Why the 30% drop in Tourism

As a frequent visitor to Thailand, though I have noticed a drop in tourist, but surprised to note over the last year it has dropped by 30%. What do you think have caused this drop and the impact it has on the tourist industry. Will the trend continue or will there be an improvement. I am sure, atleast 25% of the indistry is either directly or indirectly controlled by the farangs. What does the farang community intend doing better to improve the situation or are you all packing up your bags to Laos or Vietnam

Let us have some constructive discussion on this topic

[fedssocr]

I would imagine tourism is down all over the world. The deepening financial crises in the West mean less money for people to travel. And at the same time airfares are going way up due to the higher fuel costs.

I doubt it is any single factor but rather a collection of several all occurring at once.

The political instability isn't helpful, but frankly I am not sure many casual tourists pay any attention to that sort of thing until they are on the ground.

I believe you are talking specifically of Pattaya's tourist trade being off 30%. Correct? If so, the answer should be obvious: people don't like to spend their holidays cheek-to-jowl with Russian mobsters, neo-Nazi skinheads, football hooligans, creepy "boy lovers", and Chinese farmers, in a tawdry beach resort where the beach is too filthy to use.

I believe you are talking specifically of Pattaya's tourist trade being off 30%. Correct? If so, the answer should be obvious: people don't like to spend their holidays cheek-to-jowl with Russian mobsters, neo-Nazi skinheads, football hooligans, creepy "boy lovers", and Chinese farmers, in a tawdry beach resort where the beach is too filthy to use.

bangkok has all of that minus the beach.

Chao Na keep going .......

I believe you are talking specifically of Pattaya's tourist trade being off 30%. Correct? If so, the answer should be obvious: people don't like to spend their holidays cheek-to-jowl with Russian mobsters, neo-Nazi skinheads, football hooligans, creepy "boy lovers", and Chinese farmers, in a tawdry beach resort where the beach is too filthy to use.

bangkok has all of that minus the beach.

In Bangkok, it is confined to very tiny chunks of the city that are easily avoided. In Pattaya, that is not a possibility.

bangkok has all of that minus the beach.That's all that Pattaya has - Bangkok has 10 million people and is a real place

[bing]

I don't care what others do, I choose to spend my vacation time in LOS, and can not speak for the other 30 percent, but I do understand there are a multitude of reasons to go other places, and others have a right to choose where they spend their time.

[dab69]

haven't really experienced any deepening financial crisis in the "west" , even though I live there.

[Smiles]

Unfortunately I am able to read Chao Na's bad tempered contributions to this thread because someone decided to quote him.
But in this case I kind of agree with him: Pattaya IS a bit of a cess pool and the dirty beaches, dirty streets, horrendous traffic, and whore house rep don't help. Not sure if the other, more family oriented, resort areas are down as well (probably a bit), but I know that in high season Hua Hin was very busy indeed and I don't doubt it will be the same this coming season.
Add to that the general world wide financial hunkering down and I think tourism across the board is 'down' compared to the last 7 or 8 years.

By the way Mr Kool, you continue to lecture the Board with these prissy little homilies regarding keeping the discussion 'intellectual' or 'constructive' ... therebye inviting the disfunctional denizens of this place to do exactly the opposite. If you want civility, head over to Gay Thailand or TingTong. I don't think the chaos of Sawatdee is really to your taste.

Cheers ...

... due to the current inability of anyone to govern the place.More likely due to the uncertainty that you can leave the country so as to get back to work before the boss sacks you for failing to turn up

Bangkok has 10 million people and is a real place

Are you sure? It's looking more like a scenario for a virtual reality game as each day passes. Actually, I've got one being coded up called "Paragon Paratroopers" - starts with the death of a VVIP and the recall of a football manager to save the nation by eradicating certain religious element. Level five is an attempt to crack down on the gays who are eroding the economy with gossip.

Mr. Smiles I really appreiate your insight. I am democart and like to carry Chaos with me oneday bring some civility to this forum. It will take time, but will happen oneday. Let us Vote for the Change ha ha ha

As a frequent visitor to Thailand, though I have noticed a drop in tourist, but surprised to note over the last year it has dropped by 30%. What do you think have caused this drop and the impact it has on the tourist industry. Will the trend continue or will there be an improvement. I am sure, atleast 25% of the indistry is either directly or indirectly controlled by the farangs. What does the farang community intend doing better to improve the situation or are you all packing up your bags to Laos or Vietnam

Let us have some constructive discussion on this topic

Maybe the cost of fuel drove up the price of tickets for Euro trash maybe Americans just cannot afford it anymore, maybe the Chinese all wanted to go to the Olympics instead? The latter will account for a 30% drop on its own.

Who knows? I still visit.

Im sure the trend will continue given the upsurge in the hyacinth population on the Chao Phraya river. Or hadn't you noticed? They all want democracy Im told.

Maybe the cost of fuel drove up the price of tickets for Euro trashIn another post you say you are in favour of back-packers. Which is it?

maybe the Chinese all wanted to go to the Olympics instead?

The Chinese populace seldom get what they want. They may have wanted to go to the Olympics but the blinding efficiency of the bureaucracy that ensured that the TV screens of the world viewed a stupendous opening ceremony, albeit partly CGIed and dubbed, wasn't up to filling the stadiums.

Gimme Eurotrash over ex-pat brats dumped in "the club" any day. Even the German towel droppers are better behaved.

Strangely ex-pat brats, such as Cedric was in his youth, if his posts are to be believed, are not a problem in Singapore where the Fay lesson has been well learned.

OK..reasons for the drop in tourist numbers in Pattaya, both gay and straight
1. Worldwide financial downturn.
2. Massive rise in flight prices.
3. Perception that crime rate is increasing.
4. Other resorts offer a better prospect for a good family holiday, with more facilities
5. Filthy beaches and traffic gridlock.
6. Perception that the old, anything goes night entertainment scene is being squeezed shut by City Hall.
7. Constant harrassment of clubs by police that involves tourists, especially in gay areas.
8. Unstable political situation.
9. Feeling that Thailand is no longer as gay friendly as it once was.
10. Facilities put in place by previous regimes at City Hall are allowed to fester, eg Beach Road walkway, Bali Hai Pier etc.
11. An almost visible aura of fear and low confidence among the business owners about the future.
12. Artificial barriers put in place to make it more difficult than it should be to be something other than a tourist visa holder, discouraging long stayers.
13. Lack of rapid mass transit from the airport.
14. Although the average gay tourist is high spending and prefers quality, there is a perception that the town is full of low lives who want cheapness.
15. Useless infrastructure and transport within the city. Think about the problem of mum and dad and two kids going from a nice hotel in south pattaya to a nice restaurant in north pattaya, arriving dry, clean and tidy, on time and unstressed.
16. Too many stories about bars and clubs overpricing.
17. Lack of high end night clubs.

What have I missed??

OK..reasons for the drop in tourist numbers in Pattaya, both gay and straight

14. Although the average gay tourist is high spending and prefers quality, there is a perception that the town is full of low lives who want cheapness.


Is that why the most popular hotels for gay tourists are places like the Pinnacle and Howard's, rather than the Oriental and the Marriott? Gays don't prefer quality; they prefer easy door policies for their overnight guests -- period.

[colmx]

BF laughing at a post on Pattaya.com....

2 gay guys working in 2 different unspecified Pattaya hotels.

1st hotel 50 rooms, 1 guest
2nd hotel has 80 rooms with 6 guests

Seems like low season is at ist lowest in Pattaya!

Interesting comment by Chao Na that gays want easy door policies to facilitate taking overnight guests back. There is more to this than he makes out. Some gays want an easy door policy so that they can take, well, let us say for want of a better word, a 17 year old back. Other gays want a strict door policy so that they know that the hotel will check the ID card or whatever and read it with 'Thai eyes', so that a fake one might be spotted and the farang will be protected.
Yes, I agree insofar as a strict door policy may hinder a perfectly legal guest arriving in your room. This would put people off staying at the hotel. However, a slack door policy might be contrued as being an 'anything goes' door policy. This, in the current climate might be dangerous.

[Smiles]

Mr. Smiles I really appreiate your insight. I am democart and like to carry Chaos with me oneday bring some civility to this forum. It will take time, but will happen oneday. Let us Vote for the Change ha ha ha
Frankly, I'd be quite content if you'd just use the Spell Checker. Anyything beyond that might be a bit too much of a reach.

Cheers ...

Interesting comment by Chao NaYou're still bothering to read what Chao Na writes?

Interesting comment by Chao Na that gays want easy door policies to facilitate taking overnight guests back. There is more to this than he makes out. Some gays want an easy door policy so that they can take, well, let us say for want of a better word, a 17 year old back. Other gays want a strict door policy so that they know that the hotel will check the ID card or whatever and read it with 'Thai eyes', so that a fake one might be spotted and the farang will be protected.
Yes, I agree insofar as a strict door policy may hinder a perfectly legal guest arriving in your room. This would put people off staying at the hotel. However, a slack door policy might be contrued as being an 'anything goes' door policy. This, in the current climate might be dangerous.

By easy/strict, you are simply referring to the checking of ID's.

I'm referring to the fact that most of the truly quality hotels either 1) don't allow guests in at all, or 2) charge a joiner's fee. Gays will tolerate neither.

If you have booked a double room there is no way that any hotel should charge the "joiner fees". However, most hotels are charging the joiner fee inspite of you booking a double room. This injustice to gays and we should boycott these hotels and be loud about it to discredit them. It is rightly said that gays spend more money than any tourists; but they should not be exploited

I would really love to see some figure showing that gays spend more than other tourists.

Spend an evening in the lobby of the Oriental (or Four Seasons, or Peninsula), and maybe a few at Sirocco, Normandie Grill, etc.

I don't think you'll see anyone from SGT there (with the possible exception of Cedric), and I bet you won't see more than a handful of gays period.

They're all staying at the Pinnacle or the Tantawan and eating at Dick's Cafe. Big spenders indeed.

[bing]

I had breakfast at the Oriental one time, while it was ok, the view was better than the food. But I am not a gourmet, but the bread assortment was what I liked the best. Another time I did Tea at the Oriental, but since I was by myself, they put me by a pillar. I sipped an exotic tea but yearned for just a simple cup of tea and a scone. Since no one bad talks the Oriental, it must be me and not the great hotel.

[quiet1]

Mr. Smiles I really appreiate your insight. I am democart and like to carry Chaos with me oneday bring some civility to this forum. It will take time, but will happen oneday. Let us Vote for the Change ha ha ha
I've heard about "putting the cart before the horse," but do democarts put the cart before the donkey? (Sorry, couldn't resist....)

[llz]

If you have booked a double room there is no way that any hotel should charge the "joiner fees". However, most hotels are charging the joiner fee inspite of you booking a double room.

It's sometimes nice to be on a tighter budget than some well-off members of this board. I NEVER paid a joiner fee in Thailand, and most nightly rates I paid were cheaper than the joiner fee alone some are charged ... And at breakfeast, the food has ALWAYS been better than the view ... :gy:

OK..reasons for the drop in tourist numbers in Pattaya, both gay and straight

14. Although the average gay tourist is high spending and prefers quality, there is a perception that the town is full of low lives who want cheapness.


Is that why the most popular hotels for gay tourists are places like the Pinnacle and Howard's, rather than the Oriental and the Marriott? Gays don't prefer quality; they prefer easy door policies for their overnight guests -- period.

Dear Chao Na
I think you are very biased when you write that gays dont prefer quality if they dont stay at the Oriantal. I doubt most heterosexuals can afford it. So where do you allow them to stay, not to be a cheapist?
I have found my Changri La in BKK and no, it is not full of bowing servants and waiters, but with nice friends when i am back, and it is not Pinnacle or Malaysia.
BTW I think Pinnacle is a ripoff. :drunken:

[joe552]

I've never paid a joiner's fee at the hotel I regularly stay at in Pattaya, although I'm aware that some hotels levy the charge. But when did this become some sort of 'anti-gay' thing? Straight men don't encounter this in their hotels? I get tired a) of gay people making assumptions about me because I'm gay - e.g. I won't go for quality; and b) those gay men who are so ready to cry 'discrimination' when it rarely is.

... I get tired a) of gay people making assumptions about me because I'm gay - e.g. I won't go for quality; and b) those gay men who are so ready to cry 'discrimination' when it rarely is.

Crikey ... there's a class traitor in our midst

Never pay a joiners fee -gay or straight, the concept is offensive.

Pay for a double room & it should not matter when the other party joins.

Yes its a fact, gays have much more disposable income than breeders do. I think they do on average spend more as well, but obviously being a minority we don't have the numbers. There are always a good percentage of gays staying at top end hotels, of course there are.

Euro trash are not back-packers, Euro trash are a broad bunch of anything from the UK and the continent flying in on bucket deals, generally scum of the earth types with no interest in things like culture for example. Back-packers are young people seeing the world and gaining life experience, they mostly but not exclusively come from middle class families and are on their gap year before commencing university.

Of course one shouldn't tar everyone with same brush because there certainly is a certain amount of cross over, especially given the dumbed down education system in Britain. This means there are quite a few scum of the earth with A levels who will indeed go back to some kind of tertiary education. Princess Eugenie falls into this category.

Their royal highnesses
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3012/2829712884_7d44caf7fe_o.jpg

Gays like quality when they get it, but they put other things first -- like having easy overnight access for their guests. They will also patronize a "gay" restaurant with average food before they will patronize a "normal" restaurant with higher quality food.

Careful with that broom brother, its a very wide path you're sweeping...

Yes its a fact, gays have much more disposable income than breeders doWhat a huge generalisation

Hovelturd, if you explained your statement it might carry more weight.

[joe552]

Chao Na - I can't believe you can still post such sweeping statements. Not all 'gays' are the same or behave the same. I, for one, would never choose a hotel in Thailand simply because it was 'gay friendly', indeed I've never stayed in a 'gay friendly' hotel in Thailand. I've eaten once in a 'gay' restaurant, and wouldn't do so again. I frequent 'gay' bars because I like the company of young men.

Please try to use the word 'some' or even 'many' when making your pronouncements.