-
Recently Browsing 0 members
- No registered users viewing this page.
-
Topics
-
-
Popular Contributors
-
1
-
2
-
3
.thumb.jpeg.d2d19a66404642fd9ff62d6262fd153e.jpeg)
-
4
-
5
-
-
Latest posts...
-
10
Gastroscopy in Chiang Mai
It is an excellent price for private hospitals in Thailand today, relative to what they usually charge. -
96
How scared should we be of Trump's authoritarian tendencies?
The clown has earned the name Pinocchio.🤣 -
58
Travellers Vent Frustrations Over Soaring Costs, Two-Tier Pricing, and Cannabis Concerns
I have just realised. You have stated time and time again that you live in Chiang Mai! Which ocean are you swimming in? -
345
Report Abandoned Abroad: British Pensioner in Thailand Slams 'Immoral' Frozen Pensions Policy
Likely a former bank clerk or official. Media like to call them bankers. It's a misnomer that anyone working in banking is rolling in money. -
345
Report Abandoned Abroad: British Pensioner in Thailand Slams 'Immoral' Frozen Pensions Policy
What I cannot understand is why the media have not challenged Starmer on this paragraph from Page 76 of the 2019 labour Party Manifesto. "We will ensure that the pensions of UK citizens living overseas rise in line with pensions in Britain." Obviously I was mistaken in thinking that if something was seen to need changing in 2019, unless already addressed, it would still need changing in 2025. -
29
Travel Pattaya Faces Mixed Reactions Amid Decline in Chinese Tourists
On one hand they gripe about all the "zero dollar" Chinese tourists and on the other they gripe when there are fewer of those "zero dollar" tourists. Many Chinese are on tours, often sponsored in part by the factories they work for, where they pay for the entire holiday up front - in China. The tour agency then makes deals with airlines, hotels, restaurants, attractions and even shopping malls to get the lowest (cheapest) possible deals for those groups. They arrive, stay in their hotels until it's time to go to an attraction (admission already paid), go to a restaurant (2-3 meal choices only, 1 beer or soda pop), maybe go to an "adult" venue for an hour (admission paid, choice of 1 beer or soda pop) and then back to the hotel. Next day, same thing, maybe with some beach time or a boat ride. 5 days later it's back to the airport and home and the only money they've spent is maybe if they bought a souvenir at a shopping mall or duty free shop. I remember about 20 years ago (2005/6ish) when they started arriving by the double-decker bus loads. Spoke to some resort owners, restaurant and go-go bar owners I knew at the time. They made enough from the tour groups to pay the bills basically. If they charged any less, they'd lose money. Seems they thought that getting all those tourists into their (hotel/restaurant/go-go bar) would generate tons of extra money in "extras" (i.e. ordering more booze or room service or more dishes at the restaurants) but no - those tourists weren't spending a yuan they didn't have to. Hence the term "zero dollar tourists". I remember sitting in Polo watching 50+ tourists (male and female) come in, each would order a beer or coke, they would sit for 1 hour (literally to the minute) and then leave. Half of them never even touched their (beer or coke). At Polo (back then) the girls did choreographed dance routines and some "special" shows. Like the one were a girl strips off her panties, stretches them out like a sling-shot and fires them at a customer. Then strips off another panty and does it again while the service staff run around collecting the panties (and tips). The dancer usually had a dozen or so pair of panties on so it wasn't like they were nasty, sweaty, smelly old critch rags but you should have seen the Chinese when she fired a pair at them. You'd swear she was throwing live hand grenades or venomous snakes at them the way they jump out of their chairs to avoid being touched by the flying panties. One night the girl fired a pair at me and you could see the Chinese tourists were all looking to see who she'd targetted. I caught them in mid-air, crumpled them in my hand, brought them to my face and took a long, deep sniff (they smelled like fabric softener from the laundry). I already knew what to expect as I used to be a regular there when I was working overseas. I then put the panties in a shirt pocket and took a smug sip of my (Jack-Coke) like it was no big deal. (One of the service staff would come along to collect the panties and I'd give her a 20 baht tip for the dancer. Naturally none of the Chinese tourists were tipping anything to anyone.) And yeah - it is the start of "low season" traditionally as it warms up back in the "Western" countries that used to make up the bulk of the tourists here. Tourist-related businesses usually see a large drop in customers between May-Oct. Which is another reason I think Thailand started trying to bring in massive numbers of Indian and Chinese tourists who, for the most part, come from a similar climate or from areas where "winter" isn't as harsh as in other places. The kind of people who would go on holiday any time of the year. It makes the "arrivals" numbers look good, but it doesn't seem to be doing all that much for the economy. Look at all the abandoned housing and condo projects and lack of new big ticket construction like new malls or hotels. Because the powers that be aren't making a ton of money off those Indian and Chinese tourists. Not like they used to make when the majority of the tourists were from "Western" countries and the Thais called them "2 week millionaires" because for 2 weeks (the average stay) they spent like they were all millionaires and then went home again. The "Boom" days of Pattaya (and other places). So many sick buffalo owe their lives and health to those days ! Makes me wonder who is taking care of them now ?
-
-
Popular in The Pub
-
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now