Why Build a Terminal 21 in Pattaya? by The Pattaya Sleuth

[janclaes47]

12 hours ago, lapd said:

Harbour is busier on weekends.

I have spent several hours on both Saturday afternoons in Harbor the past 2 weekends, and it maybe busier than during weekdays, it is far from busy.

 

During the same 2 weeks I have been there also frequently during weekdays, and then it's virtually empty.

 

Many empty spaces and shops that are locked up.

 

I don't think there will be any improvement when T21 opens

[thaibeachlovers]

Saw it today, and it's going to wipe out Central, IMO. It's way "cool" and all the trendies will go there.

[lapd]

16 hours ago, newnative said:

    Yes.  The Terminal 21 website shows the Bangkok T21 with 10 floors, although there is not much on the floor marked "B".   Pattaya, on the other hand, has 5 floors shown on the website, not counting the hotel, with a longer building.

The Pattaya one is really long.  When you walk up N. Pattaya Road it stretches almost all the way to Tesco Lotus.  That's pretty damn long.

[The manic]

On 5/1/2016 at 5:12 AM, JSixpack said:

One of our fave w@nks on the forum. Poor Chinese scavenging in the rubble, not spending anything like the traditional ol' yobos & mongers, those engines of true prosperity. It's so disgusting that City Hall forces corporations to tell outrageous lies like the following, cookin' the books to fool all them stupid auditors and analysts:

 

Improved performance of existing projects e.g. at CentralWorld, CentralPlaza Lardprao, CentralPlaza Pattaya Beach, etc., supported by spending from foreign tourists mainly from China and Korea during their summer travel season. . . . On a q-o-q basis, revenues from hotel operation increased by 6% thanks mainly to higher occupancy and room rate at Hilton Pattaya Beach Hotel with occupancy high at 92% in the third quarter, enhancing RevPar up 4% q-o-q as a result of an increasing number of Chinese and Korean tourist visits during their travel season in July-August. . . . continuing growth in hotel business with higher occupancy in this quarter on the back of increasing number of foreign tourists visiting Hilton Pattaya Beach Hotel. . . . However, the food court at CentralFestival Pattaya Beach experienced revenue growth, driven by higher traffic from tourist visits in the third quarter.

--Central Pattana PCL, Performance Overview: Overall economic condition in 3Q15

And since all TVF economic experts absolutely KNOW that Chinese tourists only spend money in Chinese venues like Central and the Hilton (and now Tesco Lotus and Foodland, as I saw quite a few in there recently), we have the completely bizarre situation whereby Thai banks kindly provide up to 166 billion baht to Chinese tourists, and therefore to China, for no possible reason other than for Immigration to collect visa fees over one holiday!

 

The nation’s seven commercial banks have prepared up to 166 billion baht for spending during the holiday, up by 9.7 billion last year. Bangkok Bank has reserved 35 billion baht for the period, Siam Commercial Bank has prepared 33 billion, Krungsri Bank has set aside 28.6 billion, Krungthai Bank has readied 20 billion and Kasikorn Bank has made sure to have 40 billion baht on hand.

--Banks confident Chinese New Year spending to be lively

Oddly, as TVF economists sneer at TAT's figures of rising numbers of tourists (and are still in denial about the construction of Suvarnabhumi Airport), the banks and the Mastercard Asia Pacific Destinations Index seem to agree more that the Chinese numbers are in fact rising, perhaps 16% annually according to the brokerage CLSA. Yes, dear CRASH! forecasters, CLSA took into account your knee-jerk about any economic slowdown:

 

But rising individualism and financial independence are seeing more and more young Chinese choose to defy custom, while at the same time tourism and outbound travel are surging. . . . Growing numbers are also seizing the opportunity for tourism, despite slowing growth in the world's second-largest economy. . . . Chinese travellers are by far the biggest spenders in the world, splashing $165 billion in countries they visited last year, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation.

-- New Year, New Travel: More Chinese Choose Tourism Over Tradition

Gotta love TVF economics.

The Chinese tourists are spreading their wings and traveling independently and can be seen all over the place-even the ones on coaches. 

[balo]

It looks almost finished inside .  

 

[The manic]

On 5/1/2016 at 2:15 AM, shirtless said:

Terminal 21 may be just the thing to raise Pattays image , could also be a monumental flop.

I'm not sure how a shopping mall could improve any city. A museum,  or Art gallery or theatre, or opera house I could understand. And that which seeks to attract coach loads of uneducated tourists from main land China can't really elevate a place rather drag it down. 

[newnative]

3 hours ago, The manic said:

I'm not sure how a shopping mall could improve any city. A museum,  or Art gallery or theatre, or opera house I could understand. And that which seeks to attract coach loads of uneducated tourists from main land China can't really elevate a place rather drag it down. 

         I beg to differ.  8 years ago my partner and I, newly arrived, were living on the beach in Rayong.  The nicest store we found was Home Pro.  Index, at the time, was just an un-airconditioned one floor warehouse.  My memory of it was hot and dark.  One weekend we drove to Pattaya, which we hadn't visited before.   The Index was huge!  3 stories and air-conditioned!  (Of course, now even better.)  

        Then, we discovered Central Festival, at that time fairly newly opened.  We had no idea there would be such a big, beautiful mall--in Pattaya!   After liking the vibe of Dongtan Beach, we had already been leaning towards moving to Pattaya but Central Festival was the clincher.   I don't think I am mistaken when I say that Central Festival was also the clincher for some Bangkok folks to decide that Pattaya was now ok for their weekend getaway condo.  

       Certainly museums, art galleries, live theater, etc., are nice to have but much more important is vibrant retail to the health of a town or city.   Central Festival was built, and sustained, long before the influx of Chinese tourists.  But, both it, and T21, contribute to making Pattaya a desirable destination, both for tourists and people choosing a place to live.  

[tontraveller]

4 hours ago, The manic said:

I'm not sure how a shopping mall could improve any city. A museum,  or Art gallery or theatre, or opera house I could understand. And that which seeks to attract coach loads of uneducated tourists from main land China can't really elevate a place rather drag it down. 

I think it is time for you to go and have a look for yourself in China to see how fast it is developing..And not only in Beijing or Shanghai, but also "smaller" cities like Chengdu,Guangdong,Xi'an,Chonqing,Wuhan , just to see that China has already hundreds of million educated people who drive cars and medium income life style..

It's a country where education is free till the age of 15...I might share with you to regret the massive influx of Chinese tourists here, but it is only the beginning...

[Songlover]

Any news as to the future of Rompho Market?