Tourist number down?

[bkkheat]

I hear the tourist numbers are up in Phuket and are getting better etc.

But I was in Pattaya 2 weeks ago and it looked so dead in walking Street compare to a few years ago, I was in Phuket last week and the same.

On Tuesday night I had a few drinks in cowboy with a few friends and at 9pm where was a moment that not one foreigner walked past where I was sitting for 5 minutes, Even in Bacarra at 10pm there was empty seats downstairs.

So are the tourists avoiding Thailand?

[Brit_Doggie]

Numbers up in pattaya but maybe non drinkers,nakula really bustling now.

[pgrahmm]

Up 23% was announced recently for the first quarter....Maybe a better quality tourist.....

Pattaya businesses are reaching out harder to attract people so maybe the cheap charlie sexpests are slithering away.....

[swissie]

Up 23% was announced recently for the first quarter....Maybe a better quality tourist.....

Pattaya businesses are reaching out harder to attract people so maybe the cheap charlie sexpests are slithering away.....

Yeah, up 23 %. Chinese Tour Buses that is, packed with high quality tourists from China.

- European "sexpests" may have realized, that it is no longer necessary to fly halfway around the globe for some "erotic entertainment", since eastern Europe is so close and the entertainment-fees are about the same.

Let's make no mistake: Pattaya stands and falls with " erotic entertainment". True quality tourists do NOT vacation in Pattaya, It's like as if the east coast elite of the US would select the South Bronx as their favorite holiday destination.

Cheers.

[WitawatWatawit]

A Chinese direct sales company is about to send 12,000 staff to Thailand as a bonus. I'll post their schedule so you can meet and mingle with them.

[Aussieroaming]

It's definitely quieter in Chiang Mai at the moment

[VillageIdiot]

Up 23% was announced recently for the first quarter....Maybe a better quality tourist.....

Pattaya businesses are reaching out harder to attract people so maybe the cheap charlie sexpests are slithering away.....

Yeah, up 23 %. Chinese Tour Buses that is, packed with high quality tourists from China.

- European "sexpests" may have realized, that it is no longer necessary to fly halfway around the globe for some "erotic entertainment", since eastern Europe is so close and the entertainment-fees are about the same.

Let's make no mistake: Pattaya stands and falls with " erotic entertainment". True quality tourists do NOT vacation in Pattaya, It's like as if the east coast elite of the US would select the South Bronx as their favorite holiday destination.

Cheers.

Agreed.

Good points about Eastern Europe and the South Bronx.

Sleaze-by-the-Sea isn't what it used to be for a number of reasons... but it will survive in some form, for better or for worse.

[h90]

In Khanom my wife tells so many farangs are here......I don't believe it.....A few days later a Thai friend need a hotel and everything is full. I think there is a shift in the destinations. The overdeveloped loose. Or don't increase at the same rate at the room numbers.

But I might be wrong.....

[Berkshire]

By the sound of the places the OP visited, it appears that sex tourism in Thailand may be on the decline. This is called "progress." What's the problem?

[BudRight]

By the sound of the places the OP visited, it appears that sex tourism in Thailand may be on the decline. This is called "progress." What's the problem?

You called it "progress," people associated with the industry will call it "poverty."

[h90]

By the sound of the places the OP visited, it appears that sex tourism in Thailand may be on the decline. This is called "progress." What's the problem?

You called it "progress," people associated with the industry will call it "poverty."

Yes they will to try real work......specially the extended family who lived from renting out 1 daughter

[shirtless]

I saw many closed shops on Jomtien beach today , all for sale things are certainly slowing even my land lord agrees.

[recycler]

Up mainly with Chinese that run at high speed in groups behind a guy with a sign while filming themselves using "selfie sticks".

They don't spend much time drinking beer or mongoring...

[ameadi]

Foolish comments

[Phuketboy]

Tourist numbers are definitely not up in Phuket. Yes bars are extremely quiet but so are the shops and restaurants. There are some people about (about a 10th of what use to be about this time of year) but are the Chinese who do the tours, but then cook in the room and don't really spend money out. I was at Big C Jungceylon yesterday doing my groceries. Lots of Chinese doing the same.

Bangkok was extremely quiet around Christmas time, but haven't been back since, so can't comment about what it's like at the moment.

Tourist numbers are down by a long shot and it will get worse as it's only the start of low season.

[MobileContent]

Low season has started. Of course the numbers are down.

[user82374298374]

A Chinese direct sales company is about to send 12,000 staff to Thailand as a bonus. I'll post their schedule so you can meet and mingle with them.

For anyone in Pattaya, it's going to be hard to avoid mingling with them.

[seancbk]

maybe the cheap charlie sexpests are slithering away.....

Let's hope so.

[seancbk]

Low season has started. Of course the numbers are down.

Low season??

It's only the start of May..... Its Summer or as normal people call it 'High Season'

[northernjohn]

In Khanom my wife tells so many farangs are here......I don't believe it.....A few days later a Thai friend need a hotel and everything is full. I think there is a shift in the destinations. The overdeveloped loose. Or don't increase at the same rate at the room numbers.

But I might be wrong.....

If memory serves me rite and it might not. There is only one hotel in Khanom and some resorts. Nice beach great for a quiet get away. It has been a while 6 years and things may have changed. I remember the owner of one more beer telling me at the time there was about 25 farongs living in the area.

[northernjohn]

I saw many closed shops on Jomtien beach today , all for sale things are certainly slowing even my land lord agrees.

I thought that Russia was the main foreign contributor to tourists in Pattaya. their economy has severely limited the tourist industry.

[asdecas]

Tourist numbers are invariably rising in Thailand. That is the official position of the Tourist Authority of Thailand, and anyone who says different is a damned liar.

[Johnny S]

Who cares what numbers they throw out ... up 200% and they all spend 150% more than last year - hoorah for TAT, the magical Oracle

[Sooo Upto Me]

Low season has started. Of course the numbers are down.

Low season??

It's only the start of May..... Its Summer or as normal people call it 'High Season'

Totally wrong for a start its middle of May.

Low season is May to October.

I have a business here in Pattaya (not a bar/restaurant) an its the quietest its been since the Bkk riots in 2010.

[Berkshire]

Low season has started. Of course the numbers are down.

Low season??

It's only the start of May..... Its Summer or as normal people call it 'High Season'

Totally wrong for a start its middle of May.

Low season is May to October.

I have a business here in Pattaya (not a bar/restaurant) an its the quietest its been since the Bkk riots in 2010.

My understanding is that low season is typically Mar-Oct, high season Nov-Feb. This year's high season seemed to have stretched all the way through Songkran....at least seemed that way in Chiang Mai.

[lasidaho]

So at the end of day, what is the real story here

[northernphil]

A new name for Pattaya. The Walking Dead Street. The ferlung down my local last night the same as usual, just me.

[lordblackader]

It's definitely quieter in Chiang Mai at the moment

Compared to maybe 2 months ago, but compared to the same time last year? not at all. Just remember it is low season now.

[krisb]

You should have called this thread 'why are tourist numbers down in low season, but up in high season'?

It's not rocket science is it??

[ToddinChonburi]

We went down to have lunch just south of that big ugly hotel Ambassador city Jomtein and I counted 10 tour buses in a line heading into Pattaya.

Tourist of a different kind and Pattaya will need to adapt. Time to build that casino.