Is Pattaya Dead Right Now?

[Ulysses G.]

I asked before about cheap hotels because I was thinking of visiting in the next few weeks, but it sounds no cheaper than usual there.

How is it now there? Is it crowded?

Anyone own a hotel and know about reservations for next month? Are they good, OK or terrible?

Edited October 6, 2008 by Ulysses G.

[thaimate]

I asked before about cheap hotels because I was thinking of visiting in the next few weeks, but it sounds no cheaper than usual there.

How is it now there? Is it crowded?

Anyone own a hotel and know about reservations for next month? Are they good, OK or terrible?

how many times have you been to Thailand? havnt you learnt anything? if no one wants to buy it or the hotel is empty,put up the price ,that should do it. ask my sister in law why she hasnt sold her blo-dy car for two years

yes its dead ,lovely no traffic jams and herds of tourists.

[larvidchr]

I was in Walkingstreet a few nights back and I have never seen it so dead before, no tourists but an uncanny number of lady boys lining both sides of the street, maybe it is a new tourist service, an air bag fence protecting the really drunk on their way home

[Chang_paarp]

I asked before about cheap hotels because I was thinking of visiting in the next few weeks, but it sounds no cheaper than usual there.

How is it now there? Is it crowded?

Anyone own a hotel and know about reservations for next month? Are they good, OK or terrible?

how many times have you been to Thailand? havnt you learnt anything? if no one wants to buy it or the hotel is empty,put up the price ,that should do it. ask my sister in law why she hasnt sold her blo-dy car for two years

yes its dead ,lovely no traffic jams and herds of tourists.

Thaimate,

If you spent a little time reading this board you would see that Ulysses G. is a long time resident of Thailand with regular visits to Pattaya for business ( ) from his home in Chiang mai. 2 eyes and one mouth is the usual comment here, I know it is hard when you have 10 fingers to exercise , but go back to your old habits to keep them occupied.

To the OP sorry not in town at the moment to be able to assist. I suspect it is the usual calendar thing, the tourists should be here so we put the prices up, next year there may be an adjustment to when they think high season starts, but don't hold your breath.

[Ulysses G.]

Thanks Chang_paarp.

You folks down there seem to get tourist well before we do in Chiang Mai. I'm just trying to see if there is any indications at all that some will show up this year.

Edited October 6, 2008 by Ulysses G.

[LtCol]

A big competitor for the Tourists Dollar is now Bali , now that the Bombings are a fading memory (6years on the 12th) there are , I believe now 20,000 more rooms available for Tourists than last year & I know my wife & a few of her friends were lucky to get a room this & next week & the prices are far , far cheaper than Pattaya & from Australia the flights are much shorter.

It will be interesting to see this year if there is a major downturn in numbers.

[thaimate]

I asked before about cheap hotels because I was thinking of visiting in the next few weeks, but it sounds no cheaper than usual there.

How is it now there? Is it crowded?

Anyone own a hotel and know about reservations for next month? Are they good, OK or terrible?

how many times have you been to Thailand? havnt you learnt anything? if no one wants to buy it or the hotel is empty,put up the price ,that should do it. ask my sister in law why she hasnt sold her blo-dy car for two years

yes its dead ,lovely no traffic jams and herds of tourists.

Thaimate,

If you spent a little time reading this board you would see that Ulysses G. is a long time resident of Thailand with regular visits to Pattaya for business ( ) from his home in Chiang mai. 2 eyes and one mouth is the usual comment here, I know it is hard when you have 10 fingers to exercise , but go back to your old habits to keep them occupied.

To the OP sorry not in town at the moment to be able to assist. I suspect it is the usual calendar thing, the tourists should be here so we put the prices up, next year there may be an adjustment to when they think high season starts, but don't hold your breath.

terrible sorry ,i shall refrase what i said

"how long have you LIVED in thailand "and then just read the rest of my post

[TopDogger]

I asked before about cheap hotels because I was thinking of visiting in the next few weeks, but it sounds no cheaper than usual there.

How is it now there? Is it crowded?

Anyone own a hotel and know about reservations for next month? Are they good, OK or terrible?

how many times have you been to Thailand? havnt you learnt anything? if no one wants to buy it or the hotel is empty,put up the price ,that should do it. ask my sister in law why she hasnt sold her blo-dy car for two years

yes its dead ,lovely no traffic jams and herds of tourists.

Thaimate,

If you spent a little time reading this board you would see that Ulysses G. is a long time resident of Thailand with regular visits to Pattaya for business ( ) from his home in Chiang mai. 2 eyes and one mouth is the usual comment here, I know it is hard when you have 10 fingers to exercise , but go back to your old habits to keep them occupied.

To the OP sorry not in town at the moment to be able to assist. I suspect it is the usual calendar thing, the tourists should be here so we put the prices up, next year there may be an adjustment to when they think high season starts, but don't hold your breath.

terrible sorry ,i shall refrase what i said

"how long have you LIVED in thailand "and then just read the rest of my post

And how long have you LIVED in Thailand? Also, he said "no cheaper than usual", not that the price had been raised...

[Ulysses G.]

A big competitor for the Tourists Dollar is now Bali , now that the Bombings are a fading memory (6years on the 12th) there are , I believe now 20,000 more rooms available for Tourists than last year & I know my wife & a few of her friends were lucky to get a room this & next week & the prices are far , far cheaper than Pattaya & from Australia the flights are much shorter.

It will be interesting to see this year if there is a major downturn in numbers.

Last time I was in Bali - about 10 years ago - you got much less for your money than Thailand and I find Pattaya to be an incredibly good deal for hotel rooms and food, so Bali must be cheap now.

Do idiots follow you around and bother you everywhere you go in Kuta like they used to? I think that I rather pay more to be elsewhere.

[Addicted2Pattaya]

If pattaya did die. where would be the next best place ?

[whatsoever]

If pattaya did die. where would be the next best place ?

Bordelo or Brothelsvil

[Sommaz]

If pattaya did die. where would be the next best place ?

Heaven of course.

Jomtien Beach was extremely busy this weekend, most noticeably with Thai tourists (presumably from Bangkok getting out of dodge).

[tropo]

A big competitor for the Tourists Dollar is now Bali , now that the Bombings are a fading memory (6years on the 12th) there are , I believe now 20,000 more rooms available for Tourists than last year & I know my wife & a few of her friends were lucky to get a room this & next week & the prices are far , far cheaper than Pattaya & from Australia the flights are much shorter.

I really don't think Bali is a serious competitor with Pattaya. Bali is considered to be an island holiday destination whereas Pattaya is a "party town".

[PTYstefan]

If pattaya did die. where would be the next best place ?

Heaven of course.

Jomtien Beach was extremely busy this weekend, most noticeably with Thai tourists (presumably from Bangkok getting out of dodge).

this can be because of the school holidays.

parents want to get a rest and the children want to go to the sea.

[foxxx]

i flew back in from australia a week ago, thai airways flight and it was at around 60% capacity, and a certain percentage are connecting to other international flights, so the number was low.

[huggybear]

A big competitor for the Tourists Dollar is now Bali ,

with that awful Balinese cuisine? I stopped going there years ago after finally having had enough of bland nasi goreng. Fried egg anybody?

[david555]

i flew back in from australia a week ago, thai airways flight and it was at around 60% capacity, and a certain percentage are connecting to other international flights, so the number was low.

no wonder if you compare their prices lately with others.., flew in with them june for nearly 900 euros and if checking now it is around 1300 euros and they changed their point system , no economy flights count no more for their frequent flier system

[Chang_paarp]

I had one local hotel owner bemoaning the lack of current bookings a day or 2 ago. Some guest house owners have also commented on the lack of bookings.

Given the wobblies the currency of Au and UK (and others) are doing against the baht, I would not expect any impulse visits from those parts of the world. The AuD has gone from a high of over 32B/$ 3 months ago to less than 23 today , a good time to send funds home if you have some to spare, but a less than fun time if you live on a fixed income from those parts of the world.

As the price of oil has dropped, the fuel surcharge should drop on airline tickets, don't hold your breath.

[ratcatcher]

I had one local hotel owner bemoaning the lack of current bookings a day or 2 ago. Some guest house owners have also commented on the lack of bookings.

Given the wobblies the currency of Au and UK (and others) are doing against the baht, I would not expect any impulse visits from those parts of the world. The AuD has gone from a high of over 32B/$ 3 months ago to less than 23 today , a good time to send funds home if you have some to spare, but a less than fun time if you live on a fixed income from those parts of the world.

As the price of oil has dropped, the fuel surcharge should drop on airline tickets, don't hold your breath.

I should think with the world in recession right now and most currencies taking a big hit, that tourist numbers to the Kingdom will be well down

from last year. Thus one would assume that prices for hotels would go down to try and attract business, but as one poster rightly points out, the

Thai way seems to be to raise prices on the few that do show up. Same goes for things like the price of a beer at nightspots. Numbers down,

time to raise the price .. again.

[undercover]

I read this same topic every year, and every year it's the same, I know for a fact flight's are full as I have had problems getting the times I wanted, pattaya will be full again nothing will change here.

[torrenova]

I read this same topic every year, and every year it's the same, I know for a fact flight's are full as I have had problems getting the times I wanted, pattaya will be full again nothing will change here.

Well you must be living in some sort of parallel universe as the Pattaya I have known and lived in for years has been going down the toilet, tourist revenue wise, since Songkran 2007.

Increased numbers of potless Russians and Chinese / Taiwanese / Korean tour groups don't really count as they only come because it is relatively cheap. They would go somewhere else if they had the money.

As for flights being full well there have been innumerable news stories about airines reducing capacity due to less traffic. QED, the remaining flights are more full.

[tropo]

Thai way seems to be to raise prices on the few that do show up. Same goes for things like the price of a beer at nightspots. Numbers down,

This is not the Thai way. It's prevalent all over the world.

...however, anyone who believes that hotels will suddenly start dropping their rates because of doom and gloom forcasts about the world economny is dreaming. Considering the wide range of accommodation available in Pattaya to suit most budgets, it would be senseless for hotels here to discount.

Value for money in Pattaya is already very high due to the ever present glut of accommodation....that's nothing new.

[undercover]

I read this same topic every year, and every year it's the same, I know for a fact flight's are full as I have had problems getting the times I wanted, pattaya will be full again nothing will change here.

Well you must be living in some sort of parallel universe as the Pattaya I have known and lived in for years has been going down the toilet, tourist revenue wise, since Songkran 2007.

Increased numbers of potless Russians and Chinese / Taiwanese / Korean tour groups don't really count as they only come because it is relatively cheap. They would go somewhere else if they had the money.

As for flights being full well there have been innumerable news stories about airines reducing capacity due to less traffic. QED, the remaining flights are more full.

Yes torrenova, I understand that is happening in your universe, but why is it in my universe that everything is going up market ? hotels are bigger and better now, private houses for farang are being built to a much higher (and expencive) standard, it dossent matter where you go in Pattaya now everything being built is up market, even the bar girls these days want a modern clean room, all I can think is the moneys comming from these potless Russians and Chinese / Taiwanese / Korean tour groups ?

[torrenova]

No, the money is coming from stupid westerners who are overpaying and have been for some time. Bars and especially go-gos have been recruiting on salary terms for about 3 years rather than on the ability of a venue to make money for the girl.

Yes houses are better and more up market but that is because the western property boom has made people richer than their wildest dreams with money they never earned, just from increasing house prices. They now have that money to spend. These people could never afford these properties without that income as they could never have saved it. Add in the fact that places like the UK have gone to the dogs and people are now prepared to up sticks and live in Pattaya and SE Asia.

As for girls rooms in general. If you built something now would you make it the same poor standard as they did 30 years ago ? Of course not.

[tropo]

...stupid westerners ....

Yes houses are better and more up market but that is because the western property boom has made people richer than their wildest dreams with money they never earned, just from increasing house prices. They now have that money to spend. These people could never afford these properties without that income as they could never have saved it. Add in the fact that places like the UK have gone to the dogs and people are now prepared to up sticks and live in Pattaya and SE Asia.

I detect an element of bitterness in your reply. Did you have a rough time on the property market?

I would call property speculators who sold at the right time wise, not stupid.

[Penkoprod]

...stupid westerners ....

Yes houses are better and more up market but that is because the western property boom has made people richer than their wildest dreams with money they never earned, just from increasing house prices. They now have that money to spend. These people could never afford these properties without that income as they could never have saved it. Add in the fact that places like the UK have gone to the dogs and people are now prepared to up sticks and live in Pattaya and SE Asia.

I detect an element of bitterness in your reply. Did you have a rough time on the property market?

I would call property speculators who sold at the right time wise, not stupid.

I think all that torrenova is doing is stating the bleedin' obvious, and is spot on with his assessment

People ARE making fortunes on their properties, just by living in them.

Even now that the bubble has burst, those who bought earlier than 12-18 months ago are ok, and those that bought as long as, say, 20 years ago are REALLY sitting pretty when it comes selling up and moving out to Thailand, or even just downsizing as family needs decrease

Penkoprod

[spiderman2]

The artificially high price of property which is causing rent to go up, hence beer food and everything that goes with running a business in Patts goes up, saying that if property were to half in value overnight i wouldnt have thought any of the forementioned would get cheaper.

[LukDod]

...<snip>...It stands to reason that the downturn in currencies, the reduction of housing values, and the high price of commodities, are going to curtail the influx of "traditional" Pattaya tourists.

And, now, todays' shooting outbreak at the Preah Vihear temple (...which is in Cambodia!) will soon hit the international media,

further discouraging more potential tourists. Sad that this even occurred as the Thai's indicated they were withdrawing, yet

they seemed to be dragging their feet on withdrawing.

OTOH....happy days for we locals in Thailand...ASFIK...less tourists, less drunken louts, less traffic, less smog, etc.

Edited October 15, 2008 by LukDod

[pattayaGaz]

I seem to remember reading a while back that other tourist resorts in Thailand were pissed off with the cheapness of Hotel rooms in Pattaya attracting tourists and the Thai Tourist Authority forced them to put prices up here, one of the Hotels in Soi Bhukao two years ago during low season was 450 Bht a night with a buy two one free policy, sat opposite it last night having a beer and its 799 Bht and no offers, I agree with some of the other posts Thais have a tendancy that to make up for a downturn in revenue, up the price, anothe thing that is P***ng me off is the increasing cost of beer from the local suppliers when I want to sit at home and have a few, it's cheaper back in the UK and the standard of beer is far better than some of the crap their brewing here, however I do admire you Chang drinkers for being able to even consume that brew but I wouldn't want one of your livers transplanted into my body should I need one.

[plasticpig]

Pattaya will feel a pinch next year.

as some people will not pay the air fares.

but be sure, the sex tourist will keep pattaya going.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!