Absence of Entertainment Venues

[H2O]

 

Apparently the Thai government’s goal is to rebrand its tourism reputation by permanently removing Thailand as a sex tourism destination. bars, entertainment venues, freelancers, bar girls, happy endings massage businesses, soi cowboy, nana plaza, Phuket waking street etc all will no longer be part of Thailand tourism. I guess you can’t blame the government for wanting a better perceived tourism reputation. 
 

That said,  all of the above is not important to me as I have a LTR with a beautiful Thai lady whom has a normal job and earns more than the average retired expat. 
 

However the absence of the popular entertainment venues is going to have a major negative impact especially after the pandemic ends or at least stabilizes. Thailand will lose much tourism to other Asian country’s which continue the entertainment venues.  Just saying

 

[AussieBob]

On 10/5/2021 at 5:34 AM, H2O said:

Apparently the Thai government’s goal is to rebrand its tourism reputation by permanently removing Thailand as a sex tourism destination. bars, entertainment venues, freelancers, bar girls, happy endings massage businesses, soi cowboy, nana plaza, Phuket waking street etc all will no longer be part of Thailand tourism. I guess you can’t blame the government for wanting a better perceived tourism reputation. 
That said,  all of the above is not important to me as I have a LTR with a beautiful Thai lady whom has a normal job and earns more than the average retired expat. 
However the absence of the popular entertainment venues is going to have a major negative impact especially after the pandemic ends or at least stabilizes. Thailand will lose much tourism to other Asian country’s which continue the entertainment venues.  Just saying

And well said - I agree and dont need the 'entertainment' myself.  If Thailand opens up and the venues are mostly closed and shut down, then many tourists will talk about it and say how crappy it is and most will then go elsewhere. Thailand should not open until they are ready - but you try and tell them that.

[palooka]

There is always another country looking at what you are throwing away.

Cambodia (1 hour flight from BKK) isn't far away and they have Casinos, if Hun Sen cleans up his act and opens up places like Sihanoukville for the investor they will take all the business that didn't exist in Thailand. The Thai girls will travel there no problems, Cambodian ladies are beautiful too, living there is cheaper than Thailand, former French colony so French influence on a lot of food.

When the charter flights from Russia and Europe start flying direct and bypass BKK, Prayut and his ilk may wake up.

[Marc26]

On 10/4/2021 at 12:34 PM, H2O said:

Apparently the Thai government’s goal is to rebrand its tourism reputation by permanently removing Thailand as a sex tourism destination. bars, entertainment venues, freelancers, bar girls, happy endings massage businesses, soi cowboy, nana plaza, Phuket waking street etc all will no longer be part of Thailand tourism. I guess you can’t blame the government for wanting a better perceived tourism reputation. 
 

That said,  all of the above is not important to me as I have a LTR with a beautiful Thai lady whom has a normal job and earns more than the average retired expat. 
 

However the absence of the popular entertainment venues is going to have a major negative impact especially after the pandemic ends or at least stabilizes. Thailand will lose much tourism to other Asian country’s which continue the entertainment venues.  Just saying

I don't think you realize how miniscule those venues are in terms of the entirety of Thailand tourism

Millions of people go to Thailand and never see those places 

[Marc26]

4 hours ago, palooka said:

There is always another country looking at what you are throwing away.

Cambodia (1 hour flight from BKK) isn't far away and they have Casinos, if Hun Sen cleans up his act and opens up places like Sihanoukville for the investor they will take all the business that didn't exist in Thailand. The Thai girls will travel there no problems, Cambodian ladies are beautiful too, living there is cheaper than Thailand, former French colony so French influence on a lot of food.

When the charter flights from Russia and Europe start flying direct and bypass BKK, Prayut and his ilk may wake up.

Sihanoukville was opened up to Chinese investment and from all accounts they destroyed the place (I haven't been)

 

The last thing I'd worry about in Asia is a country having a casino

Casinos in Asia, even the nicer ones, are shitholes with some of the lowest class people in all of Asia

 

Maybe hard-core sexpats would go to Cambodia

But Cambodia doesn't have close to the infrastructure that Thailand has 

[RobMuir]

9 minutes ago, Marc26 said:

I don't think you realize how miniscule those venues are in terms of the entirety of Thailand tourism

You are right, but that is all some people know of Thailand, so they think it important.

Impossible to know but I reckon the hookers being so in your face probably puts more people from coming here than it actually attracts.

Normal female tourists often hate it when a group of hookers jumps out and gropes their boyfriends screaming welcum. They have no shame. And the site of Old Fat Farang with a girl who looks like a teenager most find cringeworthy.

[palooka]

11 hours ago, Marc26 said:

Sihanoukville was opened up to Chinese investment and from all accounts they destroyed the place (I haven't been)

The last thing I'd worry about in Asia is a country having a casino

Casinos in Asia, even the nicer ones, are shitholes with some of the lowest class people in all of Asia

Maybe hard-core sexpats would go to Cambodia

But Cambodia doesn't have close to the infrastructure that Thailand has 

Been there, which is why I clarified that Hun Sen needs to get his act together and attract foreign investment basically to clean it up. You will never stop the sex tourists and the gamblers, but both groups bring plenty of money, sex tourists are only interested in a good PARTY time, and gamblers nearly always go home broke, but they will gamble where ever they go, Vegas,Macau where ever they can get that fix.  Macau by the way have some very nice establishments and are not "shit holes" and they are patronised by billionaires and HiSo or do you class these as low class.

[Marc26]

44 minutes ago, palooka said:

Been there, which is why I clarified that Hun Sen needs to get his act together and attract foreign investment basically to clean it up. You will never stop the sex tourists and the gamblers, but both groups bring plenty of money, sex tourists are only interested in a good PARTY time, and gamblers nearly always go home broke, but they will gamble where ever they go, Vegas,Macau where ever they can get that fix.  Macau by the way have some very nice establishments and are not "shit holes" and they are patronised by billionaires and HiSo or do you class these as low class.

You can have a billion dollars and still be low class

 

Every casino I've been to in Asia(3 different countries) they all have been rude with no manners 

 

That's just been my personal experience 

You may have different experiences.....

[NCC1701A]

has some law been passed that i did not hear about?

as best i can tell, some gogo's are being remodeled as we speak.

in the mean time, Thai Friendly and Tinder are loaded with girls. Even Hua Hin has had a uptick in girls on line. 

i don't really know much about this. it's just something i read on the internet 

[gummy]

5 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

has some law been passed that i did not hear about?

as best i can tell, some gogo's are being remodeled as we speak.

in the mean time, Thai Friendly and Tinder are loaded with girls. Even Hua Hin has had a uptick in girls on line. 

i don't really know much about this. it's just something i read on the internet 

Yes like you NCC I have heard similar. Also a point was made elsewhere that whilst senior members of the administration, past, present and no doubt in the future, give their patronage to venues such as Krystal club, or those with similar business models, then anybody whom suggests that entertainment venues will be closed and hence deter people coming may be mistaken.

[NCC1701A]

 

in conservative Hua Hin there are no gogo's, dancing in bars is illegal (but ok in clubs) but there are still bars with unfortunately overweight and not very hot girls just sitting there looking plump. how are they going to stop that? 

There is of course all the venues for Thais like the now infamous Maya Club ground zero for the Covid outbreak. My girlfriend lived in a condo just around the corner from there. 

we do have one soapy that is so low key that i did not even know about it for two years after getting here. 

it is very nice setup for Thai's really. Not as nice as Korat or Surin or Roi Et or Ubon Ratchathani. but much nicer than Chaing Mai which is really mediocre. 

which reminds me of the time I was in the Lom Sak Hotel and had to jump out a window... 

[GMoney2312]

On 10/5/2021 at 2:34 AM, H2O said:

 Just saying

I hear you, but when Prohibition hit the US from 1920 to 1933, the rise of Organized Crime was in full force, and never really went away. I feel something similar would be the cause and effect for this direction.

[GMoney2312]

13 hours ago, RobMuir said:

And the site of Old Fat Farang with a girl who looks like a teenager most find cringeworthy.

All the more reason why I stayed in shape!

[GMoney2312]

1 hour ago, NCC1701A said:

which reminds me of the time I was in the Lom Sak Hotel and had to jump out a window... 

Details please!

[GMoney2312]

13 hours ago, RobMuir said:

Impossible to know but I reckon the hookers being so in your face probably puts more people from coming here than it actually attracts.

Soon the new "Speak Easy" will be knowing the secret word at the local grocery store so you can be taken to a back room.

[AussieBob]

19 hours ago, palooka said:

There is always another country looking at what you are throwing away.

Cambodia (1 hour flight from BKK) isn't far away and they have Casinos, if Hun Sen cleans up his act and opens up places like Sihanoukville for the investor they will take all the business that didn't exist in Thailand. The Thai girls will travel there no problems, Cambodian ladies are beautiful too, living there is cheaper than Thailand, former French colony so French influence on a lot of food.

When the charter flights from Russia and Europe start flying direct and bypass BKK, Prayut and his ilk may wake up.

True - but sorry - no. They will never 'wake up' 

[AussieBob]

3 hours ago, Marc26 said:

You can have a billion dollars and still be low class

Every casino I've been to in Asia(3 different countries) they all have been rude with no manners 

That's just been my personal experience 

You may have different experiences.....

Certainly compared to those in the west they are 'less than friendly', but I would not say they are rude. Their clientele is mainly Asian males and they do not want to be treated that way - they are all about 'business'.  I found them to be more 'cold' than rude - they dont bother being over friendly like in the western places I have been to. I saw it this way - the Western casinos smiled and tried to make me feel good as they took my money, but the Asian casinos just took my money - same same.

[Marc26]

18 minutes ago, AussieBob said:

Certainly compared to those in the west they are 'less than friendly', but I would not say they are rude. Their clientele is mainly Asian males and they do not want to be treated that way - they are all about 'business'.  I found them to be more 'cold' than rude - they dont bother being over friendly like in the western places I have been to. I saw it this way - the Western casinos smiled and tried to make me feel good as they took my money, but the Asian casinos just took my money - same same.

I meant the clientele not the dealers

Although you make a good and correct comparison west vs Asian dealers 

My wife and I went to the Marina Bay Sands casino in Singapore 

Very high end hotel

 

We were playing blackjack and guys were going over my wife's back to place bets as she sat at the blackjack table

I'm sure some will say that's the culture 

Well I didn't like anyone hanging over mj back and especially hanging over my wife's back, don't  care if it's considered culture 

 

We had Malaysian friends bring us to Geting Casino outside Kuala Lumpur

That was just low class all the way,IMO

I lasted 15mins and took a taxi out of there alone 

Edited October 10, 2021 by Marc26

[gummy]

37 minutes ago, AussieBob said:

Certainly compared to those in the west they are 'less than friendly', but I would not say they are rude. Their clientele is mainly Asian males and they do not want to be treated that way - they are all about 'business'.  I found them to be more 'cold' than rude - they dont bother being over friendly like in the western places I have been to. I saw it this way - the Western casinos smiled and tried to make me feel good as they took my money, but the Asian casinos just took my money - same same.

Casinos would be a great source of income for Pattaya in my opinion. The high rolling Chinese would love it. Macau has some of the best casinos in the world and they are not interested in supercillious insincere american poseurs dropping $5000 but being polite, as they have the high rolling rude Chinese dropping 10x that. Now if Thailand could even partially replicate that it would draw the real gamblers.

[Rain]

8 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

in conservative Hua Hin there are no gogo's, dancing in bars is illegal (but ok in clubs) but there are still bars with unfortunately overweight and not very hot girls just sitting there looking plump. how are they going to stop that? 

There is of course all the venues for Thais like the now infamous Maya Club ground zero for the Covid outbreak. My girlfriend lived in a condo just around the corner from there. 

we do have one soapy that is so low key that i did not even know about it for two years after getting here. 

it is very nice setup for Thai's really. Not as nice as Korat or Surin or Roi Et or Ubon Ratchathani. but much nicer than Chaing Mai which is really mediocre. 

which reminds me of the time I was in the Lom Sak Hotel and had to jump out a window... 

Venues continue to operated throughout the country. Local.

The key is not to consider everything Farang Ghetto-centric. 

[AussieBob]

On 10/10/2021 at 4:16 PM, gummy said:

Casinos would be a great source of income for Pattaya in my opinion. The high rolling Chinese would love it. Macau has some of the best casinos in the world and they are not interested in supercillious insincere american poseurs dropping $5000 but being polite, as they have the high rolling rude Chinese dropping 10x that. Now if Thailand could even partially replicate that it would draw the real gamblers.

I agree with that - but unfortunately the Casinos if legalised would want the locals to come - easy money for them.  Unfortunately, Casinos make their money from people that can really not afford to lose.  I guess maybe that if they had a very high 'entrance fee' then that would stop the poorer locals losing their money - but what bet that rule is changed later because it is 'discrimination'. Even in Australia with our Nanny State controls, Casinos are always getting into trouble - they are not a good thing overall - like drugs.  

[gummy]

3 minutes ago, AussieBob said:

I agree with that - but unfortunately the Casinos if legalised would want the locals to come - easy money for them.  Unfortunately, Casinos make their money from people that can really not afford to lose.  I guess maybe that if they had a very high 'entrance fee' then that would stop the poorer locals losing their money - but what bet that rule is changed later because it is 'discrimination'. Even in Australia with our Nanny State controls, Casinos are always getting into trouble - they are not a good thing overall - like drugs.  

Well in my distorted view of life I consider the ability to buy and sell shares no different to gambling at a casino. The only difference being that gambling and losing, or even winning at a casino only effects your and the casino whilst gambling on shares can ruin companies and hence workers lives.

[AussieBob]

10 minutes ago, gummy said:

Well in my distorted view of life I consider the ability to buy and sell shares no different to gambling at a casino. The only difference being that gambling and losing, or even winning at a casino only effects your and the casino whilst gambling on shares can ruin companies and hence workers lives.

I agree - but in this Nanny State they tax any 'winnings' on the share market - at least if you win in a Casino it is yours to keep.

[gummy]

Just now, AussieBob said:

I agree - but in this Nanny State they tax any 'winnings' on the share market - at least if you win in a Casino it is yours to keep.

Very true, hadn't thought of that.  But also as an afterthought if casinos were allowed here some of the ladies working inside ,well the pretty ones, would have good opportunities to increase their incomes. Don't know what happens in  Oz but certainly in Macau there are a good few ladies from Thailand managing to assist the punters and in turn earn themselves a decent income without having to flash their bods or drink copious amounts of alcohol in bars or gogos. Now they may end up in the same "positions" but surely the way they got there being more beneficial is better ? Just my view that if it is the lifestyle they choose to help themselves and families they may as well do it for the most money and in Thailand It would be a bonus to them.

[palooka]

unfortunately overweight and not very hot girls just sitting there looking plump. how are they going to stop that?

Shallow Hal is doing everything he can to get back and look after those girls.