Pattaya ready for what it hopes to be a 20% high season compared to the millions before

[webfact]

Picture: Thai PBS

 

A leading tourism figure in Pattaya said he was not expecting a million tourists a month in the high season.

 

Tourism Business Association figure Bunawan Patanasin said that if 200,000 Thai and foreign tourists come each month this high season that will be a major positive.

 

Back in the pre-pandemic 2018-2019 period Bunawan said tourism raked in 276 billion baht. In 2020 this had dwindled to 60 billion. 

 

Picture: Thai PBS

 

Previous high seasons saw 800,000 to a million visitors a month. Now the ambitious target was 200,000.

 

He wants Pattaya to be allowed to open to foreigners as soon as possible seeing a mid-October opening a chance to test the waters with their protocols ahead of high season.

 

He like others called for clarity from the government to give guidance to tourism businesses and confidence to foreign tourists.

 

Picture: Thai PBS

 

Though the domestic market was expected to prove the major market this year.

 

Meanwhile in a Thai PBS report Pattaya's major Sontaya Kunplome spoke of the resort being ready to reopen to foreign tourists with 70% of the locals vaccinated.

 

He said 60,000 people had been jabbed in Muang district, 140,000 in Bang Lamung and 90% in Koh Larn. 

 

It was now up to the CCSA to give the great light so that his Pattaya Move On plan could be enacted. 

 

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[Cake Monster]

I honestly think that 200 K Tourists a Month, is going to be very ambitious to say the least.

Tourists, and their Governments reading the headlines about the Phuket Vaccinations that have started today, are going to be really worried about any future Vaccination numbers that are published.

Phuket has put a death Knell into the Tourist Industry for the foreseeable future in Thailand.

[Henryford]

Lucky tourists, will be tucked up in bed by 9pm after drinking their non alcoholic beer and touring the empty streets.

[steven100]

How the heck are they going to get 200,000 tourists per month.   It will depend on what ' open to foreigners '  actually means. 

Will they require tourists flying in from overseas to show vax cert'  ......   ?   I expect this will be mandatory .

Will unvaxed tourists require quarantine  ?     and they should be tested here x 2      ?  

 

and if they don't have the above measures in place, the Covid19 numbers will escalate exponentially.

 

And if they are relying on 80% domestic coming to Pattaya, I think that's a big ask ......   maybe 40k-50k might be achievable .... but it's a bit of guesswork as it will depend on what's open and what's not.  

 

[RafPinto]

If there is no "bum bum" in Pattaya, only a few will come to this beautiful "family" resort.

[smedly]

deluded nonsense

 

I don't think too many tourists will be coming until they relax all the pointless red tape - Phuket being a fine example were it served mostly as a slightly better ASQ, (which has now been exhausted)  it is now obvious arrivals have reduced to insignificant levels, surely someone has the brains to figure out why - here is a hint - UK Green

 

- Fully Vaccinated

- one PCR test 72hrs before travel

- open up entertainment **

- dump the curfew **

- dump the SHA hotel nonsense **

 

** if you cannot do this you are not ready to open up

 

Tourists will not be coming until you do all the above 

[smedly]

41 minutes ago, steven100 said:

How the heck are they going to get 200,000 tourists per month.   It will depend on what ' open to foreigners '  actually means. 

Will they require tourists flying in from overseas to show vax cert'  ......   ?   I expect this will be mandatory .

Will unvaxed tourists require quarantine  ?     and they should be tested here x 2      ?  

 

and if they don't have the above measures in place, the Covid19 numbers will escalate exponentially.

 

And if they are relying on 80% domestic coming to Pattaya, I think that's a big ask ......   maybe 40k-50k might be achievable .... but it's a bit of guesswork as it will depend on what's open and what's not.  

 

they intend to run it exactly like Phuket Sandbox which has turned out to be a mega failure - no kidding

[smedly]

51 minutes ago, Henryford said:

Lucky tourists, will be tucked up in bed by 9pm after drinking their non alcoholic beer and touring the empty streets.

don't forget the detour to soi 9 to extract the 10k surplus fee for breathing Pattaya air

[smedly]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

70% of the locals vaccinated.

that is a lie, vaccinated is 2x jabs and as it turns out could now be 3x jabs after 8 months

 

no wonder the UK has Thailand on Red when they keep telling so many lies

[Phuketshrew]

39 minutes ago, RafPinto said:

If there is no "bum bum" in Pattaya, only a few will come to this beautiful "family" resort.

Is that the gay version of "boom boom" ?

[RafPinto]

6 minutes ago, Phuketshrew said:

Is that the gay version of "boom boom" ?

Same same but different.

 

Boom Boom Boom (Bum, Bum, Bum)

https://open.spotify.com › track

 

 

 

Listen to Boom Boom Boom (Bum, Bum, Bum) on Spotify. Alexandre Pires · Song · 2003.

[ivor bigun]

i know this is awful to say ,and for the sake of workers i hope tourists are allowed back ,but as an ordinary married guy who lives that sort of lifestyle ,its great without tourists. 

 

[klauskunkel]

20%, huh? Well, that works out with 80% of venues closed...

[Maejo Man]

"Bunawan Patanasin said that if 200,000 Thai and foreign tourists come each month this high season that will be a major positive".

Major positive my eye more of a miracle!

[Benmart]

"He like others called for clarity from the government to give guidance to tourism businesses and confidence to foreign tourists". Clarity does not exist when multiple talking-heads continue issuing guidance which is contradictory and inconsistent. 

[murraynz]

3 hours ago, RafPinto said:

If there is no "bum bum" in Pattaya, only a few will come to this beautiful "family" resort.

Bum bum... OMG... That's lady boys, maybe.. 

Do you mean boom boom? 

[The Hammer2021]

I don't believe 70% of Pattaya residents are vaccinated. Less than 7% currently is more like it.

[DaLa]

             I agree with others that there are going to be very few international tourists wearily treading the rules and regs of visiting Pattaya, but what about Thais themselves  ( and a bunch of us expats). Now this is only a personal view from an observation I made a few days ago. I went for a meal at Pupin at the end of Jomtien one evening, and at 7 PM there wasn't an inside table to be had.   The serving staff are all being paid and there were plenty of them as well as the ancillary staff and presumably Mr Pupin is doing ok from the trade. The car park attendant must have pocketed over a 1000 baht if most people tipped.

 

Then there was the hotel, 5* in north Pataya, reasonably full on the Thursday night, but when I left Friday morning there was a permanent queue  5-6 couples deep at check in that lasted over the hour I was in the lobby.

 

So here's my point, the rack rate that they have been applying in the past for international vacationers was 12-15,000 baht a night. I along with the rest of the Thais paid 3000 baht. I suggest that many Thais were not willing or able to pay the higher rate in the past but  now are 'in the holiday mood'. Will they ever make up the short fall? Obviously not but it 's good to witness the shift in business.

Edited September 25, 2021 by DaLa
Edited for clarity

[The Hammer2021]

3 hours ago, ivor bigun said:

i know this is awful to say ,and for the sake of workers i hope tourists are allowed back ,but as an ordinary married guy who lives that sort of lifestyle ,its great without tourists. 

 

It's depressing seeing so many derelict, shuttered businesses. There is nothing great about a constant visual reminder of poverty and desperation. The current curfew and alcohol restrictions are ludicrous. Anybody satisfied with such conditions should live in a cave.

[riverhigh]

I couldn't read the entire article, the BS was just too painful.  No entertainment, no alcohol, empty streets, mandatory mask wearing, covid tests .... might as well stay at home.

[IamNoone88]

The first real indication that there will be no "high season". More likely that the 20% will be closer to 10% of previous levels. There are only a few weeks ago to Peak season as we are out of September and heading into October and November - the start of high season. With no positive on the horizon it will too late and origin countries such as Australia, China, Hong Kong, UK, Singapore, Japan, show no immediate sign of lifting restrictions for returning tourists, especially from Thailand. 

[fdbob]

4 hours ago, Cake Monster said:

I honestly think that 200 K Tourists a Month, is going to be very ambitious to say the least.

Tourists, and their Governments reading the headlines about the Phuket Vaccinations that have started today, are going to be really worried about any future Vaccination numbers that are published.

Phuket has put a death Knell into the Tourist Industry for the foreseeable future in Thailand.

Be lucky to get 2000

[The Hammer2021]

14 minutes ago, riverhigh said:

I couldn't read the entire article, the BS was just too painful.  No entertainment, no alcohol, empty streets, mandatory mask wearing, covid tests .... might as well stay at home.

I wouldn't bother to fly out here now. Europe seems fun...but I ain't rushing back to UK

[davidmann]

4 hours ago, Cake Monster said:

I honestly think that 200 K Tourists a Month, is going to be very ambitious to say the least.

Tourists, and their Governments reading the headlines about the Phuket Vaccinations that have started today, are going to be really worried about any future Vaccination numbers that are published.

Phuket has put a death Knell into the Tourist Industry for the foreseeable future in Thailand.

France has given corvid injection to everybody ,saved the tourist season life is nearly back to normal. , ask yourself why thailand did not do the same. 

 

 

[spidermike007]

Talk about a shot in the dark. Anyone making these predictions now, is just taking a wild guess. This is based on absolutely nothing. It is impossible to make a prediction like this. There are so many variables. The longer they wait, the harder it will be to restore the industry. People have short memories. Thailand was already being forgotten by millions, before Covid, due to a dozen reasons. Now? Too many alternatives. This administration continues to see Thailand as the COTU (center of the universe). Say it ain't so! No humility seem to be getting learned as of now. The army needs to figure out a way to muster up some courage, and re-open the nation to tourism. There are many ways it can be done safely, and there will be some risk, but nothing like the risk of not opening, and remaining sealed off from the world, like early 19th century Japan. Not even close.

Plus, you have to factor in:

How people will feel about long haul travel in three years? How will the economic shutdown, and malaise effect their long term fortunes? Is Thailand making any effort, on any level to address the issues that were present, pre-Covid? Traffic and public safety, air quality, road congestion, luxury taxes, wine taxes, jet ski scams? I could go on all day. My guess is nothing is being done to address anything, and every issue they currently face is being blamed on Covid. Now, they have a real scapegoat, and looking within for the source of any of the problems is less likely than ever.

I truly believe, that 20 or 30 years from now, in tourism industry, business and sociology classes, at the uni level, there will be tours of these hollowed out shells, of huge hotels that were built, and could neither find guests to stay, nor even a market for condo conversions, and ended up abandoned, after buyers could not be found, or owners refused to accept 20% of the land and construction costs, as a sales price. 
 
That is where I see the future of Thai tourism. One must always remember, there were countless issues plaguing the industry, years before Covid, and NONE of them were ever addressed by the lathargic ones. And there were countless other countries with alot of appeal, who were and are trying much harder. 

[Cat Boy]

20% of pre-Covid levels is wildly, hysterically optimistic, okay .... delusional. 5-8% would be more realistic.

 

Forecast low, if actual meet forecast, kudus,

if actual exceeds forecast declare victory and throw yourself a party.

 

Forecasts with no basis in reality simply discredit the source and sow further distrust and public lack of confidence.

[EVENKEEL]

I'll be there for SHA, better than Phuket and have to travel to Patts area with max wt in suitcases.

[hotchilli]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Previous high seasons saw 800,000 to a million visitors a month. Now the ambitious target was 200,000.

Ambitious is the correct word.

Expecting 20-25% of pre-Covid figures is pie-in-the-sky thinking

Try 5-10% on a favourable wind. 

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, RafPinto said:

If there is no "bum bum" in Pattaya, only a few will come to this beautiful "family" resort.

Bum bum,  Bam bam or Boom boom, depends how your boat floats.

[ivor bigun]

5 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Bum bum,  Bam bam or Boom boom, depends how your boat floats.

well as far as my boat floats as far as bum bum is considered it only floats down and out of the harbour ,never in ????