Pattaya Halloween: The only scary thing was the complete lack of tourists

[rooster59]

Pattaya Halloween: The only scary thing was the complete lack of tourists

 

Image: Sophon Cable TV on Facebook

 

Sophon Cable TV on Facebook painted a grim picture of tourism in Pattaya this week saying that the usually vibrant Halloween Festival was as dead as a dodo. 

 

Their reporters went out to Soi Bua Khao and Walking Street on Thursday night and found pubs and clubs decked out and staff in costumes. 

 

Just one thing - there were no customers. 

 

 

One operator blamed the world economy for the resort's tourism problems.

 

Sophon said a new strategy was needed. 

 

 

Posters agreed that Halloween was as dead as a graveyard for all the wrong reasons. 

 

Some blamed the strong value of the baht. Some said it was like this nationwide, even the markets were devoid of custom.

 

Yanawat even found a handy scapegoat in the form of the Pattaya mayor declaring facetiously: "Thanks to the mayor for bringing peace and calm to Pattaya".

 

Source: Sophon Cable TV on Facebook

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2019-11-02

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[petermik]

"one operator blamed the world economy" yes everything and anything but the facts....the baht is way too strong and tourists are not really that welcome anymore...."leave your cash in the skips provided at immigration points and exit the country as quickly as possible please"

[keith101]

New Year and Songkran will be the big testers as to how the Baht is affecting tourism , I suspect the numbers will be well down and tourists who do come wont stay as long or spend as much .

[robblok]

1 minute ago, petermik said:

"one operator blamed the world economy" yes everything and anything but the facts....the baht is way too strong and tourists are not really that welcome anymore...."leave your cash in the skips provided at immigration points and exit the country as quickly as possible please"

That is what tourists do.. only us who live here have a harder time for tourist nothing has changed but the exchange rate.

[Creasy]

Offer the punters sticky rice and mango and they will appear in droves ????

[metempsychotic]

Was off the hook here in Bangkok. 

 

Perhaps pattaya is catering to a dying demographic. 

[BestB]

Sophon and operators know nothing . As according to TAT and some Thai visa experts not only tourist numbers have rebounded but there is even an increase on last year????????

[petermik]

7 hours ago, robblok said:

That is what tourists do.. only us who live here have a harder time for tourist nothing has changed but the exchange rate.

I,ve been living here nearly six years,the exchange rates we cannot control but this juntas attitude to long stayers is more worrying 

[Jessi]

What about Soi 6, guess it was full of LadyBoyz with pumpkins on their heads....????  

[kelboy]

Just come back from HCMC and I could not move in walking street, full from locals and tourists and very cheap.20000 dong for a beer. Wake up Thailand. All the reports that everyone is going to Vietnam are true. 555.

ps chang beer was 30000 dong so the thai government gets about 30 baht tax on 1 can you can do the maths yourself. 

[robblok]

Just now, petermik said:

I,ve been living here nearly six years,the exchange rates we cannot control but this juntas attitude to long stayers is more worrying 

Yes but your comparing long stayers with tourists and that is wrong. You act like the lack of tourist is caused by junta its rule and it is not. Tourists are still treated good its just us long stayers (a small percentage compared to tourists) that have a problem. Not everyone off course because in reality without the tm30 nothing much has changed (unless you were one of those of the 3 embassies that stopped giving the income letter)

[BestB]

11 minutes ago, petermik said:

"one operator blamed the world economy" yes everything and anything but the facts....the baht is way too strong and tourists are not really that welcome anymore...."leave your cash in the skips provided at immigration points and exit the country as quickly as possible please"

Even if baht was weaker. Have you seen the prices?

 

Thailand is known as a cheap holiday destination . 290 baht for a plain T-shirt at the markets is hardly cheap even if baht was weaker but at the levels it’s at now its double the price to most western countries .

 

220 baht for a drink , 1500 bsht

bsrfines, 1000 baht for a steak. Just a bread roll is up to 25 baht

 

A night out with a female company can set you back 10000, easily. 

[AhFarangJa]

3 minutes ago, Jessi said:

What about Soi 6, guess it was full of LadyBoyz with pumpkins on their heads....????  

I thought a lot of them looked like that all year round......

[BestB]

2 minutes ago, AhFarangJa said:

I thought a lot of them looked like that all year round......

That was a nose job went wrong ????

[unamazedloso]

i dont know what articles these people are reading but i read tourism is up year on year..

Just waiting for the lottery and ill be oit of here ????????

[morrobay]

47 minutes ago, robblok said:

That is what tourists do.. only us who live here have a harder time for tourist nothing has changed but the exchange rate.

Why dont you take a ride along Beach rd this afternoopn Hoss. For much needed  reality check regarding "nothing has  has changed" regarding tourist numbetrs . I dont know whats up with some of you people and your everthing is cool bs replies to calling spades spades?? And whats his name go get some photos in basement floor Central. 

[Sujo]

16 minutes ago, robblok said:

Yes but your comparing long stayers with tourists and that is wrong. You act like the lack of tourist is caused by junta its rule and it is not. Tourists are still treated good its just us long stayers (a small percentage compared to tourists) that have a problem. Not everyone off course because in reality without the tm30 nothing much has changed (unless you were one of those of the 3 embassies that stopped giving the income letter)

I considered going to thailand but opted for jakarta.

 

what put me off was strong baht, not feeling welcome, immigration officers that seem a bit overzealous the last few trips i made. And yes, im not keen on junta rule. So im off thailand for a good while.

 

Didnt like Jakarta though, so next trip will prob head back to vietnam for a few days, i do like it there.

[AussieBob18]

I have been told that I am being very negative (other posts) about Thailand and the Baht, but I am certain that I am right, and this post is just another of many examples of what is actually hapenning in Thailand.  The economy is in big trouble, but the 'echo chamber' of the Thai leaders in Bangkok (Junta et al) cannot and will not 'see' it (and some TV posters).

 

Unless they take drastic actions to decrease the Baht, the world economy will take action itself - and it will be big and ugly.  Maybe not as big as in the 1990s  - but it is going to be bad if they dont take action soon.   This is Thailand's net external debt - I will not bother showing charts about how muchg the Baht has increased against ALL foeign currencies - but of note is that those graphs look very similar to this one below.  

 

It is unsustainable - and a correction is inevitable and is coming.  But being the optimist that I actually am, I can see the Junta being thrown out after the correction happens, and a pro-Business and Pro-USA Govt taking their place.  And amongst all the changes that new Govt will make, I reckon the attitude towards Expats will eventually return to what is what in the past - we are good for the economy - please stay/come back. 

[AussieBob18]

7 minutes ago, Sujo said:

I considered going to thailand but opted for jakarta.

what put me off was strong baht, not feeling welcome, immigration officers that seem a bit overzealous the last few trips i made. And yes, im not keen on junta rule. So im off thailand for a good while.

Didnt like Jakarta though, so next trip will prob head back to vietnam for a few days, i do like it there.

Skyscanner did a survey of on-line quotes airline fares requested from Australia - that does not include the last 3-6 months.  The result was of the top 10 destinations checked, there was 2 cities in Vietnam on the list - Bangkok was not.  But the number of actual destinations travelled to had Bangkok at number 4 - and the costs of those airfares had increased way more than any other location in that year (+12%).   All that tells me that Aussie tourists booked ahead and still went to Thailand (still some to go like me), but Aussies are looking elsewhere for their next trip to SEAsia and Vietnam is very popular at the minute.  Word gets around and it is getting around fast - Vietnam is good to visit.

[morrobay]

22 minutes ago, metempsychotic said:

Was off the hook here in Bangkok. 

 

Perhaps pattaya is catering to a dying demographic. 

Is that why the  Pattay city/ TAT  is having a new hub of the week promotions every week. Is that why there are all these theme park  and kiddie malls around.  See post # 10 about Vietnam  thats where the smart money is. But as long as Pattaya has masses of oblivious East and South Asians it will get by as a seedy 3rd string seaside resort because the city has not taken any action for otherwise. There will always be demand for what Pattaya is famouse for. 

 

[JamJar]

58 minutes ago, robblok said:

That is what tourists do.. only us who live here have a harder time for tourist nothing has changed but the exchange rate.

 

Wrong. The process for a Tourist Visa has changed for many of us. Far more intrusive and inconvenient.

[Beggar]

I was in Terminal 21 yesterday evening and saw very many people there. I regretted to go there on Friday because of the many people.

 

Perhaps a declining number of tourists are interested in the noisy (sex) bar business. The video shows mostly empty bars of this newer Tree Town Pattaya. You have to imagine in this erea next to the Second Road were endless often empty bars already and perhaps with the idea to improve tourism Tree Town Pattaya was added in addition to many other bars in the new Walking Street (or new Soi 6) Soi Buakhao. Perhaps they should create one more big bar area at the big empty place were the Excite Disco was before. And the 3rd road provides enough space for new bars too. And the Avenue Shopping Mall could be transformed with many bars into a Pattaya version of Nana Plaza and... I am confident Pattaya still has a lot of unused potential to increase tourism. 

[dimitriv]

1 hour ago, BestB said:

Sophon and operators know nothing . As according to TAT and some Thai visa experts not only tourist numbers have rebounded but there is even an increase on last year????????

 

They are waiting for the Indians who are going to spend the expected 6000 Baht each day ????

[andre47]

Really funny....always discussions about the number of tourists coming to Thailand. For what??

[dimitriv]

3 minutes ago, andre47 said:

Really funny....always discussions about the number of tourists coming to Thailand. For what??

 

 

I think the attitude of the Thai government is the cause of that. Many here hope that the country will collapse. Am I right?

[RotBenz8888]

14 minutes ago, Beggar said:

I was in Terminal 21 yesterday evening and saw very many people there. I regretted to go there on Friday because of the many people.

 

Perhaps a declining number of tourists are interested in the noisy (sex) bar business. The video shows mostly empty bars of this newer Tree Town Pattaya. You have to imagine in this erea next to the Second Road were endless often empty bars already and perhaps with the idea to improve tourism Tree Town Pattaya was added in addition to many other bars in the new Walking Street (or new Soi 6) Soi Buakhao. Perhaps they should create one more big bar area at the big empty place were the Excite Disco was before. And the 3rd road provides enough space for new bars too. And the Avenue Shopping Mall could be transformed with many bars into a Pattaya version of Nana Plaza and... I am confident Pattaya still has a lot of unused potential to increase tourism. 

...once the Baht is back to normal.

[Pattaya46]

95% of the video is in Soi Buakhao. When will media understand that tourists don't visit Soi Buakhao…! Their area is mainly Beach Rd/Second Rd and Walking Street.

BTW you can see many tourists on Walking Street at the very short sequence on WS at 00:45.

 

Edit: I agree that bars in Soi Buakhao area must struggle. They target mainly cheap Charlie's farangs and old retirees, and these 2 categories seem to have serious budget problems nowadays.

But if you look at malls and tourists' areas, seems to me that Pattaya as a whole is doing well with tourism. 

[robblok]

37 minutes ago, JamJar said:

 

Wrong. The process for a Tourist Visa has changed for many of us. Far more intrusive and inconvenient.

Most tourists dont need a long term visa. That is only a small part of the tourists. 

[robblok]

13 minutes ago, dimitriv said:

 

 

I think the attitude of the Thai government is the cause of that. Many here hope that the country will collapse. Am I right?

Many wont hope for a collapse of the country but a better exchange rate. 

[Nong Khai Man]

1 hour ago, BestB said:

Even if baht was weaker. Have you seen the prices?

 

Thailand is known as a cheap holiday destination . 290 baht for a plain T-shirt at the markets is hardly cheap even if baht was weaker but at the levels it’s at now its double the price to most western countries .

 

220 baht for a drink , 1500 bsht

bsrfines, 1000 baht for a steak. Just a bread roll is up to 25 baht

 

A night out with a female company can set you back 10000, easily. 

Well You are Eating & Drinking in The WRONG Places........10,000 Baht for a night out, That is Bulls*it !!