today when I said good morning to the receptionist at a dental surgery near where i live

she said they were closing the surgery for three days and the traffic seems

much quieter today ( which is wonderful ) but there doesn't seem to be any mention of a Thai

Public holiday?

Edited May 22, 201214 yr by Asiantravel

Welcome to Low Season.

Many places will reduce operations/staff numbers around this time or close completely for a while if they worked through Songkhran.

Welcome to Low Season.

Many places will reduce operations/staff numbers around this time or close completely for a while if they worked through Songkhran.

is that the only reason ?

Unbelievable

I have never seen it so quiet before today

Praise be low season, finally. It came very late this year, let's hope it lasts longer ..

Praise be low season, finally. It came very late this year, let's hope it lasts longer ..

*************************************************

Correct, the busy season seemed to last through April instead of March. There are less Russians now so that is probably the reason. I don't know why, but there are more Indians this month- holiday there?

Praise be low season, finally. It came very late this year, let's hope it lasts longer ..

*************************************************

Correct, the busy season seemed to last through April instead of March. There are less Russians now so that is probably the reason. I don't know why, but there are more Indians this month- holiday there?

yes there are hoardes of them at the top end of beach road near the Holiday Inn and Amari

going out in huge groups on speedboats.I just assumed rather than have an empty

hotel room hotels are offering giveaway rates to Indians?

Edited May 22, 201214 yr by Asiantravel

Period?

Enjoy it while it lasts, if you are into the bar scene then no better time to be a "handsome man".

Praise be low season, finally. It came very late this year, let's hope it lasts longer ..

*************************************************

Correct, the busy season seemed to last through April instead of March. There are less Russians now so that is probably the reason. I don't know why, but there are more Indians this month- holiday there?

yes there are hoardes of them at the top end of beach road near the Holiday Inn and Amari

going out in huge groups on speedboats.I just assumed rather than have an empty

hotel room hotels are offering giveaway rates to Indians?

**********************************

Yes,the Indians have taken over Markland Hotel and the ones such as Amari. I ran into a crowd of them in Family Mart. the place was like a museum to them. Every food item being examined as if they were anthropologists.

Enjoy it while it lasts, if you are into the bar scene then no better time to be a "handsome man".

but how do all these motorbike taxi riders ,massage ladies, beach vendors pay the rent

and feed themselves? it seems hit and miss enough and seemingly hard to make money

even during what was the high season.

even just this morning I saw a taxi driver negotiating with a potential passenger

with a suitcase who evidently wouldn't agree to the price and eventually just walked away?

so the taxi driver just keeps standing around. it seems ridiculous to me to turn down

potential work when surely it's better for these people to get something

rather than nothing?

Edited May 22, 201214 yr by Asiantravel

Enjoy it while it lasts, if you are into the bar scene then no better time to be a "handsome man".

but how do all these motorbike taxi riders ,massage ladies, beach vendors pay the rent

and feed themselves? it seems hit and miss enough and seemingly hard to make money

even during what was the high season.

even just this morning I saw a taxi driver negotiating with a potential passenger

with a suitcase who evidently wouldn't agree to the price and eventually just walked away?

so the taxi driver just keeps standing around. it seems ridiculous to me to turn down

potential work when surely it's better for these people to get something

rather than nothing?

Many are not paying much for accommodation, if anything. Thai food isn't much, a lot will eat rice and vegetables or that fermented fish stuff which is even cheaper. So you can see why they aren't so desperate as you might think. Some will choose to rip off a few tourists to get their money for the day as well.

Yes, the madding crowd has finally buggered off back to wherever it comes from, and about time too.

I'm sure this all happened at least 4 or 5 weeks earlier last year.

Lots of empty seats for supper in Jomtien night market this evening.

Enjoy it while it lasts, if you are into the bar scene then no better time to be a "handsome man".

but how do all these motorbike taxi riders ,massage ladies, beach vendors pay the rent

and feed themselves? it seems hit and miss enough and seemingly hard to make money

even during what was the high season.

even just this morning I saw a taxi driver negotiating with a potential passenger

with a suitcase who evidently wouldn't agree to the price and eventually just walked away?

so the taxi driver just keeps standing around. it seems ridiculous to me to turn down

potential work when surely it's better for these people to get something

rather than nothing?

You obviously don't understand the Thai psyche. When business is bad, they raise the prices to make up the difference.

it seems ridiculous to me to turn down

potential work when surely it's better for these people to get something

rather than nothing?

Fuel is expensive. Sometimes it is better to turn a low fare down.

Welcome to Low Season.

Many places will reduce operations/staff numbers around this time or close completely for a while if they worked through Songkhran.

is that the only reason ?

Unbelievable

I have never seen it so quiet before today

am just back in town and thought the same.

its very quiet today .....great

It's great, you can now cross 2nd Road without risking your life...

Finally the city comes to "rest".

The pre-high-season started last year with the "exodus" of the flood victims end of September and the real high season took over from beginning of December.

With a longer lasting high-season it's about time for some 'rest'.

Does this mean you don't have to queue at Sizzlers any more ?

thai visa is quiet to

Was out last night and the bars were really empty. Saw quite a few with no customers at all. A breeze to drive down Beach Road!

Pattaya is a hot-bed for red shirts. Did they all go to Bangkok for demonstrations ?

Pattaya is a hot-bed for red shirts. Did they all go to Bangkok for demonstrations ?

Rainy season is here, time to hit the rice fields.