5 minutes ago, Chelseafan said:

Fair enough,

 

I mean allowing tourists back into the country.

 

I agree. The issue is that even if Thailand re-opens their borders they are still going to insist on a health certificate which is nigh on impossible to get and insurance covering Covid for a minimum $100,000, again impossible to get.

Even if you CAN get post those two hurdles, I suspect it's automatic quarantine for two weeks so for 99% of tourists, whats the point of going?

 

I am desperate to get back to see my wife but realistically I do not think I will be seeing her for the next 6 months at least.

 

 

I hear where you are coming from.  I have some friends in the same situation.  I have said to them, I know you want to be here, but I am here, and if I get the virus, I would rather be there. (home country)  

 

We are all confined to wherever we are at the moment.  However, this is basically catastrophic for Thailand's tourism industry, and unlike other issues in recent history, this crisis for Thailand is not going away anytime soon, regardless of what the Thai government says, or does. 

 

Tough times head economically and/or emotionally, for many, such as yourself.  This one has no end date at the moment.   

On 4/14/2020 at 3:34 PM, HashBrownHarry said:

You must have been very unlucky?!?!?!

 

I've also stayed at hundreds of hotels here and never had anything stolen.

 

Rude people is a given here.

I didn't say that I had had something stolen in an hotel. I used to post on Lonely Planet Thailand sub forum and there were too many complaints of theft from hotel rooms.

On 4/14/2020 at 1:42 PM, jacko45k said:

In Thailand I learned new definitions for the words 'Resort' and 'Mansion', less glamorous than the ones I previously had!

Another is "boutique" hotel. Usually a tarted up old hotel that charges more for the same dump.

49 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Another is "boutique" hotel. Usually a tarted up old hotel that charges more for the same dump.

Yes, in my early days I found some great places using this moniker, but it caught on and was being applied instead of 'tatty dump'....

14 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I didn't say that I had had something stolen in an hotel. I used to post on Lonely Planet Thailand sub forum and there were too many complaints of theft from hotel rooms.

on multiple online review platforms i've seen very few comments about thefts from hotels here.

On 4/11/2020 at 11:47 AM, donnacha said:

... but still are not offering any real discounts.

Thainomics.
 

I agree with you. I looked into booking a hotel I have always wanted to try. I found they were open, and the prices were identical to normal. 

It is said that almost 20% of the total economy is based on tourism, in one area or another. That is nearly 3.5 trillion baht annually. And the vast majority of those folks are out of work now. How long will it take to "ramp up" tourism here? And will it ever return to it's former levels? I do not think so, for so many reasons. The Chinese were the single largest group, and they were the first ones to be locked out. The Chinese have alot of pride, and I do not see them taking kindly to that. Granted, there were good reasons to do so. But, the Chinese have Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Burma, Laos, and many other areas to patronize, support and visit. 

 

This administration, the TAT and immigration have been making so many mistakes in relation to tourism, for so long now, I just do not think it will ever fully recover. That is great for most of the expats here. But, it will be devastating for millions of Thais. 

On 4/11/2020 at 1:03 PM, Chivas said:

One of the receptionists who I'm very friendly with at the Sabai group said yesterday they are not even entitled to this 5000 Baht government handout.

If she isnt god knows who is.

The government handout is token, and not even being done consistently. Someone earning 15000 baht/month, it will last two weeks at best.

On 4/19/2020 at 11:46 PM, spidermike007 said:

That is great for most of the expats here. But, it will be devastating for millions of Thais. 

I do not agree with the theory that lower tourism is great for expats here. 

 

In my opinion, all expats have a vested interest in seeing tourism doing well in Pattaya.  it benefits expats in variety, choice, and competition for pricing.

 

Sure, no one likes the big tour groups of Chinese, and the traffic, particularly the buses, but without western tourists coming to Pattaya, many bars, restaurants, nightclubs, gogo's etc would close.

 

I am sure there would be some expats that would be happy about that, despite that's what drew them to Pattaya in the first place. However, if we were to look at the flow on effect of a dead tourism industry here, with derelict shops, bars, restaurants, houses, condo's etc, it would be like living in ghetto, and while many may say Pattaya already is a ghetto, it would be a lot worse here with some economic prosperity that tourism brings to the city, and would be am unpleasant place to live, should western tourism decline so much here. 

 

 

 

 

On 4/20/2020 at 1:38 AM, HashBrownHarry said:

on multiple online review platforms i've seen very few comments about thefts from hotels here.

You are free to believe whatever you wish to believe.

14 hours ago, Leaver said:

I do not agree with the theory that lower tourism is great for expats here. 

 

In my opinion, all expats have a vested interest in seeing tourism doing well in Pattaya.  it benefits expats in variety, choice, and competition for pricing.

 

Sure, no one likes the big tour groups of Chinese, and the traffic, particularly the buses, but without western tourists coming to Pattaya, many bars, restaurants, nightclubs, gogo's etc would close.

 

I am sure there would be some expats that would be happy about that, despite that's what drew them to Pattaya in the first place. However, if we were to look at the flow on effect of a dead tourism industry here, with derelict shops, bars, restaurants, houses, condo's etc, it would be like living in ghetto, and while many may say Pattaya already is a ghetto, it would be a lot worse here with some economic prosperity that tourism brings to the city, and would be am unpleasant place to live, should western tourism decline so much here. 

 

 

 

 

IMO the Pattaya night scene as it used to be is already dead and buried. It was already on the way out and this will only speed up the change to on line for the girls, IMO.

I do expect something like the Hua Hin scene to linger on, but that's about as pathetic as that in Chiang Mai.

Pattaya as a city will not die. With thousands of rooms coming available, it could cater to more expats than ever, as long as immigration doesn't blow it up.

However, if immigration stuffs up, all bets are off.

Time to put the price up of rooms when they reopen to make the lost money back.????

On 4/19/2020 at 12:28 PM, jacko45k said:

Yes, in my early days I found some great places using this moniker, but it caught on and was being applied instead of 'tatty dump'....

I was astounded to find some brand new hotels calling themselves Boutique when they were just ordinary expensive hotels. Perhaps they think the title makes prospective clients think small and friendly or something.

On 4/20/2020 at 1:38 AM, HashBrownHarry said:

on multiple online review platforms i've seen very few comments about thefts from hotels here.

LOL. the sort of hotels bagpackers that post on Lonely Planet use are not likely to be reviewed on line. Most of them were not even on line at all.

I'd be extremely surprised if hotels that have reviews on line employ thieves to clean rooms.

On 4/20/2020 at 1:46 AM, spidermike007 said:

It is said that almost 20% of the total economy is based on tourism, in one area or another. That is nearly 3.5 trillion baht annually. And the vast majority of those folks are out of work now. How long will it take to "ramp up" tourism here? And will it ever return to it's former levels? I do not think so, for so many reasons. The Chinese were the single largest group, and they were the first ones to be locked out. The Chinese have alot of pride, and I do not see them taking kindly to that. Granted, there were good reasons to do so. But, the Chinese have Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Burma, Laos, and many other areas to patronize, support and visit. 

 

This administration, the TAT and immigration have been making so many mistakes in relation to tourism, for so long now, I just do not think it will ever fully recover. That is great for most of the expats here. But, it will be devastating for millions of Thais. 

It's lucky for most Thais then that they still have links to the village and can return there to survive. In any western country that has reduced it's agricultural links to almost zero the people are in the deep doodoo.

In my youth in NZ most people knew farmers and like me spent holidays on them. Now most have never even been on one and know no farmers.

On 4/11/2020 at 1:11 PM, donnacha said:

none appear to be offering discounts.

so, business is so bad that 95% must close down, and you are complaining about discounts? 

 

I just checked agoda and most hotels are under 1000 baht and many are 3-400 baht a night... that sounds like everyone is offering very heavy discounts... 

1 minute ago, kenk24 said:

so, business is so bad that 95% must close down, and you are complaining about discounts? 

If immigration comes to the rescue, many hotels could become residential and cater exclusively to expats ( I lived in an hotel in Chiang Mai for over a year ). They wouldn't make as much profit but they would survive.

On 4/19/2020 at 6:35 AM, thaibeachlovers said:

I didn't say that I had had something stolen in an hotel. I used to post on Lonely Planet Thailand sub forum and there were too many complaints of theft from hotel rooms.

Lonely Planet 5 star then ! ????

7 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

If immigration comes to the rescue, many hotels could become residential and cater exclusively to expats ( I lived in an hotel in Chiang Mai for over a year ). They wouldn't make as much profit but they would survive.

There are literally 100s of thousands of rooms in Thailand, that many expats???? Too fill the rooms? Wishful thinking.

1 minute ago, Ron jeremy said:

There are literally 100s of thousands of rooms in Thailand, that many expats???? Too fill the rooms? Wishful thinking.

LOL. Where did I say that they would fill every empty hotel room? They could certainly save some hotels, but only if immigration wises up.

There are loads of single retirees that would relish living in a nice warm country with cheap living costs if it was easy to do so. Probably couples as well. Problem is it's not easy any more.

26 minutes ago, kenk24 said:

so, business is so bad that 95% must close down, and you are complaining about discounts? 

 

I just checked agoda and most hotels are under 1000 baht and many are 3-400 baht a night... that sounds like everyone is offering very heavy discounts... 

I've just checked a couple of hotels in Pattaya that I've stayed in before.

 

Areca Lodge - not taking bookings.

 

LK Metropole - standard room 1615 baht. More than a friend paid a few months ago.

 

If inter provincial travel wasn't a problem and restaurants and beaches were open, I would seriously consider a family holiday in Thailand right now. However, hotels are still wanting silly prices, if they're open at all.

22 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

LOL. Where did I say that they would fill every empty hotel room? They could certainly save some hotels, but only if immigration wises up.

There are loads of single retirees that would relish living in a nice warm country with cheap living costs if it was easy to do so. Probably couples as well. Problem is it's not easy any more.

Misunderstanding, not stating everything would get filled, might save a few, true enough. And again yes, they may now be more welcoming to westerners. 

45 minutes ago, Phil McCaverty said:

I've just checked a couple of hotels in Pattaya

check Chiang Mai.... it is really cheap.. though I do not know the hotels, so many are 3-400 a night... though w/everything closed everywhere, why travel?

11 minutes ago, kenk24 said:

check Chiang Mai.... it is really cheap.. though I do not know the hotels, so many are 3-400 a night... though w/everything closed everywhere, why travel?

I've just checked my favorite hotel in Nong Khai, Royal Nakara, family room 200 baht more expensive than last time I stayed there.

 

I did say "if beaches and restaurants were open". Restaurants in Nong khai might be open on May 1st but my preferred destination, Kamala on Phuket has no chance of anything being open for at least another month.

I just swiped right 30,936 times on Tinder.

 

Oh, wait, that was last year.  Let me check my matches.  

 

Hey, where are my matches? 

3 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

If immigration comes to the rescue, many hotels could become residential and cater exclusively to expats ( I lived in an hotel in Chiang Mai for over a year ). They wouldn't make as much profit but they would survive.

Do you think many use hotels... the ones I know mostly have condos and a some have houses?

11 hours ago, kenk24 said:

so, business is so bad that 95% must close down, and you are complaining about discounts? 

You realize, don't you, that you are responding to an observation I made a full TWO WEEKS before you posted?

I was not complaining about discounts. I was observing that, when the number of customers in circulation drops, the rational response is to offer discounts to make sure that your hotel, rather than some other hotel, can attract the guests that will allow you to continue to make some money rather than have to close and lay off your staff.
 

 

11 hours ago, kenk24 said:

I just checked agoda and most hotels are under 1000 baht and many are 3-400 baht a night... that sounds like everyone is offering very heavy discounts...

Right. That proves my point. You checked two weeks later and discovered that, yes, the hotels that remained open ended up having to follow the more financially rational path I suggested. It took them a little longer than it would in most countries, but they got there in the end.

 

The same thing will now happen in the property market but, again, as always in Thailand, it will take longer for prices to drop than it would in most countries.

 

 

8 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Do you think many use hotels... the ones I know mostly have condos and a some have houses?

Depending on how the economy goes over the next few months, some expats living in the provinces may decide to temporarily move their families to the capital, where they can cluster with other expats for safety, rather than remain isolated and relatively isolated in their usual homes.

I am not saying that there will definitely be social breakdown but, looking at how lackluster the generals have been in distributing money to those hardest hit, it is a distinct possibility. Many expats actually left Thailand before the lockdown for that reason.

 

 

14 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

If immigration comes to the rescue

What did you have in mind?  

18 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Do you think many use hotels... the ones I know mostly have condos and a some have houses?

I stayed in an hotel for over a year.

It's thinking outside the box as to what empty hotels COULD do for the FUTURE if they faced closure, not what they HAD been doing.

Not everyone wants to live in a condo and an hotel room is better than a small fan room in a back alley.