Pattaya Songkran: Hotel bookings well down as tourists stay away

[Prairieboy]

20 hours ago, webfact said:

hotel bookings on average for Songkran were at 60% capacity,

Simple solution - raise the prices to maintain your profit margin - seems to be standard procedure.  Never consider that lowering prices may attract more tourists.  Every time I go to Bangkok the price of beer has increased since tourism has declined the prices must increase. 

[Emdog]

14 hours ago, shy coconut said:

Expats don't generally live in hotels for the majority of the time, so I doubt the 

exodus of these folk has any relevance whatsoever.

We spend money at restaurants, stores, bars, transport, etc which is all part of resort town economies. We are the ones that kept local businesses open during low season rather than folding. It could be argued our spending also is done in Pattaya, not some pre paid package in China. So I think our absence during Songkran is relevant.

[mlmcleod]

Songkran appears to be a Thai celebration where they all gang up and throw ice water on the farangs!  It might be acceptable as a one day holiday but not for 10 days!  It gets very old quickly when you cannot walk the streets without getting drenched.

[Captain 776]

6 hours ago, johng50 said:

Not according to all the aussies who have been and had a ball, and have been back numerous times.

Cambo is alright, been 6 times.

If you havent been before......read about it, it can be a dangerous place.

Never stand on the street looking at your phone, it will be snatched right out of your hand.

There is a few streets of bars that you can have a great time at and there are a few streets ya can lose ya life on.

Like anywhere else, keep ya wits about you and ya will be ok.

Cambo is still the Wild West and at least 30 yrs behind Thailand in many ways.

 

Phils......hmmmmm Angeles is a dump, Makati is better but I hate being in Manila.........also a dangerous place at night

[watcharacters]

19 hours ago, jacko45k said:

I was just in Bali, I thought all the Ozzies were there!

 

Were you thinking Australia was  uninhabited  at the moment?

 

 

[Skallywag]

3 hours ago, puukao said:

there is no god in pattaya

Buddhists do not consider the unseen "gods" of world religions - no place in thailand for serving mythical deities.

 

But your points are valid for those who live in a mythical world and only see the "bad" .... TV members make up less than 1% of the population - not sure how their rude or disrespectful comments make any difference in the Thai world -

[biggles45]

GF and I have just had a month inVietnam and we discovered where all the Russians went to! Nha Trang, beautiful long, wide beach with a treed park all the way. Free gym equipment, toilets and no boats or jetskis and beach vendors. They have taken over the town, menus, signs, travel agencies etc all geared up to them. NT is showing Pattaya/Jomtien how it should be done. 

[Olmate]

11 minutes ago, watcharacters said:

 

Were you thinking Australia was  uninhabited  at the moment?

 

 

Plenty in Phuket now too, families with kids, seem cashed up and staying good hotels

[Bluespunk]

22 hours ago, madmen said:

Many are now in air bnb as it just gets bigger and impossible to control and at 3000 baht referral fee Ive already converted quite a few condo owners.

But who in their right minds would expose themselves to 10 days of ice water hammering from buckets ? It gets kind of old after day 3

It gets old after minute 3...

[Kadilo]

 

1 hour ago, biggles45 said:

GF and I have just had a month inVietnam and we discovered where all the Russians went to! Nha Trang, beautiful long, wide beach with a treed park all the way. Free gym equipment, toilets and no boats or jetskis and beach vendors. They have taken over the town, menus, signs, travel agencies etc all geared up to them. NT is showing Pattaya/Jomtien how it should be done. 

Cheers. Makes note,”avoid Nha Trang”. 

[soistalker]

19 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

there is one I know of for sure in Hua Hin.

 

To look at him, you would think he is a bright and successful guy.

 

But he spends all this money on having sex with different women all the time.

 

Poor bastard.

 

 

Sounds like a horrible way to live. He must be so unhappy.

[peter48]

The Baht is always too high especially for Brits and I guess the rest of Europe too. The idiotic Brexit makes Britain poorer as Sterling stays at record lows but seemingly the Europeans are not coming either. Thailand needs to make that currency rate work for Tourists as it did in the earlier noughties. Also charging non-Thai ATM users over £5+ etc is seen as a rip-off. Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey etc are pulling in the tourists as cheaper with lower airfares too. The boom days are over...adjust Thailand 

[Sealbash]

And the red lights at night so after a few beers the thousand baht notes look like a hundred. The scamming is everywhere

How do they adjust for the size difference?


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[KneeDeep]

18 hours ago, Bastos60 said:

And the many uneducated tourists from Russia and India who end up there during this crazy songkran end up ruining something simple and fun to experience. 
Russians are spraying water until they end their evening around 9-10pm and the indians go apeshit and rent complete trucks and spray from the waterpipe directly from the truck. 

 

It is no fun anymore, and I rather wait until it is over to visit pattaya.

 

Are you sure they are Indians?

[toenail]

I'm still astounded that tourists (other than those who want to get their end away) actually go to Pattaya - the beach sucks, the nightlife (if girlie bars aren't your thing) sucks and if you believe the media reports, it's full of violent taxi drivers. 

I lived there for 13 years because of my job 40 km away. One has to look at the positive side of Pattaya: inexpensive compared to Phuket or Bangkok, modern shopping centers and cinemas, a great assortment of international cuisine to choose from, good hospitals nearby ( you still need need to know which doctors meet your expectations); great views of Pattaya Bay at night from one of the international hotel roof bars, easy to reach the international airport. True, the traffic and mass tourism groups have gotten worse. Infrastructure??? As always, the city is always 1-2 steps behind.



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[lapamita]

On 4/10/2019 at 8:57 AM, BestB said:

 

 

So most definitely numbers are down and not little down, but seriously down

yes they are down, but since some years the downtrend is servere for buissenes  who related to western customers.

all this new laws and shit dont making it better

i was 30 year there, still have  condo

but since last year traveling... my plan is not to stay more in thailand except winter , bcs of nightlife, and thats all i like .. finnished

this year , at the moment 6 weeks in turkey  ( ohh how beautiful the coast  and clean , and prices resenable,will saty later here longer) , in the summer im in nosy be ( like thailand 30 year before)  and the winter only in Pattaya, and this only as long Bars and Nightlife and Girls excist. because thats the only reason to stay there, except ffor people  like dirt ,traffic . 

The charme is gone , the thailand virus is gone , and the advantage of price is gone as well.

 

The eastern seaboard was from 1989  until 2010 my dream, and i never think to move,but what happen the last 3 years unbelivable.

 

by the wy bought in turkey an pentouse duplex w 240qm near city ( walking on promenade) and 300 mtr to beach  , 200mtr  to public transport ,2nd line from beach partly  seaview  new building for usd 69000   or per sqm aprox 300  or 10.000 thb .. 

 

good luck i sold over the last 2 years  nearly all assets in thailand ex. my own home

good luck for them who have all invested in thailand at the moment

 

No fun ,party and girls and nightlife , pattaya will be dead like a grove

 

[bristolgeoff]

pattaya is crazy for songkran chiangmai is not much better.ends sooner thou.one afternoon is more than enough for me. anywhere.but chiangmai has the bad air still.

[Ronnie1204]

Its really dead today i went to bars no customers anywhere i think people now visit to combodia and vietnam bali coz thats way more cheaper then pattaya. Its coming to an end soon 

[Kadilo]

17 minutes ago, Ronnie1204 said:

Its really dead today i went to bars no customers anywhere i think people now visit to combodia and vietnam bali coz thats way more cheaper then pattaya. Its coming to an end soon 

  No it’s on for at least another week

[bkk6060]

1 hour ago, lapamita said:

yes they are down, but since some years the downtrend is servere for buissenes  who related to western customers.

all this new laws and shit dont making it better

i was 30 year there, still have  condo

but since last year traveling... my plan is not to stay more in thailand except winter , bcs of nightlife, and thats all i like .. finnished

this year , at the moment 6 weeks in turkey  ( ohh how beautiful the coast  and clean , and prices resenable,will saty later here longer) , in the summer im in nosy be ( like thailand 30 year before)  and the winter only in Pattaya, and this only as long Bars and Nightlife and Girls excist. because thats the only reason to stay there, except ffor people  like dirt ,traffic . 

The charme is gone , the thailand virus is gone , and the advantage of price is gone as well.

 

The eastern seaboard was from 1989  until 2010 my dream, and i never think to move,but what happen the last 3 years unbelivable.

 

by the wy bought in turkey an pentouse duplex w 240qm near city ( walking on promenade) and 300 mtr to beach  , 200mtr  to public transport ,2nd line from beach partly  seaview  new building for usd 69000   or per sqm aprox 300  or 10.000 thb .. 

 

good luck i sold over the last 2 years  nearly all assets in thailand ex. my own home

good luck for them who have all invested in thailand at the moment

 

No fun ,party and girls and nightlife , pattaya will be dead like a grove

 

You definitely have motivated me to move to Turkey.

Thank you so much..

[bkk6060]

2 hours ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

Cambo was great fun 10 to 20 years ago.

 

Now full of Chinese and the sexpat spillover from Thailand.

You must love true 3rd world then.

 

I suggest you try Laos or Burma.  May be just what you seek...

[bkk6060]

2 hours ago, peter48 said:

The Baht is always too high especially for Brits and I guess the rest of Europe too. The idiotic Brexit makes Britain poorer as Sterling stays at record lows but seemingly the Europeans are not coming either. Thailand needs to make that currency rate work for Tourists as it did in the earlier noughties. Also charging non-Thai ATM users over £5+ etc is seen as a rip-off. Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey etc are pulling in the tourists as cheaper with lower airfares too. The boom days are over...adjust Thailand 

OK.

Seems Thais are not the only ones "all about the money"..

[ttrd]

1 hour ago, lapamita said:

yes they are down, but since some years the downtrend is servere for buissenes  who related to western customers.

all this new laws and shit dont making it better

i was 30 year there, still have  condo

but since last year traveling... my plan is not to stay more in thailand except winter , bcs of nightlife, and thats all i like .. finnished

this year , at the moment 6 weeks in turkey  ( ohh how beautiful the coast  and clean , and prices resenable,will saty later here longer) , in the summer im in nosy be ( like thailand 30 year before)  and the winter only in Pattaya, and this only as long Bars and Nightlife and Girls excist. because thats the only reason to stay there, except ffor people  like dirt ,traffic . 

The charme is gone , the thailand virus is gone , and the advantage of price is gone as well.

 

The eastern seaboard was from 1989  until 2010 my dream, and i never think to move,but what happen the last 3 years unbelivable.

 

by the wy bought in turkey an pentouse duplex w 240qm near city ( walking on promenade) and 300 mtr to beach  , 200mtr  to public transport ,2nd line from beach partly  seaview  new building for usd 69000   or per sqm aprox 300  or 10.000 thb .. 

 

good luck i sold over the last 2 years  nearly all assets in thailand ex. my own home

good luck for them who have all invested in thailand at the moment

 

No fun ,party and girls and nightlife , pattaya will be dead like a grove

 

It is a plausible reason that you can buy at developers cost and I choose to leave it with that to not offend anyone … 

[JimmyJ]

4 hours ago, lapamita said:

finnished

this year , at the moment 6 weeks in turkey  ( ohh how beautiful the coast  and clean , and prices resenable,will saty later here longer) , in the summer im in nosy be ( like thailand 30 year before)  and the winter only in Pattaya, and this only as long Bars and Nightlife and Girls excist. because thats the only reason to stay there, except ffor people  like dirt ,traffic . 

The charme is gone , the thailand virus is gone , and the advantage of price is gone as well.

 

The eastern seaboard was from 1989  until 2010 my dream, and i never think to move,but what happen the last 3 years unbelivable.

 

by the wy bought in turkey an pentouse duplex w 240qm near city ( walking on promenade) and 300 mtr to beach  , 200mtr  to public transport ,2nd line from beach partly  seaview  new building for usd 69000   or per sqm aprox 300  or 10.000 thb .. 

 

good luck i sold over the last 2 years  nearly all assets in thailand ex. my own home

good luck for them who have all invested in thailand at the moment

 

No fun ,party and girls and nightlife , pattaya will be dead like a grove

 

"...in the summer im in nosy be ( like thailand 30 year before)..."

 

What is "nosy be"?

 

"...at the moment 6 weeks in turkey  ( ohh how beautiful the coast  and clean , and prices resenable,will saty later here longer..."

 

How do the prices compare to Thailand's?

 

 

[lkv]

22 minutes ago, JimmyJ said:

How do the prices compare to Thailand's?

 

 

 

 

Other city to city comparissons can be made on the website above, obviously in provinces it would be cheaper in both Turkey and Thailand.

 

Turkey has become really cheap with the devaluation of the Turkish Lira.

Edited April 11, 2019 by lkv

[chaihot]

3 hours ago, JimmyJ said:

"...in the summer im in nosy be ( like thailand 30 year before)..."

 

What is "nosy be"?

 

"Nosy be" should be Madagascar, Africa ... unless there are two. ????

[Viggo McQuaid]

On 4/10/2019 at 8:57 AM, BestB said:

As a hotel owner of 12 years, i have to agree, its dead, Dead like i have never seen it before in past 12 years.

 

Usually at this time, my place is at about 80% capacity, today i am at 8% capacity.

 

Have dropped prices even further and still nothing

 

A few restaurants that i know, are closing for 10 days, which they have never done before.

 

So most definitely numbers are down and not little down, but seriously down

A friend runs a bar on Soi 6 and he’s claiming 2019 to be the best year ever. Q1 was massive, customer after customer are raking up 30k bar tabs. It’s booming, it’s busy, it’s a crazy happening venue. Q2 has started with record revenues. The contribution margin is way up. Pattaya is the place to be! 

[shy coconut]

14 hours ago, Emdog said:

We spend money at restaurants, stores, bars, transport, etc which is all part of resort town economies. We are the ones that kept local businesses open during low season rather than folding. It could be argued our spending also is done in Pattaya, not some pre paid package in China. So I think our absence during Songkran is relevant.

Not to the hotel booking stats it isn't, and that is the gist of this topic.

[Viggo McQuaid]

3 hours ago, shy coconut said:

Not to the hotel booking stats it isn't, and that is the gist of this topic.

Cant be all Expats spending big. Must a few hotells securing all the business. 

[jacko45k]

20 hours ago, watcharacters said:

 

Were you thinking Australia was  uninhabited  at the moment?

 

 

Judging by the numbers in Bali, all but a few of them!