could be cause yesterday (Sat) UDD did merit making for the protesters that died. So cops, soldiers and everyone is out in force just in case.

Night Bazaar at 7 - 8 pm was pretty empty. much emptier then the week before during the rain. hel_l that day had MUCH MUCH more people then what I saw today. It was odd. I'll ask my teacher in class tomorrow if something was going on.

I wonder if there's some kind of police conference going on. There were a large number of police vehicles parked outside Le Meridien earlier on today.

I went out last night (Saturday night) and I could not believe how dead the city was. It was like a ghost town. I had a couple of beers and then I went down Loi Kroh to see what was happening there. At 23:00 or thereabouts, many of the bars had already closed and most of the massage shops were locking up. I drove all around the moat and at times I was the only car on the road. The Night Bazaar area was the quietest I had seen in more than a year. What's going on?

I defer to folks who have lived here a long while or operate businesses, but I have this week, three times, driven S. on the moat past Chang Moi Road and Thapai Gate without delay, let alone someone trying to bump me off. Cannot say the same since last October.

But a friend hauled me off to Carrefour and we observed the huge dining hall's tables completely full, not one table free, just after mid-day. Crowds jostled to see the Nissan "March." - maybe because of the well under .5 million price tag? Or to continue to enjoy aircon?

Were I to conclude based on meager personal experience, I'd confirm much of above: Thais were out in numbers, yes, but tourists, not very many at all.

On my occasional visits to Loi Kroi for a late afternoon beer, I usually have great difficulty finding a parking spot. Just a few days ago I had a choice of at least 5 spots to park. I never experienced that before along there.

I feel the protests in Bangkok affected Chiang Mai. I'm sure more than a few people who were making plans to visit Thailand a few months ago changed them and this isn't surprising; however, memories are short and Chiang Mai will bounce back so long as the rak Chiang Mai 51 group stays quiet. It was so funny reading an old interview in CityLife with one of the leaders of this neo-fascist group. She said she joined rak 51 because the yellow shirts had destroyed her tourism-related business!

I know Holland is a very small market, but bookings for summer season (July - August) are still up from last year, even after troubles. Seems like last years credit crisis had a much bigger effect. Also I imagine that many ppl who spend last years summer at home, say ' This year we're gonna go on a real trip again as we stayed home last year' .

For the rest, enjoy the free parking spaces Mondays-Fridays for now

I would agree that the plummeting Euro and British Pound are partially to blame for the obvious lack of tourists in town. Last week I did an ATM withdrawal from a Euro account and after the exchange I was shocked at how few Thai Baht I got!

Actually, there are a lot of people who won't go away during this World Cup period, just in case they finish up in some undeveloped country, where they can't see it because the signal says it's raining or the commentary is in a foreign language.

Also they would probably avoid country's, where all the main games don't start until 1-30 am.

I think you will see an increase in tourists after it's finished.

Chiang Mai Hotels Hit Hard By Politics - Thailand Forum

Zero occupancy

One minor point, it doesn't help when Thai Airways are still charging a minimum of 7,000 Baht return, for BKK-CNX-BKK, this was the ridiculous new fare introduced in April.

That's quite a lot, for a 50-minute flight.

Cheaper to go to Pattaya or Hua-Hin instead.

No that is Thai style economics. I was having a look around a resort last week near Mae Hong Son, asked how much the rooms were. They were 500 baht per night, I said that is rather expensive for these kind of rooms, in this area. The owner replied that I was right, normal price was 300 baht, but since business was so bad, she had no other choice but to increase the prices.

One minor point, it doesn't help when Thai Airways are still charging a minimum of 7,000 Baht return, for BKK-CNX-BKK, this was the ridiculous new fare introduced in April.

That's quite a lot, for a 50-minute flight.

Cheaper to go to Pattaya or Hua-Hin instead.

Bangkok Airways, Air Asia, Nok all about half the price of Thai to BKK.

Thai are hurting too, there's some good offers on their super deals page....Hong Kong 2,900 Baht

Super Deals

I think it's excellent. Finally a halt to the Farang Explosion of recent years. Going back to the good old days!

^ Quite agree!!

This town aint big enough for the 20,000 of us.

No that is Thai style economics. I was having a look around a resort last week near Mae Hong Son, asked how much the rooms were. They were 500 baht per night, I said that is rather expensive for these kind of rooms, in this area. The owner replied that I was right, normal price was 300 baht, but since business was so bad, she had no other choice but to increase the prices.

Thats so very Asian. I used to manage rental properties and could never convince them to lower the price to meet the market, a property would sit there for months withouit a tenant. Explaining to them that every week the property was empty they were slipping further and further behind was met with a shrug of the shoulders.