What is average spending by tourists in Thailand

[Jun]

Believe what you want, but I live here year round and that puts me and everybody else who lives here year round in a position to see way more than you do - and I know what I'm seeing.

I agree that you are way better positioned than me to observe tourist numbers and spending in Pattaya.

However, to get a proper average for Thailand, we need to look beyond Pattaya. I enjoy my holidays there, but it's certainly not a high end shopping destination in the way that Bangkok is. If there are no high end shopping malls in Pattaya, there will not be much high end spending. Central is probably the cream of the crop in Pattaya and that's mass market.

If we start considering the volume of people going through BKK, DMK & UTP, or the shopping habits in Bangkok malls, well it then depends on how often you & I visit such places. I'm probably at least equally qualified to comment.

Incidentally, when I do visit the high end shopping malls, the only expenditure tends to be on coffee. I'm more prudent than all these big spending Chinese shoppers

[Jun]

This might make the point better & without starting WW3:

1 If sampling voting intentions in downtown San Francisco and Texas, would you expect different results from the 2 locations ?

2 If measuring average bar spend per customer in Sunee Plaza and Patpong, would you expect differing results ? [A drink might cost 350 baht or more in Patpong]

3 If measuring average spend per visitor in Mayfair (an expensive part of London), would you expect a different result to some suburban shopping centre in Glasgow ?

The results obtained depend on where you measure. Extrapolation from one location with particular characteristics to another is not always reliable.

[Gaybutton]

I can only speak about what I see for myself in Pattaya. So far, that's what I thought we've been talking about.

I don't think anyone can speak accurately about tourists in Bangkok or anywhere else in Thailand unless they live there - year round. I'll be glad to go by reports from those who report from areas where they live year round and are in a position to personally observe what's going on. Trongpai lives year round in Bangkok. I'd be much more inclined to go by what he says than any other source.

Other than that, I'm not interested. Others may be and that's fine, but I'm not. I really don't give a damn about how much tourists spend on average in the first place. What I do care about is how it is affecting life in Thailand. If there is anything lately particularly encouraging, I missed it.

[Dodger]

However, to get a proper average for Thailand, we need to look beyond Pattaya. I enjoy my holidays there, but it's certainly not a high end shopping destination in the way that Bangkok is. If there are no high end shopping malls in Pattaya, there will not be much high end spending. Central is probably the cream of the crop in Pattaya and that's mass market.

I agree, that if we're not relying on TOT statistics we need to look beyond Pattaya.

My opinion that tourist numbers, and tourist spending, are not as high as TOT claims with their statistics, is based on what I've seen this past year in Pattaya, the eastern seaboard towns of Sri Racha, Jomtien, Bang Saray, Sattahip, Rayong, Bangkok (high end malls & street markets), and Buriram, Surin and Si Saket up in Isaan. Overall, I see less tourists everywhere that I just mentioned.

The Terminal 21 Shopping Mall, which is one of the largest high end malls in Thailand, opened in North Pattaya this year. Jai and I have visited T21 twice, and honestly, without trying to exaggerate, it was like a ghost town, leaving us both wondering how they could possibly pay for the place let alone make a profit. Central Festival and Royal Garden have less tourists as well. Jai and I went to see the opening of "The Joker" two weeks ago at Central Festival and the theater was almost completely empty, which we've never seen before. We had planned to have dinner at "Bruno's" after the movie only to find that it was closed which really shocked me. Bruno's was always touted as being one of the best restaurants in Pattaya.

Jai and I navigated the Chao Praya River several times last week going to-and-from the street markets and temples we wanted to visit and found that half the seats on the boats were empty, including two return trips which were during the busy rush hour. Jai said that in the past we would have been standing.

What we all see more of are "Chinese", although there is even a notable decline in Chinese tourists lately. I just returned home an hour ago from a motorbike ride to Pattaya to have coffee with friends. This time last year there would have been 8-10 monster tour buses packed with Chinese at the south end of Beach Road/Jomtien. This morning there was only one bus with no people in side. The strong Thai Baht is probably the culprit.

Last, but not least, up until this year, if you drove from Dolphin Circle all the way down to Walking Street you would see 70% farang (rough guess) and 30% Thai and other Asians. If you take the same ride today (I know, I've done it 4 times in the past two weeks) you will see the exact opposite = 70%Thai and other Asians and 30% farang. It can't get any clearer than that...to me anyway.