12 minutes ago, bbi1 said:

The complete lack of tourists are from the immigration officers not letting genuine tourists enter Thailand. Why does Thailand complain all the time when they have IO's at the airport who don't want tourists to spend money and deny them entry? Thank your own IOs for no tourists.

Genuine tourist have no problem getting in. None at all. 

5 hours ago, Jessi said:

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

Soi 6 is as usual

10% ladyboys, 10% young hotties. 10% fat\old\ugly girls and 70% normal girls 

and a lack of farangs customers for all. Some indians walk in the street but

for some reasons they are usualy ignored by most of the girls.

1 hour ago, madmen said:

How have "officials" slaughtered the average 5 day tourists? People come here to party and not to study the political landscape

Have you ever seen a tourist who traveled 24-30 hours

to have 5 days of vacation in a not very pleasant environment?

Visa impediments and "5 days policy" discourage Europeans from the start.

So only Chinese and Indians are left.
Maybe for 5 days they will come here , or they will fly to another place

because these 5 days a year are the only vacation they have.

So they have to choose wisely and make the most of this time.

In addition, the Chinese Social credit system
probably allows those with higher scores to fly to Europe and the USA
The Chinese version of the backpacker with a passport

and low score can fly to SEA for 5 days .

 

They discouraged Farangs and got Chinese backpackers instead
"Up to You"

3 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Almost all Thai hookers.

And sometimes I feel like a kid in a candy shop!

Almost all Thai people as they are like kids

Not surprising really.  As the number of Indian and Chinese tourists increases, you will see less and less western holiday celebration peoples, certainly percentage-wise and I am pretty sure in absolute numbers also as less westerners are going to Thailand. 

3 hours ago, SteveK said:

Isn't that the junta's intention? To get all the tourists out of Pattaya, at least the ones that go for what the city is famous for? To get rid of red-light areas and improve the country's reputation internationally? If that's the case then something is working.

It doesn't matter. The bar scene has been dying for the last 15 years, times have changed, things move on. 

23 minutes ago, bbi1 said:

... the immigration officers not letting genuine tourists enter Thailand. 

genuine tourists. Come on.

7 minutes ago, natway09 said:

Any bar owner charging 220 Bht for a local beer deserves to go broke,,

When I came her to live I was lucky to get 18 Bht for an Aussie $ 

Now can get 20 Bht. So it is not exchange rates

Exactly, beer bars have loose their expat customers that used to be their main customers in low season.

Exchange rate is not the main reason for expats but: low quality of girls/milfs playing with their phone, expensive drinks & girls, DUI check etc... for expats today bars are a waste of time and money, they are so many other good things to do in Pattaya !

 

That article just confirm that bars are empty in low seasons because expats stay at home. I can see every year more and more tourists. Now wait for the mess in High Season that will start only in a few weeks !

4 hours ago, Pattaya46 said:

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

you probably do not live here

because if you was here you should know

that you are wrong with your assertion

4 minutes ago, Spellforce said:

for expats today bars are a waste of time and money, they are so many other good things to do in Pattaya !

True

Thaifriendly is for the bars the same issue Airbnb is for the hotels.

with internet the expensive matchmaker is not needed anymore.

2 minutes ago, kingofthemountain said:

4 hours ago, Pattaya46 said:

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

you probably do not live here

because if you was here you should know

that you are wrong with your assertion

Living in Pattaya since 2006... 

If you think I am wrong, then you must be living in Soi Buakhao

and never put a foot outside of it. 

1 hour ago, madmen said:

How have "officials" slaughtered the average 5 day tourists? People come here to party and not to study the political landscape

 

1 hour ago, yellowboat said:

They do neither according to the article.   The party days are over.  Better places to party now, unless you are a sex tourist. 

 

Exactly, party where please? In chiang mai where they close everything at midnight? 
In Bangkok where everything shuts down at 1 AM except a bunch of <deleted>holes, this is literally the worst country ever for "party" tourism.

Go to Ibiza or Mykonos, Berlin, London whatever, even Singapore and Dubai are way better ... 

Not to mention there's literally no good club in Thailand and no DJs etc...

3 hours ago, BestB said:

Why you spreading fake news? It’s 5800 not 6000????????????????

 

 

wait

are you saying indians don't leave a tip ? ????

I don't know if I'm a typical tourist, but I like to travel around Thailand and have so far visited over 30 provinces. I visit most attractions in the provinces (don't worry about dual pricing) Each trip to Thailand lasts approx. 4 weeks and on the last 5 trips I have used 1,256,000 bath which gives approx. 9,000 baths per day (140 days). I always visit Pattaya 4-5 days before I go home. I like the city. I visit some bars where I drink 2-3 beers before returning to the hotel. Pattaya is so much more than beer bars and gogo bars.

Seems like the goose that laid the golden eggs has gone well and truly t1ts up.

3 minutes ago, Pattaya46 said:

Living in Pattaya since 2006... 

If you think I am wrong, then you must be living in Soi Buakhao

and never put a foot outside of it. 

So are you saying beach road is full?

I see all the chairs empty on a daily basis since months

and the malls? they do good only on week end when the Thais go

inside for eating, but hey have you go in one of them in a week day?

Even the new T21 is empty (And the others one are dying)

what are exactly the ''tourists place'' full and busy you are talking about?

Are you near a chinese restaurant or something like that?

5 hours 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. 

Yep, even a coffee is on par to western prices, what's the point.

 

I just did the yearly calculations of money in and money out, and it was right on target, on par to what it would cost us to live in Sydney, i.e. $1,250 per week or 100,000 baht a month, excluding any rents, building house, labor, beer, short timers, hotels, as for the rest, well, they are all up there, unless you want to eat like a Thai, of which our dietary needs are not, Thailand is fast becoming an expensive place to survive for some, IMO.

 

I thought we were all "tourists" ?  Never met a foreigner with Permanent residency.

The Bodega Bar on Sai Song was nearly full at 10pm. 

Talked to a guy from Liverpool who was on holiday, been here many times.

All seemed to be having a good time

5 hours ago, metempsychotic said:

Was off the hook here in Bangkok. 

 

Perhaps pattaya is catering to a dying demographic. 

"Off the hook?" Explain please!

11 minutes ago, 4MyEgo said:

Yep, even a coffee is on par to western prices, what's the point.

 

I just did the yearly calculations of money in and money out, and it was right on target, on par to what it would cost us to live in Sydney, i.e. $1,250 per week or 100,000 baht a month, excluding any rents, building house, labor, beer, short timers, hotels, as for the rest, well, they are all up there, unless you want to eat like a Thai, 

 

I pay 30 baht for a hot cappuccino, beans freshly ground and made in an espresso machine, by a thai lady at the Avenue Mall (1 USD) 

Yes Starbucks is like 160 baht, but never go there.

I live on $1250 USD a month, not a week?  That includes food, beer, and utilities. (own condo)

(not including female companionship)

What foods are you eating and where? 

Yes many rip-off restaurants in Pattaya, but also many good restaurants at decent prices (Italian especially) 

Remember you need to keep your intake under 2000 calories a day if you are over 60 ! 

Chok dee kaap

3 hours ago, essox essox said:

who celebrates Halloween IT IS FOR KIDS....!!

Should only be for PAGAN kids! lol

Blame gov and state military junta and much higher....

6 hours 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)

U don’t seem to understand that a negative online vibe from long stayers will stop tourists from visiting as well.

Also most of us got loads of overseas friends and relatives to short time visiting us (TOURISTS) here but since lots of expats have left so now their overseas friends and relatives won’t visit either..furthermore if Thailand expats in this forum are posting  here that Vietnam has very easy visas is cheap and clean beaches etc etc. So any foreigners who are. reading this before booking a flight where do u think they will go to?

Do you think that on a Vietnam forum they are talking how great things are in Thailand?

Every day, Thailand becomes more expensive, with the constantly rising Baht. Sometimes it seems they planned it this way.  Sure hope the Baht bubble bursts soon.

4 minutes ago, wgdanson said:

Should only be for PAGAN kids! lol

Only in America

2 hours ago, dreaming said:

Average tourist spend 6000 baht per day. Assuming your friends come for 2 weeks 4 times per year. They spend 336.000 baht

you are talking rubbish, max spend is sub 20k a week, in fact some of them are not coming as often because it cost so much, as already mentioned on this thread - Thailand ain't cheap any more - there are no more 2 week millionaires, guys are coming here and being thrifty many complaining about how expensive it is and the price gouging everywhere - Thailand needs to waken up and smell the cheese, only reason many come here at all is because they know people living here - go figure

 

Don't forget 1000GBP hardly gets much more than 35k baht, add in hotel room and flights and you're looking at a 2-3 week holiday costing 3-4000 GBP - you think that is cheap ???????? - I don't and neither do they and they are not spending anything like that  

 Lol. Looks to me like they went out filming about 8pm and deliberately filmed bars in areas that are always quiet. If they had actually gone into soi LK Metro and the busy part of Walking St later in the evening a different picture would emerge. That said I agree it is much quieter this year but painting the picture they choose to paint is just poor journalism.

6 hours 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"

How do you suggest the Baht exchange rate is lowered. 

6 hours 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)

You seen how hard it is to get a tourist visa with the new e-visa system ?? 

 

Or the snowbird tourists who used to get a multi non imm and do winter tourism ?? mai dai cannot !! At least as far as UK goes. 

Saying genuine tourists are not effected by all these new rule changes is simply not true.  

Sorry to say but I think walking street will become a thing of the past, it's been flogged to death with the same sh#t everywhere. Overpriced restaurants, bars, and hookers.