Thai Politics

[deejah]

man its dead on some of these streets

5 or 10 gals in front of some shops with zero farang

i know low season kicked in

but was it like this last year?

i do enjoy low season

but these past two years

i really feel for the people here

how about going further back

what were the biggest boom years and bust years?

how low can it go?

what might happen?

things eventually turn around?

insights?

[PhilHarries]

It seems every low season just keeps getting lower and the high seasons follow suit.

When's it going to hit rock bottom? Some would say it's there already but just when you think things can't get much worse the Thais manage to make them worse. Add to that the continued rise of Thailand's competitors for the tourist dollars and if Thailand was a sick old man and I were a doctor I'd be calling in the pine box makers.

[Tarqin]

Horrible thing to say but for us this is good. Heading back towards the prices of the 1990's for certain activities such as book lending.

The Thai economy has stalled. Inward investment is at an all time low and even if they sort everything out tomorrow it will be decades before confidence returns.

It is however as always the poorest who get kicked hardest in the shorts.

Lean times ahead for the locals but for those of us with foreign currency savings...

[londonthai]

girls (and boys) from pattaya will go home for sometimes to work on farms to grow rice, if there would be enough water to grow crops they will all survive.

not so sure about workers from towns, who don't have much left family roots in the villages - maybe, at some stage, the government will have to organise public works

[fredob43]

I love it as it's the only time I get asked to sit down HANDSOME MAN.

[Basil B]

No that the British Government has now advised all to stay away from Thailand (not just Bangkok) except on essential business, it will be the end of official tour groups and for the independent traveller travel insurance policies will be invalidated.

From the FCO site

"We advise against all but essential travel to the whole of Thailand due to the increasingly volatile and tense political situation. Violent incidents of an unpredictable nature are occurring in many parts of Thailand".

[MisterFingers]

Pattaya could be surrounded by a circle of hellfire with the narrowest path of entry that could close at any time, and it wouldn't stop some guys from going there.

[rafval]

six bars in the soi outside, all but one closed the last 2 weeks, furniture and aircons removed, doesnt seem too quiet but i see closed bars everywhere

[chops]

I was out in town tonight and low season has definitely arrived. Not the lowest I've seen it though. Last year around June was really quiet. It seems like all the beach road girls have disappeared. The only busy area seemed to be around WS, full of Indians and Russians. That's nice, but those people do not support the bar economy.

[Phil Conners]

It will get worse when the footage of soldiers and demonstrators shooting it out on the streets of Bangkok starts to get aired all over the west. They were just showing a piece on BBC world. It looks like a warzone now.

[raro]

can confrm that most airlines are switching to smaller aircraft on their Bangkok route due to less demand. Affects not only tourism but also the cargo business. Add irony to injury, because of that volcano in Iceland the airline's warehouses are still full and having now smaller aircraft in to Bangkok it will take even longer to work it down. This affects also the routing ex USA as forwarders routed cargo out of the US over the Pacific only, lacking the alternative Europe option.