What a Mess - Gay Tourism

[SlaveDriver]

Now that the flood episode is over the new thing about in the media. Terror Alert in Thailand.

What is this all about? 7 Western Countries have issued travel alerts.

How is this affecting the gay tourism in BKK and Pattaya?

What is the turth> should I cancel my trip? :party

[Brisboy82]

Why would it effect your trip? The only negative impact I could think of is if a lack if tourists cases a lot of the boys to throw the towel in and go back to isan for a while, or that a lack of tourists makes you feel lonely or something.

I try to stay away from farangs most of the time so a lack of tourists would be a plus in that sense.

[billy2bs]

No...do not cancel...make your plans and go. do not hesitate or you will kick for not having done it. What is going to happend? No terrorists are about to occupy the cities . But then do not be blind too. Pay attention to what is around you and avoid the obvious problems. And if at the last minute something does come up then deal with it properly. :glasses7:

[kjun12]

Interesting. Both replies come from people who don't live here in Thailand but consider themselves experts.

[Neal]

OK so I will tell you. come here and have a good time. I have seen nor heard of any unusual violence.
:party

i think in this case whether you live or don't live in Thailand is actually fairly irrelevant as NONE of us a would be anymore aware than the other of what the TRUE situation is with regard to possible imminent terrorist attacks, however the FACTS are that two individuals with close links to Hezbollah WERE arrested last week in Bankgkok at the request / advice of the Americans and Israeli security services, with a follow up search finding a VERY large quantity of bomb making equipment ( and the type were you transport it as a car bomb not a small C4 type explosive device, which would imply it may well have been for use in Bangkok or surrounding areas). Also dont forget that when countries do issue a saftey / do not travel alert that can then invalidate travel insurance / health cover policies if you chose to ignore the warning so I think it was a fair question to ask.

HOWEVER as with all these things ( and trust me coming from Northern Ireland I know) if you were let these things stop you you'd never go anywhere and you should always put and keep any risk in perspective and also ( and this is just the stubborn part of us Irish perhaps) I would never let the terrorists dictate to me where I should and shouldn't go and I would always (on balance) go wherever I intended, warning or not ! As lets face it on the law of averages the chances of you getting caught up in something are fairly slim to non existent - and if you do well then "that's lilfe", you could get hit by a bus going to work every day but that doesn't stop you crossing the road.

So, go to Thailand, have a great time, piss the terrorists off - and if you see any men running down a soi with thick wooly balaclava masks on whilst holding up a remote control button and shouting something about Allah all when it's 32 degrees and sunny - I suggest you DUCK !! lol

as it happens i am thinking about cancelling my trip to thailand ... i think id be much safer staying at home in london ...
hmmm on second thoughts wheres me passport ...
what the hell is there to worry about ... ffs .. blown up or blown off .. whats the difference ?

"blown up or blown off .. whats the difference"

1000 baht !!! lol

[billy2bs]

HMMM..I do not recall saying I was an expert even though I do not live in Thailand. But then maybe that is what you read somewhere. Obviously you cannot see what I wrote. It is in between the lines. Seems to me another poster interpreted the point the same way but expounded a bit more elegantly. Once again a response which did not address the question posed.
Haa..what a group we do have here.

Bill :dontknow:

[Brisboy82]

I have also never claimed to be an expert. Kjun12 is just trying to make himself look like he knows more than others because he presumably lives in Thailand (which doesn't necessarily make one an expert as there's plenty of expats in Thailand who live in such a sheltered sexpat world that they actually know nothing about Thailand and as a whole even after being there for decades. The ignorance of some long term expats is astounding). I'm not calling him ignorant as I don't know him. Simply saying that being resident in Thailand doesn't automatically make you an expert.

Also since the op is asking about whether a 'tourist' should go. Well it seems logical that a tourists opinion would be specifically relevant.

Brisboy82 - your post is far too sensible for SGT forum.

:evil4:

[thrillbill]

I don't understand the "over kill" (no pun intended) on last week's terrorist warning. Fifty...forty...thirty years ago it was the "cold war" people had to worry about, now (unfortunately) it is terrorism. Warnings from various embassies, (in this case USA and Israel) put out these warnings to their citizens. It isn't meant for everyone..it is up to your country's embassy to decide if there is a need for a "heads up". These warnings are usually for a day or week..not for the entire time. I think everyone in Bangkok found this warning of a terrorist attack shocking since it was the first one (I can think of) that came from a foreign embassy. (And a day after the warning the Hezballah fellow was arrested..) New York, Madrid, London,Paris, Cairo, Bombay, Jakarta, Bali ... the list continues have been "hit" by terrorists; yet, this does not keep people from visiting these cities. My only prevention I take when I go to a big city is to stay away from the big international Western hotel chains.

[Beachlover]

Sometimes it's just political arse covering... if a bomb goes off, one of the first things people ask these days is, "why didn't the government warn us there was a threat?!" :dontknow:

If the government or relevant intelligence agency was aware of a threat but didn't disclose it they're in the shit.

--

Got to ask... how is Bangkok doing with tourism these days? I never visit tourist attractions, gogo bars and other places, which are usually filled by farangs, so it's hard for me to say how it's going by observation alone. But over the last three months, I noticed three things...

1. Large high-end hotels look fairly vacant

2. Some high-end restaurants are not as busy as they should be... i.e. no problem getting a table at the last minute at places, which are usually booked out days in advance.

3. But then DJ Station was packed full when we went... not sure if I was seeing more Thais and less farangs than I've seen in previous high seasons.

Are tourist numbers good or bad now? :dontknow:

P.S. The OP, Slavedriver is just BadBoyBilly taking the piss so don't take him seriously... just a harmless clown.

[Dboy]

3 planes hit their targets on 9/11. One hit the pentagon, two hit the towers..total 3. the 4th plane did NOT hits its target. THAT one, was taken out by American CIVILIANS acting to protect their country. The US government didn't do SHIT on 9/11, it was the actions of regular people that mattered. I would assign absolutely no value whatsoever to the "warnings" from governments. The only way the US would know about an increased risk of a terrorist attack is if they were planning on orchestrating one.


Dboy

[DCbob]

I was on a bus going from Kanchanaburi into Bangkok.
I saw the police pulling over the small pick up trucks with supplies entering the city.
I did not see anything out of the ordinary. I do not know if they found anything or not, but it was not mentioned in the newspapers.
I felt no more anxiety than I would have had the inspections not been going on or if I did not know that a warning had been issued. In other words, I did not affect me at all. The bus was not inspected, and I do know that we were carrying cargo because I saw it being loaded.

[kjun12]

Kjun12 is just trying to make himself look like he knows more than others because he presumably lives in Thailand.
Never would I claim to be an expert on terrorism. Just find it amusing that you want to give advice on that of which you know nothing.

Kjun12 is just trying to make himself look like he knows more than others because he presumably lives in Thailand.
Never would I claim to be an expert on terrorism. Just find it amusing that you want to give advice on that of which you know nothing.

kunt12 - I find it amusing that you wish to arbitrarily judge what Brisboy82 may or may not know.
You have no idea whatsoever of his life experience or anything at all about him - but because he disagrees with you on a particular subject he "knows nothing"?
Your arrogance is breathtaking.

:occasion9:

[Smiles]

Your arrogance is breathtaking.
Kjun12's playground of record is Baht Stop. Say no more ... but add 'pretentiousness' to 'arrogance' if you will: being a staple for BS membership.

in all honesty there is no point to worry about bombs going off anywhere ... because they can go off anywhere ... so no matter where you are you are never 100% safe ...
i remember many years ago going to watch spurs play a match at white hart lane .. it got called off due to an i.r.a. bomb alert ... myself along with 50,000 other people didnt give a shit about the bomb but we did have the hump thru missing the football ... and belive me is that terrorist had shown his face on that day he would have been torn to pieces ...
giving up is giving in !!

....i remember many years ago going to watch spurs play a match at white hart lane .. ... myself along with 50,000 other people ...

:sign5:

50,000 going to watch Spurs?

Was that pre-decimal currency? :jok:

You're having a laugh - from memory, the stadium doesn't even hold 40,000 nowadays.

:party

well being as i havent been since the early 80's you work out how long ago it was .. i dont have enough fingers ...
just found this ...

The record attendance remains an FA Cup tie on 5 March 1938 against Sunderland with the attendance being recorded at 75,038.
tho i can assure you this wasnt the game i was refering too .... :tongue3:

[Beachlover]

Khun Waste of Space... You've added nothing of value.

At least have the courtesy to explain what you felt was wrong about the two posts you derided earlier.

[Beachlover]

According to this article, Bangkok tourism is bouncing back: http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-new ... 1q80q.html (http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/getting-on-with-it-bangkok-bounces-back-20120119-1q80q.html)

[latintopxxx]

...ofcourse it's bouncing back...Thailand is addictive...once tasted nothing else will do....only shutting down the airport (thanks yellow shirts...talk about cutting your nose to...) affected tourism for a short while...not like tourists were really in danger..