Times are a Changing!

I have been involved with Thailand for 5 years and lately I have noticed that the typical Thai tourist has changed. The typical Thai tourist 5 years ago was frequently male, looking for a 'walk on the wild side'. Apparently, according to Thai tourism authorities, tourism rates are approximately the same despite the military coup of 2014.

So what gives? There are definitely fewer single farang males of all ages on the streets of Bangkok. They have been replaced by groups of single females (usually 2-4) and couples of all ages.

What does this mean for Bangkok? One must remember that economics seem to drive most everything in Thailand. Thais are very concerned with money and how to obtain it. The lo-so Thais want to eat and have a roof over their heads and the hi-so Thais want to get richer.

The night spots are definitely suffering and many places of business are either changing hands or closing shop. The new tourist types tend to not frequent these night spots. Instead, you find them in upscale restaurants and the many night markets where they can be seen snapping up the knockoffs that are produced in sweat shops throughout Asia. When these new tourists go to the various night spots they tend to gawk rather than engage. They take lots of photos to show the folks back home and and often, from their facial expressions, frown upon what they see. After 5 days in Bangkok they often head out to the islands and beaches and participate in what I refer to as a Florida, California, or Mexican style vacations. I am sure they enjoy themselves but I often wonder if any of them know that the Thai serving them or cleaning their room is making $10 a day.

So where are all the punters (I will leave it up to you to discover the definition of a punter in Thailand) of the past? I hear they are now going to the Philippines and Cambodia because the prices are cheaper. Thailand has full employment (despite the minimum wage of 300 baht a day) and apparently good help is hard to find. This means that the underground economy (bar scene) in Thailand has been the victim of inflation. The price of drinks and other things are up and the service is down. Thai immigration has also clamped down on the abuse of 30 day visa's and illegal workers. In my opinion this is a good things and much of the riff-raff that used to prowl the bar scenes is gone.

If you want to see Thailand the way it was over the past 20 years I suggest you get here soon as times are a changing and as always, economics is driving that change.

TTYL