High Season Stirrings

[Danderman123]

Just went through Suvarnabhumi Immigration now. It was jammed.

 

Lots of people coming to Thailand.

 

It doesn't mean High Season is here yet.

[jacko45k]

13 hours ago, Danderman123 said:

Just went through Suvarnabhumi Immigration now. It was jammed.

 

Lots of people coming to Thailand.

 

It doesn't mean High Season is here yet.

Get any idea on the demographics of the most of them?

[Henryford]

I had a walk around the main bar areas of Soi Buakhao and Treetown/Myth the other night. There was hardly any customers in most of the bars.

[observer90210]

On the other hand with all the pollution, storm and rain alerts in western media regarding Thailand,  one may anticipate cancellations.

Differently considered, high season does go with....high(er) prices !!

The point is will the high end quality chinese and russians spend as before ? Not sure...

[jacko45k]

38 minutes ago, Henryford said:

I had a walk around the main bar areas of Soi Buakhao and Treetown/Myth the other night. There was hardly any customers in most of the bars.

Was it early.... if 8pm that is a long 8 hours before closing!

[Danderman123]

1 hour ago, Henryford said:

I had a walk around the main bar areas of Soi Buakhao and Treetown/Myth the other night. There was hardly any customers in most of the bars.

First off, I am not saying High Season is here yet.

 

Secondly, did you happen to notice the rain? People here long time tend to stay home if there is rain, and there has been a lot of rain lately.

[kinyara]

They should already have a good indication of how the next 3 months is looking with forward hotel bookings, keep an eye on the local rags for any info. from the Hotel Association or Head Tourism representative. Nationally the just released September tourist figure was 73% of Sept 2019, which is pretty consistent with the last 5 months, don't suppose Pattaya is bucking that trend given it relies just as much on the Chinese who are the major shortfall. 

[Danderman123]

1 minute ago, kinyara said:

They should already have a good indication of how the next 3 months is looking with forward hotel bookings, keep an eye on the local rags for any info. from the Hotel Association or Head Tourism representative. Nationally the just released September tourist figure was 73% of Sept 2019, which is pretty consistent with the last 5 months, don't suppose Pattaya is bucking that trend given it relies just as much on the Chinese who are the major shortfall. 

One factor in Pattaya is the percent of shops and bars open today, compared with 2019. I still see a lot of closed shops.

[kinyara]

1 minute ago, Danderman123 said:

One factor in Pattaya is the percent of shops and bars open today, compared with 2019. I still see a lot of closed shops.

 

I cannot for the life of me understand the viabilty of the hundreds of Cannabis outlets of varying sizes that have filled a lot of the empty units. Purely from what I see walking around it seems like the old bar model where there are already far too many of them in competition and when I look in there is never more than one or 2 customers if anyone. Strange, very strange.

[JimTripper]

2 hours ago, Henryford said:

I had a walk around the main bar areas of Soi Buakhao and Treetown/Myth the other night. There was hardly any customers in most of the bars.

 

It's staff trying to make it look like it's busy 😅

 

Standing out in front, playing loud music, etc.

 

They all crowd around down there and look rushed and busy, but there is no money coming in.

 

Just like the motorbike guys who stand in groups at the corner. If you actively watch, very few people are actually getting rides. It just looks busy because they are calling out to people and you are distracted by people driving erratically and the traffic noise.

 

 

[Danderman123]

Thai: Europe and Australia routes fully booked

[Pattaya57]

1 hour ago, Danderman123 said:

....

Article says bugger all but doesn't matter as you're not allowed to quote that newspaper on here mate 😉

 

[Danderman123]

1 hour ago, Pattaya57 said:

Article says bugger all but doesn't matter as you're not allowed to quote that newspaper on here mate 😉

 

oops

[StayinThailand2much]

On 10/14/2023 at 4:29 PM, bkk6060 said:

Pattaya is jammed with traffic and lots of Arab, Indian, Chinese tourists.

High season will be great in Pattaya if you like crowds and price increases.

 

High season? Lots of Indian and Arab tourists in April and July when I was there. Mostly single guys.

[Danderman123]

7 minutes ago, StayinThailand2much said:

 

High season? Lots of Indian and Arab tourists in April and July when I was there. Mostly single guys.

When I write "stirrings of High Season", I don't mean that High Season is here, but that tourist numbers are beginning to spike up.

 

The baht buses filling up is a leading indicator.

 

The bars are the last indicator.

[Pattaya57]

1 hour ago, Danderman123 said:

The baht buses filling up is a leading indicator.

Good to know, most of the baht buses I get on are nearly empty with 0-5 passengers.

 

Of course I don't get on the stationary buses that wait until full before heading off. The ones that then can't pick up another passenger until someone gets off but they still stop for you anyway lol

 

[spidermike007]

I am in complete disagreement with you on that. Thailand has still not made anywhere near a full recovery, there are so many problems around the world, the economy in China is terrible, many other countries are near recession, and airfares are way up. This high season will not be anything special.

 

Last year I went to Samui during absolute peak season, on a last minute whim. I looked up hotel bookings and was surprised to find a lot of hotels were available and the prices were relatively low. That's never happened before in peak season, where Samui used to enjoy occupancy rates well over 90%.

 

I don't expect it to be that much better this year, than last. 

 

The weather is cooling down, and that is a big attraction for a lot of foreigners who want to travel here. Some just don't like the blazing heat, so that is likely the cause of additional foreigners showing up, not a healing economy, and not a booming economy, nor a weak baht. 

 

And the secondary factor is that Thailand is no longer attracting that many people from the West, and the vast majority of tourists are now Chinese, Russian, Malaysian, Indian, and Arab, and I don't think very many of them are wealthy. So, the industry continues to hurt. 

[jacko45k]

20 hours ago, kinyara said:

 

I cannot for the life of me understand the viabilty of the hundreds of Cannabis outlets of varying sizes that have filled a lot of the empty units. Purely from what I see walking around it seems like the old bar model where there are already far too many of them in competition and when I look in there is never more than one or 2 customers if anyone. Strange, very strange.

It is the way things get done here, loads of copy cat shops... from 7-11s, massage shops, tattoo shops and now weed shops. Saturate the market. Weed shops must be particularly attractive, lounging around, high as a kite, playing with the phone as money and customers come to you! 

[GypsyT]

Went by Ruzzian Market on the Pratumnak hill last night. Every table taken, no empty seats! More food available than last year. High prices, of course.

So, Ruzzians have a way to get out from Ruzzia or stay in Thailand. They seem to spend a lot. Good for Thais!

 

[BigStar]

13 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

And the secondary factor is that Thailand is no longer attracting that many people from the West, and the vast majority of tourists are now Chinese, Russian, Malaysian, Indian, and Arab, and I don't think very many of them are wealthy. So, the industry continues to hurt. 

 

You missed the rise of domestic tourism, 'cause we aren't able to conceive of the fact that Thailand has a large middle class now with money. Contrary to popular delusion, wealthy Western tourists didn't build the Thai tourist industry. As the industry changes to cater to a more international demographic, it continues to prosper. Hence TAT targets those you think are hurting tourism. Maybe you've missed something as usual, laboring under the common forum poster belief that only farang have money, lol.

 

Thailand is as attractive as ever, but a lot of baked-beans-on-toast tourists ran out of Golden Eggs. GBPeso fell, socialist economies are practically bankrupt, the males are feminized, hooking up via apps, and watching porn in their council estates. 

 

 

Golden Egg Layer soon to depart Thailand

 

So the Golden Egg Layers left Pattaya in this condition:

 

 

And the newer demographic made possible an economy, oh, say, 5 times larger with two big shopping malls and many more luxury hotels, condos, and restaurants, though I don't think a new fleabag hotel's been built on Soi Buakhau in the last 20 years. Perhaps one of the members can enlighten us. 

 

[BigStar]

2 hours ago, GypsyT said:

So, Ruzzians have a way to get out from Ruzzia or stay in Thailand. They seem to spend a lot. Good for Thais!

 

Good for us who appreciate Russian hotties wearing their thongs around on the beaches. Walked by one the other day sunbathing while she wore only a couple of small white seashells on her chest. Nice. 

[spidermike007]

10 hours ago, BigStar said:

 

You missed the rise of domestic tourism, 'cause we aren't able to conceive of the fact that Thailand has a large middle class now with money. Contrary to popular delusion, wealthy Western tourists didn't build the Thai tourist industry. As the industry changes to cater to a more international demographic, it continues to prosper. Hence TAT targets those you think are hurting tourism. Maybe you've missed something as usual, laboring under the common forum poster belief that only farang have money, lol.

 

Thailand is as attractive as ever, but a lot of baked-beans-on-toast tourists ran out of Golden Eggs. GBPeso fell, socialist economies are practically bankrupt, the males are feminized, hooking up via apps, and watching porn in their council estates. 

 

 

Golden Egg Layer soon to depart Thailand

 

So the Golden Egg Layers left Pattaya in this condition:

 

 

And the newer demographic made possible an economy, oh, say, 5 times larger with two big shopping malls and many more luxury hotels, condos, and restaurants, though I don't think a new fleabag hotel's been built on Soi Buakhau in the last 20 years. Perhaps one of the members can enlighten us. 

 

 

Very amusing post. You might give stand up comedy a shot. You made my day. 

[Sigmund]

On 10/14/2023 at 11:29 AM, bkk6060 said:

Pattaya is jammed with traffic and lots of Arab, Indian, Chinese tourists.

High season will be great in Pattaya if you like crowds and price increases.

 I think hell will unleash in all tourist areas starting with Bangcock and getting down all the way to Phuket, via boring, expensive and sleepy Hua Hin. It's the price increase that is the most annoying as the Sales tend to end in October with no tourists around till November. Will there be that many people wishing to hang around Thailand with all the pollution in Bangkok and rainy weather  ?

[Sigmund]

On 10/25/2023 at 11:29 AM, Danderman123 said:

Just went through Suvarnabhumi Immigration now. It was jammed.

 

Lots of people coming to Thailand.

 

It doesn't mean High Season is here yet.

Jams due to lack of immigration booths and staff getting perhaps over picky on each case. Nothing to do with tourist arrivals that drop year to year due to the high costs all over Thailand.