News Forum - Khao San Road businesses cancel Songkran party plans for third year running

[Thaiger]

Splash-happy tourists can cross out Bangkok’s Khao San Road from their water bucket list this year, after local business owners officially cancelled their plans to hold and Songkran celebrations in the capital’s tourist hotspot, formerly referred to as a “backpacker haven”. It’s the third consecutive year Khao San area operators have halted their famous water fights, much to the chagrin of both locals tourists, as Thailand continues battling the spread of Covid-19. The decision comes after the Bangkok Metropolitan Association last week set strict Covid-curbing rules for private Songkran parties, and liabilities for those who organise them. Local businesses had […]

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[Soidog]

Many countries who started vaccination in January 2021 and allowed lots of social mixing through 2021 and early 2022, are now coming out of all these restrictions. Infection rates are no longer the focus and only hospitalisations and the ability for the healthcare systems to cope is what’s of concern. As Thailand came to the vaccination game about 6 months later. Used poor quality vaccines. Continued to restrict, lockdown and close schools and bars, case numbers stayed low hence natural immunity stayed low. In addition Thailands government still remains fixated on cases numbers and along with the use of poor Chinese vaccines and a vaccine hesitancy among many elderly people, the pandemic continues.  Overall, Thailand is some 6-9 months behind many other countries and hence “normality” will not return until at least June or July. Even then, it will be normality “Thai style”. We won’t see proper normal until the end of this year and most likely Q1 2023.
 

The real concern is can Thailand save the next high season for tourism? At this rate I suspect not. Of course they will claim a success, but numbers will be less than half pre-pandemic levels. If I was running a tourist dependant business, I’d be planning a continuity plan based on a return to sustainable income by late 2023.  

[Ramanathan.P]

This is the last nail into the hope of those dying business owners who are trying their best to keep their nose above water. Anyway Thailand is a land of wonders. Very soon TAT will come out with great numbers from their crystal ball......

[butterfly]

25 minutes ago, Soidog said:

We won’t see proper normal until the end of this year and most likely Q1 2023.

that is assuming there is no other new variant giving another excuse for governments to lock us down

[Soidog]

15 minutes ago, Ramanathan.P said:

This is the last nail into the hope of those dying business owners who are trying their best to keep their nose above water. Anyway Thailand is a land of wonders. Very soon TAT will come out with great numbers from their crystal ball......

It’s already started with the Phuket office claiming ฿3Bn will be spent over the Songkran holiday period, much resulting from local tourism. What this figure doesn’t say, is that meanwhile, in the provinces, those offices are predicting a ฿3Bn loss as people leave and go on holiday to Phuket. Net benefit to the Thai economy is ฿0. 

[Soidog]

2 minutes ago, butterfly said:

that is assuming there is no other new variant giving another excuse for governments to lock us down

Well the whole approach by many countries was flawed from day 1. Locking down and restrictions needed to be something that bought us time to develop and roll out vaccines. Many governments just didn’t focus enough on this aspect, or if they did they wanted to rush out inferior vaccines to score political points (Chinese and Russian!).

Now they have a population totally scared of their own shadows as a result of more than 2 years of fear propaganda and the use of terms like “State of emergency”. They have spent little to no effort in educating themselves, let alone the population of the country in what works and doesn’t work.  Thailand has continued to push an agenda that says outsiders are a risk, even though the virus is everywhere in the country. That kind of says it all I’m afraid. As ever, it’s not the incompetent at the top of the tree who suffer.  The leaders will be gone at the next election and will have to suffer a life each with $50m in the bank! It’s those at the bottom of society who have suffered and will continue to suffer for many years.  

 

[butterfly]

29 minutes ago, Soidog said:

That kind of says it all I’m afraid.

amen to that, COVID has revealed the flaws of every leaders in the world, you wouldn't want those guys at the top in a time of war or after a nuclear strike

could organize a piss-up in an Irish bar,

Edited April 6, 2022 by butterfly

[Guevara]

2 hours ago, Soidog said:

Many countries who started vaccination in January 2021 and allowed lots of social mixing through 2021 and early 2022, are now coming out of all these restrictions. Infection rates are no longer the focus and only hospitalisations and the ability for the healthcare systems to cope is what’s of concern. As Thailand came to the vaccination game about 6 months later. Used poor quality vaccines. Continued to restrict, lockdown and close schools and bars, case numbers stayed low hence natural immunity stayed low. In addition Thailands government still remains fixated on cases numbers and along with the use of poor Chinese vaccines and a vaccine hesitancy among many elderly people, the pandemic continues.  Overall, Thailand is some 6-9 months behind many other countries and hence “normality” will not return until at least June or July. Even then, it will be normality “Thai style”. We won’t see proper normal until the end of this year and most likely Q1 2023.
 

The real concern is can Thailand save the next high season for tourism? At this rate I suspect not. Of course they will claim a success, but numbers will be less than half pre-pandemic levels. If I was running a tourist dependant business, I’d be planning a continuity plan based on a return to sustainable income by late 2023.  

The term 'dragging your heels' comes to mind. You are quite right in my opinion regarding tourism returning to anything like it was.

[Ramanathan.P]

3 hours ago, Soidog said:

It’s already started with the Phuket office claiming ฿3Bn will be spent over the Songkran holiday period, much resulting from local tourism. What this figure doesn’t say, is that meanwhile, in the provinces, those offices are predicting a ฿3Bn loss as people leave and go on holiday to Phuket. Net benefit to the Thai economy is ฿0. 

Looks like from Left pocket to right pocket....but end of the day it is only empty pocket

[Scribble]

As usual there is absolutely no consistency. One story is about cancelling Songkran on Khao San Road. The story directly underneath this one is announcing a Creamfields festival. Haha. 

[MrNovax]

Such a shame, I feel for the young who will never get to properly enjoy their youth because old men are scared of the boogie man.