Observations as a Tourist (Dec 2019)

[alt]

We have been travelling SE Asia every December since 2010, with the exception of 2018. We always spend 2-3 weeks of this in Thailand and have just returned from our latest trip (Thailand was Dec 22 - Jan 6).

 

Since we didn't travel in 2018, all I could rely on was forums etc. to see what state tourism was in.

 

What we found....

SWAMPY ARRIVAL: Dec 6, 10AM. We didn't realise there is now a dedicated 'Fast Track' entrance (we were flying J) and walked into the standard immigration line. I was shocked how quiet it was, maybe 10 mins max! Once we realised our error, we exited and went through Fast Track - There were more counters open than customers! Was through in approx. 1 minute

 

DON MUANG DEPARTURE: Dec 8, Approx 8AM. Check-in at AirAsia was a sh1tshow - huge lines and no organisation. Check-in (we had to get our Myanmar Visa checked) took approx 1hr 30m! Security took approx 1 minute (straight through, no Q) and again Immigration maybe 1 minute (again, no Q... straight to the counter)

 

SWAMPY DEPARTURE: Jan 6, Approx 6PM. Again we used Fast Track so couldn't tell the security line going standard, but we were the only 2 using Fast Track Security, straight through. Same with Immigration, we were the only ones, so more counters open than passengers. I had a look over at the standard Immigration Q and I suspect there were only about 50 people waiting (can't remember amount of counters open)

 

BKK: Busy as usual! Absolutely no issue getting a meter Taxi once I told them our destination in Thai. Didn't even have to point at the meter, it was just turned on. No refusals to bring us to our destinations. GRAB is a great app which we only used twice (to the airports), however beware of charges. EXAMPLE: Grab from Thong Lo - Chinatown, 211 THB. On the meter it was 95THB. The driver was delighted with the 125THB we gave him.

Lower Sukhumvit has gone to the pits. It's just... dead. No fun anymore. We walked through Cowboy / Nana for the fun of it and it also appeared a bit dead, certainly quieter than we've ever seen it (although this was Jan 2 - Jan 6 so possibly a standard quiet spell after NYE celebrations)

 

Lanta: (Christmas) - Quietest we've seen it since 2010. Ferries were not full arriving / leaving, but still busy. Restaurants / Bars (all over the island) were dead at night - we struggled to find a busy bar / restaurant. I noticed that resorts did seem busy (ours certainly was), but this was with families rather than backpackers. I'm guessing these families were staying in their resorts at night rather than venturing out. We called into some nice resorts along the beaches for food / drinks and anywhere we asked if they had rooms "no problem".

 

PhiPhi: (New Years) - Again, quietest we've seen it since 2010. Again, families outweighed the backpackers. It was a little weird to be guzzling a bucket listening to EDM (at the few bars left) and right next to you is a baby asleep in a cot, along with a toddler dancing while their parents shared a bucket.... weird! Again, ferries were busy arriving / departing, but not full. 

Beaches did not seem busy at night (although there's only a short stretch left for the party scene... no harm). The little streets weren't busy, but there were people mulling around alright.

 

AoNang: Just stopped here for an over-nighter. Loads of Indian and (I think) Dutch (or similar) during the day... busy beach and busy streets. However, at night.... empty! Seriously, most restaurants closed by 11PM. Again, i'm guessing the families are staying in their resorts.

 

I got chatting to various people along our travels. One guy, who owns a restaurant / bar / accom on Koh Tao, said it's the quietest 'peak' season he's ever seen (didn't tell me how long he was there, but it appears quite a few years). 

 

As we spent most of our holiday this year in Myanmar, we only touched on Thailand for the 2 weeks around Christmas / New Years so understandably only saw a tiny part of Thailand. Who knows... could have been packed on the East / North, but down South it seemed dead (compared to what we're used to).

 

We're not tight with our money and spent plenty, however given we're 32THB / 1Euro, and standard restaurants charging as much as 150THB for a Massaman Curry (+ 20THB for rice), it kind of takes the fun out of Thailand.

 

Didn't see a single Chinese group (few familes / couples but no big bus tours). Loads of Indians in Ao Nang, and a few backpacker types. Everywhere we were seemed to be dominated what I think was Dutch (I could be wrong!).

 

 

 

[Matzzon]

Sounds like a terrible trip. Maybe try something more fun next time. Why bother about Thailand?

[gk10002000]

1 hour ago, alt said:

150THB for a Massaman Curry

Yeah, not dirt cheap, but similar to USD < 30baht/1 USD, the cost is still about $5 which is considerably cheaper than I would pay in the USA for a massaman dish.  Compared with ~ 44 baht /1 USD I first got back in 2004 on my first visit. 

[alt]

4 hours ago, Matzzon said:

Sounds like a terrible trip. Maybe try something more fun next time. Why bother about Thailand?

We have explored a lot of Thailand, from North to South, over the past 9 years (Haven't explored the Issan region, mind).

 

We have explored much of Laos, Cambodia & Vietnam, also. 

 

We chose 2 weeks in Thailand this year (as the rest was spent in Myanmar) as we wanted guaranteed sun (and a bit of party) for Christmas and New Years, which we were happy with.

 

It was a great trip... plenty of issues with Thailand but i'll never get sick of it and we love every trip to LOS as much as the last.

 

I would have loved to spent more time in Myanmar, but it's just too quiet at night! I think next year we'll hit S America for our annual month trip.

[alt]

2 hours ago, gk10002000 said:

Yeah, not dirt cheap, but similar to USD < 30baht/1 USD, the cost is still about $5 which is considerably cheaper than I would pay in the USA for a massaman dish.  Compared with ~ 44 baht /1 USD I first got back in 2004 on my first visit. 

I totally appreciate that it's still cheaper than the West. I wasn't b1tching, just posting my experiences. 

 

The killer is the exchange rate, not the THB price itself, so i'm not blaming the locals! But it was great when we did find 50THB dishes! We were on holiday and didn't much of the prices, again, just posting my experiences. I visited my friends, living in the Klong Toei slums (I'm slightly involved with a charity based there) and they told me how the market prices for raw materials has also shot up, hence the vendors need to charge more.

 

I can see, though, how Thailand may not be the backpackers dream it once was. Not an issue for us, we work the rest of the year and blow some money when on holidays... you'd do it anywhere. But good luck to the budget backpacker! (Which we once were)

[Ron jeremy]

150 for curry dish, plus rice plus water: over 200 baht. That's $10 Canuck.

back home, I pay $12, rice included, water is always free.

quality ingredients, quality restaurant.

size of the dish is easy double, I take half home, because of the quantity. Do the math. Just saying. I've noticed the size of the portions have really got smaller over the last few years.

prices have gone up minimum 25 -40 percent, my dollar has gone down 28 percent .

i don't blame the Thai restaurants, they are feeling the pinch on the cost  of ingredients. Tough times!

[sirineou]

46 minutes ago, Ron jeremy said:

my dollar has gone down 28 percent

I don't meant to be argumentative just a small point, 

I think the above might be a bit exaggerated, I have being coming to Thailand for over  13 years and for the most part fot the past 10 years, except for a short time between 2015 and 2016 where it hit 36   bht it has being bouncing between 33 bht and 29 bht those are 10% at their extremes. The most extreme move from its highest of 34.6 sept 14 2014 to the lowest is about 15% . 

Is my math correct or am I missing something?

PS: July 4 2005 for a brief time it hit 41 bht in case you are using that as your standard. 

Edited January 8, 2020 by sirineou

[CG1 Blue]

Late Nov to mid Dec 2019 I was in: Sukhumvit, Samui (Chaweng), Ao Nang and Patong. All those places were as busy as usual for me, apart from Ao Nang which was perhaps a bit quieter than usual at night.

Perhaps as you say it was the post NYE lull when you travelled. 

 

And I think Ao Nang generally has more people from the Indian subcontinent both living and visiting there than other parts of Thailand? 

[seasia]

On 1/8/2020 at 7:08 PM, sirineou said:

I don't meant to be argumentative just a small point, 

I think the above might be a bit exaggerated, I have being coming to Thailand for over  13 years and for the most part fot the past 10 years, except for a short time between 2015 and 2016 where it hit 36   bht it has being bouncing between 33 bht and 29 bht those are 10% at their extremes. The most extreme move from its highest of 34.6 sept 14 2014 to the lowest is about 15% . 

Is my math correct or am I missing something?

PS: July 4 2005 for a brief time it hit 41 bht in case you are using that as your standard. 

Hi 

 

I am fairly sure the poster Ron Jeremy is referring to CAD/THB rate rather than USD/THB .

He did mention $ Canuck in his post.

 

Therefore a different FX rate, CAD/THB appears to be around 23 baht to  his stated currency currently.

 

Maybe that the reason for slight confusion ?

[bkkgriz]

On 1/9/2020 at 2:54 AM, alt said:

I totally appreciate that it's still cheaper than the West. I wasn't b1tching, just posting my experiences. 

 

The killer is the exchange rate, not the THB price itself, so i'm not blaming the locals! But it was great when we did find 50THB dishes! We were on holiday and didn't much of the prices, again, just posting my experiences. I visited my friends, living in the Klong Toei slums (I'm slightly involved with a charity based there) and they told me how the market prices for raw materials has also shot up, hence the vendors need to charge more.

 

I can see, though, how Thailand may not be the backpackers dream it once was. Not an issue for us, we work the rest of the year and blow some money when on holidays... you'd do it anywhere. But good luck to the budget backpacker! (Which we once were)

I too was once a backpack in Thailand. Ironically, now that I live in Asia, I do my backpacking through Europe. With Airbnb and bus travel, Europe can be a relatively cheap holiday destination.

[joecoolfrog]

I spent December in Thailand , Bangkok , Pattaya , Hua Hin and Phuket ( Karon ) and would concur with the OP.

Both my personal observations and chatting with local trades people suggest that business is extremely sluggish.

Since the New Year I have been in Southern Laos ( Pakse and the Boleven ) and it is striking how much cheaper day to day items are compared with Thailand.

This is confirmed by 2 Thai travelling companions who on a daily basis have been converting local prices into baht with a certain degree of astonishment.

Although the strong baht / weak western currencies have played a significant part , domestic inflation has also played a part in making Thailand relatively expensive.

One can make all sorts of excuses but frankly one of the kingdoms major selling points was that it was a bargain destination, not true anymore.

When one , in certain cases , is paying the same as in many parts of Europe or North America , something has gone very wrong.

[Sametboy2019]

2 hours ago, joecoolfrog said:

I spent December in Thailand , Bangkok , Pattaya , Hua Hin and Phuket ( Karon ) and would concur with the OP.

Both my personal observations and chatting with local trades people suggest that business is extremely sluggish.

Since the New Year I have been in Southern Laos ( Pakse and the Boleven ) and it is striking how much cheaper day to day items are compared with Thailand.

This is confirmed by 2 Thai travelling companions who on a daily basis have been converting local prices into baht with a certain degree of astonishment.

Although the strong baht / weak western currencies have played a significant part , domestic inflation has also played a part in making Thailand relatively expensive.

One can make all sorts of excuses but frankly one of the kingdoms major selling points was that it was a bargain destination, not true anymore.

When one , in certain cases , is paying the same as in many parts of Europe or North America , something has gone very wrong.

How are day to day items cheaper than Thailand when almost everything is  imported from there?

 

 

[joecoolfrog]

1 hour ago, Sametboy2019 said:

How are day to day items cheaper than Thailand when almost everything is  imported from there?

 

 

You tell me , that appears to be the case though. Having said that I am only talking in a tourist / traveller sense so accomodation , alcohol , restaurants , ciggies and the like.

[zig]

On 1/9/2020 at 2:08 AM, sirineou said:

I don't meant to be argumentative just a small point, 

I think the above might be a bit exaggerated, I have being coming to Thailand for over  13 years and for the most part fot the past 10 years, except for a short time between 2015 and 2016 where it hit 36   bht it has being bouncing between 33 bht and 29 bht those are 10% at their extremes. The most extreme move from its highest of 34.6 sept 14 2014 to the lowest is about 15% . 

Is my math correct or am I missing something?

PS: July 4 2005 for a brief time it hit 41 bht in case you are using that as your standard. 

Well, it was mostly over 40 between 1998 and 2005, but then again - it was fluctuating around 25 back in 1987 - 1996. Anyone's choice as to what to compare to. 

[joecoolfrog]

Thaiwrath

After a further 4 days in the Bolaven and in conversation with local expats , my initial thoughts are confirmed.

Which part of Southern Laos do you reside in or are familier with ?