Took a trip to what used to be a wondrously colourful and showy town called Bo Sang( east of CM).

Looked like it had dried up and was blowing away bit by bit!

The entire strip of road leading to Bo Sang used to be quite vibrant as well but for some reason was drab and sluggish looking.

I haven't ventured into the old city in a month, but am wondering if the high-season has started yet?

The non-alcoholic Yee Ping festival should kick it off but then again .....................

yes

Well then, maybe I'll pop down to the old city to "catch that buzz".

It is no doubt just rippin' and rockin'.

Edited November 21, 201510 yr by WaiLai

High season has started. Not indicated by the number of tourist but by hotels, golf courses etc raising their prices.

Whilst waiting for my flight to UK at 1-40 am, there were hoards after hoards of Chinese tour groups coming off flights and following the guy.girl with the long stick and flag. I mean it was non stop for the couple of hours I was sitting there, so I guess high season has started, the way our leader wants it.

Whilst waiting for my flight to UK at 1-40 am, there were hoards after hoards of Chinese tour groups coming off flights and following the guy.girl with the long stick and flag. I mean it was non stop for the couple of hours I was sitting there, so I guess high season has started, the way our leader wants it.

Glad to hear that last years trinket inventory will soon be bought up.

Wait a second...............aren't most of those trinkets made in China?

Won't Warrorot Market area be a beehive of mayhem! Tour buses occupying former songtaew and tuktuk parking spaces! Street traffic brought to a halt by tour group turtles!

Great setting for 'selfies"

Four of us go out weekly for a buffet at one of three higher end hotels.

Fortunately, we have made good friends with the staff and at the time of booking we are told if there will be a Chinese tour group on that date.

Ask the maitre'd's what they and their staff think of these groups.

It will improve over time especially with enough signage explaining dining etiquette, and that the cutlery, cloth napkins and glassware do not come as part of the dinner package.

Would venture to say yes....by the shear number of fat folks showing up to my local gym....?

Edited November 22, 201510 yr by chicowoodduck

When you are a local expat over 50 years old and going down the road and hear "hello sexy man" it is low season. Hearing "hello Ba" then it is high season..

If you have to ask,then you don't live here.Checking the price of green fees at the golf course or the cost of poon will tell you that.

It might be high season, but you wouldn't know it from the number of falangs on Loi Kroh. Place is dead.

I refuse to participate in the annual ritual of raised and excessive golf fees at the upmarket golf courses, I just stick to Gymkhana. Mae Kok in Chiang Rai is also inexpensive.

It's lucky the Chinese aren't into golf, most of the Japanese and Koreans are so slow you'd think the grass was clutching at their shoes.

Lets hope its good for some of the smaller businesses , they need a real good High season.

Living 2 blocks south of the Super Highway, and not crossing the Mae Ping in a month has left me pondering where "high season" actually occurs and when do the ripple effects spread out. After 2 years of living in this condo, I'd say we need more high seasons, high tourists and certainly a lot more bus tour groups checking out the areas of CM peripheral to the "inner city" - we need bigger ripples!

You know that times are rough when the street vendor tries to charge you 10 baht cooking cost fees on top of the 40 baht jok with kai and moo. A very Thainess thing right?

Edited November 22, 201510 yr by WaiLai

Since the Chinese invasion, now three and half years ago, believe it or not, high season has extended (for us at least) to 11 months of the year; the duff month being September. It seems other nationalities are simply irrelevent now against the Chinese influx and I would go as far as saying other nationalities have now almost stopped coming for various financial;political and immigration reasons.(Japs/Korean/Brits/US/Aus)

Almost everyone outside the moat area is targetting Chinese and their own.

In the past high season was really last week Oct until Songran, then it would be quiet, having to rely on the western farang tourists. It wasnt a good strategy as the low season tourists are low spenders, they are on a tight budget, looking for cheap accomodation.

The Chinese have holidays in the low season so flood across, there are weekend travellers most of the year so everything ticks over much better than the old low season. if you have Chinese customers you stand a much better chance of survival than without.

However.....something is amiss; the big kick in for high season the 3rd week in October did not happen....and here we are in the 3rd week of November and its seriously quiet with potentially the quietest month of the year (for us)

But something else is also strange; as you know all the small tour operators here are getting 10/15/20% comission for selling tours etc; well we have a Chinese tour agency offering all its Chinese customers a 15% discount off the price....BUT...they pay us the full price; not only that, they are paying up front and I am talking cash of 10k every other day.

For us, and many restaurants with the same company it couldnt be better....they are taking a 15% loss and the businesses have lots of cash flow. (being reimbursed via advertising i assume)

I can see if they start targetting the jungle swings, and zoos;, the small agencies will be out of business in no time.

come on high season, get yer arse in gear!

I stopped by the King Power in Pattaya looking for some Bluetooth speakers. The place was

full of Chinese tourists. I am still looking for Bluetooth speakers.

I eat lunch in the same outdoor restaurant every day. September and October and the first half of November the restaurant has been quiet, with just 3-4 tables of 'regulars,' and the occasional table of 6-8 Chinese. But for the past week or so, every table has been filled, and it's mostly Chinese tourists. The owners are happy but the 'regulars' are ready to start eating at home. The noise level is horrendous!

Did they legalize ganja!!! Errr...nevermind. Wrong 'high-season'.

Did they legalize ganja!!! Errr...nevermind. Wrong 'high-season'.

The top-down edict that "Everyone will be happy!", is a perfect segue for a 420 enlightenment.

Whilst waiting for my flight to UK at 1-40 am, there were hoards after hoards of Chinese tour groups coming off flights and following the guy.girl with the long stick and flag. I mean it was non stop for the couple of hours I was sitting there, so I guess high season has started, the way our leader wants it.

Did they all have on the same coloured shirt too? The ones in a particular group that is

eyecatcher operates what business?

I just stick to Gymkhana...

Yes, fees are cheap, but Gymkhana has rock-hard fairways covered in mostly Malaysia grass and patches of dirt or scrub grass. Sand traps are compacted and pretty much unplayable. No breakfast at breakfast time and unless they changed things, no driving range on Sunday.

It's a sad thing, catering to make more money to the very people who are destroying the tourism for everyone else....

In Pattaya yes, a long stream of large coaches heading down third rd, blocking off Sukhumvit as they enter attractions, etc etc

Surely they will be heading that way too.

Edited November 22, 201510 yr by jacko45k

We spent the weekend in Pai and didn't see any Chinese tourists. However, we did see lots of young western tourists. Are they skipping Chiang Mai now?

On Phuket I judge the seasons by how long it takes to get through the Chalong circle. Low Season is 1-3 minutes. Yesterday the line was 15-20 minutes. High season is here.