Bars And Shops Closing

[chicolopez]

Just saw this on the nation -

Auto parts workers block road to demand yearend bonus

Some 800 workers of Yarnapund Plc blocked the inbound King Kaew Road in front of their factory Friday morning to demand five-month yearend bonus.

The protesters also demanded the company to employ workers, who have been working for one month, on full-time employment basis and give them Bt500 salary increase.

The workers sent 15 representatives to negotiate with the management but no agreement has been made yet.

The protest caused traffic congestion near the Suvarnabhumi International Airport.

The Nation

Reminds me of a true story back home about two rival grocery store chains - one group of employees and union leaders went on strike to demand the same wages as the other store was paying its workers.

They essentially closed the store down for a month. The owners then decided to close the store permenently and 300 striking workers out of a job. The Union Reps however, kept theirs.

similiar just happened to usa auto bailout.

seems it wont go thru as unions refused immediate paycuts.

no biigie as i see it. usa auto industry needs a makeover.

but then again putting lipstick on a pig doesnt mean it isnt still a pig. auto indutry needs to start from square one.

Edited December 12, 2008 by chicolopez

[OlRedEyes]

Forget recession, this whole issue is now heading to depression worldwide.

Starting to look worse by the day. Anybody walking around thinking that they will not be, or only be minimally affected is in for a rude awakening soon.

My feeling is we are in for some very destructive shocks to the financial system, and of course the real economies, much worse than is evident already. And this would in turn create massive social strains.

Edited December 12, 2008 by OlRedEyes

[Losangels]

Hate to see another depression though things at best seem to look like heading toward a severe recession.

Major banks can and will collapse.

Hope Bank of Thailand has enough to give out depositors if or when banks fail.

[mommysboy]

Forget recession, this whole issue is now heading to depression worldwide.

Starting to look worse by the day. Anybody walking around thinking that they will not be, or only be minimally affected is in for a rude awakening soon.

My feeling is we are in for some very destructive shocks to the financial system, and of course the real economies, much worse than is evident already. And this would in turn create massive social strains.

Well this has already happened really in USA, UK, Germany and Japan. Iceland is bankrupt. Russia woul be but it's too big, and even Switzerland is in trouble. At the start it was just as it now is in Thailand- just a big city thing with no connection to real life. Then havoc.

Thailand has been under performing anyway, has a weak government and civil unrest. When something big happens everyone is effected- it hits in ways you hadn't considered.

[thaimate]

my brother ,who runs a company ,that amongst others uses an American owned one on the eastern seaboard to make parts for his company,told me the other day that buisnesses on the trading estate or closing almost daily ,i believe the strong baht may have something to do with it ,untill they devalue the vastly overated currency it will only get worse.

[mrbojangles]

Auto parts workers block road to demand yearend bonus

Some 800 workers of Yarnapund Plc blocked the inbound King Kaew Road in front of their factory Friday morning to demand five-month yearend bonus.

The protesters also demanded the company to employ workers, who have been working for one month, on full-time employment basis and give them Bt500 salary increase.

The workers sent 15 representatives to negotiate with the management but no agreement has been made yet.

Who do they supply to James?

I doubt pretty soon, amy of the Car manufacturers will be needing any of their parts, anyhow.

[keestha]

Tourist locations such as Phuket are going to be hard-hit. I did the rounds of Patong 4 days ago and again last night. 4 days ago I counted several bars which had already closed. Last night, the number of tourists was akin to a low-season evening. More bars had closed and in Soi Easy (about 20 bars) I counted just one solitary customer.

Maybe you say 'great if these cheap and cheerful bars close'. But that's one reason why many tourists come to Phuket. Take away the bustling Patong nightlife and the tourists won't come. Of course, Phuket also has it's 5-star tourists and resorts. I doubt that that sector will escape unscathed from these problems.

My (ex's) airport hotel is almost fully booked until 3rd January. After that, the bookings fall off a cliff. No-one is booking, even though it is peak season. Usually if people do not book at our transit hotel, it means that they are not booking their 1 or 2-week holidays at the beach resort hotels.

It's akin to Rome burning whilst Nero plays his violin, except that Rome is Phuket, Samui, Bangkok and Pattaya and Nero are the combined idiots of PAD, the weak government, the army, the airport authorities, the police and anyone else that you care to name who has only had their own interests at heart.

Simon

Similar situation in Khao Lak. After about November 7, the number of tourists dropped sharply. My resort only has about 60% occupancy now. There are very few tourists in the only real supermarket Khao Lak has, and a friend of mine remarked that at the beach there are more massage ladies than tourists.

Part of this might be due to the Christmas gap effect: tourists who want to celebrate Christmas&New Year at home have left already, and those who intend to celebrate it here, haven't arrived yet. This effect is very well known among tourism industry workers.

But surely the global financial crisis and political turmoil in Thailand are also taking their toll.

[F1fanatic]

With a bit of luck a LOT of the girlie bars will close.

If Thailand really wants to attract families and wealthier people, the loss of many girlie bars can do nothing but good. Unfortunately the Issan families will then be hit, so depending on your circumstances (i.e. whether or not your gf/wife comes from Issan) decide which is best for Thailand.

[Ulysses G.]

With a bit of luck a LOT of the girlie bars will close.

So the ladies will switch to Thai Nightlife venues for a lot less money and as soon as the economy gets better, they will go back to bars for farangs. Can't change the culture.

[F1fanatic]

With a bit of luck a LOT of the girlie bars will close.

So the ladies will switch to Thai Nightlife venues for a lot less money and as soon as the economy gets better, they will go back to bars for farangs. Can't change the culture.

Quite possibly, but will the loss of the girlie bars help to attract the sort of tourists/ex-pats the government says it wants?

If so, then perhaps the ladies will have to find a different job and Thailand will eventually lose it's seedy reputation.

[BigSnake]

Yes see some places are going UNDER than on the other hand some are still booming, Massage(Foot) some eatery that have extra good food and well manage. Some are the ladies of the night/evening are willing to share their farang catch with a friend in return for a payback when they are not so lucky as one told me just recently at a local night spot.

Edited December 12, 2008 by BigSnake

[mommysboy]

With a bit of luck a LOT of the girlie bars will close.

So the ladies will switch to Thai Nightlife venues for a lot less money and as soon as the economy gets better, they will go back to bars for farangs. Can't change the culture.

Quite possibly, but will the loss of the girlie bars help to attract the sort of tourists/ex-pats the government says it wants?

If so, then perhaps the ladies will have to find a different job and Thailand will eventually lose it's seedy reputation.

What if all businesses decide they weren't going to deal with the bread and butter customers? Why would a 5 star customer want to come here anyway - for the bad service, food poisoning, rioting and natural disasters?

Tourism isn't important it seems- well now we are going to know one way or another.

Of course looking at it another way- if someone wanted to pull a coup, fancied a bit of isolation, didn't want faranga around (save those bricked in a 5* resort, etc. then good move!!

[OlRedEyes]

Yes see some places are going UNDER than on the other hand some are still booming, Massage(Foot) some eatery that have extra good food and well manage. Some are the ladies of the night/evening are willing to share their farang catch with a friend in return for a payback when they are not so lucky as one told me just recently at a local night spot.

Teamwork can only be good when things are hard.

[Ulysses G.]

With a bit of luck a LOT of the girlie bars will close.

So the ladies will switch to Thai Nightlife venues for a lot less money and as soon as the economy gets better, they will go back to bars for farangs. Can't change the culture.

Quite possibly, but will the loss of the girlie bars help to attract the sort of tourists/ex-pats the government says it wants?

Of course not. Thailand has little that they want. They go to the South of France.

[mommysboy]

Yes see some places are going UNDER than on the other hand some are still booming, Massage(Foot) some eatery that have extra good food and well manage. Some are the ladies of the night/evening are willing to share their farang catch with a friend in return for a payback when they are not so lucky as one told me just recently at a local night spot.

You make it seem like business as usual!!! Is that really how it is? Personally I think not.

[dumball]

With a bit of luck a LOT of the girlie bars will close.

So the ladies will switch to Thai Nightlife venues for a lot less money and as soon as the economy gets better, they will go back to bars for farangs. Can't change the culture.

Quite possibly, but will the loss of the girlie bars help to attract the sort of tourists/ex-pats the government says it wants?

If so, then perhaps the ladies will have to find a different job and Thailand will eventually lose it's seedy reputation.

Have you not noticed the tremendous drop in tourism at this time ? TAT is attempting what ever it takes to bring back the tourist , i feel sure they would not like to see the girly bars closing down at this time , nor would many of the mom and pop shops , any buisness that brings 'Money' into the country at this time would seem like a neccessary evil .

Where would these ladies find another occupation with so many workers already losing there jobs ? Methinks you should get your head out of the clouds and be carefull that 'Halo' does not finish up around your kneck .

[mommysboy]

With a bit of luck a LOT of the girlie bars will close.

So the ladies will switch to Thai Nightlife venues for a lot less money and as soon as the economy gets better, they will go back to bars for farangs. Can't change the culture.

Quite possibly, but will the loss of the girlie bars help to attract the sort of tourists/ex-pats the government says it wants?

If so, then perhaps the ladies will have to find a different job and Thailand will eventually lose it's seedy reputation.

Have you not noticed the tremendous drop in tourism at this time ? TAT is attempting what ever it takes to bring back the tourist , i feel sure they would not like to see the girly bars closing down at this time , nor would many of the mom and pop shops , any buisness that brings 'Money' into the country at this time would seem like a neccessary evil .

Where would these ladies find another occupation with so many workers already losing there jobs ? Methinks you should get your head out of the clouds and be carefull that 'Halo' does not finish up around your kneck .

And can you really imagine it anyway ?. Factory jobs definitely don'y buy pickups and dirty great vulgar gold chains.

Good posting.

[mommysboy]

Just walking my usual routes I noticed how many places have closed. And the recession has only just started. If it's this bad now, then what's it going to be like when the slump really kicks in?

I see yesterday there was another round of factory closures and a demo or two with more forecast to follow. It's starting big time in my view.

[featography]

Im thinking there climbs the crime rate.

[dumball]

Im thinking there climbs the crime rate.

You mean that the hotel/food and bar prices are going up again ? Oh my goodness gracious , whatever next ?

[dotcom]

Why would a 5 star customer want to come here anyway - for the bad service, food poisoning, rioting and natural disasters?

Tourism isn't important it seems- well now we are going to know one way or another.

Of course looking at it another way- if someone wanted to pull a coup, fancied a bit of isolation, didn't want faranga around (save those bricked in a 5* resort, etc. then good move!!

What we'll do is close the airports so neither 5* or sleezy sex tours types can come here.

How do you like my idea? Brilliant huh?

Edited December 14, 2008 by dotcom

[dumball]

Sure , the light is on but nobody is home , you are all lit up like a 5 watt light bulb

[suzyQ]

all 5* types are sex tourist(of course the gonna deny that they aren't) . but not all sex tourist are 5* types

Edited December 15, 2008 by suzyQ

[mommysboy]

all 5* types are sex tourist(of course the gonna deny that they aren't) . but not all sex tourist are 5* types

Maybe Put it this way they are not here for the arts and entertainment.

But I remember reading the 5 star market doesn't really generate much cash for the locals something ike a measly 5%, whereas no one can dispute that the STs is more like 95%.

The more I think about this the more this situation seems a bit contrived, or at least convenient. I would suggest that the elite or whoever has decided they really don't want the economic miracle. Partly, this might be motivated by rightful concerns over the environment and culture, but it could just be that the wrong people have gotten rich. Possibly a bit too much like hard work too

[misterman21]

Good riddance the thai economy needs a good cleaning. Too many small eating establishments, too many of everything for that matter.

Maybe this will adjust your complete ignorance - probably not:

Sunday Times 14 Dec. 2008

I was in Dublin last weekend, and had a very real sense I’d been invited to the last days of the Roman empire. As far as I could work out, everyone had a Rolls-Royce Phantom and a coat made from something that’s now extinct. And then there were the women. Wow. Not that long ago every girl on the Emerald Isle had a face the colour of straw and orange hair. Now it’s the other way around.

Everyone appeared to be drunk on naked hedonism. I’ve never seen so much jus being drizzled onto so many improbable things, none of which was potted herring. It was like Barcelona but with beer. And as I careered from bar to bar all I could think was: “Jesus. Can’t they see what’s coming?”

Ireland is tiny. Its population is smaller than New Zealand’s, so how could the Irish ever have generated the cash for so many trips to the hairdressers, so many lobsters and so many Rollers? And how, now, as they become the first country in Europe to go officially into recession, can they not see the financial meteorite coming? Why are they not all at home, singing mournful songs?

It’s the same story on this side of the Irish Sea, of course. We’re all still plunging hither and thither, guzzling wine and wondering what preposterously expensive electronic toys the children will want to smash on Christmas morning this year. We can’t see the meteorite coming either.

I think mainly this is because the government is not telling us the truth. It’s painting Gordon Brown as a global economic messiah and fiddling about with Vat, pretending that the coming recession will be bad. But that it can deal with it.

I don’t think it can. I have spoken to a couple of pretty senior bankers in the past couple of weeks and their story is rather different. They don’t refer to the looming problems as being like 1992 or even 1929. They talk about a total financial meltdown. They talk about the End of Days.

Already we are seeing household names disappearing from the high street and with them will go the suppliers whose names have only ever been visible behind the grime on motorway vans. The job losses will mount. And mount. And mount. And as they climb, the bad debt will put even more pressure on the banks until every single one of them stutters and fails.

The European banks took one hel_l of a battering when things went wrong in America. Imagine, then, how life will be when the crisis arrives on this side of the Atlantic. Small wonder one City figure of my acquaintance ordered three safes for his London house just last week.

Of course, you may imagine the government will simply step in and nationalise everything, but to do that, it will have to borrow. And when every government is doing the same thing, there simply won’t be enough cash in the global pot. You can forget Iceland. From what I gather, Spain has had it. Along with Italy, Ireland and very possibly the UK.

It is impossible for someone who scored a U in his economics A-level to grapple with the consequences of all this but I’m told that in simple terms money will cease to function as a meaningful commodity. The binary dots and dashes that fuel the entire system will flicker and die. And without money there will be no business. No means of selling goods. No means of transporting them. No means of making them in the first place even. That’s why another friend of mine has recently sold his London house and bought somewhere in the country . . . with a kitchen garden.

These, as I see them, are the facts. Planet Earth thought it had £10. But it turns out we had only £2. Which means everyone must lose 80% of their wealth. And that’s going to be a problem if you were living on the breadline beforehand.

Eventually, of course, the system will reboot itself, but for a while there will be absolute chaos: riots, lynchings, starvation. It’ll be a world without power or fuel, and with no fuel there’s no way the modern agricultural system can be maintained. Which means there will be no food either. You might like to stop and think about that for a while.

[bonobo]

Good riddance the thai economy needs a good cleaning. Too many small eating establishments, too many of everything for that matter.

Maybe this will adjust your complete ignorance - probably not:

Sunday Times 14 Dec. 2008

I was in Dublin last weekend, and had a very real sense I'd been invited to the last days of the Roman empire. As far as I could work out, everyone had a Rolls-Royce Phantom and a coat made from something that's now extinct. And then there were the women. Wow. Not that long ago every girl on the Emerald Isle had a face the colour of straw and orange hair. Now it's the other way around.

Everyone appeared to be drunk on naked hedonism. I've never seen so much jus being drizzled onto so many improbable things, none of which was potted herring. It was like Barcelona but with beer. And as I careered from bar to bar all I could think was: "Jesus. Can't they see what's coming?"

Ireland is tiny. Its population is smaller than New Zealand's, so how could the Irish ever have generated the cash for so many trips to the hairdressers, so many lobsters and so many Rollers? And how, now, as they become the first country in Europe to go officially into recession, can they not see the financial meteorite coming? Why are they not all at home, singing mournful songs?

It's the same story on this side of the Irish Sea, of course. We're all still plunging hither and thither, guzzling wine and wondering what preposterously expensive electronic toys the children will want to smash on Christmas morning this year. We can't see the meteorite coming either.

I think mainly this is because the government is not telling us the truth. It's painting Gordon Brown as a global economic messiah and fiddling about with Vat, pretending that the coming recession will be bad. But that it can deal with it.

I don't think it can. I have spoken to a couple of pretty senior bankers in the past couple of weeks and their story is rather different. They don't refer to the looming problems as being like 1992 or even 1929. They talk about a total financial meltdown. They talk about the End of Days.

Already we are seeing household names disappearing from the high street and with them will go the suppliers whose names have only ever been visible behind the grime on motorway vans. The job losses will mount. And mount. And mount. And as they climb, the bad debt will put even more pressure on the banks until every single one of them stutters and fails.

The European banks took one hel_l of a battering when things went wrong in America. Imagine, then, how life will be when the crisis arrives on this side of the Atlantic. Small wonder one City figure of my acquaintance ordered three safes for his London house just last week.

Of course, you may imagine the government will simply step in and nationalise everything, but to do that, it will have to borrow. And when every government is doing the same thing, there simply won't be enough cash in the global pot. You can forget Iceland. From what I gather, Spain has had it. Along with Italy, Ireland and very possibly the UK.

It is impossible for someone who scored a U in his economics A-level to grapple with the consequences of all this but I'm told that in simple terms money will cease to function as a meaningful commodity. The binary dots and dashes that fuel the entire system will flicker and die. And without money there will be no business. No means of selling goods. No means of transporting them. No means of making them in the first place even. That's why another friend of mine has recently sold his London house and bought somewhere in the country . . . with a kitchen garden.

These, as I see them, are the facts. Planet Earth thought it had £10. But it turns out we had only £2. Which means everyone must lose 80% of their wealth. And that's going to be a problem if you were living on the breadline beforehand.

Eventually, of course, the system will reboot itself, but for a while there will be absolute chaos: riots, lynchings, starvation. It'll be a world without power or fuel, and with no fuel there's no way the modern agricultural system can be maintained. Which means there will be no food either. You might like to stop and think about that for a while.

Rather scary, and I think overblown. But the author's views are certainly possible.

Japan and Korea are acting, and they took forceful action rather quickly. The US is finally acting. But it seems to me that the EU is much like how the author describes the Irish, and in Thailand, all I hear is that all is fine.

Perhaps people in power should read and believe more articles like this and act in concert to minimize the upcoming pain and suffering instead of playing politics. Whether the doom and gloom is actually as bad as depicted is not as important as whether the governments believe the situation is critical and take concrete action.

[misterman21]

Good riddance the thai economy needs a good cleaning. Too many small eating establishments, too many of everything for that matter.

Maybe this will adjust your complete ignorance - probably not:

Sunday Times 14 Dec. 2008

I was in Dublin last weekend, and had a very real sense I'd been invited to the last days of the Roman empire. As far as I could work out, everyone had a Rolls-Royce Phantom and a coat made from something that's now extinct. And then there were the women. Wow. Not that long ago every girl on the Emerald Isle had a face the colour of straw and orange hair. Now it's the other way around.

Everyone appeared to be drunk on naked hedonism. I've never seen so much jus being drizzled onto so many improbable things, none of which was potted herring. It was like Barcelona but with beer. And as I careered from bar to bar all I could think was: "Jesus. Can't they see what's coming?"

Ireland is tiny. Its population is smaller than New Zealand's, so how could the Irish ever have generated the cash for so many trips to the hairdressers, so many lobsters and so many Rollers? And how, now, as they become the first country in Europe to go officially into recession, can they not see the financial meteorite coming? Why are they not all at home, singing mournful songs?

It's the same story on this side of the Irish Sea, of course. We're all still plunging hither and thither, guzzling wine and wondering what preposterously expensive electronic toys the children will want to smash on Christmas morning this year. We can't see the meteorite coming either.

I think mainly this is because the government is not telling us the truth. It's painting Gordon Brown as a global economic messiah and fiddling about with Vat, pretending that the coming recession will be bad. But that it can deal with it.

I don't think it can. I have spoken to a couple of pretty senior bankers in the past couple of weeks and their story is rather different. They don't refer to the looming problems as being like 1992 or even 1929. They talk about a total financial meltdown. They talk about the End of Days.

Already we are seeing household names disappearing from the high street and with them will go the suppliers whose names have only ever been visible behind the grime on motorway vans. The job losses will mount. And mount. And mount. And as they climb, the bad debt will put even more pressure on the banks until every single one of them stutters and fails.

The European banks took one hel_l of a battering when things went wrong in America. Imagine, then, how life will be when the crisis arrives on this side of the Atlantic. Small wonder one City figure of my acquaintance ordered three safes for his London house just last week.

Of course, you may imagine the government will simply step in and nationalise everything, but to do that, it will have to borrow. And when every government is doing the same thing, there simply won't be enough cash in the global pot. You can forget Iceland. From what I gather, Spain has had it. Along with Italy, Ireland and very possibly the UK.

It is impossible for someone who scored a U in his economics A-level to grapple with the consequences of all this but I'm told that in simple terms money will cease to function as a meaningful commodity. The binary dots and dashes that fuel the entire system will flicker and die. And without money there will be no business. No means of selling goods. No means of transporting them. No means of making them in the first place even. That's why another friend of mine has recently sold his London house and bought somewhere in the country . . . with a kitchen garden.

These, as I see them, are the facts. Planet Earth thought it had £10. But it turns out we had only £2. Which means everyone must lose 80% of their wealth. And that's going to be a problem if you were living on the breadline beforehand.

Eventually, of course, the system will reboot itself, but for a while there will be absolute chaos: riots, lynchings, starvation. It'll be a world without power or fuel, and with no fuel there's no way the modern agricultural system can be maintained. Which means there will be no food either. You might like to stop and think about that for a while.

Rather scary, and I think overblown. But the author's views are certainly possible.

Japan and Korea are acting, and they took forceful action rather quickly. The US is finally acting. But it seems to me that the EU is much like how the author describes the Irish, and in Thailand, all I hear is that all is fine.

Perhaps people in power should read and believe more articles like this and act in concert to minimize the upcoming pain and suffering instead of playing politics. Whether the doom and gloom is actually as bad as depicted is not as important as whether the governments believe the situation is critical and take concrete action.

I would aslo like to afford myself the comfort of thinking this is overblown - unfrotunatley there is little evidence to allow these pleasent thoughts!

[bonobo]

I would aslo like to afford myself the comfort of thinking this is overblown - unfrotunatley there is little evidence to allow these pleasent thoughts!

I understand your concern, and this article could be spot on. I just think the world is a little more resilient, particulary with regards to the article's projection of there being no monetary system left. People will find a way to trade, and many, many businesses will march on regardless.

The situation is bad, im my humble opinion, worse than many people realize or admit. But I am not ready to take my hydroponics into a cave somewhere and hide out for the next 5 years.

[misterman21]

I would aslo like to afford myself the comfort of thinking this is overblown - unfrotunatley there is little evidence to allow these pleasent thoughts!

I understand your concern, and this article could be spot on. I just think the world is a little more resilient, particulary with regards to the article's projection of there being no monetary system left. People will find a way to trade, and many, many businesses will march on regardless.

The situation is bad, im my humble opinion, worse than many people realize or admit. But I am not ready to take my hydroponics into a cave somewhere and hide out for the next 5 years.

Hydroponics (from the Greek words hydro water and ponos labour) is a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions, without soil. Terrestrial plants may be grown with their roots in the mineral nutrient solution only or in an inert medium, such as perlite, gravel, or mineral wool

PS with the recent revelations that 2 major Wall street players have been arrested for running multi billion $ ponzi schemes (50 billion and 120 billion) one cant help but think when any kind of confidence will retrun to the current system of finance and banking. How many more schemes are to be uncovered!

Edited December 15, 2008 by misterman21

[F1fanatic]

all 5* types are sex tourist(of course the gonna deny that they aren't) . but not all sex tourist are 5* types

Maybe Put it this way they are not here for the arts and entertainment.

But I remember reading the 5 star market doesn't really generate much cash for the locals something ike a measly 5%, whereas no one can dispute that the STs is more like 95%.

The more I think about this the more this situation seems a bit contrived, or at least convenient. I would suggest that the elite or whoever has decided they really don't want the economic miracle. Partly, this might be motivated by rightful concerns over the environment and culture, but it could just be that the wrong people have gotten rich. Possibly a bit too much like hard work too

Am I missing something here or are you saying that Thailand can only prosper with sex tourists?

If so, I genuinely fail to understand why. It's such an incredibly beautiful country, with a wonderful cultural background that is still there to see - temples, palaces etc.

Why can't it plan to attract the more afflluent visitors who would value this wonderful legacy?

The sex tourists and sex-pats may pay the money at the moment, but surely this could be changed into something better?

Unfortunately as I type this I can't help but think that the short term 'get rich quick' attitude will prevail and I'm wasting my breath! Ah well, it's nice to think 'if only'!