Thai tourism: Further doom and gloom from the North

[Chelseafan]

9 hours ago, racket said:

International trade wars? Hasn’t affected me. Can’t remember anyone blaming the trade wars for not visiting Thailand. Let’s just say that the Thai baht is overpriced...

Can't be that. Tourism figures are up. The question is, if they are not going to CM, where are they going ?

 

[mike787]

If thais wanted to change all this they can, BUT they DO NOT WANT TO CHANGE.

[BestB]

2 minutes ago, mike787 said:

If thais wanted to change all this they can, BUT they DO NOT WANT TO CHANGE.

Its not about wanting, its about revamping entire driving license system and training.

 

They simply do not know road rules and do not have any training.

 

Driving lessons consist of driving around in a circle in an open field.

 

Lack of enforcement does not help either.

 

I often have fights with my staff when they get pulled over, no driving license, no helmet. They scream bad police, whats the problem they driving to or from work. I tell them, police did their job as they should, and they (staff) are in the wrong. All i get told is that i do not understand 

 

May be if fine for driving without DL was 10 000 baht instead of 500, they may think twice about driving without one. and may be if proper training was provided, instead of few thousand here and there, it will also make difference, by the way, testing is also done in cornered off zone which does not require much skills at all.

 

I am sure if testing was done on open road, like in most countries in the world, vast majority would be failing miserably.

[cornishcarlos]

3 hours ago, Chelseafan said:

You had a 50/50 change of getting it right ????

 

 

With TAT you have a 70/60 chance ????

[BobinBKK]

On 12/2/2019 at 11:08 AM, cornishcarlos said:

 

I believe TAT...

I believe the people on the ground because I have seen it with my own eyes.

[cornishcarlos]

34 minutes ago, BobinBKK said:

I believe the people on the ground because I have seen it with my own eyes.

 

I believe sarcasm is the highest form of wit ????

[BritManToo]

9 hours ago, Chelseafan said:

Can't be that. Tourism figures are up. The question is, if they are not going to CM, where are they going ?

 

Probably a connecting flight to Vietnam.

[moe666]

I live close to Chiang Mai Gate tourist numbers are up from low season but not as many as a few years ago. The chinese are defiantly down. A good up tick in farangs from Europe, the US, England and a few Aussies. Not over powering number but up compared to a few months ago. Thai friends who have businesses in the area way down on numbers of customers. The Saturday walking street which would have traffice backed up some distance on the smaller sois is way down with car traffic. This market would have lots of Thais from Chiang Rai and other near by cities as well as tours from the south then add in the tourist and it was packed, now not so much

[nursebob]

On 12/2/2019 at 11:03 AM, NCC1701A said:

the thing about it is people need to be able to breathe.

well the rice crops are in, time to burn the stubble, unless the Thai farmers use the subsidised tractors.

[donnacha]

18 hours ago, tabarin said:

You are worse off, all year long, on average, in Bangkok.

This is the wrong way to look at it. When considering exposure to any form of toxin, it is the extremes that are most dangerous. For example, drinking a bottle of whiskey over the course of a week can be fun, but downing the whole thing in one night could kill you.

Even if the year-round pollution Bangkok works out higher on average (they actually average out to about the same), Chiang Mai's more extreme days are far more dangerous.

Being exposed to one day at, say, 320 is not twice as dangerous as one day 160, it is an entirely different category of risk. People in the north, which already has among the highest levels of lung cancer in the world, are now part of an unprecedented experiment on human beings. We have no idea what the medium to long term consequences will be, but all indications suggest that they won't be good.

 

19 hours ago, tabarin said:

Guess these comments come from people who not live in CM themselves.

This discussion is in the Chiang Mai Forum. It's a fair assumption that everyone bothering to post here has first-hand familiarity with the region.
 

 

19 hours ago, tabarin said:

Currently being in 'high season', we have perfect weather with blue skies and cold nights.

The current pollution levels, especially at night, are far from normal for this time of year. Usually, around this time, you can see the mountains clearly from my suburb but, this year, they have been blurred by pollution every day.

At night, walking around my village at this time of year, I would usually enjoy the exotic scents coming from the many splendid gardens but, this year, you can taste the smoke in every breath. Everyone here closes their windows and switches on their aircons as the evening draws in.

This is the worst I have seen it during high season in over a decade here. Last year, we did not hit these levels until around mid-January. It is already widely accepted that people with options get out of Chiang Mai between January and April. It will be a disaster for Chiang Mai tourism if that danger zone now spreads into the high season too.

[essox essox]

22 hours ago, Jimbo2014 said:

Im shocked actually.  I really thought people would flock to see the most polluted city in Asia (as it was last January).

It is only polluted some of the time, changes rapidly!!

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, donnacha said:

Everyone here closes their windows and switches on their aircons as the evening draws in.

That's to keep the mosquitoes out.

[cornishcarlos]

2 hours ago, moe666 said:

numbers are up from low season

 

Well there is a surprise !!

[donnacha]

22 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

That's to keep the mosquitoes out.

I am, of course, talking about windows with mosquito netting ????

One of the nice things about our village at this time of year was that you could sleep with your netted window open, hearing the buzz of the cicadas and enjoying the plant fragrances. Now when I walk down the street in the evenings, the most dominant sound is the hum of the aircons, and that's a great shame.

[johng]

23 hours ago, heybuz said:

Was at the white temple Chang rai yesterday it was busy about a million Thai visitors and two falang,me and another bloke

Did you have to pay double to get in ???

[heybuz]

21 minutes ago, johng said:

Did you have to pay double to get in ???

No Thai girlfriend paid

[mike787]

12 hours ago, BestB said:

Its not about wanting, its about revamping entire driving license system and training.

 

They simply do not know road rules and do not have any training.

 

Driving lessons consist of driving around in a circle in an open field.

 

Lack of enforcement does not help either.

 

I often have fights with my staff when they get pulled over, no driving license, no helmet. They scream bad police, whats the problem they driving to or from work. I tell them, police did their job as they should, and they (staff) are in the wrong. All i get told is that i do not understand 

 

May be if fine for driving without DL was 10 000 baht instead of 500, they may think twice about driving without one. and may be if proper training was provided, instead of few thousand here and there, it will also make difference, by the way, testing is also done in cornered off zone which does not require much skills at all.

 

I am sure if testing was done on open road, like in most countries in the world, vast majority would be failing miserably.

Let me see if I understand all you have said:  Thai airways, Thailands national air carrier is flown by Thai national pilots and "They simply do not know road rules and do not have any training" you say?  Really?  How do they start their cars?   How is it that the Thai pilots can operate an aircraft then?

Everything in life is a choice.  I can teach you do anything, but I cannot teach you DESIRE!  

Again!  I will say it but only this last time....CHOICE/DESIRE!

 

 

[BritManToo]

2 hours ago, donnacha said:

I am, of course, talking about windows with mosquito netting ????

One of the nice things about our village at this time of year was that you could sleep with your netted window open, hearing the buzz of the cicadas and enjoying the plant fragrances. Now when I walk down the street in the evenings, the most dominant sound is the hum of the aircons, and that's a great shame.

I don't have netted windows, air flow is restricted by at least 50% by any netting.

My windows are open from dawn until dusk.

[donnacha]

5 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

My windows are open from dawn until dusk.

And have you noticed any impact on your mental health or competence?

https://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/07-08/smog

[SmartyMarty]

high baht, poor safety records, expansion of air bnb.....we will never know the real; numbers. not ever.

[Langkawee]

TAT dumb <deleted> might look at 2 LAND border limitations and the rubber glove treatment at airports, duh

[Langkawee]

On 12/2/2019 at 1:53 PM, tabarin said:

Nothing to do? There is plenty to do (elephants, mountains / waterfalls, national parks, karting, wake boarding, museums, zoo with a panda, cooking schools, kajaks, rafting, shooting, climbing, mountainbike tracks, big bike trails, hot springs, grand canyon waterpark, quality spa's, night markets, live music, plenty restaurants and the list goes on and on).

Rooms are not over priced as well, you can get a brand new hotel with pool from 800B a night. 
Dormitory, nice ones, can be as little as 120B a night in the old city. Single rooms with fan from 200B a night. 

It is simply that overall, exchange rates suck and Vietnam is the new hot thing, where you even get free beers at guesthouses. Hard to compete with that.
And if you look for sex tourism and the girls, it is not a good place to be (farang style). That is about the only thing to really complain about too.

No shakedowns for riding your motorbike in Vietnam unlike Chiang Mai, Pattaya, phuket etc. No fines for not having a licence and you are only stopped if you break the law, again, unlike Thailand where they stop almost every motorcycle. Chinese i met in Chiang mai  told me they had no wish to return because of traffic police shakedowns, ie no licence. 

[Langkawee]

On 12/2/2019 at 3:31 PM, Chicken George said:

Why would anyone unless they were totally blind to the facts of air pollution visit the North?

Ive found the stupid greatly outnumber the smart. For this reason there are not zero tourists in CM.

[connda]

On 12/2/2019 at 2:56 PM, Jimbo2014 said:

Im shocked actually.  I really thought people would flock to see the most polluted city in Asia (as it was last January).

New Dehli was probably overbooked so tourists had to flock somewhere to get their PM 2.5 hit.

[CNXexpat]

6 hours ago, donnacha said:

Everyone here closes their windows and switches on their aircons as the evening draws in.

I am looking around me: all windows are open with the closed mosquito net. Cooling down the house without aircon.

[CNXexpat]

1 hour ago, Langkawee said:

Chinese i met in Chiang mai  told me they had no wish to return because of traffic police shakedowns, ie no licence

Next time you can tell the Chinese, that in China NOBODY is allowed to drive a motorbike or car without a Chinese driver license ????

[Langkawee]

On 12/2/2019 at 6:03 PM, Samuel Smith said:

AQI is bad 7 months of the year.  Moderate at the moment, bad at night.  correct about the cool temps ???? 

What months is it good? Perhaps we'll see a tourism boom in these months. TAT could promote it as the tourist not die season of Chiang mai 555, no gas chamber season. 

[Langkawee]

2 minutes ago, CNXexpat said:

Next time you can tell the Chinese, that in China NOBODY is allowed to drive a motorbike or car without a Chinese driver license ????

But they can in Vietnam. Vietnam wants tourists and their government is not dumb a$$. Thailand clearly does not want tourists, LOS LAND OF SHAKEDOWNS 555

[CNXexpat]

On 12/2/2019 at 2:56 PM, Jimbo2014 said:

Im shocked actually.  I really thought people would flock to see the most polluted city in Asia (as it was last January).

Perhaps you haven´t realize that it´s December now, what would mean you passed Christmas.

[CNXexpat]

2 minutes ago, Langkawee said:

But they can in Vietnam. Vietnam wants tourists and their government is not dumb a$$. Thailand clearly does not want tourists, LOS LAND OF SHAKEDOWNS 555

In the bigger cities of Vietnam I have never seen tourists on rented motorbikes. And in every travel guide is written: "don´t drive in Vietnam". I would never ever do it because the traffic is crazy.