Pattaya is smiling again! Top end hotels at 90% capacity for long holiday weekend

[sammieuk1]

Sure come wednesday Pattaya's mayor's calculator will be returned to the TAT office with a note of job well done I see how it works now ???? 

[newnative]

2 hours ago, GeorgeCross said:

domestic tourism is just smearing money around. for every baht spent in a hotel its one less spent in a local restaurant or on the weekly makro/tesco run.

thailand doesn't gain anything its a zero sum game.

    Nothing wrong with 'smearing money around'.  That's how economies work.  Most people have a budget that includes 'makro/tesco' and other normal expenses but many also have money set aside for travel.  My Thai in-laws usually take at least one international trip a year, sometimes two.  With international travel suspended, they will be taking trips around Thailand, instead, spending their travel money in Thailand rather than in a foreign country.  Certainly, it's not a replacement for international tourists but it will help some tourists areas and some tourist businesses.  

[sscc]

5 hours ago, TooBigToFit said:

????????????

 

High end hotels doing well but what about the majority which are little places? All us poor people love the moment with the chance to stay in a good hotel. Who would want to stay in anything else at this time when they are cheap. But I think the headline is more hype than a true picture.

 

I was thinking about going this weekend but the idea of fighting traffic turned me off. And I know others who just didn't want to put up with the jams. The constant horrible traffic and crowds has ruined travel and tourism for me. it's never going to be the same. Holidays are turning into something like those shopper rampages where everyone bursts through the doors to get in for special deals.

 

Little places also got business in the extended long weekend. 

My residence is close to a lot rental house/room advertised for  400-700 B a night.  In the last 4-day weekend and also the current 4-day long weekend, many cars are parked around with Thai doing the Thai barbeque and Karoke entertainment in the evening.   Of course beer/whisky are flowing.  

My condo also got some empty rooms rental out with new faces in the swimming pool and extra cars parked during the long weekend period. 

[sscc]

1 hour ago, newnative said:

   Those posting that they haven't heard of the hotels mentioned in the OP likely haven't because most are in the Wongamat/Naklua area.  And, Mera Mare is in the northern part of Pattaya Beach.  I'm not in town for this long weekend but at the last one a few weeks ago all the nice, big hotels in north Pattaya, and some of the smaller ones, were full.  Probably the same for the Wongamat/Naklua hotels and likely they will be full this long weekend, too.

     Construction continues on a new, highrise hotel on Naklua Road, not too far from the fairly new Brighton Hotel.  Construction also continues on Grande Centre Point 2 in Wongamat. They will join the other new hotels built recently in north Pattaya and Wong Amat, including Ozo Hotel, Mytt, the new Amari addition, LK Emerald Beach, Cosi Hotel, Golden Tulip, Courtyard by Marriott, and a number of others.

     All this new construction, and a lot of the construction Pattaya has seen for the past 10 years, is to primarily accommodate the new tourist/long-stay demographic, which is more Asian, more Russian, more young group travel, more young couples, and more families.  And, most of the new construction is far from the areas attracting western sexpats.

     Now, is Soi Buakao busy this long weekend?  I have no idea as I almost never go there--no reason to.  Likewise for most of the new tourists and Bangkok weekend visitors Pattaya has been attracting these past years.  They are in other parts of Pattaya, many hidden away a bit.  The argument that Golden Egg Layers spend far more than other tourists and weekend visitors I find particularly ludicrous.  If that was the case, likely none of the above would have been built, or Terminal 21, or the hundreds of other new projects that have been built.  

 

 

In Pattaya,  Change in the visitor demographic and nationality had commenced around 2008  shortly after Central Festival-Hilton Hotel was erected and opened.   Such gradual shift had actually been successful for years,  at least up till around 2018.   One sign of the switching is the bar business has been actually more and more difficult and folding up. 

 

 

There is one bad news in another aspect though.   In Jomtien,  the sheer number of unsold condo units as well as up coming condo highrise condo projects are scary.    I think the Thai rely on PRC buyers,  I just don't see any bright light at the tunnels for now.    

[sscc]

16 hours ago, champers said:

Beach was very busy in Pattaya, got busier as the day wore on. I noticed that A-One and MYTT hotels on Soi 3 were far busier than they have been.

 

Yes, I was quite surprised too.

In that Soi2, Soi3 area,  even some rate-inflated hotels such as Siam by Design Hotel had plenty of people and car traffic in the last 4-day long weekend. 

The hotels around in the same block of cruise ship design hotel  ( all same owner )   had got lots of young Thai patronage.  These are all 3.0-3.5* star hotels attracting new generation Thai from Bangkok.  

 

[champers]

Just to add that my girlfriend's daughter came down from Bangkok with her hubby, babe in arms and other family members. There was 12 of them in total and spent 2 nights in a nice house in Pratumnak with 3 big bedrooms and a pool for a cost of 9000 Baht. They have some market stalls in the Bangkok suburbs and are lower middle class. All budgets are catered for, not just hiso Thais.

[DrTuner]

4 minutes ago, champers said:

Just to add that my girlfriend's daughter came down from Bangkok with her hubby, babe in arms and other family members. There was 12 of them in total and spent 2 nights in a nice house in Pratumnak with 3 big bedrooms and a pool for a cost of 9000 Baht. They have some market stalls in the Bangkok suburbs and are lower middle class. All budgets are catered for, not just hiso Thais.

Have short term rentals suddenly become legal? When I was house hunting one of the deal breakers was if the village allowed the villas to be rented out as illegal hotels.

[champers]

37 minutes ago, DrTuner said:

Have short term rentals suddenly become legal? When I was house hunting one of the deal breakers was if the village allowed the villas to be rented out as illegal hotels.

It wasn't in a village or gated community. It was a stand alone property on a sub soi off Pratumnak Soi 4. I don't know if the deal was illegal or not, but I neither booked it or stayed there; just visited for a few hours both days. 

[BigStar]

4 hours ago, treetops said:

The three places all have their own identities and I think most people will go along with what I said. 

Agreed. Most who spend most of their time around Soi Buakhao and Walking St. ????

 

4 hours ago, treetops said:

There is a reason they use Pattaya rather than their actual location as it attracts the tourist money.

Oh. And you know this how? Most of our ace TVF Marketers advise that the name Pattaya has a bad reputation, appealing only to low farang mongers, yet these hotels are the last places a monger would wish to stay. So that shrewd observation may have a problem. ????

 

It could be that they use Pattaya because it IS their actual location, as hotels normally do wordwide. Now if you made them aware that they are not located within your quite limited "mental" boundaries, perhaps they'd change over to help you find them.

 

It's amazing, however, to learn that Pattaya School #7 and Pattaya School #11 are marketed towards tourists. This sign also needs correction, if it hasn't been yet. "Chonburi" won't do either: you know what it needs to be.

 

 

Pesky marketing.

 

4 hours ago, treetops said:

I think my interpretation is much more reasonable than the hoteliers and anyone else who claims otherwise.

Well, yes, you do think that. ????

Edited July 26, 2020 by BigStar

[Leaver]

18 hours ago, BigStar said:

The problem for your argument is that domestic Thai tourists will buy a pair of Adidas for 2000

Perhaps you can tell me why a domestic Thai tourists would come all the way to Pattaya to buy a pair of Adidas shoes for 2k baht when they can buy them wherever they are living, and probably for cheaper?

 

18 hours ago, BigStar said:

Thai tourists vastly outnumber the GGLs and buy their entire families those bowls of noodle soup. At MK, perhaps.

I doubt MK, more like street vendors for 30 baht a bowl.

 

18 hours ago, BigStar said:

In fact they do come here

Where are they then?

[bkk6060]

2 hours ago, DrTuner said:

Have short term rentals suddenly become legal?

Hey sorry, your comment seems a little out of touch.

Short term rentals have been going on forever with no enforcement.

I was out and about today in Pattaya.  Thai's lined up at The Base.  Unixx and Centric many with their bags checking in for the short holiday.

I bet there are 1000's of short term renters over the next several days in Pattaya alone not in hotels.

Just check the websites, which I did.  The Base under 1000 b a night for 3 nights still available.

It is illegal yes,  same as prostitution so....

 

 

 

 

 

 

[adammike]

21 hours ago, Airalee said:

Yeah....I know “a guy” who stays at “unnamed hotel where the rooms cost per 20k per night“ too.

 

The hotels listed in the article aren’t 20k per night...

 

Rooms available tonight...

 

He doesn't say they tried to book in one of those hotels.

[bkk6060]

29 minutes ago, adammike said:

He doesn't say they tried to book in one of those hotels.

No.

But, I sure would like to see the 20 k a night rooms.

[Leaver]

3 hours ago, champers said:

Just to add that my girlfriend's daughter came down from Bangkok with her hubby, babe in arms and other family members. There was 12 of them in total and spent 2 nights in a nice house in Pratumnak with 3 big bedrooms and a pool for a cost of 9000 Baht. They have some market stalls in the Bangkok suburbs and are lower middle class. All budgets are catered for, not just hiso Thais.

Yes, AirBnB caters for all budgets, but doesn't do much for hotel occupancy rates.  ????

[Leaver]

1 hour ago, bkk6060 said:

It is illegal yes,  same as prostitution so....

So.....how about Thai laws protect legitimate businesses who have invested under the protection of such laws, and enforce the law against illegal businesses? 

 

Otherwise, why even bother paying for a hotel licence?  Just call the building a condo and join the AirBnB club.  

[DrTuner]

12 minutes ago, Leaver said:

So.....how about Thai laws protect legitimate businesses who have invested under the protection of such laws, and enforce the law against illegal businesses? 

 

Otherwise, why even bother paying for a hotel licence?  Just call the building a condo and join the AirBnB club.  

Not to mention hotels are commercial buildings where occupants can expect not to have their own privacy. Residential properties are for residents. AirBnB has destroyed many a condo and village with rowdy illegal weekenders spoiling the neighbourhood.

[Airalee]

1 hour ago, bkk6060 said:

No.

But, I sure would like to see the 20 k a night rooms.

There’s a place in HuaHin next door to the ฿1000 Ibis I stay where the rooms go from ฿70,000-140,000 per person.  I feel sorry that they have to have a filthy lowlife like myself so close.

 

https://www.chivasom.com/hua-hin/accommodation

[BigStar]

2 hours ago, Leaver said:

Perhaps you can tell me why a domestic Thai tourists would come all the way to Pattaya to buy a pair of Adidas shoes for 2k baht when they can buy them wherever they are living, and probably for cheaper?

A standard ignorant argument of TVF Economics against Thai shopping malls in general. Goes back far, I remember its invocation when ground broke for Siam Paragon. Another white elephant. ????You know well how it goes. We've covered it before. Rich Thais only buy abroad, other Thais have no money, Indians have no money, Chinese don't spend, Russians only spend in 7/11s. Therefore shoppers can't exist in a Thai mall and you, personally, have never seen any. ????

 

That goes doubly for any shopping mall in a Thai resort, of course, as all tourists have all they need at home.

 

I suppose the only argument that will work for you is that domestic tourists are later refunded surreptitiously to hide--wait for it--money laundering

 

'Course, now. Ala Moana in Honolulu is the biggest and one of the most successful long-running shopping malls in the USA. Hmmm. Now that's just impossible, if you think about it. 

 

2 hours ago, Leaver said:

I doubt MK, more like street vendors for 30 baht a bowl.

Means nothing that you doubt because you haven't looked in any MKs on holiday weekends, and if you did you might refuse to see anyone. Fact is, some do, some don't. Yet a family eating from street vendors still beats a monger eating his baked beans on toast. ???? And the sheer numbers are on the side of the Thais again. 

 

2 hours ago, Leaver said:

Where are they then?

You may read through the thread and discover that for yourself. Enough with the spoon feeding and repetition.

Edited July 26, 2020 by BigStar

[champers]

1 hour ago, Leaver said:

Yes, AirBnB caters for all budgets, but doesn't do much for hotel occupancy rates.  ????

I am no legal expert but I don't really think staying in a house can be compared to stopping in a hotel. There were no hotel services - no food, no bar, no security, no check-in, no cleaning. It was booked online but I don't think a third party was involved. If hotels were the only option they probably wouldn't have come.

[Leaver]

5 minutes ago, champers said:

There were no hotel services - no food, no bar, no security, no check-in, no cleaning.

Correct.  Therefore, cheaper prices.  

[Leaver]

15 minutes ago, BigStar said:

A standard ignorant argument of TVF Economics against Thai shopping malls in general. Goes back far, I remember its invocation when ground broke for Siam Paragon. Another white elephant. ????You know well how it goes. We've covered it before. Rich Thais only buy abroad, other Thais have no money, Indians have no money, Chinese don't spend, Russians only spend in 7/11s. Therefore shoppers can't exist in a Thai mall and you, personally, have never seen any. ????

 

That goes doubly for any shopping mall in a Thai resort, of course, as all tourists have all they need at home.

 

I suppose the only argument that will work for you is that domestic tourists are later refunded surreptitiously to hide--wait for it--money laundering

 

'Course, now. Ala Moana in Honolulu is the biggest and one of the most successful long-running shopping malls in the USA. Hmmm. Now that's just impossible, if you think about it. 

 

Means nothing that you doubt because you haven't looked in any MKs on holiday weekends, and if you did you might refuse to see anyone. Fact is, some do, some don't. Yet a family eating from street vendors still beats a monger eating his baked beans on toast. ???? And the sheer numbers are on the side of the Thais again. 

 

You may read through the thread and discover that for yourself. Enough with the spoon feeding and repetition.

Nice history history lesson, but that doesn't put food on Thai tables.

 

I am not looking for an argument that will work for me, or Thailand, or anybody else.  Just discussing observations and sharing the information I have been given by several business owners here, foreign, and Thai.

 

MK could be full on a holiday weekend.  Are you suggesting the Thai government should declare every weekend a holiday weekend?  What about all the other weekends, and weekdays?  How's MK doing with domestic tourism then?  

 

Street vendors are the back bone of the Thai tourism industry.  ????

 

You can keep talking up the local Pattaya economy all you like, but I know what I see on the ground here.  We will see in the next few months how well domestic Thai tourism supports the local economy.  

[newnative]

1 hour ago, BigStar said:

A standard ignorant argument of TVF Economics against Thai shopping malls in general. Goes back far, I remember its invocation when ground broke for Siam Paragon. Another white elephant. ????You know well how it goes. We've covered it before. Rich Thais only buy abroad, other Thais have no money, Indians have no money, Chinese don't spend, Russians only spend in 7/11s. Therefore shoppers can't exist in a Thai mall and you, personally, have never seen any. ????

 

That goes doubly for any shopping mall in a Thai resort, of course, as all tourists have all they need at home.

 

I suppose the only argument that will work for you is that domestic tourists are later refunded surreptitiously to hide--wait for it--money laundering

 

'Course, now. Ala Moana in Honolulu is the biggest and one of the most successful long-running shopping malls in the USA. Hmmm. Now that's just impossible, if you think about it. 

 

Means nothing that you doubt because you haven't looked in any MKs on holiday weekends, and if you did you might refuse to see anyone. Fact is, some do, some don't. Yet a family eating from street vendors still beats a monger eating his baked beans on toast. ???? And the sheer numbers are on the side of the Thais again. 

 

You may read through the thread and discover that for yourself. Enough with the spoon feeding and repetition.

     Sometime ago I remember posting that my Thai in-laws from Bangkok loved to hit the malls when they visited my partner and me in Pattaya.  They'd start with the outlet mall and then Festival--often gone for hours.  Someone posted back why would they want to shop in Pattaya when they have so many malls in Bangkok.  The answer was that during the week they leave for work at 5:30am and return around 7 or 7:30pm, or later, dead tired.  On the weekend they do all the chores they are too tired to do during the week.  When they come to Pattaya, they actually have the glorious free time to go shopping and, yes, buy those 2000 baht Adidas someone mentioned.  

[kingdong]

On 7/25/2020 at 4:36 AM, geriatrickid said:

The Thai tourists  are not interested in the same "entertainment" venues as foreign tourists. They stay at their hotels by the pool, and dine at  nearby restaurants. Good news for the quality establishments of pattaya.

like the entertainment venues in soi 6.

[LiamB80]

I walked the entire Jomtien beach yesterday and it was busier than any day in high season. Completely packed with Thais. Lots of bkk thais down for the weekend.

[akampa]

just checked google nothing more from trip .com 1999 p/night on any of the quoted hotels not so luxurious.

The hotels are the Mera Mare, Z Through By the Zign, Garden Sea View Resort, Long Beach Hotel and The Zign Premium Villa. 

Edited July 27, 2020 by akampa

[bkk6060]

14 hours ago, Leaver said:

So.....how about Thai laws protect legitimate businesses who have invested under the protection of such laws, and enforce the law against illegal businesses? 

 

Otherwise, why even bother paying for a hotel licence?  Just call the building a condo and join the AirBnB club.  

It has been discussed many times.  Many condos actualĺy facilitate the ST renters.  At The Base maybe the busiest "hotel" in the city normally 100's a day coming and going.

 

It seems the hotel owners are partly responsible do to lack of organization and leadership.  They could stop the ST renters with proper intervention with the authorities, customers who then would be directed toward hotel stays.  But, they do nothing 

as their hotel busineeses continue to suffer.

Edited July 27, 2020 by bkk6060

[johng]

1 hour ago, bkk6060 said:

customers who then would be directed toward hotel stays.  But, they do nothing 

They do nothing but  put the prices up higher and higher ...less customers higher prices  its little wonder people look towards cheaper alternatives.

[bkk6060]

2 minutes ago, johng said:

They do nothing but  put the prices up higher and higher ...less customers higher prices  its little wonder people look towards cheaper alternatives.

Well, that is a good point.

Most of these ST condos with kitchens are less then hotels.  In some cases half.

They do lack some other amenities like restaurants.

A place like View Talay has many shops and some eating places in the buildings.

 

Just checking on one hotel website for Wednesday to Saturday of this week Unixx, The Base, View Talay, Centric all short term rentals for a little over 1000 b a night.   And, that is just these popular places many other condos available ST.

[treetops]

18 hours ago, BigStar said:

Agreed. Most who spend most of their time around Soi Buakhao and Walking St. ????

 

Oh. And you know this how? Most of our ace TVF Marketers advise that the name Pattaya has a bad reputation, appealing only to low farang mongers, yet these hotels are the last places a monger would wish to stay. So that shrewd observation may have a problem. ????

 

It could be that they use Pattaya because it IS their actual location, as hotels normally do wordwide. Now if you made them aware that they are not located within your quite limited "mental" boundaries, perhaps they'd change over to help you find them.

 

It's amazing, however, to learn that Pattaya School #7 and Pattaya School #11 are marketed towards tourists. This sign also needs correction, if it hasn't been yet. "Chonburi" won't do either: you know what it needs to be.

Schools, Immigration offices and such like, as official bodies, are of course going to use the municipal authority titles, but they're not what we're talking about here.  Come out of your distorted bubble and think about the real world around you.

 

Go to almost any country and ask locals there if they know of Pattaya, Jomtien or Naklua.  Most will probably know none of the three, some will know Pattaya and next to no-one will know Jomtien or Naklua.  There's a great reason for hoteliers and such like to advertise themselves as Pattaya despite their actual location.

 

Or go to any local residents of the three places and ask them where they stay - get the idea?  No one is  disputing whether it's legal or correct or even fair, it just happens to be so.

 

Not everyone is one of your "ace TVF Marketers" and are well aware of the standard of hotels in the area, so you would do yourself a favour if you took off the bigoted blinkers and enjoyed everything all three places have to offer. ????

 

 

[BigStar]

17 hours ago, Leaver said:

Nice history history lesson, but that doesn't put food on Thai tables.

Putting food on Thai tables is a Thai responsibility responsibility, you see, not yours or mine. Domestic tourism definitely helps, as Thais are smart enough to know at least.

 

17 hours ago, Leaver said:

I am not looking for an argument that will work for me, or Thailand, or anybody else.  Just discussing observations and sharing the information I have been given by several business owners here, foreign, and Thai.

Me, I merely try to help you in all benevolence to overcome your repetitions of puzzlement. So I offer comforting explanations from your perspective.

 

That is in the hope of enabling the discussion to advance towards at least some reality rather than just going around in the usual circle.

 

Earlier, for example, when you repeatedly failed to understand how shopping malls make money, because you can’t see anyone in a mall, you were satisfied with the classical TVF Economics explanation: money laundering. And then able to sleep soundly, I presume.

 

And when posts contain insular observations and sharing of misleading information gleaned from worms-eye surveys of a few business owners around Soi Buakhao, as a public service I offer a more rational, objective perspective based on the reality of the new economy seen in areas other than around the cheap beer bars and fleabag hotels of Soi Buakhao. Such observations are scattered throughout this thread.

 

17 hours ago, Leaver said:

MK could be full on a holiday weekend. 

Excellent progress. Yep, could be. And other better restos could be too. I wonder how that might be determined.???? And we have another poster verifying that Thai tourists really have been known to buy B2000 pairs of shoes.

 

17 hours ago, Leaver said:

Are you suggesting the Thai government should declare every weekend a holiday weekend?  What about all the other weekends, and weekdays?  How's MK doing with domestic tourism then?  

As you’ve been told three or more times, domestic tourists usually travel to Pattaya on weekends and holidays, and they have been a growing and significant part of the local economy for the past 10 years. When they do, MK does better as do a lot of other businesses, obviously.

 

17 hours ago, Leaver said:

Street vendors are the back bone of the Thai tourism industry.  ????

Stats?

 

17 hours ago, Leaver said:

You can keep talking up the local Pattaya economy all you like, but I know what I see on the ground here. 

I’m not as concerned to talk up the local economy as you are to talk it down. It happens that I cover a lot more ground than the beer bars and fleabag hotels around Soi Buakhao, however, so I merely offer an objective perspective. It’s typical to confuse objectivity with bias, however. You know, all those hideous Real Estate Agents jumping in and farang owners heading for exits and desperate to sell.

 

18 hours ago, Leaver said:

We will see in the next few months how well domestic Thai tourism supports the local economy.  

Why, yes we will, especially if we ever travel outside the Soi Buakhao area at various times. But we’ve quite recently seen how NO domestic tourism affected the local economy. Whatever we have will be clearly much better, except in monger hangouts, as it is now.