Has Thailand finally killed the golden goose?

[farang000999]

I have been reading Thai Visa since 2004 and I can definitely say that the percentage of cheap charlies (going by postings here) seems to have risen substantially.

[richusa]

Tourist are coming, but only for a couple days. Then they are heading to Myanmar (I'm there now), Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam. I will go back to Bangkok for 2 days and head to Cambodia.....Getting tired of this country.

Yes, Thailand is losing it's luster to the quality $$ tourist.

But the new arrivals will come.....at a slower pace.

[ev1lchris]

The massage parlor I was in shut down because the cops were on their way.

<deleted> Thailand?!

[Lee4Life]

Does anyone have a clue how many Americans vacation in Thailand compared to Aussies and Europeans? I don't see that many when I'm there.

China's economy including exports is struggling. The Russian Ruble has crashed. Japan's economy is struggling.

I think it's currency values and economies that are doing at least some of this. Also, Thailand has become expensive. For people on a budget there are alternatives.

I have been here for a while, and it's pretty rare to meet another American, whether living here or vacationing here. I can't speak for all of Thailand, but up here in NongKhai and Udon I would say that probably one out of every ten foreigners I meet are from the States.

As far as the OP's question, I think the reasons for people to choose other destinations are many...but I think security plays a huge role. People all over the world want to feel secure, and most will pay more for that feeling or sacrifice their number one choice if it comes to that.

Edited December 4, 2014 by Lee4Life

[John1thru10]

Thailand is under Marshall Law and under the control of an oppressive Military Junta.

The Police are out of control, backing the systematic scamming of visitors.

Are you going to plan your family holiday there?

Absolutely a great time to visit!

I've never felt safer here.

My experiences says your observations are well wide of the Mark!

Youre experiences are not representative, then.

[mango66]

arrived yesterday from europe,

arrivels are increased against august,

A380,

in august - business cl 25% on 60 seats,

yesterday about 40% occupied,

Hotel prices against last year :

Agoda call them super insider deals,

but they are up 50% to 100% !!

Beer is getting more expensive ,

in supermarket already more than in europe,!

Not to talk about food !!

Expensive and -

last time in Pattaya - I had 3 small prowns on a rice dish with seafood,

some small cut offs of octopus, even not a single p of fish for 80 thb!!

Prices are up,

cheating are up,

quality down

safety down,

And I had only problems with my Thai Gold award booking -

4 months in advance booking,

for 3 days no BC Award seat available;

My next flight for Song Khran I booked already with another airline;

Next propably also have to change the destination !!

do they need more evidence ?

[MauiSteveBKK]

I believe ... in the International Tourist Market, Thailand has lost a bit of its "attraction".

It does not have the "Lustre" that it once had.

My Mainland USA friends have come once and don't want to return.

I believe .... Thailand is NOT getting the return visitors/tourists.

It's The RETURN tourists that are not coming in droves.

"In Pattaya: No Money - No Honey"

"In My House: My Wife Have All The Money & The Honey. That's Power My Friends".

[razer]

Tourism was destined to be hit hard sooner or later regardless of what government was in power. The rising number of crimes against tourists, taxi mafias, jet ski scams, and on and on and on, condoned and supported by police who make money off crime and criminal activity, have been documented on YouTube, in social media outlets and in the international news. Some might say it is Karma.

[CarlTyson]

The massage parlor I was in shut down because the cops were on their way.

<deleted> Thailand?!

Sad ending to that story.

[ZAKY]

Tourist are coming, but only for a couple days. Then they are heading to Myanmar (I'm there now), Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam. I will go back to Bangkok for 2 days and head to Cambodia.....Getting tired of this country.

Yes, Thailand is losing it's luster to the quality $$ tourist.

But the new arrivals will come.....at a slower pace.

Yes i have seen this also, unfortunately for Thailand, many countries neighbouring Thailand are becoming attractive offering nice sights, temples, exotic food and smiles

[solo88]

Your forgetting the main reason . At least 7 large Russian tour operators have gone bust, the Russian R . has lost 35 % of Its value and Russians now have restrictions on buying foreign currency.

[mango66]

Usually, December is peak season in Phuket, and hotels/guesthouses in my area (Phuket Airport) are all fully booked and charging peak season prices.

Yesterday, I did a check on Booking.com for hotel availability of the 30 or so properties in my area.

26 out of the 30 still had rooms available, at room rates not much above low season prices.

My guesthouse wasn't one of those 26 and I'm charging twice my low season rate, so I'm happy

That is very unusual for Phuket, and certainly suggests that the tourists are not coming. I know quite a few guesthouse/hotel owners who are at a loss what to do. Even if they reduce their room rates to low season rates, the tourists are not there

You can add Pattaya to that list.

Without a fail, News Year is already booked out.

In one my hotels, we only have 2 bookings over that period.

At the moment(which is high season) the same hotel is only half booked and its doing great, because 1 hotel next door has only 2 rooms out of 14 and another 9 rooms out of 75

Expedia provides some marketing tools to see market movement etc.

Current bookings for 2-2.5 star hotels market average is 31 bookings per month. Its laughable.

dont look at expedia or agoda,

most hotels are giving only 10% to booking companies,

so means when agoda says full booked,

it means they have sold their 10% quantity of rooms,

the other 90% might be free for other arrangements !!

I know 1 D manager in jomtien,

he give only 1 suite to Agoda, other 9s are sold otherwise !!

Anotherone have a " special " category of rooms,

just for agoda low prices, with the rooms with problems !!

[sipi]

The golden goose has killed itself. This has been coming a long time. Blind Freddy could see that.

[mango66]

As an Aussie, Thailand has done nothing to the 'ole Goose.

But pure economics play a role.

The Aussie has declined by 10% recently against the Thai Baht.

The Russian Rouble has crashed.

If the Yuan is roughly pegged to the USD.

You might get more Chinese and USA tourists ... that would have to be good ... wouldn't it?

Yeah, you pretty much nailed it. Unfortunately in Chiang Mai, there doesn't seem to be a shortage of tourists. I wish they would head to the coastal towns, but for whatever reason, they love Chiang Mai. Traffic is getting horrible.

for what ever reason you should go to CM ??

AC I have in my hotel too,

burning rice fields and smog i dont need !!

[mango66]

It's is now high season but where are the tourists? Has Thailand finally killed the golden goose with the problems this year, Koh Tao, Political issues, curfews, removal of beach chairs etc etc etc? This definitely looks that way, at least this season. Beaches aren't anymore busy than a normal low season, streets certain aren't packed with crowds, bars that use to have 30 odd people in them now have 5-10, shops are saying they don't have customers, so their stock increases for the high season are now sitting in back rooms.

This may be different in various parts of the country, however this is not just an observation, this is what is also being talked about with other business owners. I personally know of 16 bars that are closing down this month around Bangla. I also know 3 hotel owners that are closing and 9 shop owners that are closing their doors. This is just in Patong and certainly shouldn't be happing in high season where the most money is generally made.

A few friends of mine who normally come here yearly as well as a number of customers are heading to Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia and Bali this time because they are all tired of the scams and problems here and have all said it is now getting too expensive compared to other destinations.

Is this happening across the country or is it just here? In 9 years i have never seen it like this.

Its true, i have seen the same thing, to my opinion is that each leader at the head of this country bring its lot to what degree of positiveness? or what degree of negativeness ? We will never have the right middle !Thaksin is a buisiness person; so is Yinluck. They have acted accordingly ! Prayut is a military...

yingluk is a rice farming expert ,

and scam were her specials,

this you call business ??

[Christie Paul]

The Goose is dead. They are now picking over the bones.

[mike324]

I think one of the main reasons is politics, people are scared based on what they read in the news as this whole incident has been blow out of proportion by the media. How an army general is in charge and how its dangerous etc etc. Embassies putting Thailand as high alert travel warning for the coup. Even though most have removed the warnings, people are still stuck in the mind set that General = Dangerous. People tend to think a coup and general is what you would get in Egypt, Syria, Iran or similar countries. Yes its that bad! How people really have no idea whats going on here.

I have talked to many of my western customers, everyone asks if its dangerous to go to Thailand with the army in charge. After they have visited, they all say the media is misleading people around the world. This apply mostly to the westerners. I have not seen dramatic decreases with Asians coming.

The other part with less tourist is simply the economy, there are some fluctuations in this past 2-3 years with currency exchange as well.

[Jessi]

I agree with the OP 100%.

Knowing Thais like I do, they will just put their prices up and blame everything on the falang.

[ChiangmaiRob]

Getting away from Pattaya, today we noticed that there were many more Farangs about in Buriram than last week but this is a different form of tourist. The first time I came to Thailand it was also 1 December - end of January (coinciding with a mild winter back home and a terrible February).

I don't care if Pattaya disappears under a sand dune personally.

I'm sure they would welcome a few large sand dunes just to fill up that empty space, they call the beach!

[ukchatterbox]

The OP being from Patong, is it any wonder. When living there pre and post tsunami it was an affordable place to be. My visit last year was shocked at the prices. For a single guy looking for a good night out with drinks and entertainment in the Bangla area would be 7k and more for a late one. A friend with a bar in Soi Eric told me the rent once it was refurbished hence the prices. Of course bad publicity dosnt help. What is the target tourist Thailand wants. backpackers certainly are not looking for Mc Ds, pizza company and the like. Sexpats can go cheaper places. Families of course worried about safety. A overhaul of the whole outlook is required

[Friendly Stranger]

The Goose is dead. They are now picking over the bones.

I think the bib are calling it suicide..

[rmacee]

Coming here for the past 4 years but was also here in the mid 80s early 2000 etc.

Couple of observations ..

Thailand looks tired and trashed ..Pattaya was fun place now taken over by Russian who think they can turn it into a Magalof ..

Patong no better ..

- Thais have made no effort to learn or willing to speak English

- Political unrest

- endless police 'stories'

- Endless scams (jetskies etc)

- 'we good Thai people' ..We don't kill anybody

- Yes getting expensive ..massage was 250 ..then 300, 350 now majority 400 and most of them have had no training ..

- Now some bars and some 'American' style restaurants are doing the Malaysian trick of what you see is not what you pay ..The old ++ trick ..had it here in BKK last night ..SC 10% plus 7% tax ..

Edited December 4, 2014 by rmacee

[peterb17]

On a trip from my fabulous villa in Jomtien to down town Pattaya night before last- traffic horrendous- counted 80 tour buses- they just park anywhere- do U turns without a thought - think they are Chinese / Korean tours. Seem to be far less of the Pegas buses who cater for the Russians.

It's busy, but the shopping centres not so full, the Korean restaurant I was visiting almost deserted.

Where on earth do those tours go at night? Maybe they have lights out at ten and then up at dawn for trip to jewellery factory and King Power not so duty free and then off to eat some endangered species for lunch.

[lucifer666]

I have noticed this also. My local used to have around 15-20 regular drinkers on most nights, in the last few months, it's been 2-3.. Several other local bars have gone altogether this year.

[Tony125]

Does anyone have a clue how many Americans vacation in Thailand compared to Aussies and Europeans? I don't see that many when I'm there.

China's economy including exports is struggling. The Russian Ruble has crashed. Japan's economy is struggling.

I think it's currency values and economies that are doing at least some of this. Also, Thailand has become expensive. For people on a budget there are alternatives.

I'm originally from Boston,MA USA and saw an article that said in 2013 only 13 % of Amercans traveled outside the US. Of that percent how many traveled to Thailand? Probably not that many.

[CarlTyson]

Everyday, I go to Google News and search 'Thailand.'

I imagine you are also searching chemtrails, illuminati, bigfoot, and English royal family lizard people.

Give it a rest.

Huh?

I'm just looking for interesting news articles about Thailand.... before they are blocked.

Good article in The Economist yesterday.

[David48]

The massage parlor I was in shut down because the cops were on their way.

<deleted> Thailand?!

I just checked out your profile to observe your avatar.

Awesome blond hair ... difficult to obtain with the Asian colour ...

[Tony125]

Thailand is under Marshall Law and under the control of an oppressive Military Junta.

The Police are out of control, backing the systematic scamming of visitors.

Are you going to plan your family holiday there?

Absolutely a great time to visit!

I've never felt safer here.

My experiences says your observations are well wide of the Mark!

Observations? I was stating facts.

Really?

Quote "Thailand is under Marshall Law and under the control of an oppressive Military Junta."

So you would prefer Thailand as it was 9 months ago when innocent civilians were being injured and murdered on a daily basis? Where there was no government, no budget, law and order was non existent, nobody was in control and the country was in complete chaos and possibly hearding for civil war? Where crime was rampant and the biggest crooks were the police?

And you think that was a better and safer time?

My experiences say that your observations (or facts from your point of view) are very wide of the mark.

How has the "oppressive military junta" (your words) affected you and the Thais close to you?

Out where I live in rural Thailand it has made no difference at all to me, my family, my friends or to the local Thais that I know.

As you said "Out where I live in rural Thailand it has made no difference at all to me, my family, my friends or to the local Thais that I know." but a lot of us don't live in the jungle. When there was a curfew at 10 PM there were probably no soldiers out there to inforce it. Probably didn't need to as everyone was in bed by that time anyway.

[mercman24]

what pisses me off is the stupid closing bars at 2 am, when i can go onto the pavement and drink until daylight, not that i do, but it is the choice , sit in an air-con bar or choke to death having a beer on the pavement.

[Jimbo2014]

Sadly Thailand is not as exotic as it once was. The environment has been degraded terribly and the quality of beaches is terrible thanks to unchecked and rampant tourism development. Bangkok offers some nice attractions but is overcrowded, hot and polluted. Hotel prices are capping 100-200 dollars a night now. Many things tourists may desire such as clean air, beaches, good wine - are all now unavailable in Thailand but are freely available in countries others may consider closer to home or more affordable. Add in a coup, bad press, high profile deaths, corrupt police... well... TAT and Thailand really need a reality check and this could be a good catalyst which after a crash may prompt a rethink.