Channel 7 report: No tourists and desperate times for vendors/ hotels in Pattaya

[AndrewMciver]

10 minutes ago, shackleton said:

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

 

 

I can see issues with a quarantine, but i also see issues with just randomly opening up the country. 

 

There needs to be balance. 

 

If they do open up, and they are not going to test on mass at the airport, then a half way solution maybe to quarantine visitors, till as which time they are tested negative and can then leave the quarantine. 

[FalangJaiDee]

5 hours ago, Accidental Tourist said:

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.

Id do all that and jump through rings of fire with two COVID swabs jammed up my nostrils if it meant a 1 year visa :^)

[AndrewMciver]

6 hours ago, Accidental Tourist said:

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.

 

And quite rightly they will not open if it meant there would be a huge export in infections to the country.

 

Do you want Thailand to end up like India, where seemingly the virus is out of control.

 

I still don't understand why they can't create a laboratory at the airport, and do mass airport testing. Before anyone says that's impossible - Iceland is doing it. Dubai is testing at the airport, but their system is a tad hit or miss (ie you can get away with no testing at aiport if you do your own test 72 hours beforehand, which of course means you can catch the virus in those 72 hours after you've taken the test). 

[Boomer6969]

9 hours ago, johng said:

Ok, would seem there are many more than I thought existed..seemed like half of Bangkok turned up !

Would have thought that there are several million middle class people in Bangkok who can afford hotels for 3000 to 5000 a night. They have the money but not much time to travel but obviously, after 3 months of lockdown, many have decided to let off steam in Hua in, Koh Chong, etc. It is also likely that for obvious reasons well off educated Thais won't be too attracted by a place like Pattaya,

[samsensam]

10 minutes ago, AndrewMciver said:

 

And quite rightly they will not open if it meant there would be a huge export in infections to the country.

 

Do you want Thailand to end up like India, where seemingly the virus is out of control.

 

I still don't understand why they can't create a laboratory at the airport, and do mass airport testing. Before anyone says that's impossible - Iceland is doing it. Dubai is testing at the airport, but their system is a tad hit or miss (ie you can get away with no testing at aiport if you do your own test 72 hours beforehand, which of course means you can catch the virus in those 72 hours after you've taken the test). 

 

And quite rightly they will not open if it meant there would be a huge export in infections to the country

 

yes, they are not confident that their healthcare system is robust enough to cope.

 

Iceland is doing it. Dubai is testing at the airport,

 

i dare say they are but they will be dealing with considerably fewer tourists than thailand would be.

 

 

[Leaver]

12 minutes ago, samsensam said:

 

And quite rightly they will not open if it meant there would be a huge export in infections to the country

 

yes, they are not confident that their healthcare system is robust enough to cope.

 

Iceland is doing it. Dubai is testing at the airport,

 

i dare say they are but they will be dealing with considerably fewer tourists than thailand would be.

 

 

Testing and quarantine is a moot point until travel insurance companies offer coverage for Covid-19.  Until then, even those who wish to travel without insurance, will not be able to get on a flight to get here, because the plane will be empty, and the flight cancelled. 

 

Thailand can open up boarders tomorrow, but there are a lot of other factors at play than just Thailand opening up their boarders.  

[DB58]

9 hours ago, freesudani said:

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

I guess if you’re hungry, all you have is to hope... what else can they tell their kids?

[Leaver]

3 minutes ago, DB58 said:

I guess if you’re hungry, all you have is to hope... what else can they tell their kids?

If you are hungry, you steal to survive.  Crime will increase significantly, the longer this goes on.  

[AndrewMciver]

2 hours ago, samsensam said:

 

And quite rightly they will not open if it meant there would be a huge export in infections to the country

 

yes, they are not confident that their healthcare system is robust enough to cope.

 

Iceland is doing it. Dubai is testing at the airport,

 

i dare say they are but they will be dealing with considerably fewer tourists than thailand would be.

 

 

 Both Dubai and Iceland are huge tourist hubs. 

 

Dubai had nearly 16 million tourists last year, almost on par with Bangkok. Iceland is packed with Chinese tourists usually. I have never seen a more concentrated number of Chinese tourists in my life than in Iceland. 

 

Eventually the ambitious plan for Dubai is to test every passenger on arrival. Without tourism Dubai is in serious trouble. The same could be said for Thailand. 

 

You aren't going to have test anywhere near the 15-20 million tourists a year. It would only be a fraction of that. Stagnate the arrivals throughout the day. Add a tax on arrivals to compensate for the tests. 

 

Go youtube what iceland are doing. Eventually every country will be doing this. 

Edited July 10, 2020 by AndrewMciver

[jacko45k]

12 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Sounds like a really good reason not to go there.

Get there a day late and likely need to leave 8 hours early to get a ferry back. Hardly a nice weekend break.

[Trillian]

8 hours ago, shackleton said:

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

 

That's exactly what the strategy is, they hope (and probably will) divert domestic demand for overseas travel, into domestic tourism - there's a lot of money spent each year by Thai's on foreign travel each year, if only a portion of it can be diverted it will help enormously and will mean they can keep the borders closed for longer.

[hotchilli]

17 hours ago, webfact said:

They were waiting for October and high season before giving it a go. 

With the government regulations on international travelers I'd rethink that date too.

[Trillian]

13 hours ago, H1w4yR1da said:

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.

You don't do metaphors do you, we can tell!

[mikebell]

Some Hotels are doing very well to compensate for the lack of customers; The Ambassador, just down from Pattaya Plod's favourite ambush site, has raised its prices TWICE in two weeks.  I use the gym facilities 3 times a week and travel 16 kms to do so.  First week was OK; 2nd week the price went up 50%!  3rd week it went up by a further 33%!  I am actively searching for alternatives before I go bankrupt or to Vietnam.

[bkk6060]

Central Marina normally on Saturday afternoon mostly Thais/Thai families walking, eating, going to the movies.

Today, well photos speak for themselves.  Ghostown. Mostly yawning, bored employees.

[owl sees all]

15 hours ago, AndrewMciver said:

 

And quite rightly they will not open if it meant there would be a huge export in infections to the country.

 

Do you want Thailand to end up like India, where seemingly the virus is out of control.

 

I still don't understand why they can't create a laboratory at the airport, and do mass airport testing. Before anyone says that's impossible - Iceland is doing it. Dubai is testing at the airport, but their system is a tad hit or miss (ie you can get away with no testing at aiport if you do your own test 72 hours beforehand, which of course means you can catch the virus in those 72 hours after you've taken the test). 

What about testing the air-travelers at departure. The results could be sent across and the unlucky ones detained on arrival, while the C-10-free ones go on their way.

[DrTuner]

Start demolishing, tourists aren't coming back. Central should be first to go, build a beer bar central there instead to celebrate what Pattaya should be all about.

[Leaver]

15 hours ago, hotchilli said:

With the government regulations on international travelers I'd rethink that date too.

Not just the Thai government's regulations, you have the regulations of every other government to consider, but particularly Thailand's bigger markets of Europe and The US, then, you have airlines and travel insurance companies to consider.

 

As I have said before, if the Thai government opened all boarders and lifted all restrictions, tomorrow.  Not a lot would change here for many months to come.  

[hotchilli]

7 hours ago, Leaver said:

Not just the Thai government's regulations, you have the regulations of every other government to consider, but particularly Thailand's bigger markets of Europe and The US, then, you have airlines and travel insurance companies to consider.

 

As I have said before, if the Thai government opened all boarders and lifted all restrictions, tomorrow.  Not a lot would change here for many months to come.  

If they continue into 2021 with the ridiculous criteria for entry, ie 14 days quarantine, health insurance, Covid test, fit for fly etc etc etc they can forget next year too, people will just stay domestic, plenty of lovely Euro or American destinations with a good climate.
Families are not going to put the price of insurance per head and a pile of documentation on top of an already costly holiday.

[Trillian]

39 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

If they continue into 2021 with the ridiculous criteria for entry, ie 14 days quarantine, health insurance, Covid test, fit for fly etc etc etc they can forget next year too, people will just stay domestic, plenty of lovely Euro or American destinations with a good climate.
Families are not going to put the price of insurance per head and a pile of documentation on top of an already costly holiday.

The government may think that's a good trade off, replacing international travellers with domestic travellers and I can't disagree, jobwise and economically it's a fair trade against the loss of life that might be expected by a return to open border tourism.

[Grumpy John]

I like Pattaya.  Not enough to feel sad about their current plight.  Not enough to feel sorry for the scammers and rip-off merchants.  But I do feel sorry for the few good people who scratched out an honest living and now have nothing because of the Wuhan China virus.

[Trillian]

The tourism industry in Thailand has become overpopulated, there's far too many people/businesses doing exactly the same thing, all chasing the same limited supply of tourist money. A natural cull is in order, as painful as it is, the industry will emerge on the other side in better shape for all parties.

 

 

Edited July 12, 2020 by Trillian

[hotchilli]

5 hours ago, Trillian said:

The government may think that's a good trade off, replacing international travellers with domestic travellers and I can't disagree, jobwise and economically it's a fair trade against the loss of life that might be expected by a return to open border tourism.

More people die everyday on the roads than from Covid, and if the government pushes ahead with this proposal it's economical and social suicide.

Thailand was geared up for mass tourism pure and simple, every resort and city has a frontline of thousands of workers servicing tourists one way or another,  behind them is an army of suppliers be it food, liquor, souvenirs etc. They will all be looking for other work, along with the establishment owners who will seek to bail-out later this year.

And if T.A.T say out with mass tourism in with the select wealthy the same will happen.

[phetchy]

On 7/10/2020 at 1:09 PM, Denim said:

Many would be people with secure jobs like government employees etc.

Too right!  I've actually previously pitied some of the government workers in the electricity/water etc offices in the apparently miserable offices in which they work.  That pity was somewhat muted by their high-handed, look down on you attitude, (initially a bit of a shock to a falang who is used to a more subservient, "how can I help" demeanour (after all, I pay your wages)). Now they must be so grateful to have a job that will always be required as paying utility bills is covid-19 resistant.   

Edited July 12, 2020 by phetchy

[Trillian]

3 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

More people die everyday on the roads than from Covid, and if the government pushes ahead with this proposal it's economical and social suicide.

Thailand was geared up for mass tourism pure and simple, every resort and city has a frontline of thousands of workers servicing tourists one way or another,  behind them is an army of suppliers be it food, liquor, souvenirs etc. They will all be looking for other work, along with the establishment owners who will seek to bail-out later this year.

And if T.A.T say out with mass tourism in with the select wealthy the same will happen.

I don't agree at all:

 

1) the industry was over populated with similar businesses that weren't viable, it needs slimming down.

2) domestic tourism will take up sufficient of the slack to allow mainstream tourist businesses to remain viable.

3) when "things" return to near normal (as currently) the RTA death toll will resume it's high numbers, they will simply add to the covid death toll rather than replace it.

4) many if not most tourism sector workers only work in the high season, Phuket is void of most workers in low season as they return home to Issan. Finding alternate employment is not the challenge you think it is, finding alternate employment that pays as well as tourism related work may be difficult but that's a different problem.

[pattayadude]

On 7/10/2020 at 1:21 PM, webfact said:

Foreign tourists that represented the backbone of the business were just not coming

that's a very pessimistic statement..Of course they will start to come as soon as it starts snowing in Pattaya!

Edited July 12, 2020 by pattayadude

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, Trillian said:

4) many if not most tourism sector workers only work in the high season, Phuket is void of most workers in low season as they return home to Issan. Finding alternate employment is not the challenge you think it is, finding alternate employment that pays as well as tourism related work may be difficult but that's a different problem.

They used to make enough money in the high season to go home & ride out the short low season, maybe even take a well earned holiday... maybe take a part time job for a couple of months.
Now with thousands unemployed they don't have full time work in the bars and don't have opportunities back at home... they're stuffed !

[Trillian]

11 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

They used to make enough money in the high season to go home & ride out the short low season, maybe even take a well earned holiday... maybe take a part time job for a couple of months.
Now with thousands unemployed they don't have full time work in the bars and don't have opportunities back at home... they're stuffed !

Take a well earned holiday after working for a few months in Phuket servicing well heeled tourists, the poor dears, it's almost slave labour!

[bodymassagemyfriend]

On 7/10/2020 at 11:28 AM, 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

And also middle class is collapsing all over the world , ...

[VBF]

On 7/10/2020 at 8:05 AM, SteveK said:

Was speaking to a Thai friend of mine recently and she said "the economy will recover soon because everyone wants to visit Thailand". Had a bit of a laugh at that and chatted about how expensive Thailand is now for smelly old westerners, and how the Thai love of endless paperwork and bureaucracy has soured many people's opinions of the place. I mentioned how I can enter Mexico visa free for 6 months no questions asked, and how it takes >100 sheets of paper for me to apply for my marriage extension here. Plus how easy it is to reside in Cambodia with little more than a few passport photos, the required money in USD and 5 minutes to fill out a form.

 

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. Now seems like the best possible time to start reigning in some of the ridiculous requirements for people who just want to come here and spend their hard-earned money in the country. If they want to keep the bad guys out, surely all they need is to do a background check rather than requesting endless pieces of paper and hand-drawn maps which will get filed away somewhere never to be seen again?

"Thai Rak Thai" about covers it!