Bangkok tops Paris, London as world's most-visited city - MasterCard

[DLock]

5 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

Um, because sophisticated travelers dont go to "Singapore Zoo, Jurong Bird Park, Singapore Aquarium, Casino, Sentosa Beach, Chinatown, Jumbo Seafood, Orchard Road...and then there was the hotel and the airport."

 

Im not flying to Asia for 24 hours to go visit a zoo and an aquarium. Get real. I can go to 35 US states for fabulous zoos. And I wnt out of any airport. And there is a Jumbo Seafood in Icon Siam, Ill go down to Pak Nam BTS and eat it cheaper tyvm.

 

Casino? OK, you win. No casinos in BKK.

 

When I go anywhere, anywhere, I want to see life, not "tourist attractions". I stay here all winter and havent been to the Grand Palace in two years (but I will go as soon as the weather breaks as I want to try a new lens). The back alleys of Bangkok are far more fun.

 

Using your criteria, it seems you are a Disneyland Tourist.

 

 

You are getting yourself all worked up.

 

I just asked a question about being a tourist and tourist attractions, and why would anyone come to Bangkok as a tourist. I also never mentioned price.

 

I'm sure there are some who think BKK is still exotic and authentic and think street food is awesome, and some that prefer the bars and gogo's and "life" and living "cheap". That's great. But it's a small subset of tourism.

 

But whether you like it or not, tourists are looking for attractions...and Disneylands. Thailand has nothing....unless you could 400 temples and looking at tiles, which for the average tourist or family isn't really going to cut it.

 

I have lived in Thailand 19 years (not BKK) and being in Singapore just made me realize how much of a "nothing" it really is.

 

[madmen]

Matercard year after year confirming what TAT has said all along. The bashers are freaking out lol

[alan grice]

Visitors are not recorded if they are EU Citizens so how do they know exact counts. Here every one entering must have Amazing Thailand bits of dam Paper for some reason .!.


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[RandolphGB]

''But, but, but TM30...'' Wake up!  Expats and 'sexpats' are irrelevant to the Thai government, society and economy. Their relatively minuscule contribution to the economy could disappear overnight and it would not  make any difference to the country. 

[thaibeachlovers]

13 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

The back alleys of Bangkok are far more fun.

I've been down plenty, and there's nothing "fun" about them. Filthy, rubbish and rat infested alleys between dirty, boring, badly built concrete hovels.

I doubt even the TAT would promote Bkk as "The hub of back alleys".

[Isaanbiker]

11 hours ago, Nyezhov said:

Sex tourist dumps? Thats so immature and 20th century.

 

Ya got 400 Wats in BKK alone, get a grip. Hell I could keep a tourist busy for two weeks.

 

WE're currently visiting the 276th temple. Amazing!!!

 

    No idea why anybody would come here because of girls, or boys in skirts. 

[Nyezhov]

6 minutes ago, Orton Rd said:

You admit to wanting to see the back alleys of Bangkok more than anything, hardly a place for such a sophisticate such as yourself. The attraction of slums, rats, broken pavements and lack of planing must pass most of us by.

The beauty and art found in daily life, dude. Those are real scenes of humanity and life that connect us with our own lives and our own humanity. Far preferable to me than hanging out in the "sophisticated" Singapore Aquarium where I can see artificiality created to soak money out of folks who never got dirty.

 

Guess its the Harvard phone book difference between you and I.

 

1 minute ago, thaibeachlovers said:

BTW Singapore airport is amazing. Pity Bkk didn't imitate it, instead of the abortion they built at Swampy.

Its an airport. Airports suck. Normal folks get out of them as fast as possible. I mean maybe a rube would be impressed an airport.......

[madmen]

3 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I've been down plenty, and there's nothing "fun" about them. Filthy, rubbish and rat infested alleys between dirty, boring, badly built concrete hovels.

I doubt even the TAT would promote Bkk as "The hub of back alleys".

Your posting from some dreary and dead suburb in Australia and you reckon Bangkok is boring? LMAO

[thaibeachlovers]

3 minutes ago, RandolphGB said:

''But, but, but TM30...'' Wake up!  Expats and 'sexpats' are irrelevant to the Thai government, society and economy. Their relatively minuscule contribution to the economy could disappear overnight and it would not  make any difference to the country. 

Congratulations you have seen the truth.

I've been saying that for ages, but no one believes it, preferring to think that the entire Thai economy depends on their insignificant contributions. I guess everyone wants to feel important.

[Time Traveller]

Is it just me, or do these "awards" to Bangkok feel a lot like when the intellectually disabled kid gets crowned prom king or queen?

I know Las Vegas get over 40 million visitors every year, and New York and Paris much more than that.

With just 22.8 million, I doubt Bangkok would even be in the top 10.

Maybe they mean the most visited city by sex tourists?

[wgdanson]

13 minutes ago, madmen said:

Matercard year after year confirming what TAT has said all along. The bashers are freaking out lol

That's one mother of a card!    LOL

[thaibeachlovers]

3 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

The beauty and art found in daily life, dude. Those are real scenes of humanity and life that connect us with our own lives and our own humanity. Far preferable to me than hanging out in the "sophisticated" Singapore Aquarium where I can see artificiality created to soak money out of folks who never got dirty.

 

Guess its the Harvard phone book difference between you and I.

 

Its an airport. Airports suck. Normal folks get out of them as fast as possible. I mean maybe a rube would be impressed an airport.......

I'll ignore the personal insult this time, but Singapore airport is an experience not a badly designed, disfunctional piece of <deleted> like Swampy.

It's places like that which explain how the Singaporeans transformed a British military outpost into a premier tourist attraction. They did go too far though, when they expunged the few remaining places of gutter interest like Bugis and it became too sterile.

 

The beauty and art found in daily life, dude. Those are real scenes of humanity and life that connect us with our own lives and our own humanity.

and I've taken thousands of photos of just that around Thailand for decades, but I never considered a Bkk back alley to be worth the paper/pixels, unless it had a personal significance to me. They are called "back" alleys for a reason.

[thaibeachlovers]

10 minutes ago, madmen said:

Your posting from some dreary and dead suburb in Australia and you reckon Bangkok is boring? LMAO

I never said Bkk is boring. You have me confused with someone else. Probable, as I don't live in Australia either.

[Nyezhov]

3 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I'll ignore the personal insult this time, but Singapore airport is an experience not a badly designed, disfunctional piece of <deleted> like Swampy.

It's places like that which explain how the Singaporeans transformed a British military outpost into a premier tourist attraction. They did go too far though, when they expunged the few remaining places of gutter interest like Bugis and it became too sterile.

 

The beauty and art found in daily life, dude. Those are real scenes of humanity and life that connect us with our own lives and our own humanity.

and I've taken thousands of photos of just that around Thailand for decades, but I never considered a Bkk back alley to be worth the paper/pixels, unless it had a personal significance to me. They are called "back" alleys for a reason.

Well there ya go dude, your taste in art is airports, my taste is the back alleys of airports. Dont get your panties in a wad then, some folks like Elton John, some like Varese.

[bkk6060]

Singapore is the biggest waste of time and money bore of a place.

Bunch of snooty people living in concrete with no character.

Orchard Towers is a rip off and 200 bucks for golf.

BKK and Thailand beat it by a long shot.

[thaibeachlovers]

22 minutes ago, DLock said:

Thailand has nothing...

Haven't looked hard enough. Plenty of such in Pattaya that have zero to do with girls or bars. Even Bkk has ( or had ) some parks with rides, though nothing like a big western set up.

[madmen]

2 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I never said Bkk is boring. You have me confused with someone else. Probable, as I don't live in Australia either.

Well you wrote boring , what am I missing? Where do you live now?

[thaibeachlovers]

9 minutes ago, madmen said:

Well you wrote boring , what am I missing? Where do you live now?

You missed the context. Boring referred to the concrete hovels that line back alleys, nothing else. Even back alleys in Bkk are not boring. Avoiding the rats and the filth filled potholes sees to that.

Pillar and beam reinforced concrete may be the best building construction method for LOS, but it's hardly aesthetically interesting.

I live in a cold country, sadly.

[DLock]

22 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Haven't looked hard enough. Plenty of such in Pattaya that have zero to do with girls or bars. Even Bkk has ( or had ) some parks with rides, though nothing like a big western set up.

 

I keep asking for examples of what tourist attractions BKK (or Pattaya if you prefer) has for your average tourist family.

 

...but so far, we have back alleys, tiles, temples and go go bars...which pretty much support my claim that Bangkok is bereft of anything that would satisfy your average tourist family.

 

[Nyezhov]

40 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

 

I live in a cold country, sadly.

Sucks to be you. Its nice and warm in the back alleys.

 Take a look at this capture of Thailand life. If you arent moved, your heart is as cold as the climate you are in. Ill take that over Dinsey World anyday.

 

[madmen]

26 minutes ago, DLock said:

 

I keep asking for examples of what tourist attractions BKK (or Pattaya if you prefer) has for your average tourist family.

 

...but so far, we have back alleys, tiles, temples and go go bars...which pretty much support my claim that Bangkok is bereft of anything that would satisfy your average tourist family.

 

google tourist attraction for familys with kids Bangkok. Their is plenty to do including theme parks however having said that If I had a wife and 3 kids which thankfully I dont, Bangkok would hardly be my first choice. Bangkok is a great get away for youngish couples wanting to experiance the buzz and its still considered somewhat exotic by those who live in the sterile concrete jungles in the west

 

Touists dont come here for theatre or art galleries , why would they ? plenty of that in their own countries

[overherebc]

2 hours ago, DLock said:

 

That kind of what the point of my question was.

 

Just in terms of the few places I went for comparison - the Singapore Zoo, Jurong Bird Park, Singapore Aquarium, Casino, Sentosa Beach, Chinatown, Jumbo Seafood, Orchard Road...and then there was the hotel and the airport.

 

Didn't get to Raffles.

 

My question was serious. As a tourist, why would I come to BKK?

The brochures look good??

[madmen]

2 hours ago, DLock said:

 

That kind of what the point of my question was.

 

Just in terms of the few places I went for comparison - the Singapore Zoo, Jurong Bird Park, Singapore Aquarium, Casino, Sentosa Beach, Chinatown, Jumbo Seafood, Orchard Road...and then there was the hotel and the airport.

 

Didn't get to Raffles.

 

My question was serious. As a tourist, why would I come to BKK?

Who flies half way around the world to look at locked up animals and fish? Birdwatching ? hang out at the airport lol Sounds like you had the time of your life

[Jimdandy]

It makes sense how this can happen when you look at the unspoken strategy. Raise prices here then advertise outside the country how 'affordable' BKK is compared to the other cities and folks will think they're getting a bargain. For those who come it's cheaper than London, NYC, Pais, etc. Then slowly continue to raise prices, then build more Icon Siam type locations. The long term effect, gets rid of all the expats who came here to live on fixed income because it was affordable and TAT makes more money on tourism. Hi speed rail to China coming, BTS, MRT extensions all part of the plan. More to come.

[ncc1701d]

Fwiw I’m 99% sure the photo in the op is from the indigo hotel. Excellent hotel.

 

cant stand sin. Sterile, the accent.

[Orton Rd]

48 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

Sucks to be you. Its nice and warm in the back alleys.

 Take a look at this capture of Thailand life. If you arent moved, your heart is as cold as the climate you are in. Ill take that over Dinsey World anyday.

 

Moved by what, pics of the oh so exotic monks, snotty nosed kids, the usual sunsets, modern concrete 'religious' monstrosities, cheating tuk tuks and plates of cheap food? Some people are easily 'moved', I forgot the cliched yawn.

[millymoopoo]

WHY....?

[Moo 2]

That's only for cities, but to be serious one has to include the total arrivals in the country itself!

Thailand with a population of 68 million gets roughly 35 million tourists a year.  

France with a population of 65 million gets 90 million tourists a year and this influx has been

going for over 15 years and expects to reach 100 million in the next 4/5 years. Now, that's the way

to count tourism!

[Kinnock]

3 hours ago, Nyezhov said:

 

Casino? OK, you win. No casinos in BKK.

 

Sure there are.  Just ask a Policeman for directions.

 

[Nyezhov]

25 minutes ago, Orton Rd said:

Moved by what, pics of the oh so exotic monks, snotty nosed kids, the usual sunsets, modern concrete 'religious' monstrosities, cheating tuk tuks and plates of cheap food? Some people are easily 'moved', I forgot the cliched yawn.

Wow. Your life seems very cynical and sad, I'm sorry.