AnotherOneAmerican Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Plenty of opportunity for the businesses catering to the needs of the new tourists. Only if you can afford the kickbacks for the 'unofficial' chinese tour guides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thailand Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 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. Many Chinese friends and relatives and one of the top attractions is the various snacks at the supermarkets and some particular products from Boots where the price is considerably cheaper than in China. Snacks and pharmaceuticals there you go Mr Entrepreneur. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulysses G. Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 (edited) The drug stores near Thapae Gate are packed all the time with Chinese, all year long. Before they started coming, most of these stores had few customers. Someone is making money off them. Edited November 10, 2014 by Ulysses G. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thailand Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 The drug stores near Thapae Gate are packed all the time with Chinese, all year long. Before they started coming, most of these stores had few customers. Someone is making money off them. Most of the area outside of the very good supermarket in Central Festival is aimed at Chinese, snacks heaven. Just see the minivans making special journeys. All of the social media in China recommend where to go- and they go. Ever been to Coffee in Love in Pai? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godfree2 Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 I'd like to see a datasheet on farang swooping these Chinese tourist girls in CM. How hard is it? Are all these girls traveling with dad, bf, hubby, family? Are they visiting places like Monkey and Warm Up at all? Saw some China dolls crossing the street on the way home. Tall and skinny -- would definitely practice yoga wth them. Anyway, what would be the best method? Since none of them know how to cross the street or insist on standing in the middle of it, I was thinking hitting them with the car would be a great icebreaker. *THUMP* Godfree: "Whoops, Ni HOW ladies, sorry, looks like you don't know not to stand in the street and stare at your iPhone." Chinese: "Ow...so hurt...hospital preez." Godfree: "Sorry, no time but I'll take your number. Drinks around 8. See ya!" *DRIVES OFF* Chinese: "So brutiful, so sexy man." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dante99 Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 The drug stores near Thapae Gate are packed all the time with Chinese, all year long. Before they started coming, most of these stores had few customers. Someone is making money off them. Thailand has always been a drug capital. Do they buy many books? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulysses G. Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 No, but they usually buy the ones that no one else wants, so they get credit for that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jdiddy Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 (edited) Dont forget there are probably alot less Russians coming over, Ruble is taking a beating amongst other things edit: forgot i was in CM forum, nevermind Edited November 10, 2014 by Jdiddy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jobin Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Local bosses, mostly govt, could do lots more to attract a 'better' class of tourists. Better here means more disposable income, smaller groups, speaking some english, showing some respect for local culture and tradition, more interested in exploring variety of sites, etc. Cleaner streets, less pollution including noise, more comfortable walking zones, maybe safer bicycling could go a long way in keeping CM in the forefront of quality tourism.. Who knows what's best? Regardless whether anyone knows or not, the bosses and govt do not seem keen on addressing many of these problems. As a newbie, i understand that the govt structure of funding and levels of corruption help maintain the status quo and that's hard to change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinnieTheKhwai Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 The drug stores near Thapae Gate are packed all the time with Chinese, all year long. Before they started coming, most of these stores had few customers. Someone is making money off them. Most of the area outside of the very good supermarket in Central Festival is aimed at Chinese, snacks heaven. Just see the minivans making special journeys. All of the social media in China recommend where to go- and they go. Yes.. when we had Chinese guests they were exceptionally well prepared.. Specifically asking for directions to Big C for example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bamboozled Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 What I've noticed is the Chinese heading back to the airport with plastic bags packed with snacks...Mama noodles, Lay's crisps, etc... What gives? Do they not have these things in China? That's hard to believe...instant noodles, really? I was thinking that perhaps they bring them as small gifts for friends, the novelty being that they're from abroad (the snacks). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mesquite Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 Somehow I can't see the Chinese giving anything away, but I could be wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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