2 hours ago, freesudani said:

They seriously think that tourists will be flocking to Thailand in October?

Sure. 

October 2022.

The long weekend last week did see some up tick in tourists.

 

But, just got back from a motorbike ride.

Normally by this time the Soi 7 and Soi 8 bars are fairly full of Friday afternoon Bangkok tourists.

Mostly Falang drinking preparing for the sunset.

But, these places today are dead.

Soi 7 use to have some very popular places closer to Beach road.

Now, some are closed with for sale or for rent signs. Others, few if noone to be seen.

 

I guess Bangkok tourists are saving money or just not motivated to travel.

It is in fact very very slow. No way all these hotels, restaurants, etc.  can make it only with domestic tourists.

This place is way over built and only can be supported by millions of foreign tourists.

Should be interesting if and when they return.

3 hours ago, johng said:

Yes just the other day  it was said that Thai tourist had  booked 80-100 % of 3-5 star hotels in Hua Hin

@ prices 3,000 baht up per night....but that the guest houses and budget hotels where almost empty ?

doesn't make sense to me  surely people with no income for months on end..or a measly handout of 5,000 baht per month would be staying at the cheaper accommodation.

Saying that there where a hell of a lot of Bangkok plated vehicles along Jomtien beach road and clogging everywhere else up during those 4 days "holiday" 

( on top of the months of shutdown where do they get the money from ?)

They are all living on borrowed time and money! 

1 hour ago, holy cow cm said:

If my US buddy was allowed back in i would love to go spend some money in Pattaya for a few days of water fun and sun. 

Not very likely given their track record.

Why is this so difficult to understand? Foreign TOURIST will not come before there are NO restriction on arrival, such as Test, Quarantine, extra health insurance other than Travel insurance, and deposit money into a local bank. TOURIST are coming for holiday and looking for good times...

Flight restriction and uncertainty of delayed and canceled flights will add to reduce the number of oversea tourism. PERIOD.

3 hours ago, Trillian said:

The people on the 5k a month handout are not the ones taking holidays and filling the 3-5 star hotels, it's the other segment of Thai society, the middle classes who would normally have gone overseas, the group that most TVF posters don't think exist. In the minds of most TVF posters there's the very poor, starving, rural folk and the elites and nothing in between.

And its the Thai ~ Middle Classes ~ that are carrying most of the Household Debt

3/5 Star Hotels, New Car, new I Phone Etc Etc ETc , and most of it on Credit Cards or Credit Borrowing from the likes of AEON that are predicting a huge surge in NPL

Pop

3 hours ago, Trillian said:

The people on the 5k a month handout are not the ones taking holidays and filling the 3-5 star hotels, it's the other segment of Thai society, the middle classes who would normally have gone overseas, the group that most TVF posters don't think exist. In the minds of most TVF posters there's the very poor, starving, rural folk and the elites and nothing in between.

Wow! You know the minds of most TVF posters? Amazing ability.

Every westerner I know, knows there's a middle and upper middle class in Thailand.

1 hour ago, CALSinCM said:

They haven't cracked open a Thai tabloid to read what their government is doing that will make sure that foreign tourism will be a thing of the past.  Restrictions, roadblocks, documents, tests, insurance, more tests, quarantine, tracking apps, masks, social distancing, more restrictions, and hand gel - "oh, and have a nice vacation!!"
It's over Somchai.  Tourist are not coming back - ever.  Time to find a job in one of the OECD economic zones busting butt on a factory floor for peanuts and happy for it as 10 or 20 million of your fellow citizens can no longer find a job and afford to feed themselves and their families.  But the government "saved lives" from that pesky Covid by destroying Thailand's economy and your job prospects.  The government officials don't have to worry about shutting the country down do they?  They all have job security.
Good luck!

 

 

You couldn't be more wrong with regards to tourism, the Chinese, Indians Japanese and koreans are coming, and they will be coming in the 10s of millions and that's what this government want. They couldn't give a rats ass for the 5million total from the European union 6 if you count the USA in 2019. I know the Chinese are not going to feed the transient bottom feeders and beer bars of pattaya, but once again the government couldn't give a rats ass about that element and beer bar businesses, they have made that quite clear! 

35 minutes ago, baansgr said:

I remember wanting to visit an old girlfriend from Almeria, flights from London were £18...the return flight was over £250...always a catch somewhere.

Last time i went to spain from the UK (2013) outbound flights from Liverpool John lennon were 48 quid and coming back was 75..

 

not bad i say.

12 minutes ago, Cake Monster said:

And its the Thai ~ Middle Classes ~ that are carrying most of the Household Debt

3/5 Star Hotels, New Car, new I Phone Etc Etc ETc , and most of it on Credit Cards or Credit Borrowing from the likes of AEON that are predicting a huge surge in NPL

Pop

Yep, they certainly are the ones who are carrying a large chunk of that debt. But what if, just what if....they can actually afford to service that debt.

 

So AEON is expecting a surge in borrowing, tell me, if you were a lender in these uncertain times would you allow your lending to surge on unsecured loans? No I didn't think so, which is why AEON won't either.

I am perfectly o.k. with this

"Jet skis and boats were just sitting idle in the bay at Pattaya Beach"

and - once the tourists start flocking in again - they should bloody not flock to the jet skis and boats, let the operators starve and their wild machines rot away!

4 hours ago, Liverpoolfan said:

and why should they with the way they have been treated over the last 30 years?

They have been scammed one too many times and are booking their 40 quid flights to Spain instead.

 

I can't say I blame them!

I think the problem is covid.

No international flight.

 

Is very popular before that. 

 

Sorry you were not treated well in Pattaya. Is very popular. Many foreigner move to live there. They love it. 

 

Enjoy Spain. 

17 minutes ago, pmk1000 said:

You couldn't be more wrong with regards to tourism, the Chinese, Indians Japanese and koreans are coming, and they will be coming in the 10s of millions and that's what this government want. They couldn't give a rats ass for the 5million total from the European union 6 if you count the USA in 2019. I know the Chinese are not going to feed the transient bottom feeders and beer bars of pattaya, but once again the government couldn't give a rats ass about that element and beer bar businesses, they have made that quite clear! 

Amen.

56 minutes ago, johng said:

I've seen money trees at a few places.

That's the same tree Thai's thought all farang had growing in their gardens in their home countries.  ????

3 minutes ago, Yinn said:

I think the problem is covid.

No international flight.

 

Is very popular before that. 

 

Sorry you were not treated well in Pattaya. Is very popular. Many foreigner move to live there. They love it. 

 

Enjoy Spain. 

Notice I said ‘They’ not ‘me’.

 

you wouldnt catch me in pattaya if my life depended on it.

4 hours ago, johng said:

Yes just the other day  it was said that Thai tourist had  booked 80-100 % of 3-5 star hotels in Hua Hin

@ prices 3,000 baht up per night....but that the guest houses and budget hotels where almost empty ?

doesn't make sense to me  surely people with no income for months on end..or a measly handout of 5,000 baht per month would be staying at the cheaper accommodation.

Saying that there where a hell of a lot of Bangkok plated vehicles along Jomtien beach road and clogging everywhere else up during those 4 days "holiday" 

( on top of the months of shutdown where do they get the money from ?)

Banks

 

every country has to strike the fine balance between protecting their healthcare service and sustaining/recovering their economy. many european countries have decided, on the balance of things, long term economic survival is the priority. the thai government prefers to protect its healthcare system and, as they see it, keep their population 'safe'. (kind of ironic considering the death toll on the roads that goes unaddressed year after year, but thats another debate.)

18 minutes ago, Trillian said:

Yep, they certainly are the ones who are carrying a large chunk of that debt. But what if, just what if....they can actually afford to service that debt.

 

So AEON is expecting a surge in borrowing, tell me, if you were a lender in these uncertain times would you allow your lending to surge on unsecured loans? No I didn't think so, which is why AEON won't either.

AEON are not expecting any surge in borrowing at all.

They are expecting a huge rise in NPL and delinquent Accounts.

Yesterday they set off a huge amount of their profit to offset this, and yes, the present debt levels of Thai Middle Classes may be serviceable, but if the likes of AEON shut the Credit stream, then those debts will surely go bad, as they are borrowing to pay existing debt.

1 minute ago, Cake Monster said:

AEON are not expecting any surge in borrowing at all.

They are expecting a huge rise in NPL and delinquent Accounts.

Yesterday they set off a huge amount of their profit to offset this, and yes, the present debt levels of Thai Middle Classes may be serviceable, but if the likes of AEON shut the Credit stream, then those debts will surely go bad, as they are borrowing to pay existing debt.

Every lender in the country has increased their bad debt provisions, plus BOT increased the capital adequacy ratio's. As of the last quarterly report published mid-May 202, BOT reported:

 

"Capital Fund of the Thai banking system was at 2,836 billion baht, equivalent to capital adequacy ratio (BIS ratio) of 18.7%. Loan loss provision remained high at 719.2 billion baht with NPL coverage ratio of 143.3%. Liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) registered at 185.7%."

 

https://www.bot.or.th/English/PressandSpeeches/Press/2020/Pages/n2663.aspx

Only on thai visa and few destitute facebook groups you could find a bunch of so called people who take pride and joy in watching others suffer and lose all their life savings .

 

some of you lot is just a waste of oxygen. 
 

no. This is not a joke and no not all businesses were cheating or scamming.

 

not all were mistreated just as not all were mistreating.

 

lack of tourist has nothing to do with bad service , even biggest fool can understand that and Thai who do travel can get away only on the weekends or 1 night trip and naturally also on a budget. Rich Thai did not drink milk from plastic bags and sure not starting now 

since apparently the one's that are 'stuck' here are spending no money maybe time to end the 'amnesty'...

4 hours ago, Liverpoolfan said:

and why should they with the way they have been treated over the last 30 years?

They have been scammed one too many times and are booking their 40 quid flights to Spain instead.

 

I can't say I blame them!

It might also have something to do with no foreign tourists being allowed into the country at this point.

3 hours ago, CNXexpat said:

At Koh Chang the people waited 8 hours for the ferry.

Sounds like a really good reason not to go there.

53 minutes ago, Traubert said:

Not very likely given their track record.

Yes it was only with an imaginary big iF.

42 minutes ago, pmk1000 said:

You couldn't be more wrong with regards to tourism, the Chinese, Indians Japanese and koreans are coming, and they will be coming in the 10s of millions and that's what this government want. They couldn't give a rats ass for the 5million total from the European union 6 if you count the USA in 2019. I know the Chinese are not going to feed the transient bottom feeders and beer bars of pattaya, but once again the government couldn't give a rats ass about that element and beer bar businesses, they have made that quite clear! 

The Japanese and Koreans come to Pattaya for the same reason as westerners, the sex trade.  They will find greener pastures, as the westerners have / will.

 

If you are looking at the Chinese and Indian package holiday zero baht tourists to bring in the same amount of money as westerners did in the past, it's not going to happen for Pattaya.  

 

The beach and ocean water here will not attract the wealthy Chinese and Indians.  It didn't even attract wealthy westerners.  You can have a 5 star resort here, but wealthy people don't want to step outside their 5 star resort into a 1 star city.   

 

Pattaya should have stuck to what made Pattaya famous, and many Thai's rich, the sex trade.  

 

Now, should casinos be allowed here, then you will see the wealthy Chinese, but until then, all you will get is package holiday Chinese, and busy 7/11's.  

3 hours ago, SteveK said:

Sometimes it seems like Thai people are living in a bubble. They don't know what other countries offer, and assume that Thailand is the best country in the world.

You can't blame them. It's what they've been brainwashed from birth to believe. But I've known several Thais who have gone to live in Europe for one reason or another. Not one, not one, wants to return to live in Thailand, now that their eyes have been opened to what the real world is like. One married a German and said that when he died she would come back. Seven years after he died she's still there. The most they will tolerate is a quick trip back maybe once a year to see family. Once they've been overseas and seen how things are there, they hate the filth, corruption and <deleted> as much as us. Those who never go overseas know no better, so they are happy enough in their bubble. It's not very different to being a child.

5 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

But I've known several Thais who have gone to live in Europe for one reason or another. Not one, not one, wants to return to live in Thailand, now that their eyes have been opened to what the real world is like. One married a German and said that when he died she would come back. Seven years after he died she's still there.

Do these Thai's work, pay taxes, pay rent, pay their bills, pay a mortgage, obey all the western bureaucracy etc etc?

 

Easy to move to a foreign country when everything is on a platter for you.   

17 minutes ago, Leaver said:

Do these Thai's work, pay taxes, pay rent, pay their bills, pay a mortgage, obey all the western bureaucracy etc etc?

 

Easy to move to a foreign country when everything is on a platter for you.   

Of course. They do all the things the locals do and are treated as equals. They even have permanent permission to stay without jumping through immigration hoops, renewing visas every year, doing 90-day reports or border hops. Imagine that.

After reading about the numbers of local tourists visiting Pattaya last weekend holiday

The number of hotels saying how booked they were plus restaurants full as well

Who needs foreign tourists 

Just announce a special holiday people will flock to the tourist resorts 

Cant see foreign tourists coming this year  with all the quarantine  messages getting sent out

 

4 hours ago, samsensam said:

 

every country has to strike the fine balance between protecting their healthcare service and sustaining/recovering their economy. many european countries have decided, on the balance of things, long term economic survival is the priority. the thai government prefers to protect its healthcare system and, as they see it, keep their population 'safe'. (kind of ironic considering the death toll on the roads that goes unaddressed year after year, but thats another debate.)

 

They've not done much about Dengue fever either. Up to the middle of May nearly 15,000 have contracted that disease. 

 

They've not done much about road accidents either.