29 minutes ago, geisha said:

There is so much talk in EU about the safety of Thailand .  When that building collapsed, it was talked about for ages. Sometimes I feel ashamed to say I spend a lot of time in Thailand , I can see the smirks , and I’m often asked if the *in your face  sex trade doesn’t bother me *

Many say they’ve been to Thailand and seen kids with foreigners, which I can understand because most Thai girls of 18/ 20 look about 15 staggering round in those high heels . The fights, the rip offs , the drunks, do nothing good for Thailands falling reputation. 

 

 

   What areas do you spend your time in in Thailand ?

7 hours ago, ChipButty said:

Not 5 minutes ago I was looking through Agoda's web site only for Phuket, looks like there is some real bargains on there, as for Airbnb in my area Rawai I was searching through condo's and apartments the one thing I noticed many had no bookings even the so called Super host, people are suffering, 

 

Stayed in Phuket last week - a block and a half from the beach, 5 minute walk to Bangla St, jacuzzi on my balcony - $24 a night! GP House? Someone told me it's $170 a night during busy season!

 

Phuket still sucked, but I got a great room.

5 hours ago, hotandsticky said:

 

 

Neither.

 

 

Perhaps you need to look at yourself

 

I sometimes wonder if the people who watch the news and see these things actually go out or even live in Thailand. I walk 15,000 steps a day in Pattaya, sometimes as early as 4 am in the morning and in ten years of visiting here and 2 straight years of living here, I've never been pick pocketed, seen a fight (or a crime), or any of the gangs or drugs...

 

Obviously <deleted> goes on... in an area the size of Pattaya's tourism area, filtering 20 million people through it, you are going to have fights, <deleted> is going to happen. I just think it's weird some people act like this is some kind of dangerous criminal ghetto. My biggest concern is motobike's running me over. 

The reality is that tourist bookings for high season in tourist destinations (Koh Samui, Phuket, Hua Hin etc.) are doing well. A visit to the major booking sites and even the hotels themselves will show that many of the 4* and 5* described hotels are booked.  The hotels not doing well are the low quality marginal hotels, the low end 3*, and 1* and 2*. Discerning visitors won't accept the low quality. This segment has not invested in its facilities, many of whom are unchanged from the 1990's or earlier.

 

On 9/3/2025 at 5:46 AM, baansgr said:

Wages have barely increased as same utilities...so no real need for increases, just greedy 

The local Thais are not the same market segment as international tourists.

 

15 hours ago, ronster said:

Bet hardly any price change in major tourist areas apart from BKK. The rest of the places especially samui and Phuket will still be same as usual high prices.

I agree, although some hotel brands have increased their rates. Case in point, the newly rebranded Hyatt at BKK airport used the name change as an opportunity to increase room rates and drop the included breakfast. It now charges 850 baht for its crappy buffet. I have been looking at spending Christmas in Samui since it is always cold in Hua Hin at that time and I am having sticker shock at the hotel prices: 3* dumps described as 4*, close to a beach are 6,000-10,000 baht/night. The big names like Hyatt or Centara are asking for 15-20,000 baht/night. The value proposition for old outdated rooms at rundown buildings isn't much of a  value proposition. I expect that Phuket and Krabi are similar.

 

7 hours ago, StayinThailand2much said:

At the same time elsewhere...

Hanoi sees boom in international arrivals over National Day holiday, up 35% year on year Hanoi experienced a tourism boom during the National Day holiday, welcoming a total of around 2.08 million visitors, including more than 80,000 international arrivals, a 35-percent year-on-year increase, according to the city’s Department of Tourism.

Mathematical  analysis isn't one of your skill sets is it?  A 35% increase in a small number is not significant. Hanoi had 80,000 international arrivals on a holiday weekend.  So what?  the reality is that  in 2024, Thailand had 35.6 million  visitors, while Vietnam had 10.6 million. Vietnam had  approx 9,014,000 visitors in 2023, while Thailand had 28,253,000. Using your logic, because Thailand saw an increase of 7,300,000+ visitors compared to Vietnam's increase of 1,586,000, Vietnam must be failing and Thailand doing well.

Vietnam is not "beating" Thailand. the increase in visitors to Thailand was reflective of tourism trends that saw increased activity everywhere. Vietnam does not have the infrastructure to support widescale tourism and has all the same deficiencies as Thailand,  such as corruption, pollution and dangerous roads. Vietnam cannot  make any inroads into the profitable 4* and 5* market segment since it does not have the  number of hotels that Thailand does. Nor is the Vietnam visitor visa  system any easier. Anyone who has experienced the 1 hour plus line at immigration can speak to that.

On 9/4/2025 at 11:44 PM, Patong2021 said:

Mathematical  analysis isn't one of your skill sets is it? 

 

Tell the author of the news article, which I didn't write, m**on. 😆

 

1 hour ago, StayinThailand2much said:

 

Tell the author of the news article, which I didn't write, m**on. 😆

 

 

The author of the original article did not write 

At the same time elsewhere...

Hanoi sees boom in international arrivals over National Day holiday, up 35% year on year Hanoi experienced a tourism boom during the National Day holiday, welcoming a total of around 2.08 million visitors, including more than 80,000 international arrivals, a 35-percent year-on-year increase, according to the city’s Department of Tourism

 

You wrote that.  The moronic aspect is instead, the inability to comprehend the numbers one presents.