Thailand tourism situation

[Ratsima]

For reasons that continue to baffle me, my wife has, over the past few years, gotten an awful lot of business from the Eastern Seaboard; especially Chonburi. Last night we spent another night at the Jomtien Palm Beach hotel as she had a court appearance this morning. One thing I've learned is that it's very difficult to predict how busy the area will be at any particular time.

As we arrived, Jomtien looked dead. The bars were less than half full, the sidewalks were mostly empty as was the hotel lobby. The Akvavit Bar had empty seats at the bar as did Hemingways. On our return after dinner, the hotel still seemed mostly empty.

This morning we went down for breakfast about 7:00 and found that all hell had broken loose. The hotel dining room was jammed with nothing but Chinese tourists. We were lucky to find an empty table. I remained at the table while my wife went to get coffee. While I sat a very young Chinese woman came up to the table, carrying several plates of food, and asked, very politely, if she could sit at the table. (Believe me, it was not because of my spectacular good looks.) I was speechless at which she wandered off in search of another vacant spot.

So, here it is low, or green season, and this particular hotel was mostly full. A couple of months ago it was empty as were most establishments in Jomtien. At Christmas time the hotel was jammed with tourists from Vietnam.

So, are Chinese tourists back or is this one hotel an outlier with a spectacularly successful marketing agent?

[caller]

So, are Chinese tourists back or is this one hotel an outlier with a spectacularly successful marketing agent?

Might be owned by one of the companies that ship the tourists in.

[buksida]

Just had a weekend in Hua Hin and its the quietest I've seen it for a long time, especially Saturday night. Some of our favourite little eateries near our hotel down Soi 88 (which was empty) were shuttered or boarded up. Even the Keto shop has gone but that's not surprising considering their prices!

Additionally, we were the only table in one large popular bar near Soi 94 and had the band to ourselves all evening (unlimited requests!)

Even Makro was quiet on Sunday when its usually rammed, and the traffic was a breeze getting through town. It was that pleasant, we may go back next weekend (but will have to bring our own food)!

[joelle]

We were in Khao Lak last week and it's been the busiest we've seen in the last 3 years.
Despite being low season, hotels and restaurants were quite full with a mixture of nationalities, German, British, French, Italian, Indian. Very holiday feel.
Tourism must be picking up in some places.

[buksida]

Looks like Thailand's favorite tourists are not flooding back after all.

Bookings down as China slumps
China's economic woes are pressuring inbound tourism during the Golden Week holiday in October, leading to sluggish forward bookings, according to tourism operators.

Surawat Akaraworamat, vice-president of the Tourism Council of Thailand, said travel agents reported slower booking than usual for China National Day, one of the longest holidays in that country.

Mr Surawat said the decline is attributed to a sluggish economic recovery that is taking a toll on spending as deflation looms.

In the property sector, giant company Country Garden missed a bond payment, leading to concerns about the domestic economy.

The Chinese government is also promoting domestic tourism to stimulate local consumption, he said.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/ge ... ina-slumps

[caller]

The absence of Chinese tourists affects many Countries, including the UK. A couple of weeks back, The Times ran an article about it (no link, sorry).

[STEVE G]

The absence of Chinese tourists affects many Countries, including the UK. A couple of weeks back, The Times ran an article about it (no link, sorry).

PreCovid, there used to be swarms of them in Luxembourg as well but they've never returned in any number.
I always wondered what they all came for but apparently they used to visit the birth place of Karl Marx just over the border in Trier, Germany!

[Benroon]

The absence of Chinese tourists affects many Countries, including the UK. A couple of weeks back, The Times ran an article about it (no link, sorry).

That has to be a good thing right? No more spitting in the street or eating like they're the only ones in the restaurants!

The markets are pricing in China being rodgered for some time.

[buksida]

Chinese economic slowdown set to impact Thai tourism
Thailand's tourism and exports of chemical products and plastic pellets are expected to decline because of the Chinese economic slowdown, according to the latest study by the Commerce Ministry's planning unit.

Poonpong Naiyanapakorn, director-general of the Trade Policy and Strategy Office (TPSO), said the liquidity crunch in China's real estate sector is a major concern for the economy, hampering its recovery after Beijing lifted strict measures to control the spread of Covid-19.

Real estate businesses in China mostly utilise extensive borrowing for a high volume of projects. This creates risk for a property bubble, Mr Poonpong said.

Earlier this month, the People's Bank of China announced the "Three Red Lines" criteria aimed at reducing the risk of a property bubble and restraining the expansion of debt in the real estate business. Only 6.3% of Chinese real estate businesses met these criteria, making it nearly impossible for most businesses to borrow more money to operate.

Combined with reduced sales during the pandemic, many businesses faced severe financial difficulties, including major player Evergrande.



https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/ge ... ai-tourism

[caller]

As an aside, I caught the 09.30 airport bus back from Swampy on Monday just gone. When I reserved my seat on the Friday before, I was the only booking. Including me, there were 9 of us on the bus. I was away a week and in that time, Hua Hin seems to have emptied.

[lomuamart]

As an aside, I caught the 09.30 airport bus back from Swampy on Monday just gone. When I reserved my seat on the Friday before, I was the only booking. Including me, there were 9 of us on the bus. I was away a week and in that time, Hua Hin seems to have emptied.

We were up and down to BKK via the airport bus on Wednesday.

I thought Swampy was fairly busy for this time of year but there were only a handful of passengers on the 6am bus up. I noticed that the combined Pattaya/HH desk for the bus back was busy when we arrived so decided to book our return before heading off. There wasn't any need. Only 8 passengers on the way back, including us. Guess everyone was off to sin city.

[Big Boy]

What's going on? We went to our favourite breakie place on Soi 94 today for a spot of brunch, and couldn't get near the place. Went down the hill a bit and Morning Bread was very busy as well. We ended up going to Oasis in Khao Takiab, where we saw dozens of people on holiday walking past.

On the way home, I had to stop at Soi 94 railway crossing to let a family of 5 tourists walking line abreast across the railway crossing.

Has Hua Hin been invaded overnight?

[buksida]

Wasn't at the weekend. The Ga Hanoi food court/restaurant near 94 was practically empty on Friday night, I don't think I've ever seen it so quiet. We had the entire floor to ourselves at the hotel also!

Maybe the cheap flights have kicked in now that the schools are going back in the UK/Europe.

[Dannie Boy]

We’re you able to guess the nationalities or at least Western vs Asian?


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[Big Boy]

All Western