold the event, the track, and associated infrastructure, MUST meet a certain standard, otherwise, the application to host the event is rejected. 

 

This is a little like air safety here. It's regulated from outside the country.

 

I read good reports about the Moto GP on this website, and would like to go next season.  I also read reports of people booking hotel rooms, only to have the hotel cancel on them, then advertise the room again, but at a much higher price. Typical "Thainess."  

 

How do you compare the Moto GP in Buriam, to the below event?

 

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.vietnam-to-host-formula-1-grand-prix-from-2020.5GwYlGbr56A0GCycMuUM0G.html

 

Vietnam is progressing so fast, whilst Thailand is still stuck in its old ways, which in this day and age, will see them going backwards, which, in my opinion, they already are. 

 

I wrote Thailand "excelled", not Thailand managed to comply with regulations but if you feel the need to pour negativity on everything then that is your prerogative.

 

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2018/12/13/ptt-thailand-grand-prix-voted-best-of-2018/281178

[NamKangMan]

1 minute ago, Soupdragon said:

I wrote Thailand "excelled", not Thailand managed to comply with regulations but if you feel the need to pour negativity on everything then that is your prerogative.

 

http://www.motogp.com/en/news/2018/12/13/ptt-thailand-grand-prix-voted-best-of-2018/281178

 

Where's the negativity?  I said, "I read good reports about the Moto GP on this website."

 

I did not criticize the event at all.  I did direct some criticism towards the country, in general. 

 

Do you think Thailand is heading in the right direction????  They haven't even had an elected Government here for years. 

 

"Excelling" in hosting one sporting event does not prop up a whole country's tourism industry.   

[LivinginKata]

4 minutes ago, NamKangMan said:

<snip>

Do you think Thailand is heading in the right direction????  They haven't even had an elected Government here for years. 

 

 

It amazes me that the Baht is so strong with an unelected Junta Gov. Maybe this is the 'right' direction ?