Did high season start?

[kalbo123]

It's clear that there is a lot more traffic the past days during the Loy Krathong festival.

But that where in my opinion only Thai from Bangkok and they are about to leave now.

I saw a lot of Chinese tourists the last couple of days, but they are almost always here...and they are a different kind of tourists,

that do not visit places Farang would, they have a trail of their own.

Is it me, or is Thailand (Chiang Mai) less visited then other years by foreigners?

Or will it al be good for December?

[ukrules]

Didn't high season end a few years back ?

[Robert24]

Probably different mix of tourists, more Asians and Thais than Westerners.

[Thailand]

There was a minor incident earlier this year the result of which was to drive tourism nationwide in to a downward spiral.

Although yes, officially the high season.

[mesquite]

Didn't high season end a few years back ?

Good one. There hasn't been a low season in CM for years.

[Ulysses G.]

Loy Kotoey was very early this year, so usually things will die down for a few weeks and then start picking up again. IMO, high season has not really kicked in until December for the last few years. There are plenty of backpackers all year round, but not the middle class Western tourists who spend money freely, that usually come during cool season.

[Dante99]

For many it is high continuously, is a special season required?

[Thailand]

For many it is high continuously, is a special season required?

A good high season for tourists is very important to businesses that rely on it to get them through the year don't you think?

[terminatorchiangmai]

High season is started but the November month so far is 40 % behind compared to last year.

Lets hope that the December will be better for the tourist business.

[elgenon]

The music bars are FULL of farangs in CM. Why do you discount Chinese as tourists? You can hear them yelling in my hotel and the restaurants I favor. Aiyaa!

555

[shirtless]

Its high season , the place is packed so i just bought a new wheel barrow for my banking,

[how241]

Probably different mix of tourists, more Asians and Thais than Westerners.

+1...Definitely less USA and English here now...The mix has changed.

[sprq]

Correction: Has the high season started? The present perfect tense is the appropriate one to use, says your friendly English teacher.

[ToddinChonburi]

Yes it has started here, much busier on weekends now.

[Liquorice]

shirtless, on 09 Nov 2014 - 15:44, said:

Its high season , the place is packed so i just bought a new wheel barrow for my banking,

Wouldn't a safe be better..........

[petercool]

post with racial siur was removed and a post quoting that and adding more slurs was removed also

[DaamNaam]

November 1st many prices go up, so the answer is yes.

[Jdiddy]

Correction: Has the high season started? The present perfect tense is the appropriate one to use, says your friendly English teacher.

[DaamNaam]

Correction: Has the high season started? The present perfect tense is the appropriate one to use, says your friendly English teacher.

Sigh...

[SeaVisionBurma]

A post slurring a particular nationality has been removed

[Chiengmaijoe]

Didn't high season end a few years back ?

Not at all. It has got busier each high season for the last few years, military coups aside. I'm only talking from experience though.

[boike]

November 1st many prices go up, so the answer is yes.

Certainly at big c. They keep raising their prices steadily.

Sent from my S4 LTE

[gyrosman]

Thailand has had its run of a tourist place, in the early days for the bar and girl action but even now its not safe and expensive. Normal tourist stuff old buldings, ran down, dirty toliets in tourist areas, can't walk on the sidewalks with all the crap on the sidewalk, unclean food, etc... People with money have better places to go and if its just for the girls, go to P.I. where the beaches are still clean. Thailand itself is its worst enemy, too late to repair decades of damage. Keep the Chinese tourist, their cheap charlies anyway.

[blundaman]

Thailand has had its run of a tourist place, in the early days for the bar and girl action but even now its not safe and expensive. Normal tourist stuff old buldings, ran down, dirty toliets in tourist areas, can't walk on the sidewalks with all the crap on the sidewalk, unclean food, etc... People with money have better places to go and if its just for the girls, go to P.I. where the beaches are still clean. Thailand itself is its worst enemy, too late to repair decades of damage. Keep the Chinese tourist, their cheap charlies anyway.

was enjoying this post until you landed... but seriously, since that multi-million baht marijuana bust the other day it looks like high season will be a little retarded this year, damn it

[Thailand]

Thailand has had its run of a tourist place, in the early days for the bar and girl action but even now its not safe and expensive. Normal tourist stuff old buldings, ran down, dirty toliets in tourist areas, can't walk on the sidewalks with all the crap on the sidewalk, unclean food, etc... People with money have better places to go and if its just for the girls, go to P.I. where the beaches are still clean. Thailand itself is its worst enemy, too late to repair decades of damage. Keep the Chinese tourist, their cheap charlies anyway.

Where is that dislike button?

[MauiSteveBKK]

YES! Looking at airfares from Honolulu to Bangkok, reflect a significant increase from just 2 months ago.

December 1st back to BKK - one way, $578 on China Airlines.

[godden]

Thailand has had its run of a tourist place, in the early days for the bar and girl action but even now its not safe and expensive. Normal tourist stuff old buldings, ran down, dirty toliets in tourist areas, can't walk on the sidewalks with all the crap on the sidewalk, unclean food, etc... People with money have better places to go and if its just for the girls, go to P.I. where the beaches are still clean. Thailand itself is its worst enemy, too late to repair decades of damage. Keep the Chinese tourist, their cheap charlies anyway.

It's with a heavy heart that i have to agree.

[williet98248]

Seems so here in Phuket. I gauge the start of High Season by the traffic. In Low Season I can get through the Chalong traffic circle South to North in a few minutes max during the commute times. Last week it took me 24 minutes. Yep, High Season is here.

[bamboozled]

Having spoken to a few small business owners in the night bazaar, sales are way down this year. I don't know if that relates directly to high season having started/not started or it just means tourists aren't buying...but interesting info.

[Chiengmaijoe]

Having spoken to a few small business owners in the night bazaar, sales are way down this year. I don't know if that relates directly to high season having started/not started or it just means tourists aren't buying...but interesting info.

The night bazaar keeps on getting bigger and bigger. The roadside stalls on Changklan are now competing with the likes of Anusarn and galare bazaars and are maybe getting to be not as cheap as they used to be. I think the tourist numbers are up but the big increase is asians, who probably have cheap goods at home anyway. The new tourists, Asians and Westerners alike, are a lot less likely to be interested in grotty girly bars so they too are suffering. Plenty of opportunity for the businesses catering to the needs of the new tourists.

As for the naysayers, especially the "Thailand is finished" brigade, I've been hearing that for at least 20 years but the numbers keep going up and the positive reviews of Chiang Mai keep coming.