Guest Posted September 12, 2004 Report Share Posted September 12, 2004 Change is coming, without a doubt. 4 years from now, things will be very diferent from what they are now. Mark my words, by 2008, farang sanuk will be directed to very specific area's, out of the limelight of BKK, as it is now known. Thailand is coming to a point of cleaning up their act, in terms of acceptance The point of my post was that I heard a similiar line in 1995/96, and now, some eight years later, it hasn't happened. There are actually more farang oriented entertainment venues in the lower Sukhumvit now than there were when my co-workers were predicting the go go bars would be gone in a few years. The crackdown doesn't seem to be specifically targeted at prostitution. Indeed, the most recent and alarming raid on a farang venue was the raid on Q Bar. Q Bar is the symbol of Bangkok's more trendy and upscale nightlife. I can tell my Thai co-workers I went to Q Bar; I wouldn't dare tell them I went to NEP. Indeed, the relationship between the crackdown measures that are being haphazardedly imposed and some discernable objective eludes me. "New Airport online" The new airport project is a mess. Thaiksin absolutely guaranteed that the new airport would be complete by October 2005, a foolish boast when it was made, and even more foolish now. Latest predictions are completion sometime 2007. The tenders to build the airport link that will connect the new international airport to Bangkok and the domestic airport just went a few weeks ago. In other words, they haven?t even selected a contractor to build the line. That line was supposed to be up and running when the new airport is built. Everything is further off schedule than even the most cynical were predicting when the project started. TAT admits tourism is well off projections. They may be "striving towards a 100% increase in tourists by 2008," but they don't seem to be getting there. They're already off target on their first year; not exactly a promising start. Even the overly optomistic government revised its GDP figures downwards two weeks ago. Every week brings allegations of new scandals in the SET (Stock Exchange of Thailand) involving government insiders. "World player" - I am with Straycat on this one; let's wait and see what happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 12, 2004 Report Share Posted September 12, 2004 Yes, same here. I hear the same rumors repeated year after year. Never pans out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belem Posted September 12, 2004 Report Share Posted September 12, 2004 I think the "in your face" bars and go go's will be eradicated in the future and the"scene"will be mainly freelancer and massage parlor oriented...and more expensive. By then, if they have developed an AIDS vaccine, I'm sure Africa will really open up.:: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belem Posted September 12, 2004 Report Share Posted September 12, 2004 And if I'm wrong, Cambodia's right next door. The crackdowns on nightlife in Cambodia, especially Phnom Penh, because of the NGO's is worse than what is happening in Thailand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belem Posted September 12, 2004 Report Share Posted September 12, 2004 Old Hippie said:Aren't we missing the point here? There country, their rules, plain and simple. Frankly, I hate when foreigners come to the USA and bitch about how it sucks here compared to their home, because "...in my home..." to which I say Shut up and go home, that simple. How would you or any of us like a bunch of foreigners comming to our country and trying to manipulate domestic policy? We wouldn't. So for us, if we really get to a point where we hate what is going on, or find we are being harrassed, then we are free to leave, plain and simple. No room for debate on this. Thailand will and should decide where it wants to go. Remember we are guest here, and many come to do stuff in Thailand they can't or wouldn't do at home. What right do we have to "demand" Thailand stay to our likeing? We don't. As I and others have said numorous times, there is plenty more to Thailand than cheap sex and cheap booze (which ain't so cheap anymore according to some). Anyone comming to Thailand soley for sex and fun wild unrestrained times, is selling the place short, and doing themself a diservice. If it is only cheap sex one is after, plenty of cheaper "freer" places, and we are free to go. I don't know. It takes a lot to make me endure the 24 hour flight...and it's not temples, beaches, and elephants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gomez Posted September 12, 2004 Report Share Posted September 12, 2004 I don't know. It takes a lot to make me endure the 24 hour flight...and it's not temples, beaches, and elephants.Sticky rice? But I agree with OH. We'll all be dead soon, and when I go I'll have nothing but gratitude for the good times that Thailand has provided me, no matter what happens in the years ahead. It's the best country I've lived in, and I've lived in a few, no other place comes close. It doesn't matter whether it's 10 years or 20 years, whether the airport is finished on time, whether Nana and Cowboy remain bar areas, whether there is another financial crisis, local or worldwide, I think we all know where it's going, the same route that every developed country in the world has gone before it. Then we can find those African ladies who are purported to be immune to hiv. :: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 12, 2004 Report Share Posted September 12, 2004 Even the coulples who visit Thailand go to sample the famous nightlife. The are more couples looking around Patpong and Walking street at night than there are single males. Thailand has done so well to attract tourists of all kinds because they have a package of attractions which include beaches, temples, cheap shopping, friendly people and nightlife. Without the nightlife the tourists could go to India, Sri Lanka or half a dozen other countries and get the same experience. What I am saying is that lose the nightlife and Thailand would lose a very important competitive advantage in attracting tourists. Sure keep the nightlife in zoned areas but to lose it would be a big mistake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bibblies Posted September 12, 2004 Report Share Posted September 12, 2004 New airport online doesn't matter one way or the other (and, by the way, by some of the logic employed on this thread, you'd better snap up land near it as soon as you can because living near such a transport hub's going to be all the rage!) Has there been an explosion in tourist numbers to Hong Kong since the new airport was built? 100% possible increase in tourism is pie in the sky. For a start, it seems to forget that there are 100+ other countries in the world all vying for the tourist dollar and they're not going to stand still. If new tourists came from anywhere, it'd be China and, from what I've seen in Cambodia, they've fewer scruples about playing around with prostitutes than we westerners have! They're not going to want to come on holiday to a country that tells them what to do - they'd stay at home for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
short-time Posted September 12, 2004 Report Share Posted September 12, 2004 I think we all know where it's going, the same route that every developed country in the world has gone before it. My thoughts exactly. I think the writing is on the wall for Cowboy and Nana. With the zoning laws and continuous crackdowns which started a couple of years back, the direction of change seems clear to me. Sure, the Tourist Authority of Thailand will make overly ambitious statements like doubling the number of tourists, government agencies and politicians across the world always make rosy predictions. Yeah, who can say for sure what's going to happen, but I see things getting tighter and tighter for bar owners (especially gogo?s) and they aren?t helping matters by raising prices. I don?t have any numbers, but would estimate there are fewer bars operating in lower Sukumvit now than there were two years ago. I would be surprised if the MP scene vanished in my lifetime (too much a part of Asian culture), and without a doubt there will always be entertainment venues. I see gogo bars going first followed by beerbars with barfinable girls. As replacement venues I would venture a guess at a large increase in discos with freelancers. This kind of action seems much more acceptable to the powers that be than the in-your-face stuff, and is tolerated in many cities of the world which remain popular tourist mecca?s. ST Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 12, 2004 Report Share Posted September 12, 2004 think we all know where it's going, the same route that every developed country in the world has gone before it. My thoughts exactly. I think the writing is on the wall for Cowboy and Nana. With the zoning laws and continuous crackdowns which started a couple of years back, the direction of change seems clear to me. Sure, the Tourist Authority of Thailand will make overly ambitious statements like doubling the number of tourists, government agencies and politicians across the world always make rosy predictions. A good rule of thumb is that the further out the prediction, the more likely it will be wrong. Sort of like the predictions in the mid-60's that we'd all be using flying cars for everyday transportation by now. On the positive side, few people, if any, will remember what was posted on the NEP board in the time frame that even this overly optomistic government has targetted for reaching fully developed status. Except when I have had one too many in a NEP bar or, in my younger years, when I smoked one too many, I am more comfortable with speculation about what is likely to happen in the near term. It is more relevant to me now than what might or might not happen when I might or might not be alive. Moreover, because discussions about what will happen in the near term are anchored by facts, it is harder to go too far astray with fantasies about flying cars and responsible governance in Thailand. When you look at those facts, it is hard to imagine the sanuk scene going away. There are more bars than they were when I first heard predictions of their imminent demise some eight or nine years ago. Thailand still needs tourism revenues and, according to the Tourism Authority's own figures, two-thirds of the tourists from developed countries (where the biggest spenders come from) are still single males. Under the current regime at least, Thailand is not taking the same route of every developed country in the world that has gone before it; quite the opposite. I see gogo bars going first followed by beerbars with barfinable girls. As replacement venues I would venture a guess at a large increase in discos with freelancers. This kind of action seems much more acceptable to the powers that be than the in-your-face stuff, and is tolerated in many cities of the world which remain popular tourist mecca?s. Except that the crackdown has focused more on discos and upscale night clubs than go go bars. There has been some urine testing at NEP, but the primairy targets have been "discos that [are] tolerated in many cities of the world which remain popular tourist meccas" and upscale nightclubs like Q Bar. Maybe all this will be different when we are travellling around in flying cars; maybe not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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