Pattaya tourism: If you think it's quiet now wait for the next six months - grim predictions from industry leader

[Max69xl]

2 hours ago, schvonsky1 said:

<deleted> I’m in Pattaya it’s a fckin graveyard no way is the place same as last year ya dingbat ????

Where was it more people last year at the same time in Pattaya or Jomtien? Either you're not here or you have no clue about where people hang around. 

[3NUMBAS]

they aint seen  nothing yet as the virus hasnt got into top gear yet but when it does they will see a new LOW

[HauptmannUK]

The songthaews between Pattaya and Jomtien seem well loaded with Russians and Central was packed today. However its still early days in this pandemic. Potentially millions yet to die. The effect on the global economy is going to be huge. Half the world's NAND memory is made in Wuhan (used in PC SSDs) and the factories are closed. Apple at 50% capacity. Tourism in Pattaya is just going to be a bit part player in this global disaster.

[DannyCarlton]

6 hours ago, HauptmannUK said:

Tourism in Pattaya is just going to be a bit part player in this global disaster.

It's playing a blinder currently. Plenty of farang tourists, no Chinese and, for a reason I fail to understand, a downturn in Indian and Arab tourists too.

 

What's not to like?

[ChipButty]

I not sure if this applies to all airlines but some are doubling their prices which is not going to help tourism

[Stargeezr]

To answer Danny, I talked with many of them, especially on the beach, and in restaurants.

Geezer

[HauptmannUK]

7 hours ago, DannyCarlton said:

It's playing a blinder currently. Plenty of farang tourists, no Chinese and, for a reason I fail to understand, a downturn in Indian and Arab tourists too.

 

What's not to like?

Yes. All good now. But not so much fun when the virus gets a grip and bodies start piling up in the local hospitals. The local expat population, mostly elderly, will be hit particularly hard. 

[Don Mega]

On 2/22/2020 at 9:11 AM, Number 6 said:

I'm sure all the wealthy local farang walking about in gym shorts and singlets, living in b4500 flats and subsisting on Khao mun gain will save the day.

whats Khao mun gain ?

[HauptmannUK]

1 hour ago, Don Mega said:

whats Khao mun gain ?

I think he means 'khao man gai' - Hainanese Chicken Rice.

[Cake Monster]

On 2/22/2020 at 2:25 PM, claynlr said:

I am not a “OMG! Give me hand sanitizer!!” guy but the way the Thai’s in my country area approach just basic hygiene is crazy. I know they have lived like this for eons and their immune system has adapted, but for instance today I was at a monk ceremony for a young man and all the people that are cooking and preparing for the festivities and children are drinking water out of the same single cup by the water cooler. 
 

Hope none of the revelers came from Bangkok with Corona!

You are obviously quite new to the Country of Thailand.

You aint seen nothing yet

[Number 6]

1 hour ago, Don Mega said:

whats Khao mun gain ?

Khao mun gai.

 

I corrected it but then the spell checker changed it again!

[Number 6]

3 minutes ago, Cake Monster said:

You are obviously quite new to the Country of Thailand.

You aint seen nothing yet

I used to work at a huge school. Prolly 1100 students in my building alone. Water chillers and cups on the top. I'm sure the cleaning staff cleaned the cups once every day or two. I routinely drank *local* filtered water out of these public cups. Two years never sick. Not once.

 

If germs bother you Asia isn't a good place to be.

 

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

[madmen]

On 2/22/2020 at 3:42 PM, jacko45k said:

That is not anything, they like to eat from the same plate picking up and dropping food back on a communal plate with hands that are more familiar with muck than soap... I hate eating there!

Waiting in line for som Tam and he double dipped. Took a taste from a tea spoon and then added more sugar and took another taste.. Bowl to mouth back into bowl. No thanks 

[DannyCarlton]

6 hours ago, Stargrazer9889 said:

To answer Danny, I talked with many of them, especially on the beach, and in restaurants.

Geezer

Course you did Malcom. I can just see you wandering amongst the beach chairs and going round the tables in restaurants, "Err, excuse me, are you a tourist or expat?" 555

[WaveHunter]

9 hours ago, DannyCarlton said:

It's playing a blinder currently. Plenty of farang tourists, no Chinese and, for a reason I fail to understand, a downturn in Indian and Arab tourists too.

 

What's not to like?

Are you in talking about the Jomtien / Pratumnak area by any chance?

Edited February 23, 2020 by WaveHunter

[DannyCarlton]

2 minutes ago, WaveHunter said:

Are you in talking about the Jomtien / Pratumnak area by any chance?

Not specifically.

[adammike]

9 hours ago, DannyCarlton said:

It's playing a blinder currently. Plenty of farang tourists, no Chinese and, for a reason I fail to understand, a downturn in Indian and Arab tourists too.

 

What's not to like?

The weather in India and the ME is fabulous Jan/Feb starts to hot up in march,it's cooler in Thailand when it hots up before the monsoon,and with climate change it get really hot.

[madmen]

When the tourists start heading back to Europe (still to cold now) late March then you got songkran to pick up the slack especially thai families in jomtien 

[WaveHunter]

14 minutes ago, DannyCarlton said:

Not specifically.

Just curious; I live in Pratumnak part of the year but have been up in Chiang Mai for the last 6 months.  This last summer it was crazy how many Chinese tourists were in town. It used to feel like Russians were overwhelming in Jomtien and Pratumnak but last year it was the Chinese tourists.

 

For instance, It was practically overwhelming when you'd go in a 7-11 and there would be 20 or more, all together inside the store, running around shoving other shoppers out of the way, cutting in line to check out, and arguing over price at checkout.  Sometimes you couldn't even get in the front door. 

 

Even worse was to encounter a large group in a restaurant.  I was at a buffet one night and a group of about 10 Chinese tourist were seated at a table next to us.  As soon as the food started being brought out to the buffet table, the whole group of Chinese tourists jumped up and practically ran to the serving table, loading their plates up so much that food was falling off onto the ground, with little regard for anyone else.

 

I am not a racist; I have a lot of Chinese friends and visit them in Shenzhen (China) often.  I have nothing against Chinese people, only the kind of Chinese tourists who travel en-masse on buses.

 

I'm planning to return to Pratumnak in April; just hoping maybe things will be better.  Keeping fingers crossed I will not experience the same thing.

Edited February 23, 2020 by WaveHunter

[Eindhoven]

21 hours ago, lavezzi said:

Probably all those on beach belives HIV doen't exists and belive that while in italy there were 16 cases yesterday and 32 today with 2 deaths, 35 infections and zero death in thailand is due to the fact that is well known that the corona virues dies at temperature equal or above 30 degree.

 

Remind me...what is the average temperature inside a human body?

[DannyCarlton]

5 minutes ago, WaveHunter said:

Just curious; I live in Pratumnak part of the year but have been up in Chiang Mai for the last 6 months.  This last summer it was crazy how many Chinese tourists were in town. It used to feel like Russians were overwhelming in Jomtien and Pratumnak but last year it was the Chinese tourists.

 

For instance, It was practically overwhelming when you'd go in a 7-11 and there would be 20 or more, all together inside the store, running around shoving other shoppers out of the way, cutting in line to check out, and arguing over price at checkout.  Sometimes you couldn't even get in the front door.  Even worse was to encounter a large group in a restaurant.

 

I'm planning to return to Pratumnak in April; just hoping maybe things will be better.  Not wishing to sound like a racist but keeping fingers crossed I will not experience the same thing.

A mate of mine has a condo in Pratumnak but has never stayed in it. I go round from time to time to check on it. His condo is on the North side and was getting taken over by Chinese. Went 2 weeks ago and no sign of Chinese. More Russians though, not that I've ever had a problem with them. Still a nightmare negotiating the roadworks to his condo.

[Bell1234]

On 2/21/2020 at 3:38 PM, DannyCarlton said:

So no different to previous years then?

How will it be any different? They were already here when the virus came.. The guy is talking about after they have gone not now.

[roo860]

53 minutes ago, Number 6 said:

I used to work at a huge school. Prolly 1100 students in my building alone. Water chillers and cups on the top. I'm sure the cleaning staff cleaned the cups once every day or two. I routinely drank *local* filtered water out of these public cups. Two years never sick. Not once.

 

If germs bother you Asia isn't a good place to be.

 

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.'

 

 

Nonsense, it didn't my mate stronger after his first severe heart attack, he died a week later!

????

 

[DannyCarlton]

1 minute ago, Bell1234 said:

How will it be any different? They were already here when the virus came.. The guy is talking about after they have gone not now.

They go back every year, so no different, as I said.

[Gecko123]

The wide-range of symptom severity and the apparent ability of aysmptomatic people infected with the virus to spread it seems tailor-made to speed the virus's spread in rural Thailand. There is still a very sanguine attitude in many parts of Thailand about the virus; a 'what me worry?' mentality is still very prevalent. People will learn fast after the virus takes off about necessary precautions, but right now there doesn't seem to be much awareness about how to avoid contracting the virus. Plus the government is practically encouraging complacency with its repeated assurances that everything's totally under control.

 

People will be slow to recognize that they have the virus, and be slow to seek medical treatment due to poor access to medical care and funds to pay for it. They will opt for home care until symptoms become so severe they need to seek help, in the process spreading the virus to more family members and neighbors. Many people live in essentially one-room houses or very close quarters making it very hard to self-isolate. I fear rural government hospitals are going to become overrun overnight and likely will become epicenters for additional outbreaks.

 

Plenty of people can't afford to run out and buy a case of face masks and hand sanitizer. A subsistence lifestyle does not lend itself to self-isolation efforts: people without a refrigerator need to go to the market every day, day laborers with little to no savings need to go to work every day. In many areas, because of the drought, the municipal water doesn't run regularly, which will make stepped up personal hygiene a challenge.

Edited February 23, 2020 by Gecko123

[WaveHunter]

1 hour ago, DannyCarlton said:

A mate of mine has a condo in Pratumnak but has never stayed in it. I go round from time to time to check on it. His condo is on the North side and was getting taken over by Chinese. Went 2 weeks ago and no sign of Chinese. More Russians though, not that I've ever had a problem with them. Still a nightmare negotiating the roadworks to his condo.

My condo is next to Sugar Beach; fair number of Russian neighbors.  Nice people IMO once you get to know them.  Pratumnak is normally a really nice quiet part of Pattaya far removed from the craziness of central Pattaya, or even Jomtien for that matter, so glad to hear you think the Chinese have left since that put a whole different take on things last summer.

[Roadkillaf]

On 2/22/2020 at 5:19 AM, ChaiyaTH said:

That would be hardcore, even for Xi, if it turned out to have released this virus on purpose
in order to show the importance of controlling their people entirely, unquestioned.

 

It's only a theory, but not inconceivable at all, not a bit. 

[3NUMBAS]

ladyboy muggers will go hungry for victims ,poor souls

[Benmart]

On 2/21/2020 at 4:05 PM, White Christmas13 said:

I guess you know nothing about Russian food boiled cabbage and potatoes is a myth

https://theculturetrip.com/europe/russia/articles/15-traditional-meals-that-remind-russians-of-home/

 

Indeed. Russian food is diverse and delicious in all its flavors and cultural blending. The poster who referenced boiled cabbage and potatoes, has those two items as brain material.

[Benmart]

13 hours ago, WaveHunter said:

Just curious; I live in Pratumnak part of the year but have been up in Chiang Mai for the last 6 months.  This last summer it was crazy how many Chinese tourists were in town. It used to feel like Russians were overwhelming in Jomtien and Pratumnak but last year it was the Chinese tourists.

 

For instance, It was practically overwhelming when you'd go in a 7-11 and there would be 20 or more, all together inside the store, running around shoving other shoppers out of the way, cutting in line to check out, and arguing over price at checkout.  Sometimes you couldn't even get in the front door. 

 

Even worse was to encounter a large group in a restaurant.  I was at a buffet one night and a group of about 10 Chinese tourist were seated at a table next to us.  As soon as the food started being brought out to the buffet table, the whole group of Chinese tourists jumped up and practically ran to the serving table, loading their plates up so much that food was falling off onto the ground, with little regard for anyone else.

 

I am not a racist; I have a lot of Chinese friends and visit them in Shenzhen (China) often.  I have nothing against Chinese people, only the kind of Chinese tourists who travel en-masse on buses.

 

I'm planning to return to Pratumnak in April; just hoping maybe things will be better.  Keeping fingers crossed I will not experience the same thing.

I live in Pattaya full-time. I avoid tourist crowds, bigots and negative netizens. Life is good.