26 replies to this topic

[boss45]

If anyone is thinking of moving to a third world country strictly because the sex is easier to get then you get what you get. There is not a Third World country I would want to live in, especially LOS. It is a country always on the brink of another disaster or civil unrest. The infrastructure sucks and frankly so does the weather. LOS will learn a hard lesson when Tourism and Companies start to leave due to the political unrest and natural disasters. Safe to say PI is not far behind except their attitudes seem to be better. But as always all perceived good things must come to an end and something else will come along.

[soulboy]

Quote

Is Thailand getting tired of tourists?....question should be "Are tourists getting tired of Thailand ?" more like it.

Fair point with bad experience people will vote with their feet .

It has happened before throughout the Mediterranean , when attitudes changed and people were taken for granted the holiday makers moved on to a different country .

I do think though for most of us here our addiction to ladyboys outweighs our frustration at all things Thai .

[petesie]

I'm only in it for the cockfights...

[Woof1]

Over the last few trips I also have noticed more changes, and not for the better.
Certainly I didn't appreciated being held hostage when airport was occupied, and didn't like the "Encore" of a different colour.
Felt like "Groundhog Day Asian Style".
Organized Chaos is what comes to mind, but hey, maybe that's just me raving on about BKK.
Rest of the Country seems OK (If you can get to it) except last October when I wanted to head up Northeast.
Definitely not a place where I would tie up Assets, or long term investment.
Feel that in my years over in Asia, I have favored Thailand too much, why, because it was a short hop from HK every other Week end, and was too lazy to go visit other places or had the will.
Guess it all is the same, oce you fall into Complacency, the "Charm" disappears, and saturation takes place in a shorter time that the last time, ie Days instead of weeks.
Time to move on, not sure, Kinfd of like the "So called Comfort zone I know from LOS, however, CAmbodia is appealing from the little I have seen in Siem Reap. Don't know the rest, bur reading the trip report being posted, is appealing more and more.
Vietnam, not sure if I have disgested my last trip in Halong bay yet. Little to do. Personally, I give it 5 years to wake up.
Laos, Great place, both North and Central. Little in the South.
Super Slow, but there is night life worth looking at in Vientiane.
NOTHING In PHONSAVAN (Plain Of Jars) Luang Prabang OK.
Went Offside I know I know, as usual all over the place

[deepthroat69]

Quote

the retirement sums are wrong. Its 8O0k OR a proportion of that sum and a monthly income, verified by the embassy. Also to get the visa direct from immigration, without using an agent is in the region of b4000 ( more on this when i apply for my visa next year ) The constant change in the interpretaion of ambiguous visa rules by different embasies and consulates has not made the task easier either- the goal posts constantly change for those of us trying to live here within the rules.

Will be looking forward to hearing your take on this Ivor, you usually exhibit the rare ability to cut through the shit and get to the nub of things.

[Ivor Biggun]

Bump- sorry chaps, forgot about this. Got a bit on at the moment but will try and get back to it next week.

[JustSumGai]

so what's the verdict? surely MORE shit has hit the fan in the last 2 yrs.

Bump

[scottieM]

After nearly three years from the opening of this thread we have seen a lot of things changing in Thailand, and not to the good of our hobby.
So we can say thailand is indeed getting tired to some tourists, or are its leaders.
At the same time the question now should be: "are tourists getting tired of Thailand?"

[jimbo34]

No doubt in my mind, your average thai has become complacent about tourists. The attitude and scams are becoming increasingly hostile, knowing in their own minds that "there's always another farang mug" . And to some extent they're right. Although in Phuket there's far less aussies than there used to be, and less scandies, the numbers have been made up with russians and chinese. Tourism shows no sign of abating.

 My Pattaya colleagues might have a slightly different take on it though. 

 

 The "quality tourists" if thats what we europeans are, are starting to move on. There's still nowhere in the world to match our scene though, and the ladyboy business continues to thrive. I imagine the girlie sex trade is getting tougher and tougher, and is shrinking, much as the thai authorities want. 

 

 The package tour russians and asians are filling the gaps. Pattaya will attempt to become more family friendly with theme parks and so on. 

 

 Also, i'm absolutely certain that once "Elvis" has left the building, the chinese casinos will move in, and the popular destinations will become more and more Macau/Las Vegas style.

 

 In conclusion, the face of thai tourism is changing away from the europeans, and will become less and less popular with them, with the possible exception of our very small niche.

[Spyder Rocket]

jimbo34, on 30 Nov 2014 - 4:58 PM, said:

...

The "quality tourists" if thats what we europeans are, are starting to move on. ...

LOL

I'm thinking of the last time I was in Patts and watched in horror as a druken Dane climbed onto the back of a Baht Bus. It was soon very apparent that this "quality tourist" was carrying a load of shit in his pants.

The bell promptly started ringing and everyone, but the Dane got off the bus.

I'll never forget the look on the driver's face as a Thai lady explained to him about his sole passenger in the back of the truck.

Sorry, off-topic but "quality tourist" got me laughing.

[jimbo34]

 Sounds like he made the classic mistake of thinking it was going to be "just a fart" ! We've all done that at some point in Thailand !

[JustSumGai]

compounding the problem is the apparently growing number of suspicious deaths and outright murders, such as the beach incident. And KNOWING that authorities will do fuck all to catch the offender (and in fact maybe hiding them).  Rising costs due more to greed or stupidity (like the half empty hotel? just double the rates phenom) than to actual rise in costs of things.  There might be an increase of long stayers/expats I suppose. Cost of airfare ain't going down so the only way for me to justify it is longer stays.