Empty streets and strict regulations deter tourists from visiting Thailand

[tomyami]

I went to thailand last year did a COE 14 days quarrantine unvaxed, there was no vaccines and more open

This year I am vaxed but the TP is more difficult I am insured always have been.

They are making it harder to visit open for thais and foreigners with attachments but closed to tourism

this year 70% vaxed more closed

Just control is better

 

Edited February 23, 2022 by tomyami

[spidermike007]

1 hour ago, sezze said:

Come on , you all know , there aren't a lot of tourists now . Supply and demand is the rule . You think everything is trying to stay open for 2y while there are no costumers ? When more tourists arrive , more places will restart opening . Won't all be the same , and especially in the start will get periods when there is overdemand or oversupply , but everything will be returning like before as more people come .

Nope. Wrong. It will never, ever be like before. Not in our lifetimes. Too much has changed, too many opportunities lost, too much fake purification going on, too much whitewashing and pasteurization of the character of the place, too much nonsense. Thailand is being forgotten more and more with each passing day. Very, very few traveling now even consider the place. Sure,

 

Thailand will get visitors when this all passes. Some. Possibly up to 5 million a year, ten years from now. Maybe. Nothing will ever be the same. And that is good for many of us expats. Just not good for the people dependent on tourism, and it is not easy to witness the suffering, financial deprivation, business closings, skyrocketing unemployment and suicides (which they are desperately trying to hide). 

[Seppius]

I thought there was a meeting today to discuss the 5th day rule?

[poohy]

4 hours ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

Not true at all.

 

Many of them are aggressive characters. I have drunk in Patpong for over 30 years and it has ever been thus.

Yes some are right miserable gits!

But i bet you know the Cleo bar of old in soi 2 run by the old dame next to the quiet Star of light, dont talk with your mouth full ladies

(Re Cleo think the old bird retired about 10 years ago, i actually got free beer of her in 2005 )

[Bangkok Barry]

53 minutes ago, NanaSomchai said:

(And back then bar fines were sub 300 THB, short time was 500 THB, long time was 1000 THB, no pressure to buy them lady drinks). 

And that's why we call the good old days ????

[superal]

1 hour ago, John Drake said:

Can't we just go back to the way things were, say, ten years ago, in 2012?

When air flights were much cheaper , as were decent hotels , food , drink , ladies of the night and lets not forget all of the copies / fakes e.g. watches and brand named shirts etc that were a major attraction for tourists to the markets . Now that all is gone but you can still visit the temples and beaches (there are better beaches on the med ) . On top of the all mentioned before the tourists have to complete the Thailand Pass ( not so easy for seniors )  and take a chance on paying in advance for air tickets , hotels , insurance and pcr tests . Gone are the days when you could book a flight and fly in the next week . The catch 22 is that the majority of tourists come for the night life and ladies but if the bars are closed there will be few tourists but if the bars open will the ladies attend for a few months until the tourists decide to return ?  In a nutshell the Thai government wants to turn the clock back 50 years and rid mainland Thailand of cheap tourists and place them in Phuket only where the over worked bar girls will prevail and std will be rife , not for me .

I hear that Vietnam will be the new Thailand . 

[FalangJaiDee]

5 hours ago, connda said:

Unfortunately - no they don't.

They are purposefully keeping, "Thailand’s tourism ecosystem closed" and purposefully "haven’t reopened."

Bloomberg hasn't gotten the memo:  "Only rich, well-heel tourists and investors wanted.  All other foreign commoners will need to find more accepting and friendly countries to spend their tourism dollars.  Thailand doesn't want common foreigners any longer."

 

This. I love the people saying “well I’d they’d do away with the damn test n go”…they’re not going to until “father china” let’s their tourists go to Thailand again. The government doesn’t want or care for hordes and they’ve communicated that in every way possible without blatantly stating it.

 

They’d rather scam and grift then just let tourists come and spend their money. It’s such a repulsive, feral kind of greed. Anyone who’s come and experienced it on the ground won’t be coming back. I’ve been here for a year and hotels and guesthouses I’ve stayed at only

months ago have for sale signs now.

 

Only the monied venues can open back up and the unwillingness to let gogos open back up with dancing is so blatantly political and puritan garbage. It has nothing to do with preventing the spread of Covid.

 

go ahead, throw away 1/5th or your GDP. Enjoy!

[jollyhangmon]

27 minutes ago, Seppius said:

I thought there was a meeting today to discuss the 5th day rule?

 

... has been, yes ... the 5th day hocus-pocus gets changed to self administered rapid antigen test and the insuscam down to 20k, in short ...

 

 

[MrJ2U]

3 hours ago, cheapcanuck said:

Nana plaza (Sukumvit 4) is dead...

Nice. 

 

Nothing tells a story better than pictures.

[NanaSomchai]

1 hour ago, superal said:

When air flights were much cheaper , as were decent hotels , food , drink , ladies of the night and lets not forget all of the copies / fakes e.g. watches and brand named shirts etc that were a major attraction for tourists to the markets .

Like it or not, but I like to call a spade, a spade.

 

Thailand's economy was built on the back of their "ladies of the night", and that's literally and figuratively speaking.

 

The puritans at the wheel are trying to forgo with it, trying to erase and "polish" their image, some historians might even be inclined to think they are trying so hard to do away with it, they might be attempted to rewrite history.

 

Thailand is not Singapore, it is not the crown jewel of South East Asia, never has been, never will be, no matter how much they try, Thailand will never be the Monaco or the Switzerland of SEA, no matter how hard they try.

 

1 hour ago, superal said:

Gone are the days when you could book a flight and fly in the next week .

Gone they sure are. Next week?

 

Hell, I was able to book flights for the next day if not for the same day, my local travel agency used to open it's doors at 10AM, walk in, pay your air fare in cash, fly out to Thailand on the same day, later in the evening or the next morning on a LHR to CDG with BA, commute on the TG931 (THA931) land the next day again at BKK at 06:00AM, ride the first 9AM bus to Pattaya, arrive at 11AM and eff*ng lunch at Hooters on Beach Road with a view on Pattaya's beach/bay, check in at any random hotel for 300 THB shortly after 12:00, sleep the whole afternoon to cure jetlag, wake up at 5:00PM, full of energy, showered, dressed, perfume on, hit Walking Street, Club Insomnia, 808 Night Club, Rock Street, iBar, Raas, Skyfall Agogo, the sky was the limit!

 

This is all gone.

 

1 hour ago, superal said:

The catch 22 is that the majority of tourists come for the night life and ladies but if the bars are closed there will be few tourists but if the bars open will the ladies attend for a few months until the tourists decide to return ?

The truth and nothing but the truth.

 

Thailand has nothing to offer other than the night life and ladies of the night that other nations Worldwide cannot offer and often better quality and cheaper.

 

1 hour ago, superal said:

Thailand of cheap tourists and place them in Phuket only where the over worked bar girls will prevail and std will be rife , not for me .

They are trying to turn Phuket into an Amsterdam red light district or Berlin's red light disrtrict.

 

1 hour ago, superal said:

I hear that Vietnam will be the new Thailand . 

Could be, let's see what happens next. Wait and see.

Edited February 23, 2022 by NanaSomchai

[overherebc]

I keep thinking about what Bugis Street was and now is.

[KhaoYai]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Before the pandemic, it was one of the world’s most notorious red-light districts, attracting foreign tourists to its many bars, nightclubs and massage parlours.

I haven't been anywhere near Patpong for at least 15 years but shouldn't the above statement read 'A long time before the pandemic........'?

 

Last time I was there it was pretty quiet and seemed to be becoming a gay tourist area.

[mommysboy]

Yeah that and the fear of being incarcerated and paying a 1000 dollars for the privilege.

Edited February 23, 2022 by mommysboy

[Will B Good]

4 hours ago, cheapcanuck said:

Nana plaza (Sukumvit 4) is dead...

Veggie wrap in the street bar...top photo........... is to die for.

[mikecha]

3 hours ago, John Drake said:

Can't we just go back to the way things were, say, ten years ago, in 2012?

nice

[billd766]

38 minutes ago, overherebc said:

I keep thinking about what Bugis Street was and now is.

I remember Bugis Street well in the late 1960s and early 70s and that awful hole in the floor toilet. Much happier days.

[Real Name Hidden]

I visited Patpong on Saturday night and there were several bars open, not a lot of customers except in the bar reopening with free drinks (I enjoyed two bottles of Heineken on the house).  Then I visited Nana Plaza and several bars were open there also.

[overherebc]

51 minutes ago, billd766 said:

I remember Bugis Street well in the late 1960s and early 70s and that awful hole in the floor toilet. Much happier days.

Troop sergeant we had reckoned one story was the best looking 'tranny' at one time was an RAF corporal. 

Edit.

Photo from the 70's, I think

Edited February 23, 2022 by overherebc

[Adumbration]

1 hour ago, KhaoYai said:

I haven't been anywhere near Patpong for at least 15 years

Last time I was in Patpong was 35 years ago.

[tomacht8]

4 hours ago, John Drake said:

Can't we just go back to the way things were, say, ten years ago, in 2012?

Preferably another 15 years earlier.

 

Social Order Kicks Off:  
As part of his Social Order campaign, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra orders the creation of three “entertainment zones.” In these zones, drinking and dancing is only allowed until 2 am: roughly Silom, Sukhumvit, and Ratchada. Outside of these zones, dancing is illegal and closing times are 1 am. The implementation of his rules would take a couple more years, with things getting really strict by the mid-2000s.

 

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://bk.asia-city.com/nightlife/article/history-clubbing-bangkok&ved=2ahUKEwi-7qmS5pX2AhUMzTgGHYF3D2cQFnoECCIQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3HUXdufZ-Kr6iqo8bKmj_D

 

 

[mokwit]

Thaksin had to fiddle with everything.

[billd766]

2 hours ago, mokwit said:

Thaksin had to fiddle with everything.

It was a lot better, nicer and a far happier country than what it is now. 

[billd766]

2 hours ago, overherebc said:

Troop sergeant we had reckoned one story was the best looking 'tranny' at one time was an RAF corporal. 

Edit.

Photo from the 70's, I think

That could be true because us crabfats always were an odd lot.

[Sticky Rice Balls]

4 hours ago, Will B Good said:

Veggie wrap in the street bar...top photo........... is to die for.

As is the barbed wire in pic...to die for indeed...

[CG1 Blue]

5 hours ago, superal said:

I hear that Vietnam will be the new Thailand . 

That reminds me, having been to Vietnam a couple of times I was always put off being a regular visitor by the hassle of getting a visa, the long queues at arrivals, and the over officious nature of the authorities there, i.e. never quite knowing if you might get banged up by the police for something trivial. 

Right now though I'd say Thailand trumps Vietnam in these areas.

So maybe Thailand is the new Vietnam ????

[tomacht8]

50 minutes ago, billd766 said:

It was a lot better, nicer and a far happier country than what it is now. 

100% true. There were still enough after-hour clubs back then. Nevertheless, Thaksin made the first hard cut into the club scene back then (2am closing time). The freedom to party and have fun as long as you wanted was gone under him. But no comparison to the current government, who managed - not only since Covit - to completely kill the nightlife, club scene and fun.

 

Thailand/ Bangkok used to have one of the world's best nightlife. Now there is the last glass of whiskey coke at 9pm with the noodle soup. Really not a stimulus for potential tourists who don't just want to see the Temples.

[scorecard]

11 hours ago, mokwit said:

If there is one group of people I have no sympathy for it is Patpong Night Bazaar vendors.

Plus the folks who are pushing and pushing for everything to open yesterday, but what they really want is money and with greed. 

 

Sorry you guys you need to wait while Thailand slowly opens up everything.

 

 

[chinasimon]

10 hours ago, swm59nj said:

You have to be pretty desperate to visit a country with a high Covid rate. Just for the sake of drinking cheap booze and cheap fun.  

Which country are we talking about? Don't think Thailand is either of these two.

[RobU]

This is Fake news. Entering Thailand is not quarantine free. You have to quarantine in a very expensive hotel for a minimum of 1 night and if the unreliable test you take comes back positive (even though you are symptom free) you have to quarantine for another week or more in the same expensive hotel. It is a big scam and genuine tourists will go elsewhere rather than risk doubling or trebling the cost of their holiday

[peter zwart]

15 hours ago, notrub said:

Jesus Wept!  It is a very active pandemic with nearly 6M deaths worldwide (1M in the US alone) and well over 12,000 deaths every single day.  Commercial interests are pressuring governments to call this an 'endemic' problem, like catching the flu every year or getting hayfever in the spring.  This is not true.  Hospitals (where there are any) are overflowing and people are dying from other preventable diseases because of this.  AND nobody wants to wear a mask <deleted>.  It doesn't 'feel nice'.  Big Pharma and others are making billions and billions off of this, they would like to see it go on forever.

Keep on dreaming