22 hours ago, kiwikeith said:

There seems to be a huge drop in tourists, Palm Hills sports club has no one playing squash or pickle ball everyday, the pool has maybe one visitor a day, and I have the gym to myself, this has been the same through the supposed high season which did nothing for palm Hills or Smorprong clubs bars and restaurants, you can blame the bike deliveries for a lot of that.

Downtown Tesco and Blueport seemed to have a few tourists but everywhere else was quiet, there is now houses turning into restaurants and small bars ,and carports being used as shops on every street around here, the Thai people are struggling, crime is increasing and god knows what will happen if casinos open up, that will see more money collectors, shootings and general havoc erupt amongst many Thai people, Thais are easily addicted to gambling I've seen it first hand amongst my Thai wife and her friends when living in NZ, many of us had to bar the wife from the casino or move here to get away from the disgusting pain it inflicts on the children and the family home, I've seen so much misery created from casino gambling in my Thai friends in NZ that im positive it is going to happen on a much larger scale here, shame on the politicians that think it will benefit the country, it will destroy it.

 

Agree with your post.

 

Certainly a number of "tourist" establishments in Hua Hin are struggling and some have closed.

 

Re gambling Thai wives, two of my close friends from my uni students days in Australia came to Thailand to work in the 1980s for a few years.  Both couples were married in Thailand.  One of the wives was a mall sales lady in Bangkok and the other a highly educated well paid professional.  After both couples returned to Australia to live both marriages ended in divorce after a few years due to the wives' casino gambling addictions. Both friends told me that their wives would meet up with other Thai expats in Australia, and then go off gambling together.

22 hours ago, Snackbar said:

Pooh looked miserable in Moscow yesterday 

 

Something in the wind

 

The Chinese are struggling due to Trump's tariffs.

flip flop on a TIT flop flip flipper to the flop flop

 

Soon there will be a 180-day visa-exempt stamp with three crossings a year (??)) with a free massage, tattoo and beer.

 

 

2 hours ago, hotsun said:

No, fortunately they kept the sixty days long enough for me to get it

 

That's great, got a visitor coming. They'll be pleased

1 hour ago, BangkokReady said:

The Chinese are struggling due to Trump's tariffs.

Not to be mean.... but Good.  The Chinese put us out of business with their government export subsidies into the United States.  The Chinese government would pay the factories money to make up the difference in the actual cost of goods so they could undercut the USA.  We couldn't compete with them. 

4 minutes ago, LivingNThailand said:

Not to be mean.... but Good.  The Chinese put us out of business with their government export subsidies into the United States.  The Chinese government would pay the factories money to make up the difference in the actual cost of goods so they could undercut the USA.  We couldn't compete with them. 

 

The average people bear some responsibility also for choosing the cheaper option, but yes, the "dumping" done by Chinese companies supported by the Chinese government are definitely predatory.

On 5/11/2025 at 8:25 AM, JimHuaHin said:

Agree with your post.

 

Certainly a number of "tourist" establishments in Hua Hin are struggling and some have closed.

 

Re gambling Thai wives, two of my close friends from my uni students days in Australia came to Thailand to work in the 1980s for a few years.  Both couples were married in Thailand.  One of the wives was a mall sales lady in Bangkok and the other a highly educated well paid professional.  After both couples returned to Australia to live both marriages ended in divorce after a few years due to the wives' casino gambling addictions. Both friends told me that their wives would meet up with other Thai expats in Australia, and then go off gambling together.

Exactly what happens in NZ