Ulysses G. Posted May 12, 2007 Share Posted May 12, 2007 I would like to hear from UG and some of the others in business here in CM...... have you seen any increase in your year to year levels in the past 6 - 8 weeks since we were first discussing the topis?My year on year //month on month numbers have shown this to be one of the worst periods since I have been keeping records... Some of the others in business have reported the same.... the tourist numbers are surely down.... so where and when does this windfall start I agree with ALL of this. THANK GOD for fellow Expats as that is the only thing keeping my business going compared to other years. Personally, I'm preparing for a good high season next year and chalking this year up to experience. I just hope the handycraft project that is supposed to be in the same location as the Flower Show doesn't catch on with Thais like the Flowers did. It would be nice to have foreign tourists as well as domestic ones during the height of high season! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ovenman Posted May 12, 2007 Share Posted May 12, 2007 I just hope the handycraft project that is supposed to be in the same location as the Flower Show doesn't catch on with Thais like the Flowers did. I just can't imagine that event would draw many people. As such, it sounds to me like the Sunday walking street, Sankamphaeng, and the northern market at the Airport Plaza, all rolled together. Hard to picture how interest in that would be sustained over the course of a few months but I suppose that you never know... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulysses G. Posted May 12, 2007 Share Posted May 12, 2007 Would like to dust this one off in light of the article in the news yesterday about Thailand being in line for a 18 Billion windfall in the tourism sector....When does this windfall start ??? Does anybody know ?? Personally, I totally ignore anything optomistic the Bangkok Post says about tourism going up or being up from the past. It is nothing but lies in my humble opinion! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzo the Face Posted May 12, 2007 Author Share Posted May 12, 2007 Would like to dust this one off in light of the article in the news yesterday about Thailand being in line for a 18 Billion windfall in the tourism sector....When does this windfall start ??? Does anybody know ?? I would like to hear from UG and some of the others in business here in CM...... have you seen any increase in your year to year levels in the past 6 - 8 weeks since we were first discussing the topis? My year on year //month on month numbers have shown this to be one of the worst periods since I have been keeping records... Some of the others in business have reported the same.... the tourist numbers are surely down.... so where and when does this windfall start Any input : Gonzo Havve you got a link to the article Gonzo? Sounds like wild optimism to me. Sorry, it took some time to check my brain as to what I was reading at the time..... I think the site was krockakrap.com [joke] but in lieu of that try this one http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/05/11...ss_30033912.php Sorry I thought it was the BkkPst Gonzo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ovenman Posted May 12, 2007 Share Posted May 12, 2007 Would like to dust this one off in light of the article in the news yesterday about Thailand being in line for a 18 Billion windfall in the tourism sector....When does this windfall start ??? Does anybody know ?? Havve you got a link to the article Gonzo? Sounds like wild optimism to me. Sorry, it took some time to check my brain as to what I was reading at the time..... I think the site was krockakrap.com [joke] but in lieu of that try this one http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/05/11...ss_30033912.php More propaganda from PATA. Recall that these folks are the ones who recently declared Thailand to be the world's number one holiday destination: see news thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzo the Face Posted May 12, 2007 Author Share Posted May 12, 2007 Now that I have re read the article , I understand We are supposed to order our customers by DHL and now they{DHL} can guarantee next day delivery, if we are in the right market Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmsally Posted May 12, 2007 Share Posted May 12, 2007 Only if you follow some of the links about the survey they used " the Asia Travel Intentions Survey 2007" can you appreciate what a load of rubbish and waste of time of money all these surveys, predictions and corresponding news articles are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calibanjr. Posted May 12, 2007 Share Posted May 12, 2007 Pardon me, which way to the windfall? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzo the Face Posted June 5, 2007 Author Share Posted June 5, 2007 Pardon me, which way to the windfall? Anyone reaping the windfall yet ???? Well about another month has passed and traditionally May is a slow month, but the last month was a record setter ... There are just not the tourists coming to my door as in the past..... anyone else care to give some updated input..... gonzo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donnyboy Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 Pardon me, which way to the windfall? Anyone reaping the windfall yet ???? Well about another month has passed and traditionally May is a slow month, but the last month was a record setter ... There are just not the tourists coming to my door as in the past..... anyone else care to give some updated input..... gonzo tourist numbers- not sure about May as I was in NZ, but this June compared to last should be better due to the World Cup played last year. And theres the european holiday in July, so hopefully a pick up for everyone with businesses in CM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmsally Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 Seems very quiet to me. Maybe a few tourists on Tapae Rd. Went to BKK last week, not many tourists there it seems. None on the plane back either. Oh I lie I seem to remember there were 2. The banks here seem to be absolutely dead too. I would say the local economy here really sinking fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzo the Face Posted June 5, 2007 Author Share Posted June 5, 2007 Not to be looking for Doom & Gloom, but maybe someone more familiar with the street, can give me some verification..... I have had some of the locals coming and telling me that there are places closing ...... Knowing that there is an area penchant for this thing of having enough money for one months rent so I think I'll go into business , both among Thais and Falangs,,,,, Being undercapitalized is what I'm saying, I can see where this may be true... Anyone familiar with the Thapae Gate area got any input on this ??? UG you're down that way, any comments ?? Gonzo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ajarn Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 This is the slow season, and as normally occurs, people leave and people close down, but everyone complains... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john b good Posted June 5, 2007 Share Posted June 5, 2007 Would like to dust this one off in light of the article in the news yesterday about Thailand being in line for a 18 Billion windfall in the tourism sector....When does this windfall start ??? Does anybody know ?? Personally, I totally ignore anything optomistic the Bangkok Post says about tourism going up or being up from the past. It is nothing but lies in my humble opinion! UG, do you really expect anything other than lies when it comes to the authorities publishing figures here. I would rely more on your figures as to how many books you turn over as a measure of how the season has been going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sceadugenga Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 Would like to dust this one off in light of the article in the news yesterday about Thailand being in line for a 18 Billion windfall in the tourism sector....When does this windfall start ??? Does anybody know ?? Personally, I totally ignore anything optomistic the Bangkok Post says about tourism going up or being up from the past. It is nothing but lies in my humble opinion! UG, do you really expect anything other than lies when it comes to the authorities publishing figures here. I would rely more on your figures as to how many books you turn over as a measure of how the season has been going. Actually I don't recall the last time I saw a statistic I took any notice of in a newspaper ANYWHERE in the world. Blatantly lying to readers seems to be common practice now days. Randolph Hearst has a lot to answer for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chanchao Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 (edited) There are just not the tourists coming to my door as in the past.....anyone else care to give some updated input..... I have some input. I think everyone here is missing an important aspect of tourism, namely that it is not a homogenous set of people. You see reports that tourist numbers are up and then go "dddddduuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhh I's not seeing nottin coming through my door...". You have to take a changing demographic in perspective too. Like: Different nationalities: North American tourist numbers may be way down but Chinese/Korean/etc may be way up. If you're Ulysses sitting in your shop sobbing "da bangkok post is lying to meee" but actually there are the same number of tourists however they're Chinese and don't come in to buy English language books. I'd imagine those people to not visit the same restaurants and other *farang* (Western) aimed businesses that much as well. Different demographic within certain nationalities: Single travellers and backpacker numbers are down, but loads more 30-something couples and families travel. Package tours (from Western nations!) may be down as well in favour of a more tailored 'cherry-picking' of local tours. For sure these people have money to spend if you provide something they want to pay for. These people may travel for a shorter period of time i.e. weeks, rather than traditional backpackers travelling for months. Now, never mind that you're a penny-pinching backpacker, when travelling for a long time then you DO have a lot of 'off-time' when you're just hanging & chilling and not seeing and doing things all the time. Those people buy books! They may be pinching pennies, but a 200 baht book will give them something to entertain themselves with for quite some time. So it's actually one of the cheaper things you can do in Thailand per time unit. Now, when you're a 'flashpacker' or high-spending couple in Thailand for 2 weeks then you're not going to waste a second of that time reading books, and even when you're the person who does read then for a 2 week period you most likely brought your books with you and you really don't need the 100 baht you'd get selling them. Regional shift: Boatloads of Chinese and Russians may be visiting Thailand, but they're all in a group tour bus to Pattaya. Then TAT can accurately report increasing numbers, but they're not coming to Chiang Mai. So, don't just look at the numbers, look around! Edited June 6, 2007 by chanchao Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chanchao Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 What I will say though is that I think Chiang Mai is in need of another attraction, something that is actually local AND interesting to people of all visiting nationalities. For sure the Night Safari isn't it. It shouldn't be anything overly artificial or theme-park'ish. It can be *SOMEWHAT* artificial, for example Kantoke Dinner is exceptionally artificial (Northern people never actually had dancing shows during dinner) but the concept is now viewed as a traditional Northern Thai thing and a huge hit. In any case it needs to be something that celebrates Northern culture, style, architecture, music, food, nature/ecology and so on and it needs to be big enough to attract attention internationally. Think Muang Boran, but without making it look/sound like a theme park and WITHOUT the double pricing. Tourists really, really, don't like that. After the Tsunami the National Park fees in the region were lowered again. I'd say the tourism prospects for Chiang Mai are desperate enough to make 'nature' a focus and a strenght, starting by improving national parks in the province, lowering the entrance fee but then have additional services/guides/treks/displays that offer actual added value which then CAN be marketed at higher prices. Then everyone wins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donnyboy Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 What I will say though is that I think Chiang Mai is in need of another attraction, something that is actually local AND interesting to people of all visiting nationalities. For sure the Night Safari isn't it. It shouldn't be anything overly artificial or theme-park'ish. It can be *SOMEWHAT* artificial, for example Kantoke Dinner is exceptionally artificial (Northern people never actually had dancing shows during dinner) but the concept is now viewed as a traditional Northern Thai thing and a huge hit.In any case it needs to be something that celebrates Northern culture, style, architecture, music, food, nature/ecology and so on and it needs to be big enough to attract attention internationally. Think Muang Boran, but without making it look/sound like a theme park and WITHOUT the double pricing. Tourists really, really, don't like that. After the Tsunami the National Park fees in the region were lowered again. I'd say the tourism prospects for Chiang Mai are desperate enough to make 'nature' a focus and a strenght, starting by improving national parks in the province, lowering the entrance fee but then have additional services/guides/treks/displays that offer actual added value which then CAN be marketed at higher prices. Then everyone wins. how about a Mekong rum fest on temple grounds with coyote girls dancing to trashy thai pop and giving out small bottles of CM smog? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulysses G. Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 This is the slow season, and as normally occurs, people leave and people close down, but everyone complains... This is very true, but between the Flower Festival driving away Farang customers because of no hotel rooms and the BBC telling everyone that the pollution in Chiang Mai will last "until June", it has been the worst year in a LONG time. I know that many businesses in the main area do not make enough money to pay their rents. Hobo Books had to sell out because the Thai owner couldn't come up with something like 6,000 baht a month which is very little compared to other places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfmanjack Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 This is the slow season, and as normally occurs, people leave and people close down, but everyone complains... This is very true, but between the Flower Festival driving away Farang customers because of no hotel rooms and the BBC telling everyone that the pollution in Chiang Mai will last "until June", it has been the worst year in a LONG time. I know that many businesses in the main area do not make enough money to pay their rents. Hobo Books had to sell out because the Thai owner couldn't come up with something like 6,000 baht a month which is very little compared to other places. How many months in advance did he have to pay his rent ? Every shop that I have ever rented the landlord required 6 months in advance. Some people can not save money in advance so that they have 6 months rent when it is due. Not to take away from it being slow. I agree on that point. There are shops for rent in the night bazaar now when before they would get snatched up right away when they became available. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulysses G. Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 Chiang Mai Book Exchange recently bit the bullet as well. There are quite a few shops here whose owners have only been able to keep the doors open by frequent transfusions of money from accounts overseas. They look impresive, but earn little; they are not really businesses, but expensive hobbies. It is tough for the small-timers who compete against them who actually have to live on what they earn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chanchao Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 how about a Mekong rum fest on temple grounds with coyote girls dancing to trashy thai pop and giving out small bottles of CM smog? Excellent; I'm in favour of whatever it takes to bring awareness to environmental issues.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chanchao Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 how about a Mekong rum fest on temple grounds with coyote girls dancing to trashy thai pop and giving out small bottles of CM smog? Also there's the potential snigger opportunity when said smog issuing Coyote girls ask 'you want smoke'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcgriffith Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 how about a Mekong rum fest on temple grounds with coyote girls dancing to trashy thai pop and giving out small bottles of CM smog? LOL, Donnyboy! Look forward to meeting you at the TV BBQ, mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rasseru Posted June 6, 2007 Share Posted June 6, 2007 A tip of my hat to you, Chanchao, for your insightful comments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gonzo the Face Posted June 7, 2007 Author Share Posted June 7, 2007 (edited) A tip of my hat to you, Chanchao, for your insightful comments. CC .... this may just change my vote on whether or not we should have a smoke free society ???? and come to think of it ,,,,,, we have had no input on whether or not THAT business is having a 'Down" or 'Up' season........ Maybe we can get some 'Input' from the Coy girls ??? Edited June 7, 2007 by Gonzo the Face Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donnyboy Posted June 10, 2007 Share Posted June 10, 2007 A tip of my hat to you, Chanchao, for your insightful comments. CC .... this may just change my vote on whether or not we should have a smoke free society ???? and come to think of it ,,,,,, we have had no input on whether or not THAT business is having a 'Down" or 'Up' season........ Maybe we can get some 'Input' from the Coy girls ??? theyre probably been too busy to reply any of you out there keeping them gainfully employed? or have smokers cough? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realthaideal Posted June 13, 2007 Share Posted June 13, 2007 I don't get out as much as I like to - probably for the better. But of the 5 or so bars I've hit in the last couple months, 3 of them mentioned that they're looking to sell. Or at least kicking around the idea of selling. Things are just slooow out there. Maybe everybody's feeling tight with the money too. I know uncertain political times are making Thais tense as well - Word is that on a local scale, the mayoral election will impact alot of vendors in the streets if they press on with proposed regulation and even closing of some of the many night markets that have grown so incredibly in the last few yrs. So for local Thais n Farang, I think there's a lot of holding back the $ right now. The tourist traffic does seem slow too. Good point that the demographic may be changing. That's likely another story and up to the new bar owners to cater to. I think most of the places around here aren't into changing strategy, only copying what they see already works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donnyboy Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 I don't get out as much as I like to - probably for the better. But of the 5 or so bars I've hit in the last couple months, 3 of them mentioned that they're looking to sell. Or at least kicking around the idea of selling. Things are just slooow out there. Maybe everybody's feeling tight with the money too. I know uncertain political times are making Thais tense as well - Word is that on a local scale, the mayoral election will impact alot of vendors in the streets if they press on with proposed regulation and even closing of some of the many night markets that have grown so incredibly in the last few yrs. So for local Thais n Farang, I think there's a lot of holding back the $ right now. The tourist traffic does seem slow too. Good point that the demographic may be changing. That's likely another story and up to the new bar owners to cater to. I think most of the places around here aren't into changing strategy, only copying what they see already works. why would anyone in their right mind close some of the night markets around town? They add character and vibriancy to the city, help people to earn a few baht, and tourists have an extra place to visit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolfmanjack Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 I was at the chaing mai night bazaar last night. The word is there are more people than last month but no one is spending. The key word is many shoppers but no buyers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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