Popular Post soi3eddie Posted July 12, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted July 12, 2020 I just returned to Bangkok from a 5 week motorcycle trip southern Thailand. Hua Hin, Prachuap, Chumphon, Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Songkhla, Hat Yai, Trang, Koh Lanta, Krabi (Ao Nang), Khao Sok, Ranong and back. As expected the tourist areas were hard hit. I had spent all of April in Hua Hin but that wasn't hit as hard as other places. City of Surat was very quiet with many local business shut down and property for rent/sale. This surprised me a bit but I guess they get a lot of tourist traffic to Samui and other islands. Nakhon Si Thammarat and Hat Yai which I know well were still bustling but less busy than usual. What truly shocked me was Koh Lanta and Krabi/Ao Nang. Just about every hotel, restauarant, coffee shop, massage, tour agencies, boat operators and even 7-Elevens and any businesses serving tourists were either closed or permantly shut down with rent/sale signs. I was going to go to Phuket and Khao Lak too but bypassed them due to the depression of the other tourist areas - it was so sad to see. The mood of the locals was depresssed and one has to feel for them and their futures. I saw thousands of rent/sale signs on shops, restauarants, bars, businesses, resorts and huge swathes of farmland was for sale too! Now that more places are open there just isn't the custom to cover costs. Still empty restaurants and bars with no or few customers. Until borders re-open to tourists without difficult entry requirements there is no chance of a return to sustainable levels. Compound that by a reluctance of people to holiday overseas coupled with economic harsdship it will be years if things can ever become sustainable. Thai Airways have just cancelled all international flights until 1st September 2020. Citing that there is no point operating until borders re-open. This tells us that borders will not re-open to tourist until at least 1st September and probably much later. 17 1 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post JensenZ Posted July 12, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted July 12, 2020 (edited) 25 minutes ago, sjaak327 said: Nobody says an influx will come, however logic has it that something is always higher than zero. They're thinking it. Where will they come from? They have always taken tourists for granted. The health minister had spent the earlier part of the pandemic insulting them. They probably think if they open up international travel they will be busting down the arrival gates. More to the point is whether any airline will be able to run at low capacity, bringing in only a few tourists. All the major airlines are either broke, or close to it. The price of tickets is going to soar, and Thailand is a low budget destination, irrespective of all their talk about quality tourists. If ticket prices are very high, there's even less chance of an influx. Edited July 12, 2020 by JensenZ 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post JusticeGB Posted July 12, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted July 12, 2020 No problem for Thai thinking mind. Half the tourists then double the prices and we will get the same money for less work. 2 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post calbts2 Posted July 12, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted July 12, 2020 2 hours ago, The Barmbeker said: Yeah...so nice, with the millions of jobless from the tourist sector! But as long as you are alright, everything is hunky dory! No, I was specifically referring to the zero baht Chinese tour bus groups that have diminished the quality of life for everyone else wherever they have invaded during the last 5-6 years or so. Case in point - I moved to Ratchada in 2008 and lived there up until 2 years ago. Before 2016 or so - the train night market was a pleasure to go to. Then it got placed onto the Chinese tour group itinerary and the whole area including the once peaceful Thailand Cultural Center MRT station became a nightly mob scene. 7 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Moon6966 Posted July 12, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted July 12, 2020 51 minutes ago, realfunster said: I’ll take that bet. I mean come on, yes it’s a serious pandemic but we have experienced worse at least 3 times in the 20th century. Spanish Flu 50 million dead (1918) Asian Flu 2 million dead (1957-58) Hong Kong Flu 1 million dead (1969-70) All of these fatality figures were with global populations 50%+ less than now. Do you truly believe ‘normal’ human existence is irrevocably changed ad infinitum by COVID ? No chance of a vaccine, herd immunity or that it will naturally die out ? Even with vaccine for flu people still get sick and some die every year So I don't see much difference if have 1 for corona or not It's here to stay what ever is is that killed so many as 58.. Old.. People who mostly would have died anyway because most of them have other background other sickness So... They should just learn to live with it. A publish every person who infected like news headlines... All those infected ended up released back home anyway 5 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post RichardColeman Posted July 12, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted July 12, 2020 Personally I think a lot of places have managed to stay afloat for now by using their saving and praying (and donating) at the nearest temple that any new coming high season will bail them out. Sadly, with no tourists planning - or even allowed in - the collapse will begin like a row of dominoes as soon as a state of emergency is extended to cover the period 11 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malibukid Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 why is this man smiling? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david555 Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 Stopping the seasoning after ret.ext. stamped vould help a bit ,as 400K can come back in the spending circuit who are now frozen for 3 month's....and those foreigners are here to spend already ....but the banks wont like that ???? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post rott Posted July 12, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted July 12, 2020 1 hour ago, jlwilliamsjr18 said: Gross mismanagement, unregulated tourism, mass tourism for max. profit has led Thailand into human bondage, disease, murder and environmental catastrophe. The lure of drugs, sex, alcohol, on the cheap has virtually destroyed this paradise. So... it's good that these businesses are dissolving. Now is the time to repair and move forward, not an instant fix, but real sincere reparation, a new normal. Yes, it's time to weed out the drunken ex-pat mongers, send them home, stop the party venues (Full Moon etc.) Embrace eco-tourism, limit tourism and in the long run, revenues will increase. Young people, not foreigners will have opportunities that lead somewhere, not to debt and poverty, which lead to crime and self hate. NO, I'm not missionary, I'm a realist. Why send drunken ex-pat mongers home? They put money into the economy and take v little out? What about the sober ex-pat mongers can they stay? And what exactly is your description of a drunken ex-pat monger.? What if he is only drunk once or twice a week and quietly goes home to bed, causing no disturbance.? What is your definition of drunk.? What if there were no long stay ex-pat pensioners here.? How many resorts would be totally screwed? Can you explain or just regurgitate clichés. I will be out after 4 pm, I am attending an annual celebration and expect to have plenty to drink so perhaps I should pack my bags now. 8 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thaibeachlovers Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 Good job. I've been ripped off by shoddy operators too many times to have any sympathy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post DefaultName Posted July 12, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted July 12, 2020 They still seem to be assuming that opening the borders and letting flights in will instantly give last year's numbers. Working people can't just drop everything and travel, they book months in advance. People will be scared of the virus. People will worry that the rules could change while they're here if there are flareups; borders could close again, quarantine could be compulsory...... Both here and at home. IMO, it'll be next year before things pick up and probably the year after before there's any semblance of "normal". Yes, businesses will close, tourist and expat, the only thing we can do is; if we like a business, we should patronise it, then there's more chance of it staying open. Sitting in our armchairs moaning won't help. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Zikomat Posted July 12, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted July 12, 2020 According to this article, 2/3 of tourism businesses don’t need tourists to survive. Cool. 1 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post eeworldwide Posted July 12, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted July 12, 2020 Im in Pattaya as we speak - and it's really quite devastating to see what utter misery this ridiculous Covid19 debacle has wrought upon the most vulnerable, right the way up to the well to do operators. The beach front bars show the really die hard fatty expats "supporting" the haggard and withered bar ladies who are sitting embedded in a shroud of doom, gazing listlessly out across the seafront, no doubt, remembering days of old when the gold was a-plenty and the beer flowed like wine. (!) Street upon street exposes the sheer vast scale of the massage shop network - way too many to be realistic - there must be literally hundreds of massage girls out of work. That's not going to change any time soon - I think they'd be wise to try and find a new profession. My hotel is operating at 80-100% at weekends only and then below 10% monday-Friday. Most of the perks of staying at the hotel have disappeared - no breakfast buffet and no VIP club where you could graze for free throughout the day, and get free booze and mini-buffet between 6-8pm. Doubtless this is good for the hotel, but it's bad for the clientele. Whilst we receive a considerable basic knock down on the room price, the atmosphere is not the same, and you then have to go far afield to find places to eat. That ramps up your cost, so I'm actually paying twice as much as I'd usually pay for a brief weekend away at my favourite spot. Im sure there's a novelty factor in how cheap the hotels are at the moment, but the atmosphere has all but gone, and I don't think the Thais can sustain it. Also the whole rigmarole of temperature scans and signing in and out of places (including your own hotel) is a pain in the neck -a constant reminder of nothing being quite like it was. The Thai mid-hi society will get bored of it all very soon, there's no "new blood" around - the same old people who (at the moment) can afford to travel and take weekend breaks - but eventually EVERYONE'S business is going to be affected and therefore holidays and leisurely breaks are the first things to be struck off the to-do list. We're now entering a dangerous new phase of Covid19 America is going under a second wave, but what is also happening is the obvious lack of control. People are bored of this and are dropping their guard. So we may see an outbreak which overwhelms healthcare systems and devastates whole communities. Closer to home - here in Thailand - there are a surprising number of cases being caught in quarantine - which goes to show that Covid19 is out there really strong and as soon as you let people into the country without any quarantine, you're flirting with disaster. So I would say that Thailand hasn't really experienced ANYTHING yet - it's early days, but expect to see the near total demise of the tourism industry when it comes to zero foreign entry, and unless Thailand sorts out the cost of rail travel and indeed air travel (domestic) it could be a horrible wind of change. With Air Asia in trouble the future looks really pretty bleak. 19 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sead Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 For once that is something I can believe in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldie Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 I get worried already that the banks might get bigger problems. On top of it next year the deposit insurance gets decreased to 1 million baht. Fits perfectly... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post thaibeachlovers Posted July 12, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted July 12, 2020 2 hours ago, jlwilliamsjr18 said: Gross mismanagement, unregulated tourism, mass tourism for max. profit has led Thailand into human bondage, disease, murder and environmental catastrophe. The lure of drugs, sex, alcohol, on the cheap has virtually destroyed this paradise. So... it's good that these businesses are dissolving. Now is the time to repair and move forward, not an instant fix, but real sincere reparation, a new normal. Yes, it's time to weed out the drunken ex-pat mongers, send them home, stop the party venues (Full Moon etc.) Embrace eco-tourism, limit tourism and in the long run, revenues will increase. Young people, not foreigners will have opportunities that lead somewhere, not to debt and poverty, which lead to crime and self hate. NO, I'm not missionary, I'm a realist. You apparently don't know much about what has really destroyed Thailand tourism. The beaches have been destroyed in the first place by overbuilding of concrete hotels for wealthy people- bagpackers stayed in simple huts, and mongers don't care if the place is flash or not. Full moon party only destroyed one beach, but rich people destroyed all of the nice ones. The horde has finished it off, but that is down to the THAIS that encourage the horde. In the end, it is the THAIS that have destroyed their own country because they got too greedy and catered to rich people that want AC, hot water showers, tv and flash restaurants. 7 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tchooptip Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 6 hours ago, Fex Bluse said: No worries. Tourism is only 9% of the Thai economy. Right? Right? I seems some TV members believe it's 90% ???? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Millcx Posted July 12, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted July 12, 2020 6 hours ago, ezzra said: I hope that the tourism related business that uses the ugly and racist double pricing policies will fall and shut down first for good... Reckon 60% of tourist related will go - Its chop the Brits Yanks Germans and French ... Short memories will allow the CCP to end up controlling Thailand leaving it to Land of groans not smiles ... I won’t be back .. Vietnam or Camb far friendlier and cheaper with little red tape 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post thaibeachlovers Posted July 12, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted July 12, 2020 37 minutes ago, soi3eddie said: What truly shocked me was Koh Lanta and Krabi/Ao Nang. Just about every hotel, restauarant, coffee shop, massage, tour agencies, boat operators and even 7-Elevens and any businesses serving tourists were either closed or permantly shut down with rent/sale signs. Ao Nang has, IMO, been a pestilential excrescence since the 90s. A good lesson in how to destroy the environment by greed. If they bulldozed the lot it would be a good thing, IMO. I haven't been back to Lanta since before 2005, but the concrete road was going in then and no doubt it will have been well and truly trashed by now. Karma is real. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tchooptip Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 of course i don't believe it but a little revolution I mean a real one wouldn't be too much in this country ???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apophyss Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 6 hours ago, rooster59 said: Chairat added that some operators are starting to sell their establishments, such as hotels, resorts, restaurants and gift shops to investors who wish to turn them into other business. Chineese will buy them for a very small amount, like they do in many country all over the world... The new master (of the world/Thailand) will never stop grow up... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post sletraveler Posted July 12, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted July 12, 2020 (edited) This chaos throughout the world is intended to continue for a couple more years. And then it’ll just be the new ABnormal. Glad I am old. Edited July 12, 2020 by blackcab Font normalised 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikeasq60 Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 6 hours ago, Fex Bluse said: No worries. Tourism is only 9% of the Thai economy. Right? Right? Ya, right thats what they say! Anyone willing to take a bet by lets say mid August Thailand will be fully open for business! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aatsi Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 7 hours ago, ezzra said: I hope that the tourism related business that uses the ugly and racist double pricing policies will fall and shut down first for good... There is more than double pricing its multi pricing. can be easy 10x price for foreigners or even 100% pricing as can see from above attachments. In western country's this kind matter calls racism but what they call it is in Thailand? Maybe hospitality? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burma Bill Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 (edited) 7 hours ago, Fex Bluse said: No worries. Tourism is only 9% of the Thai economy. Right? Right? Evidently it varies, but who knows what for 2020!! Tourism in Thailand - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Tourism_in_Thailand Tourism is an economic contributor to the Kingdom of Thailand. Estimates of tourism revenue directly contributing to the GDP of 12 trillion baht range from one trillion baht (2013) 2.53 trillion baht (2016), the equivalent of 9% to 17.7% of GDP. Edited July 12, 2020 by Burma Bill additional information Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony125 Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 Went down to Sala Dang and Patpong last night 7PM to see what was open. Mexican Taco place was open but next door where KFC is used to have a Subway Shop, Chinese Restaurant and Drug Store all are gone. Some Go-go's were open with some hot girls inside but most were closed and the street that had all the vendors selling stuff in the middle of it was empty. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post ChouDoufu Posted July 12, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted July 12, 2020 5 hours ago, overherebc said: In addition how long will the 100,000 US dollar Covid insurance requirement stay 'on the books'? 1. it's not a major obstacle. 2. it's not a bad thing. you might consider googling "travel health insurance" and then contact a carrier or agent. short-term travel insurance with covid19 cover is available now for less'n US$50 for 2-3 weeks. can easily be included in the price of a zero-dollar package tour along with covid19 testing. and even after the flu magically disappears over the summer, thailand should keep the requirement for health insurance for tourists to reduce the number of unpaid hospital bills and gofundme begging campaigns. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seeall Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 4 hours ago, calbts2 said: That would be a dream come true. I am so enjoying the peace now that all of those exhaust spewing buses and annoying flag toting tour groups have vanished. It kind of feels like 1990s again. You must be wrong, we have seen the info about the big crackdowns on cars puffing out fumes...... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isaan sailor Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 No worries, China will buy up those forlorn businesses, and turn them into Zero-Baht resorts. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickudon Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 Just a couple of points to clarify. How bad is the Pandemic? Well not as bad as envisioned back in January, but that was assuming that no control measures were taken. Half a million dead, but the pandemic may not have even peaked yet - and still 5 and half months to go. Deaths globally have been fairly consistent the last month, about 5,000 a day. By the end of the year probably one million or slightly more. Those ridiculous claims about previous pandemics cannot go unanswered The Black death globally didn't kill 50% of the world population - only in some European countries. Best estimates are about 30% globally. And Spanish flu - a vast exaggeration - it killed about 3% of the worlds population; in some places only about 0.5%. Remember those Pandemics stretched over a number of years - let us see what the position is at the end of 2022 for comparison. Oh, and the 'new' industry that will replace tourism? Well, around Udon it looks like rice - i reckon about 25% more has been planted this year. Two factors - government subsidies and Isaan people going back home as jobless and need to be fed. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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