Pattaya leaders want to turn back clock on Songkran

[jvs]

It will be nearly impossible to put the genie back in the bottle,too little too late.

Maybe it can be changed if you separate the traditional Songkran from the waterfest.

Create a waterfest in certain areas all over Thailand on a later date,for people who like to do that.

I did it when i was first here and liked it!

Now we stock up and keep the gate closed.

Make the new waterfest at the beginning of rainy season on a long weekend.

Yeah i know.

[Philthyphil]

On April 7, 2560 BE at 0:45 PM, JSixpack said:

 

Not for 10 days they don't. Nor are they "quality" tourists spending much where it counts. No idiot Songran hooligan is staying at the Hilton and eating at Mantra.

 

After all, many businesses lose money from the start; most residents—and many if not most would-be tourists—hate to endure such a long duration.

Many tourists, particularly throngs of Chinese visitors, went straight to Bali Hai Pier to catch ferries to peaceful Koh Larn while many westerners and families stayed at their busy hotels. Expats and long-term visitors simply left Thailand for neighboring countries.

Water wars leave beach vendors high and dry

So it must be that businesses and powerful individuals who do financially benefit are behind the permitting its extraordinary duration in Pattaya.

You are contradicting yourself in one post. 

Mantra and the Hilton are not owned by small Thai business people. 

Heaps of people cash in on Songkran, selling drinks, food, powder, water pistols to the tens of thousands people enjoying it. A good oppurtunity for the poorer Thais to earn a baht if they have a bit of dash. 

Plus all the cheaper hotels are booked out this month. For them it IS the high season.

Who cares about the Hilton? They arrived here only a few years ago, they knew what  Pattaya was all about, towering over Soi 8 etc

[tropo]

On 4/8/2017 at 0:20 AM, maprao said:

Normal tourists don't go to pattaya...just saying.

 

 

You should go to Pattaya one day and take a look. Pattaya is packed with normal tourists... just saying. This fact is hard for Pattaya knockers to comprehend.

[tropo]

On 4/8/2017 at 8:09 AM, mok199 said:

but they sure love the revenue it brings in..as with anything in Thailand its all about the cash...Thailand was lost many years ago,and has been pimped out ever since...

 

As already stated many times, Songkran does not bring in revenue for Pattaya. A lot of money is lost. For example, people don't go to shopping malls and restaurants to dine when they're soaking wet. Can you imagine the money retailers at Central lose during Songkran?

[JSixpack]

7 hours ago, Philthyphil said:

You are contradicting yourself in one post.

 

You wish. No, you simply weren't able to grasp the point.

 

Quote

Mantra and the Hilton are not owned by small Thai business people.

 

Uh . . . no. They're owned by shareholders, which may include small Thai business people; and they and the other countless businesses losing over the 10 days of Pattaya Hooligan Songkran also employ lots of Thai people.

 

Quote

Heaps of people cash in on Songkran, selling drinks, food, powder, water pistols to the tens of thousands people enjoying it. A good oppurtunity for the poorer Thais to earn a baht if they have a bit of dash.

 

Which amounts to *nitnoi compared to the total spend being lost by the upscale establishments owing to deeper wallets leaving, staying away, or not going out. I already noted that many of the beer bars do well and yes by extension (cough) water pistol and powder vendors. Every debacle must have some winners after all.

 

Quote

Plus all the cheaper hotels are booked out this month. For them it IS the high season.

 

Of which bookings, however many there really are, only a small percentage are from Songkran hooligans. So it takes 10 hooligan flophouse bookings to make up for 1 lost booking at the Hilton/Holiday Inn/Amari/Dusit etc., by guests who would have spent a lot more in the restos and in the malls. Then considering all the other businesses who suffer, large and small, owing to what effectively amounts to an economic blockade, it all adds up to a big net loss for the Pattaya economy.

 

Edited April 9, 2017 by JSixpack

[tropo]

52 minutes ago, JSixpack said:

 

You wish. No, you simply weren't able to grasp the point.

 

 

Uh . . . no. They're owned by shareholders, which may include small Thai business people; and they and the other countless businesses losing over the 10 days of Pattaya Hooligan Songkran also employ lots of Thai people.

 

 

Which amounts to *nitnoi compared to the total spend being lost by the upscale establishments owing to deeper wallets leaving, staying away, or not going out. I already noted that many of the beer bars do well and yes by extension (cough) water pistol and powder vendors. Every debacle must have some winners after all.

 

 

Of which bookings, however many there really are, only a small percentage are from Songkran hooligans. So it takes 10 hooligan flophouse bookings to make up for 1 lost booking at the Hilton/Holiday Inn/Amari/Dusit etc., by guests who would have spent a lot more in the restos and in the malls. Then considering all the other businesses who suffer, large and small, owing to what effectively amounts to an economic blockade, it all adds up to a big net loss for the Pattaya economy.

 

 

It might be worth mentioning that in April, before Songkran (right now) Pattaya is quite busy. I consider Songkran as the divider between high and low seasons... it ushers in the low season. A lot of businesses have no option other than to close shop for the week over Songkran.

 

Many "normal" tourists and even the "abnormal" ones (sex-tourists) arrange their vacations around Songkran. i.e. they either leave before or arrive after it. The tourists who love Songkran in Pattaya are a strange breed indeed. Bangkok is a great alternative for tourists who don't mind a bit of water for a few days.

 

 

[JSixpack]

1 hour ago, tropo said:

It might be worth mentioning that in April, before Songkran (right now) Pattaya is quite busy. I consider Songkran as the divider between high and low seasons... it ushers in the low season. A lot of businesses have no option other than to close shop for the week over Songkran.

 

Many "normal" tourists and even the "abnormal" ones (sex-tourists) arrange their vacations around Songkran. i.e. they either leave before or arrive after it. The tourists who love Songkran in Pattaya are a strange breed indeed. Bangkok is a great alternative for tourists who don't mind a bit of water for a few days.

 

 

 

Very true, good point. And I'd suggest that the Pattaya  "strange breed" may represent a much smaller number than touted by hooligan apologists. The "tens of thousands" who enjoy Songkran here are mainly Thais and they gather en masse on the peak days. (Not to say a lot of more normal farang tourists don't come out on those days as well.) The idiot farang hooligans annoying and endangering residents and normal tourists day after day from the beer bars might only number in the hundreds. There may seem to be far more of them owing to their ability to disrupt normal travel to an extent far out of proportion to their numbers, leveraged by the support of the bar girls and locals.

Edited April 9, 2017 by JSixpack

[tropo]

55 minutes ago, JSixpack said:

 

Very true, good point. And I'd suggest that the Pattaya  "strange breed" may represent a much smaller number than touted by hooligan apologists. The "tens of thousands" who enjoy Songkran here are mainly Thais and they gather en masse on the peak days. (Not to say a lot of more normal farang tourists don't come out on those days as well.) The idiot farang hooligans annoying and endangering residents and normal tourists day after day from the beer bars might only number in the hundreds. There may seem to be far more of them owing to their ability to disrupt normal travel to an extent far out of proportion to their numbers, leveraged by the support of the bar girls and locals.

 

 

Yes, it doesn't take many idiots to spoil the afternoon for many people. Pratumnak Road adjacent to Walking Street is a favourite place for these morons to await their prey. Most tourists from Jomtien have to go through there, where there's only one lane of slow moving traffic in each direction.

Edited April 9, 2017 by tropo

[Phuketboy]

Will be a good change.  They need to do that in all tourist places.  Every year we travel back to the home village, dancing in the streets, respectfully pouring water over everyone and wiping powder on the face, concert at night etc etc.  Always a great time.  In all the years in Thailand, I have only done 1 Songkran in Phuket (Patong), it was not Songkran, it was a massacre.  Sorry but shooting people in the face with high powdered water guns is not how it is meant to be and certainly not fun at all. (Good way to get a punch in the face). I hope they make the change everywhere, and get people to celebrate it in a more appropriate way...... easy to do really, just ban the sale of water guns or have areas where the dickheads can use them away from where everyone else celebrates.  Tourists coming here need to learn and appreciate that is not merely a watergun battle.   

Edited April 10, 2017 by Phuketboy

[gmac]

Why does Pattaya have to celebrate(?) Songkran on a different schedule to everyone else?  'Because it does' or 'because it always has' are not answers.  Would be a far better occasion for all concerned (apart from the idiots) if it stuck to 13-15th like most of the rest of the country.  Go crazy all you like for 3 days but 10??  Utter madness!

[simon43]

I'm staying in Pattaya right now (Soi Post Office).

 

Tomorrow morning (Tuesday), I'll take the new ferry to Hua Hin to find somewhere a little more peaceful for Songkran.

 

Splashing water is fine.  But too many idiots spoil that fun nowadays - (or maybe I just got too old...)

[Ijustcashier]

I'm staying in Pattaya right now (Soi Post Office).
 
Tomorrow morning (Tuesday), I'll take the new ferry to Hua Hin to find somewhere a little more peaceful for Songkran.
 
Splashing water is fine.  But too many idiots spoil that fun nowadays - (or maybe I just got too old...)

Not old just bored of it. Seen it once get the t shirt and move on.

The new arrivals will go batshit for 10 days pissed out of their minds and you won't see them again

It's like the running of the bulls, why would anyone unfortunate enough to see it once go back for a second running?

[simon43]

I told my hotel just now that I'm checking out to avoid the water.  They said that they understand 100% and they also said that they will have many empty rooms at Songkran because of the madness.

[dave2]

On 4/7/2017 at 0:45 PM, JSixpack said:

Many tourists, particularly throngs of Chinese visitors, went straight to Bali Hai Pier to catch ferries to peaceful Koh Larn

 

like all these ?

 

dave2 ....off to hong kong for a week :)

[LongTimeLurker]

On 4/7/2017 at 7:45 AM, Encid said:

Good luck with that.

Why don't the Pattaya officials recognize that tourists (both Thai and foreign) visit Pattaya especially to take part in the water madness?

Gentler times will result in tourist numbers falling... not increasing.

 

And those that live there leave the country at this time.

[joepattaya1961]

On 4/7/2017 at 0:34 PM, Encid said:

No I am not "one of those Falangs" at all.

But I am a local resident and I stay well clear of it for obvious reasons.

You should have known better.

Being a resident for 15 years now I now better, but sometimes people HAVE TO "join" the water-madness. 

 

[bodymassagemyfriend]

On 07/04/2017 at 0:45 PM, Encid said:

Good luck with that.

Why don't the Pattaya officials recognize that tourists (both Thai and foreign) visit Pattaya especially to take part in the water madness?

Gentler times will result in tourist numbers falling... not increasing.

Not me i stay clearly away from this madness which is especially an excuse to attack foreigners with iced water or even worse if you read other articles here ( urine ) Every event which fosters disrespecting people should be banned. There is nothing gentle in Song Kran.