OMG ... should have known better but didn't.

What a madhouse tonight at our very own luxury mall.

With the Russkies in remission I was kind of surprised.

I've really never seen the joint busier than tonight but it's not like I'm there every day.

There seemed to be more ... Chinese.

The interesting part for me is to look at the restaurants, almost every place full up with queue, full up, or almost full up. The only place I noticed not very full was S and P. There were seats in the basement food court but I'm guessing as usual the "luxury" food court was probably not full (is it ever?).

Staffs were understandably looking stressed.

Got to admit that in the crush at CentralWorld in BKK on Monday 29th at midday it suddenly dawned on me that a LOT of people were speaking Mandarin.

There was a mob at the elevators on the 5th floor ... people were butting in, not pretty.

I gave up and went inside Central. The elevators there were empty.

Being a local has bennies.

Never seen Pattaya as busy as yesterday, also made the mistake of going to the Festival Beach, traffic was backed up everywhere. 8pm the traffic was stationary from junction of Pratumnak hill right into Pattaya

There was a mob at the elevators on the 5th floor ... people were butting in, not pretty.

I gave up and went inside Central. The elevators there were empty.

Being a local has bennies.

And don't spill the secret about the Central bathrooms...oops

There was a mob at the elevators on the 5th floor ... people were butting in, not pretty.

I gave up and went inside Central. The elevators there were empty.

Being a local has bennies.

And don't spill the secret about the Central bathrooms...oops

I have no idea. Do tell.

I;d say its a lot quieter than usual in the bars and pubs. Maybe thats the way its going , less party animals and more shopping and site seeing types

I;d say its a lot quieter than usual in the bars and pubs. Maybe thats the way its going , less party animals and more shopping and site seeing types

As far as I'm concerned 90 percent of the bars could close and there would still be more than enough. Of course that won't happen, but really, who cares except the owners?

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I;d say its a lot quieter than usual in the bars and pubs. Maybe thats the way its going , less party animals and more shopping and site seeing types

As far as I'm concerned 90 percent of the bars could close and there would still be more than enough. Of course that won't happen, but really, who cares except the owners?

Agree,I noticed a couple of those complexes with about 100 little bars in them had not even opened

Soi Welcome in Jomtien is a Russian Soi.

Yesterday it looked like low season there.

Soi Welcome in Jomtien is a Russian Soi.

Yesterday it looked like low season there.

I know a restaurant/guest house owner there and he's saying the same. The Russians are staying away in there droves - or going to Vietnam instead.

Oh goodie!! Open season on our inscrutable friends has finally arrived. Have they reduced the limit bag this year?

I find its great fun when there's lots of Chinese tourists in a confined area. Just brace your shoulders and maintain your course as you walk through the crowd. Don't even think about stepping out of their way - full steam ahead and don't make eye contact. It's a bit like dodgem cars, but JT is solid enough so he should have no problems. Count the hits as you go.

Same in the restaurants and shops. Do your best to push in and talk over them. I find accidentally stepping on their toes distracts them long enough for me to claim my rightful position in the queue.

Having them around in numbers is just a chance for more sport.

Russian open season is a bit different and nowhere nearly as much fun. Best I can do is help them negotiate a discount at the market stalls and street sellers by "assisting" them to negotiate. My personal record is convincing one that 1,400 baht for a Beach Road watch was a bargain.

A close second is when they scrounge a cigarette off me. I take one from the pack, rip off the filter and hand it to them and then refuse to give them my lighter. It confuses them to buggery.

And the Russians tend to run faster than the Chinese when you blast the scooter horn at them and deviate slightly in their direction as they're crossing Second Road.

So don't see the Chinese or Russian tourists as a problem, see them as an opportunity for a bit of sport.

Soi Welcome in Jomtien is a Russian Soi.

Yesterday it looked like low season there.

I know a restaurant/guest house owner there and he's saying the same. The Russians are staying away in there droves - or going to Vietnam instead.

The ones that can afford travel are not coming to Thailand after that video of the beach chair vendor abusing that Russian lady on the beach.

What ever happened to that guy that ran the beach chair operation? He ordered that poor Cambodian kid to go abuse that lady.

The Russians are staying away in there droves - or going to Vietnam instead.

What is the advantage for them of going to Vietnam? The Dong doesn't seem to have devalued along with the Rouble.

The Russians are staying away in there droves - or going to Vietnam instead.

What is the advantage for them of going to Vietnam? The Dong doesn't seem to have devalued along with the Rouble.

No advantage whatsoever from an FX perspective, but from what I hear Vietnam is becoming a more popular place (than before) for them to visit. My son was there pre Christmas and his observation was there were many more Russians than in his previous years visits. Anecdotal evidence, but there you go.

Fair enough. There is no reason why the huge numbers of Russian tourists should not stop coming to Thailand every bit as quickly as they started coming here.

Soviet and Vietnam had a lot of things going on between them from the hard core communist years, trade and army stuff so perhaps visa's are easy to get for Russians?

Yes very bad traffic down town Pattaya yesterday glad I took the scooter and not the truck. It seems Pattaya are a very popular place for Thais now but you wont see them in the beer bars. Hopefully they will soon start heading home but some might stay this weekend. Monday should be back to normal, thank Buddha for that.

Soviet and Vietnam had a lot of things going on between them from the hard core communist years, trade and army stuff so perhaps visa's are easy to get for Russians?

Yes very bad traffic down town Pattaya yesterday glad I took the scooter and not the truck. It seems Pattaya are a very popular place for Thais now but you wont see them in the beer bars. Hopefully they will soon start heading home but some might stay this weekend. Monday should be back to normal, thank Buddha for that.

Yes. Massive amount of Thais visiting Pattaya/Jomtien this week.

I noticed Jomtien Beach packed with Thais.

Soi Welcome in Jomtien is a Russian Soi.

Yesterday it looked like low season there.

That's probably because the Welcome Jomtien Beach hotel Is Russian owned.......bringing mainly Russian clientele and so the Soi itself will be Rusdian focused.

The Russians are staying away in there droves - or going to Vietnam instead.

What is the advantage for them of going to Vietnam? The Dong doesn't seem to have devalued along with the Rouble.

Yeah, you would think the Vietnamese wouldn't want the Russian Rubble any more than the Thais.

The Russians are staying away in there droves - or going to Vietnam instead.

What is the advantage for them of going to Vietnam? The Dong doesn't seem to have devalued along with the Rouble.

If you have been on the Central coast of Vietnam you would understand : Island like clear water on the mainland coast, mountains/hills/boulders type coastal geography. Im expecting Vietnam to start taking not only Russians but also Chinese as well as all others who vacation in Pattaya/Thailand for reasons other than "entertainment"

There was a mob at the elevators on the 5th floor ... people were butting in, not pretty.

I gave up and went inside Central. The elevators there were empty.

Being a local has bennies.

And don't spill the secret about the Central bathrooms...oops

I have no idea. Do tell.

Nothing salacious...no "wide stance" there...just, as you already know, clean and uncrowded loos

The Russians are staying away in there droves - or going to Vietnam instead.

What is the advantage for them of going to Vietnam? The Dong doesn't seem to have devalued along with the Rouble.

If you have been on the Central coast of Vietnam you would understand : Island like clear water on the mainland coast, mountains/hills/boulders type coastal geography.

I do understand that, but in what sense is it new? If the Russians stop coming here and start going there one supposes that something has changed with either Thailand or Vietnam (or the Russians) to make them do so.

The Russians are staying away in there droves - or going to Vietnam instead.

What is the advantage for them of going to Vietnam? The Dong doesn't seem to have devalued along with the Rouble.

If you have been on the Central coast of Vietnam you would understand : Island like clear water on the mainland coast, mountains/hills/boulders type coastal geography.

I do understand that, but in what sense is it new? If the Russians stop coming here and start going there one supposes that something has changed with either Thailand or Vietnam (or the Russians) to make them do so.

Based on about 8 years of working and living between Thailand and Vietnam, there is a definite drop-off in Russian visitors here. Whether there's been a commensurate increase in their appearance in Vietnam is harder to define as they have been venturing further along the coasts than their usual hang outs in Phu Quoc, Vung Tau, Mui Ne and Nha Trang. But they certainly haven't diminished any as far as I can tell. I can only assume that the Russian tour operators are maybe getting better breaks and profits in Vietnam than they can get here?

Point to note is that especially in Nha Trang they are pretty much reviled due to the drunken excesses. There's a tale of Vietnamese fatalities when a drunken Russian ran his rental motorcycle into a busy coffee shop. I hear that it is very hard for Russians to rent motorcycles but of course that may be taken car of by offering more money.

The Russians are staying away in there droves - or going to Vietnam instead.

What is the advantage for them of going to Vietnam? The Dong doesn't seem to have devalued along with the Rouble.

If you have been on the Central coast of Vietnam you would understand : Island like clear water on the mainland coast, mountains/hills/boulders type coastal geography. Im expecting Vietnam to start taking not only Russians but also Chinese as well as all others who vacation in Pattaya/Thailand for reasons other than "entertainment"

Only it can cop a typhoon any month of the year and almost as regular as the Philippines. Not a good return on investment !

Back on topic: I reckoned the city would be total gridlock through this long, holiday weekend. However, beyond the tailbacks on Sukhumvit and inbound on Nua, Klang and Tai, most other roads have been pretty much deserted. The main exception is Klang down to Beach and left to Central and Tai and right on Second towards Central.

It seems that most visitors head towards Central for the free parking, food courts and a 'central' base for any wandering around town? I don't see the Central stores full of shoppers, just plenty of window-shoppers and hanging about. Maybe if Central started charging for parking (or need the parking card endorsed by a trader inside) maybe half these buggers wouldn't come here.

There's no denying that it is mostly Chinese tourists this 'high season'.

It seems that most visitors head towards Central for the free parking, food courts and a 'central' base for any wandering around town? I don't see the Central stores full of shoppers, just plenty of window-shoppers and hanging about. Maybe if Central started charging for parking (or need the parking card endorsed by a trader inside) maybe half these buggers wouldn't come here.

Ever since it opened Central has been a huge draw on public holidays for Thais who live within driving distance, though I've never quite understood why. Novelty, I suppose.

As you mention, they dont do much apart from window shop and eat. Many restaurants in Central seem to do good business on public holidays.

Be happy that you survived the Chinese stampede.

Luckier than those in Shanghai.

Yes, you should have known better

100% occupancy I am told by a friend in Pattaya that is affiliated with 3 hotels catering to westerners, Americans, Australians, Europeans.

Hotels that cater to the Russians are hurting.

How soon will they change the signage back to English I wonder?

100% occupancy I am told by a friend in Pattaya that is affiliated with 3 hotels catering to westerners, Americans, Australians, Europeans.

Hotels that cater to the Russians are hurting.

How soon will they change the signage back to English I wonder?

And 63 Pattaya hotels had availability at 18:00 on New Years Eve according to agoda.

Nothing like 100% occupancy. Maybe there's 65% of hotels that are 'fully booked' but still plenty room at the inn.