Pattaya Songkran: Hotel bookings well down as tourists stay away

[madmen]

Business is down everywhere Even my wife's restaurant has done half the trade it uses to do last year. I put it down to this so-called government we have It is slowly destroying Thailand the world use to know. Freedom of speech is a big one Thailand is just going backward. The world saw how Thai democracy works they cheat at elections and then put on the big Thai smile "welcome" Then you see Rubbish lying around everywhere on the beaches, Wild dogs trying to attack you, Taxi drivers ripping you off, Getting mugged by gangs of Thais and stealing off you while the keystone in their good looking uniforms stand around do nothing Thailand wake up You were a great spot once but now there are better places to go to

Geez you done it tough. Never experienced that my self
Odd how many cruise through life and the other half struggle

[jacko45k]

4 hours ago, Kim J said:

What does a telecommunications company have to do with tourism statistics?

I wouldn't believe what they told me either, they keep promising to come and fix my telephone and not turning up! Might as well call TAT!

[Olmate]

5 hours ago, madmen said:

Geez you done it tough. Never experienced that my self
Odd how many cruise through life and the other half struggle

Life wasn,t meant to be easy according to Malcolm!

[mikebell]

On 4/10/2019 at 11:36 AM, webfact said:

Hotel bookings well down as tourists

flee to Vietnam where hotels were crowded and streets were full of big spending farangs.

I was.

[steven100]

7 minutes ago, mikebell said:

flee to Vietnam where hotels were crowded and streets were full of big spending farangs.

I was.

ok, good luck  ..... don't forget to write !

[Henryford]

How are they going to get to Cartoon Network on the 19th as all the roads in Pattaya will be gridlocked.

[JimmyJ]

38 minutes ago, Henryford said:

How are they going to get to Cartoon Network on the 19th as all the roads in Pattaya will be gridlocked.

???

[mikebell]

On 4/18/2019 at 9:28 AM, steven100 said:

ok, good luck  ..... don't forget to write !

I didn't - you just answered me.

[johng]

How are they going to get to Cartoon Network on the 19th as all the roads in Pattaya will be gridlocked.

Helicopters.

[Bastos60]

On 4/17/2019 at 5:00 PM, Sealbash said:

Those “many of you” who dispute and doubt TOT numbers have not yet come up with any proof that TOT numbers are incorrect. Anecdotal evidence of beer bares and your favorite drinking spits having a low number of customers is not evidence of a decline in tourist numbers. There are many more families, non-sexpat tourists, etc. visiting Thailand. They will tend to frequent areas of the country that do not include beer bars et al. TOT takes their numbers from border arrival statistics. Until anyone can prove them wrong, they are the entity with the most reliable data.

Sent from my iPad using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

The numbers might not be down, but they only talk about arrivals. 

But the numbers are only kept high because of the influx of the short term holiday makers from China and India.

These 'quality' tourists aren't the biggest spenders either as what TOT might claim they are.
But the volume of these types of tourists offset the decline in western (sex)pats that usually stay far longer and tend to spend far more money as well. 

 

And this increase in numbers from China and India might have a economic benifit, but not an ecological one. 

[observer90210]

May I suggest an Emergency TAT sponsored Govt. scheme,  that give every tourist entering 40 THB for 1 US$ as an exchange rate. Then we will see the figures ????

[morrobay]

12 hours ago, Kim J said:

Now you will see quiet over the coming weeks. Chinese do not seem to vary too much numbers wise through the year, but you are now entering the low season for Western tourists.

Indeed and I would like to see an update on hotels occupancies. While songkran was crowded it looked like over 95% thais.

 

[raccos21]

Those days are over, to believe those stories on the media. These are just manipulation of facts which they try to dramatize them for the public.

[chama]

On 4/10/2019 at 1:19 AM, SammyT said:

I'm still astounded that tourists (other than those who want to get their end away) actually go to Pattaya - the beach sucks, the nightlife (if girlie bars aren't your thing) sucks and if you believe the media reports, it's full of violent taxi drivers. 

Everyone but the Thais seem to know this. And those Thais that do know this wonder why the tourist refuse to fulfill their obligations to come and donate money to the owners of the substandard facilities

[jacko45k]

10 hours ago, chama said:

Everyone but the Thais seem to know this. And those Thais that do know this wonder why the tourist refuse to fulfill their obligations to come and donate money to the owners of the substandard facilities

There is no shortage of 'Thais' coming to Pattaya. Take a look at Sukhumvit and the end of Hwy 7 on any holiday to realize this. I was unfortunate enough to get stuck in this yesterday. 

[morrobay]

Yes Pattaya is very crowded with Thais. But in terms of local economies suppose the Thais are displacing  50% of western tourists. What % of those lost revenues are going to be made up by those Thais? And are there any updates on hotel occupancy. Just viewed from North end beach at the balconies of the Dusit-Thani hotel, maybe 4 or 5 of the 100+ rooms appear occupied. 

[bert bloggs]

The Chinese tourists are really of any use to those at the top who operate the busineses and venues that they go to ,as for the rest of the smaller traders ,they are as much use as a chocolate spoon ,but hey ,the little people in Thailand dont really matter do they?

[marcusarelus]

12 minutes ago, bert bloggs said:

The Chinese tourists are really of any use to those at the top who operate the busineses and venues that they go to ,as for the rest of the smaller traders ,they are as much use as a chocolate spoon ,but hey ,the little people in Thailand dont really matter do they?

Last time I was at the mall the Chinese were buying a lot of stuff from the little people who had shops and stands there.  Must be different little people than at your location. 

[marcusarelus]

2 hours ago, morrobay said:

Yes Pattaya is very crowded with Thais. But in terms of local economies suppose the Thais are displacing  50% of western tourists. What % of those lost revenues are going to be made up by those Thais? And are there any updates on hotel occupancy. Just viewed from North end beach at the balconies of the Dusit-Thani hotel, maybe 4 or 5 of the 100+ rooms appear occupied. 

Pattaya has always had many more Thais than tourists.  10 years experience. 

[marcusarelus]

On 4/23/2019 at 8:08 AM, hyku1147 said:

Everything started to go downhill after they widened Beach Road: "Let's turn the thriving 'world's biggest brothel' into a family friendly tourism resort." LOL!

The Brits all went home (currency crash).  What else were they going to do?

[morrobay]

On 4/23/2019 at 8:08 AM, hyku1147 said:

Everything started to go downhill after they widened Beach Road: "Let's turn the thriving 'world's biggest brothel' into a family friendly tourism resort." LOL!

Its downhill for sure along the beach "walk"  Pickup trucks, chinese smoking, bad vibes locals. Walked from North end to South end. Some thais in the beach chairs ( 20% occupied) Few indians and chinese waiting/lined up for boats. Very few westerners.  Overall very shabby. 

[morrobay]

2 hours ago, marcusarelus said:

Pattaya has always had many more Thais than tourists.  10 years experience. 

Right but the point your glossing over is the displacement of Western tourists and the increasing percent of thais in last 10 years.

[marcusarelus]

33 minutes ago, Kim J said:

Clearly you are another that believes all the media hype. "Currency crash"!!! what crash is that may I ask? I would say more currency fluctuation which are constantly cyclic with all currencies through history. Yes the pound has suffered against the strong baht as have all other major currencies. But compare the pound to the Euro and others then the fluctuations of late that you see will only be described as a crash by those that are looking to perform a melodrama.

There are still plenty of British living around the Pattaya area and traveling here for holidays, just not as many as there were previously. Having said that, those I know that have become bored of Pattaya for a plethora of reasons have not 'gone home' they still have their holidays but just not here any more, given the fact that there are now much better options in Asia that provide greater value for their money that is hardly surprising is it?

When I got here it was around 60 now it's closer to 30. That's an overwhelming, onerous change to the bottom side.   A correction is 10%. I do like drama though. 

[morrobay]

2 minutes ago, Kim J said:

This time is now entering into the traditional low season and has always been quiet and is nothing unusual. Wait over the next couple of weeks as schools start to re open for the new academic year, most of those Thai tourists that you currently see will also disappear.

Good. But in the last several low seasons there were alot of indians and chinese to keep local businesses above water. It remains to be seen if that will be the case this time.

[Viggo McQuaid]

On the ground now, town is busy!! Great time to visit. 

[jacko45k]

20 hours ago, marcusarelus said:

The Brits all went home (currency crash).  What else were they going to do?

There are plenty of Brits in Pattaya, far from all having gone home. 

[bkk6060]

20 hours ago, jacko45k said:

There are plenty of Brits in Pattaya, far from all having gone home. 

I am not sure why any stay.

Seriously, I have never met a Brit here who seems really happy with their life and with living in Pattaya.

With this, I see little new western retirees coming here for full time living.

 

As far as the low hotel bookings.

I see it as the AIrbnb, etc. ST rentals.

The Base for example probably takes in 200 to 300 people a day.

Unixx/Centric could be comparable.

Multiply it out with the 100's of ST condo rooms for rent, yes the hotel bookings are and will keep going down.

 

[thaibeachlovers]

On ‎4‎/‎13‎/‎2019 at 7:52 PM, ExpatPH said:

While most tourist countries would beautify tourist area with parks, maintain old trees, limit public traffic on the beach - Thailand cut valuable old trees, pave concrete every inch they can, and build a 3 lane 'highway' very next to the beach.

Family friendly destination?

 

Then get rid of long stayers and expats, and even genuine tourists get denied entry at airports.

 

Overinflated currency.

 

No sane people would be surprised that hotel bookings are way down.

Remain of the year will never see previous years higher occupancy rates.

 

Later this year, a true headline should be

'Hotel bookings well down all 2019 as tourists stay away'

 

 

Nothing different in the last 30 + years.

The "family destination" is pushed by travel agents in farang countries. Take it up with them.

 

The only difference, apart from the nite scene, is that LOS is not a cheap destination any more while the country itself has not improved.

The nite scene, for those that indulge in that, has become an expensive and rather boring scene, and nowhere near as much fun as it used to be. Those that don't like it need not be concerned as it's well on the way to disappearing, taken over by on line assignations.

In 5 or so years, Pattaya will, IMO, have a scene as pitiful as Hua Hin's.

[thaibeachlovers]

On ‎5‎/‎4‎/‎2019 at 9:06 AM, bkk6060 said:

I am not sure why any stay.

Seriously, I have never met a Brit here who seems really happy with their life and with living in Pattaya.

With this, I see little new western retirees coming here for full time living.

 

As far as the low hotel bookings.

I see it as the AIrbnb, etc. ST rentals.

The Base for example probably takes in 200 to 300 people a day.

Unixx/Centric could be comparable.

Multiply it out with the 100's of ST condo rooms for rent, yes the hotel bookings are and will keep going down.

 

Pattaya hotels have only themselves to blame. They have done nothing to improve their product and have put up prices way beyond inflation. Just greed.

[thaibeachlovers]

On ‎5‎/‎2‎/‎2019 at 3:45 PM, marcusarelus said:

Pattaya has always had many more Thais than tourists.  10 years experience. 

LOL. 10 years is not much.

As long as talking about visitors and not residents, mainly farangs and Arabs; insignificant numbers of Thai visitors. Scandinavians in Naklua, Arabs off Walking Street ( before it existed ), families in the big resorts at north end, mongers everywhere from north Pattaya to Bali Hi, before the pier was built. Not even the Russians visited in meaningful numbers.

Soi Buakhao had nothing that I remember; it was all along Beach and Second. The walkway was pleasant and shady, speedboats were trailered in along Beach Rd and the bay was full of moored big boats.

It was cheap and cheerful, and life was good for everyone. Then Purachai destroyed the nite scene, crime increased significantly, and it began a slow inexorable decline to the <deleted> that is Pattaya today.

The Thai day tripper invasion didn't take off till around when Central was opened.