Pattaya: Russians staying in holiday condos and eating economically - restaurants at resort suffering

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

13 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Of course none of them will admit to being a Putinista but once they get home the Z's come out.

Jing, you should have a bit more sympathy for any "innocent" Russians who aren't supporters or beneficiaries of Putin's regime.

 

After all, we both know what it's like to be regarded somewhat as international lepers based on having our country led, thru no fault of our own, by a self-important autocratic ruler with nationalist stripes.

 

[Shurup]

Y'all spittin' out hatered wouldn't tell a difference between Russian, Ukrainian or any other Eastern European. Bet many of ya didn't even know where or what Ukraine was prior to the 2014 conflict when it made international news. In my experience (and I have a 1st hand experience being labled and discriminated against due to my looks as I was born in Belarus but immigrated to Canada over 2 decades ago) all Eastern Europeans were (are???) labeled as Russians so make sure you reserve your hate to those who deserve it. Simply being a "Russian" is not a crime

[Onerak]

18 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Exactly what the vast majority of the Chinese tourists did, when they were #1 in volume. Everyone I spoke to in the industry said they did not spend much money. Only the fruit shake vendors, the buffets, 7/11, Lotus, and duty free seemed to make any money from them. And they want them back?

Never seen chinese in Thai buffets. Have seen plenty of them in VAT return. It is estimated that the average Chinese tourist remains in the country for one week and spends 30,000–40,000 baht (US$1,000–1,300) per person, per trip. The average Chinese tourist spends 6,400 baht (US$180) per day—more than the average visitor's 5,690 baht (US$160). 

[LaosLover]

On MULTIPLE occasions, Chinese people have stolen my toast off of the toast conveyor belt thingey.

 

You know how you have to put the toast thru 3 times to get it to go from off-white to toasty?

 

If there's a Chinese person lurking around, they will feign ignorance and take your toast. They know it's not their toast. It's part of their cut in line mentality. I blame Mao.

 

No Russian wants your toast. If if he does, he somehow has the inner personal restraint not to grab yours.

[jacko45k]

13 hours ago, Eric Loh said:

Fun fact. 

Among tourists of all nations who come to Thailand, Chinese tourists spend the most with 536,278 million baht, most of which is spent on shopping and leisure, such as spas, cruises, trips, etc.

Someone digs this up each time we get in this same discussion. As far as I could tell from the data , it was based on total spending, which, considering the numbers involved, was hardly surprising. We have all seen the large groups, who appear to spend little. Those wandering in Harrods likely spend more!

Edited March 23, 2022 by jacko45k

[wombat]

Not long to wait now that Europe has to pay for gas in Roubles instead of dollars.

The exchange rate for Roubles will rise and for dollars will fall. 

Currency people are scrambling to buy Roubles and sell dollars.

Could be the beginning of the end for the dollar as the dominant world currency?

Edited March 24, 2022 by wombat

[Birdseye]

19 hours ago, The Hammer2021 said:

Appearances can be deceptive. The Chinese  tourist trade is very lucrative.

So very true...the 2 week falang tourists don't see them much in the beer bars but maybe if they stayed in the 5 star hotels they would change their opinion. Many Chinese families (as well as Indian families) occupy them. People believe what they choose to believe 

[bradiston]

1 hour ago, LaosLover said:

On MULTIPLE occasions, Chinese people have stolen my toast off of the toast conveyor belt thingey.

 

You know how you have to put the toast thru 3 times to get it to go from off-white to toasty?

 

If there's a Chinese person lurking around, they will feign ignorance and take your toast. They know it's not their toast. It's part of their cut in line mentality. I blame Mao.

 

No Russian wants your toast. If if he does, he somehow has the inner personal restraint not to grab yours.

???? Love it. The toast test! I wonder how other nations score?

[bradiston]

1 hour ago, jacko45k said:

Someone digs this up each time we get in this same discussion. As far as I could tell from the data , it was based on total spending, which, considering the numbers involved, was hardly surprising. We have all seen the large groups, who appear to spend little. Those wandering in Harrods likely spend more!

Who knows of the accuracy of tourist spend? This site at least admits they have no idea how TAT and other agencies compute it, but there are some interesting numbers quoted.

 

https://www.thaiwebsites.com/tourism-income-Thailand.asp

[spidermike007]

3 hours ago, Onerak said:

Never seen chinese in Thai buffets. Have seen plenty of them in VAT return. It is estimated that the average Chinese tourist remains in the country for one week and spends 30,000–40,000 baht (US$1,000–1,300) per person, per trip. The average Chinese tourist spends 6,400 baht (US$180) per day—more than the average visitor's 5,690 baht (US$160). 

Those numbers are beyond useless. While it is true that the "average Chinese tourist" is a big spender, Thailand does not get many of those folks. For a dozen good reasons, they go elsewhere. And average includes rich Chinese tourists, averaged in. The rich rarely visit Thailand, which gets the lower end of the spectrum. 

 

So, using a worldwide average is not useful. It means nothing. 

[newnative]

22 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Exactly what the vast majority of the Chinese tourists did, when they were #1 in volume. Everyone I spoke to in the industry said they did not spend much money. Only the fruit shake vendors, the buffets, 7/11, Lotus, and duty free seemed to make any money from them. And they want them back?

    Lord have mercy on us.  Not another "Everyone I spoke to..." post.  And, as always, no data whatsoever to back up your claim.  (Still waiting for your data to back up your claim that less than 50 wealthy Chinese visited Thailand in 2019.)  Meanwhile, here  is some actual data.  Chinese tourists spent 536,278 million baht in Thailand.  That, by the way, is the most for any country.  

    Do some shop at 7-11?  Of course.  So do I.  But, they also all have to sleep somewhere, eat somewhere, be driven places, be boated places, and be entertained at all the various tourist sites they visit--all of which employ Thai workers.  If you want to go by observation alone, take a stroll up Pattaya Second Road from, say, Festival to T21 some evening.  We were there last night and my partner made the observation that we were looking at the new Darkside.  The lack of Chinese tourists, and tourists from other nations, has been on stark display in the tourist areas of Pattaya for 2 years now.

    

[jollyhangmon]

6 hours ago, wombat said:

Not long to wait now that Europe has to pay for gas in Roubles instead of dollars.

The exchange rate for Roubles will rise and for dollars will fall. 

Currency people are scrambling to buy Roubles and sell dollars.

Could be the beginning of the end for the dollar as the dominant world currency?

 

... LOL! But in your vivid dreams only, genosse.

Otherwise not happening, not only would that ridiculous rubble thing be a breach of any & all respective contracts but also is all that siht already increasingly getting sourced elsewhere as we speak.

 

More opting out of all russky sourced <deleted> happening right now, good riddance, you can always try to sell to Chaina - for peanuts of course - and they will supply others for a nice profit, still undercutting the currently slightly higher prices, 555 ...

 

[Chris.B]

18 hours ago, Bruno123 said:

 

It's reasonably obvious that he is taking the mickey out of the 'hang 'em high' brigade.

How is it obvious?? ????

[onthedarkside]

Several more off-topic posts have been removed.

 

This is a PATTAYA news thread about Russian expats staying in the area -- not world politics.

 

 

[Bruno123]

17 minutes ago, Chris.B said:

How is it obvious?? ????

You could at least check who reacted to my post stating that it was reasonably obvious.... 

Other than that, it was quite clear to me that it was meant to be satirical.

[StayinThailand2much]

8 hours ago, wombat said:

Not long to wait now that Europe has to pay for gas in Roubles instead of dollars.

The exchange rate for Roubles will rise and for dollars will fall. 

Currency people are scrambling to buy Roubles and sell dollars (...)

That's what I thought. Think of Putin what you want, but he's not dumb. Asking buyers of Russian gas (to which Europe has no alternatives for now) to pay in roubles, will force them to buy them, which might reverse the currency's decline. 

Edited March 24, 2022 by StayinThailand2much

[JeffersLos]

On 3/23/2022 at 10:04 AM, Will B Good said:

When my relatively wealthy, safe and healthy kids whinge I used to say......well, you could be living in Aleppo.

 

Now I say say........ well, you could be living in Mariupol.

I say...... well, you could be living in Pattaya.

[Jingthing]

5 minutes ago, StayinThailand2much said:

That's what I thought. Think of Putin what you want, but he's not dumb. Asking buyers of Russian gas (to which Europe has no alternatives for now) to pay in roubles, will force them to buy them, which might reverse the currency's decline. 

He seems pretty dumb these days. Dumb and evil.

[StayinThailand2much]

17 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

He seems pretty dumb these days. Dumb and evil.

Evil, yes. In the medium-term it will bite him. Yes, his Wikipedia entry will get longer and more notorious, but his life and career, as well as his legacy will go to the dogs. (Has he thought about a 'life after the war'? Can China or North Korea afford to harbour him?) - Instead of the long-reigning and cunning politician, he will now only be remembered as an evil man and warmonger, joining Hitler, Mladić, and Nero in the history books.

 

Edited March 24, 2022 by StayinThailand2much

[newnative]

On 3/23/2022 at 2:43 PM, spidermike007 said:

We stay in nice hotels. We eat in nice restaurants. We buy at local shops and online. We buy new cars, motorbikes, fine art, good wine and liquor, and much more. 

 

Alot more than the low to middle income Chinese, Malaysian and Indian tourists, that comprised nearly 70% of arrivals, prior to Covid. 

 

Going for lower end tourists is a bit like selling $1 items at a swap meet. It means something, but it barely filters down to the economy at large. Typical behavior on the part of the empty suits who make up policy here. No vision. 

 

Other than Bitcoin, what do you buy, and where do you spend your money here? 

2019 arrivals: 39.8 million.  From China: 11 million.  From Malaysia: 4 million.  From India: 2 million.  I don't think 17 million equals 'nearly 70% of arrivals' of 39.8 million.  

[Hummin]

2 minutes ago, newnative said:

2019 arrivals: 39.8 million.  From China: 11 million.  From Malaysia: 4 million.  From India: 2 million.  I don't think 17 million equals 'nearly 70% of arrivals' of 39.8 million.  

How many was in transit to another destination, and weekend tourism of those nearly 40 million registered?

 

 

[ThailandRyan]

2 minutes ago, Hummin said:

How many was in transit to another destination, and weekend tourism of those nearly 40 million registered?

 

 

And how many actually spent more than 1k baht a day

[newnative]

15 minutes ago, Hummin said:

How many was in transit to another destination, and weekend tourism of those nearly 40 million registered?

 

 

How many days visitors stayed doesn't have any relevance to the inaccuracy of stating that 70% of the visitors were from just 3 countries.  

[tomazbodner]

15 hours ago, anandra said:

SURE, russian rouble is turning in paper, soon it will be cheaper than the piece of paper it is printed on. How they can help Thai tourism now. At the same time, some russian tycoons, one of them mister Ernst, chief manager of russian tv channel, allegedly tried to apply for Elite Thai visa.

That's not true. It recovered fair bit from first days of invasion, and with Russia now planning to only allow local currency to be used to pay for gas, which many European countries have no alternative for, it may well recover all the losses of recent month.

 

1:2.61 on Feb 24, 1:2.91 now. Not much of a difference. Certainly not "the sky is falling, water is burning" crisis.

 

[John Maxida]

Nice!

[spidermike007]

1 hour ago, newnative said:

2019 arrivals: 39.8 million.  From China: 11 million.  From Malaysia: 4 million.  From India: 2 million.  I don't think 17 million equals 'nearly 70% of arrivals' of 39.8 million.  

That 40 million was likely fabricated. It probably included transit passengers, businessmen, traveling expats, and possibly even some pets. 

[ThailandRyan]

20 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

That 40 million was likely fabricated. It probably included transit passengers, businessmen, traveling expats, and possibly even some pets. 

I know I came and went 4 times in 2019, so I would be 4 of the stats.....

[newnative]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

That 40 million was likely fabricated. It probably included transit passengers, businessmen, traveling expats, and possibly even some pets. 

   The same data collection methods are used year after year.  Yes, the numbers likely do include transits, businessmen, expats, etc.  Visitor numbers, pre-covid, be they tourists, expats, businessmen or whatever, increased every year except 2014, the year of the coup.  If the numbers are fabricated, why didn't they fudge them for 2014?  It was a black eye for the coup leaders that the coup resulted in fewer visitors that year.  Why not suck up to them and make sure the 2014 numbers were more than 2013?  In any case, it has nothing to do with your fabricated claim that 70% of the visitors came from just 3 countries.  

[Golden Triangle]

On 3/23/2022 at 11:11 AM, Blue Muton said:

Do keep up, Tesco Lotus is no more.

What does that at the bottom mean ??

 

[impulse]

14 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Someone digs this up each time we get in this same discussion. As far as I could tell from the data , it was based on total spending, which, considering the numbers involved, was hardly surprising. We have all seen the large groups, who appear to spend little. Those wandering in Harrods likely spend more!

It's not just the numbers.  There's more data showing they spend more per head, too. 

 

My Chinese GF came to Thailand with a shopping list from her friends of stuff to bring back.  Heavy on cosmetics and Thai delicacies like dried fruit and nuts.  That matches my experience in the airport check-in where they're loaded with goodies and trying to get it all on the plane, minimizing excess baggage fees.

 

Cater to that, and vendors can do quite well.  Treat them like Western or Russky tourists, and vendors be griping an' moaning.