Entertainment tourism: Pattaya for Europeans is over - 30% down this year, official

[sammieuk1]

Patt's will become the defecating urinating hub to add to the world class trophy room????

[liofrombkk]

maybe also the hords of pakis and indians and gulf people by the thousands strolling the streets and sitting there doing nothing, hoping to grab a few asses on the early dawn, walking the streets looking for trouble cause most of them have no manners... last time i was there, i was transported back to karachi, where i spend a few months a few years back... then of course it might be a shock for europeans and americans and australians, excepting good ol pattaya and finding karachi or slums of mumbai instead... 

[BestB]

4 minutes ago, Rookiescot said:

They all appear to be curiously absent from this thread.

How odd. 

It’s middle of the night in UK , they have not woken up yet to educate us on what is really happening in Pattaya ????

[Gecko123]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Thaivisa notes that many in Pattaya have said that Chinese travelers are not great supporters of the entertainment industry especially its beer bars and clubs. Many are just there to look and some doubt whether Indians have the spending power to make a difference. 

When you think about it, beyond the bright lights and the ladies, the secret pleasure the gawking experience offers to Pattaya tourists is the smug sense of superiority and vicarious pleasure up close observation of the courtship dance between Western men and younger Thai women offers. Western men may be as indispensible a part of Pattaya's gawking experience for non-Western tourists as the Thai women. Without Western men, Pattaya's reputation as a place for non-Western tourists to come gawk may be on the verge of collapse as well.

Edited July 11, 2019 by Gecko123

[LongTang]

11 minutes ago, liofrombkk said:

maybe also the hords of pakis and indians and gulf people by the thousands strolling the streets and sitting there doing nothing, hoping to grab a few asses on the early dawn, walking the streets looking for trouble cause most of them have no manners... last time i was there, i was transported back to karachi, where i spend a few months a few years back... then of course it might be a shock for europeans and americans and australians, excepting good ol pattaya and finding karachi or slums of mumbai instead... 

 

And don't forget Racing on heavy bikes in residential areas, killing and injuring foreign and local innocent pedestrians.

 

 

 

Edited July 11, 2019 by LongTang

[chrisandsu]

14 minutes ago, liofrombkk said:

maybe also the hords of pakis and indians and gulf people by the thousands strolling the streets and sitting there doing nothing, hoping to grab a few asses on the early dawn, walking the streets looking for trouble cause most of them have no manners... last time i was there, i was transported back to karachi, where i spend a few months a few years back... then of course it might be a shock for europeans and americans and australians, excepting good ol pattaya and finding karachi or slums of mumbai instead... 

Bit like home then ????

[hansnl]

1 hour ago, Orton Rd said:

Sex tourism is not something the new generation is so keen on anywhere.

Really?

See the info in the internet about, for example, other SE Asian countries, India, South American countries, etc.

The new generations goes somewhere else, countries not married with negative vibes.

The silly value of the baht against other currencies is rather important.

The deluge of razzia's to weed out the illegally staying in Thailand crowd, although maybe necessary, is giving tourism and long stay a very bad taste in the mouth.

The growth of the new expats into, for example Phillipines, is a huge sign on the wall, for those who are not blind.

[Beggar]

The "entertainment" industry thinks the more bars they open the more (sex) tourists will come. It seems to be so simple for them. At the same time just recently all 3 prostitutes working here in Pattaya have been removed from the bars.

[shackleton]

when I first came to Pattaya in the 80s  lots of the guys worked in the middle east so partying  was the name of the game 

now fast forward to 2019  the strong Baht  other currencies depreciating  plus more Chinese and Indians arriving 

not known as big spenders in the bars ect

all that's left is the retired expats talking about the good old days watching their pension incomes get lower and no doubt will get worse if Brits Brexit ?

[ianezy0]

Look on the positive side, the beers are cold and there are plenty of spare seats in the bars and I am really getting a lot of attention ????

[geoffbezoz]

32 minutes ago, sammieuk1 said:

Patt's will become the defecating urinating hub to add to the world class trophy room????

Soon to become the "Hub of Turds"   ????????

[RichardColeman]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

He said that it was obvious to anyone - beer bars, nightclubs, pubs and other bars were all but empty. 

Could also be that punters are tired of fat buffaloes on mobile phones

[hansnl]

46 minutes ago, BobBKK said:

I am thankful I sold my Pattaya 'pied a terre' two years ago. I lost around 200k but now it would be almost impossible to sell I'd say. It's a shame but ever since Uncle Tu took over the whole country has declined (including 'happiness').

The decline started when the TS clan came in, not when the military intervened.

Try to open your eyes for what happened in Thailand since around the year 2000.......

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, Orton Rd said:

Sex tourism is not something the new generation is so keen on anywhere.

Tell me about it! In my chosen field in the oil patch, crew changes were opportunities for men to behave like Vikings. Nowadays, the guys (and now girls) I supervise are more into finding the best caramel frappuccino east of Wapping and FB'ing, Twittering and Snapchatting about it. I was put on report by one of these oik's for ordering a glass of wine with my dinner the night before crew change. I should have skipped the hotel restaurant and gone to the bloody whorehouse instead!

[worgeordie]

I will never believe this until confirmed by T.A.T............and that will never happen !

regards Worgeordie

[ThomasThBKK]

57 minutes ago, chrisandsu said:

Europeans just don’t have the money anymore . It’s that simple . It’s not only Pattaya that’s suffering as Pattaya is still cheap compared to Phuket  .

Americans and Europeans have plenty of money, but what we also have are plenty of ALTERNATIVES with better value for money.

I can just fly from germany to turkish 5 star resorts with my ID CARD only - without using a passport. I can do the same in Egypt and co.

 

These countries make it all easier for me to spend my money there, in return they get more and more europeans tourists. 

Thailand makes it harder and expects the same.

There's so much alternatives in europe alone, there the canary islands, croatia, greece, the black sea, spain, italy...turkey, egypt and co are like 4 hours away per plane or even less.

 

https://www.statista.com/statistics/311580/outbound-travel-from-the-us-to-europe-by-destination/

 

There's 40 mio Americans visiting Europe each year, these must be the ones who are too poor for Thailand - or they just have more things to see in Europe and a better time.

The other way around it's the same, twice the amount of germans and 4x the amount of brits are going to the US each year - must be the cheap prices.

 

[ratcatcher]

[spidermike007]

It is easy to blame the strong baht. And it is definitely a factor. But, there are so many other factors. The army, Prayuth, and the biggest joke spent five years sabotaging Western tourism. Now, the damage can be felt, and people are worried. Millions of jobs are at stake.

 

Same applies to ex-pats. Many are leaving, or have left. Not feeling welcome?

 

Also, the unwillingness to tackle the scams, the traffic and public safety issues, the environmental issues, and so many other causes, are all having an impact on tourism. The decision to turn away from Western tourism, and focus almost exclusively on Chinese and Indian tourism was a mistake of historically monumental proportions. The TAT is barely making any effort to lure Westerners. And in my opinion they are the big spenders. I read surveys about the average Chinese tourists, being at the top of the list of big spenders. But, this is average. And the big spending Chinese do not come to Thailand for a dozen different reasons. The wife wants to buy a luxury handbag. The same Gucci bag that she likes is $3,500 in Singapore, London, New York, Paris, Hong Kong, or Dubai. In Bangkok that bag sells for $9,000. At a five star hotel, this same wealthy Chinese couple want a great bottle of wine. They see a good vintage of Domaine Coche-Dury Monthelie, which would sell for about $500 retail, at a five star in any of the above cities for $1,000 on the list. Same bottle, if it was available (highly unlikely) in Bangkok, would be 95,000 baht, or more. Wealthy people tend to be smart with their money. They simply will not pay stupid money for stuff. The luxury taxes have been discouraging high end tourism here for decades. It is policy that is so dumb, so shortsighted, so non-visionary, and it hurts the economy. If wine duty was 100%, you would have a thriving wine industry here, five to ten times the size of the current industry. So the state income would be made up on volume, and hundreds of thousands of jobs would be generated. This is simply another example of brain dead leaders, who have no vision, and are NOT leading the nation forward, are not helping the nation to progress, and are not benefitting the people of Thailand.

 

I was recently with a group of friends, and we wanted to order a bottle of wine, at of one of those high end restaurants in the EmQuartier complex. It was Bella Rocca Restaurant. I asked about a 2011 Chianti they had on the list. I was told they were out of stock. I asked about a Barbaresco, at 2,600 baht. Again, out of stock. How about this Nebbiolo? Do you have the 2010, as stated on the list? No, we only have the 2015. OK, what is that wine like? Is it drinking well now? I do not know. Is there anyone here that is familiar with this wine list? No. Sorry sir. Wait a minute. You have 100s of bottles on this list, ranging from 1200 baht to 10,000 baht per bottle, and NOBODY who works here knows anything about the wine? Are you serious? We all just looked at each other, and got up and walked out. We realized the restaurant was a pretender. And more than likely the food was marginal at best. It was all dressed up to look like a very nice Italian restaurant. But, it appeared to be only window dressing. High end tourists have little patience for that lack of quality and lack of service. They can get far better service in many other nations, without the onerous taxes on luxury goods like foreign wine!

 

Hopefully, we will eventually see a correction in the Thai baht. Although I feel for those in the hotel industry, lower rates over the long haul sure works for me! It may be the one area where we do not see inflation rearing it's ugly head!

Edited July 11, 2019 by spidermike007

[intherealworld]

54 minutes ago, LongTang said:

Som-Nam-Na !

 

This is what you get for treating western foreigners like dirty criminals !

They take all your fingerprints and a facial recognition photo, force you to report on your every move, publicly expose you on national media for being drunk or on a 2 day overstay, double charge you on about anything, And then expect you to come here and spend your money on some carefree good time??? right..

 

They aren't finished with us all yet,  there will a shed load more

rules and regulations coming soon. the xenophobia is strong,  and on a roll in Thailand at present.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 11, 2019 by intherealworld

[Beggar]

1 hour ago, Orton Rd said:

Sex tourism is not something the new generation is so keen on anywhere.

They have things like YouPorn. No lady drinks, no sick ladies or buffaloes and no bar noise.

[thaibeachlovers]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

The days of Europeans visiting Pattaya in large numbers for the entertainment industry are gone. 

 

The strength of the baht, alternatives elsewhere and the rise of Chinese and now Indian tourism has seen a marked shift on who is coming to Pattaya and what they are doing there. 

ZERO surprise there. Many of us have been predicting such for a long time, but starting now. Pattaya used to be a cheap and cheerful place to have fun, fun, fun. Those days long gone, along with the smile.

Started with the Purachai destruction of the nite scene, and continued with many cheap hotels calling themselves boutique and putting the price up. Finished off when the best lookers abandoned the bars for the internet. Now the barbeer scene is boring, gogos play horrid noise instead of proper music, and fat girls are not uncommon. Couple that with publicity on Soi 6 insanity, and it's a recipe for removing the mongers from Pattaya. Anyone that thought mongers were not the main force of farang visitors to Pattaya need to wake up and smell the empty bars.

 

2 hours ago, webfact said:

But all is not doom and gloom just yet, Pattaya has the potential to bounce back.

Yes, it can. They can get real, allow bars to open till dawn, like it used to be, incentivise hotels to offer cheap accommodation, and stop with the wowsers attack on the scene.

There is enough room in Pattaya for families up the north end where they have always been, and a paradise for mongers on the south end.

If they keep on like they are, it's just going to be tourists that don't use the "entertainment", and those that don't want to spend much at all. Either way, not much hope for the mid to low level Thais that catered for the mongers to the tune of billions of baht a year.

 

[LivinLOS]

1 hour ago, Anythingleft? said:

People could afford to be more obliging with their cash with the exchange rates as they once were....



Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk
 

You looked at what the baht was in the 80s and early 90s ?? 

[thaibeachlovers]

5 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

It is easy to blame the strong baht. And it is definitely a factor. But, there are so many other factors. The army, Prayuth, and the biggest joke spent five years sabotaging Western tourism. Now, the damage can be felt, and people are worried. Millions of jobs are at stake.

 

Same applies to ex-pats. Many are leaving, or have left. Not feeling welcome?

 

Also, the unwillingness to tackle the scams, the traffic and public safety issues, the environmental issues, and so many other causes, are all having an impact on tourism. The decision to turn away from Western tourism, and focus almost exclusively on Chinese and Indian tourism was a mistake of historically monumental proportions. The TAT is barely making any effort to lure Westerners. And in my opinion they are the big spenders. I read surveys about the average Chinese tourists, being at the top of the list of big spenders. But, this is average. And the big spending Chinese do not come to Thailand for a dozen different reasons. The wife wants to buy a luxury handbag. The same Gucci bag that she likes is $3,500 in Singapore, London, New York, Paris, Hong Kong, or Dubai. In Bangkok that bag sells for $9,000. At a five star hotel, this same wealthy Chinese couple want a great bottle of wine. They see a good vintage of Domaine Coche-Dury Monthelie, which would sell for about $500 retail, at a five star in any of the above cities for $1,000 on the list. Same bottle, if it was available (highly unlikely) in Bangkok, would be 95,000 baht, or more. Wealthy people tend to be smart with their money. They simply will not pay stupid money for stuff. The luxury taxes have been discouraging high end tourism here for decades. It is policy that is so dumb, so shortsighted, so non-visionary, and it hurts the economy. If wine duty was 100%, you would have a thriving wine industry here, five to ten times the size of the current industry. So the state income would be made up on volume, and hundreds of thousands of jobs would be generated. This is simply another example of brain dead leaders, who have no vision, and are NOT leading the nation forward, are not helping the nation to progress, and are not benefitting the people of Thailand.

 

Hopefully, we will eventually see a correction in the Thai baht. Although I feel for those in the hotel industry, lower rates over the long haul sure works for me! It may be the one area where we do not see inflation rearing it's ugly head!

Agree with much you say except about the wine. Anyone that would come to Thailand just because wine is cheaper isn't going to give a satang to the poor Thais that used to make a good living in Pattaya, and they are the vast majority of Thais in Pattaya. With the exception of the poor Thais that clean their hotel toilets and open the front doors, and that isn't many, nor do they get paid well.

[Dcheech]

1 hour ago, ThreeEyedRaven said:

High baht is one thing, but years and years of corrupt cops, fleecing taxis, violent assaults and thefts all put a damper on travelers enthusiasm, and nothing seems to ever happen to stem any of it. It is a pit they have dug for themselves.

A second post up. Years of publicity have taken its toll, the truth is well known. Do you really want to take a vacation just to get scammed and beat up?! You can do that in Beaumont, sans airfare and hotel.

[Beggar]

2 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

 

Yes, it can. They can get real, allow bars to open till dawn, like it used to be, incentivise hotels to offer cheap accommodation, and stop with the wowsers attack on the scene.

 

Hopefully not. This entertainment industry keeps many not sex tourists away. Noise and sex at almost every corner is not everybody's taste. Of course you can say then they should not come to Pattaya. I am afraid this is exactly what they are doing. 

[thaibeachlovers]

1 minute ago, LivinLOS said:

You looked at what the baht was in the 80s and early 90s ?? 

Irrelevant. The cost of "services" in baht back then was way, way less than now. The best time for a monger in LOS, ever, was just after the baht fell in 1997, but inflation had yet to increase prices. Effectively, everything was almost 50% cheaper. The pound sterling went from 45 if I remember correctly, to 99, for a short while. Later it settled at around the 70s for a considerable amount of time, but prices didn't rise much for years.

[OneMoreFarang]

1 hour ago, Orton Rd said:

Sex tourism is not something the new generation is so keen on anywhere.

I thought these days they call it online dating (for an hour or two).

[LivinLOS]

27 minutes ago, hansnl said:

The decline started when the TS clan came in, not when the military intervened.

Try to open your eyes for what happened in Thailand since around the year 2000.......

boom years back then up to 06.. 

[spidermike007]

4 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Agree with much you say except about the wine. Anyone that would come to Thailand just because wine is cheaper isn't going to give a satang to the poor Thais that used to make a good living in Pattaya, and they are the vast majority of Thais in Pattaya. With the exception of the poor Thais that clean their hotel toilets and open the front doors, and that isn't many, nor do they get paid well.

I am not talking about wealthy tourists coming here because wine is cheaper. I am talking about wealthy tourists not avoiding Thailand, because a great bottle of wine is some of the most expensive in the world! That is a very big distinction. Wealthy travelers are very discriminating, and though they are willing to spend alot of money, they do not like throwing their money away. Buying fine wine in Thailand, is like throwing your money away. The duties are onerous and excessive.

[thaibeachlovers]

1 minute ago, Beggar said:

Hopefully not. This entertainment industry keeps many not sex tourists away. Noise and sex at almost every corner is not everybody's taste. Of course you can say then they should not come to Pattaya. I am afraid this is exactly what they are doing. 

There are many, many places in Thailand for those that don't like the bar scene to visit, most of which are far nicer. Far as I'm concerned, those that don't like the bar scene can all go there instead of trying to change Pattaya to their druthers. Sadly, it's probably too late to save the Pattaya nite scene, so all visitors are going to end up with is a dirty, congested stink hole with a filthy beach and toxic water, rife with corruption and price gouging.