Pity the Russian Tourists

[teelack 9,281]

Geez Shilo! Thanks for that table. It is an eye opener. As a matter of interest last night I checked on my February flight with Thai Air to see if it had gone down. Shock and horror! It had increased by 50% since I booked last month!

[MeGoDanceNow 4,281]

Like Shilo says, the engineered collapse in Russia is going to affect the whole world. This is much more serious than the Mexican Tequila Crisis or the Asian currency meltdown.

 

Closer to home, we can expect a lot of condos to go on sale -- with their Russian owners very glad indeed they bought into a hard-currency market

 

We are in for interesting times

[BigDUSA 71]

 

That's good news!

For who? Hotel owners, restaurants, Baht bus drivers, bars? Pattaya needs all the money spending tourists it can get.

[MM 6,562]

For who? Hotel owners, restaurants, Baht bus drivers, bars? Pattaya needs all the money spending tourists it can get.

 

For me and many like me who don't appreciate their overwhelming numbers, swagger and influence.

 

I could care less about hoteliers and property owners and developers.

 

Your response is predictably combative.

[MeGoDanceNow 4,281]

I'm with BigD on this one. Businesses need the money.

 

I don't have a problem with the Russians generally. They bring their fine-ass women with them, so there's plenty of scenery to scope round the poolside

[jacko 8,762]

 

For me and many like me who don't appreciate their overwhelming numbers, swagger and influence.

 

I could care less about hoteliers and property owners and developers.

 

Your response is predictably combative.

Perhaps I will spend NYE in town.... so long as there is no damned obligatory Gala Dinner!

[BigDUSA 71]

 

For me and many like me who don't appreciate their overwhelming numbers, swagger and influence.

 

I could care less about hoteliers and property owners and developers.

 

Your response is predictably combative.

You may care less about the economic well being of the local business community. Their are others who realize when business is doing well. Pattaya does well and the local residents benefit.

[Shilo 371]

When the Russians arrive in Pattaya, are they loaded up with USD, or mostly bringing their sadly declining rouble with them?

They will be desperately trying to change their roubles into property surely, even at inflated relative prices.

 

I still see what appears to be a lot of them making a home shopping in Homeworks and Homepro.

 

That certainly isn't what's happening in the London market. Unless the Russians saw this coming and switched from rubles to dollars/baht 10-12 months ago... then they are holding rubles with half the old value and or buying Jomtien condos at twice the old price... assuming that they can even get their money out of the Russian banks.

 

From my condo window I can see the area of Jomtien that many of us expats has started to call "Little Russia". The lights are still on but I'm guessing that the mood over their is very very sour.

 

 

 

Russians Are Flooding Out Of London's Housing Market As The Ruble Crumbles

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/russians-are-flooding-out-of-londons-housing-market-as-the-ruble-crumbles-2014-12#ixzz3MFkLZ7kE

Edited December 18, 2014 by Shilo

[midlifecrisis 4,030]

Perhaps this is an endorsement for gold as an investment.

[wacmedia 277]

Perhaps this is an endorsement for gold as an investment.

Hi,

 

Absolutely.

[jacko 8,762]

 

 

That certainly isn't what's happening in the London market. Unless the Russians saw this coming and switched from rubles to dollars/baht 10-12 months ago... then they are holding rubles with half the old value and or buying Jomtien condos at twice the old price... assuming that they can even get their money out of the Russian banks.

 

From my condo window I can see the area of Jomtien that many of us expats has started to call "Little Russia". The lights are still on but I'm guessing that the mood over their is very very sour.

 

 

 

Russians Are Flooding Out Of London's Housing Market As The Ruble Crumbles

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/russians-are-flooding-out-of-londons-housing-market-as-the-ruble-crumbles-2014-12#ixzz3MFkLZ7kE

 

I passed a Russian at the TT exchange last night and he was discreetly trying to count a substantial pile of 1000 baht notes.

I did not see whether he had changed roubles or another currency, but you can imagine rouble carriers fairly sprinting to the exchange booth.

 

The linked article suggests it becomes more difficult for all but the wealthiest to take money out of their home country. This cannot bode well for Pattaya which has focussed heavily on their custom. Although like MM, I would not be a sad man to see fewer huge Pegas coaches impeding traffic.

[Chang_paarp 253]

More positive news on the Russian visitors.

 

 

 

Russian Tourists Are Cancelling Their Vacation Plans In Thailand

Dina Spector Home Dec. 18, 2014, 7:10 PM

WikipediaA view of the Pattaya skyline.

Hard times have fallen on Pattaya, a beach resort about 60 miles southeast of Bangkok, as Russian tourists cancel their vacation plans amid the collapse of the ruble.

“Hotel room reservations from the Russian market have already dropped by 70% for this high season,” Sanpetch Suppabawonsathien, president of the Thai Hotels Association, told The Bangkok Post.

According to figures from the Kasikorn Research Center, visitors from Russia to Thailand dropped by 5.5% in 2014 to 1.65 million from 1.75 million. Russia is currently the third-biggest market for Thai tourism, according to the Post.

It’s a stark change from the mid-1990s when the Thai beach resort was considered a “dream destination” for wealthy Russians, as described in a 1995 essay by American journalist Ron Gluckman.

“The Russians come in large numbers, generally as couples or families on holiday. They settle into Pattaya for up to two weeks and rely heavily on hotel food-and-beverage services, the most profitable portion of a hotel’s business,” Gluckman writes.

They had money. And enjoyed spending it.

WikipediaThe Pattaya Bay Area is one of Asia’s largest beach resorts.

“They also eat and drink like feasting monarchs,” Gluckman adds. “At Pattaya’s Russkii Restaurant — serving beetroot salads, borscht and liver stroganoff — proprietor Konstantine Povolotski stocks $300 bottles of champagne.”

Now, Pattaya hoteliers are being pressured by travel agents to “cut surcharges and gala dinners from tour programmes in the peak season and to sell special packages for Russian tourists,” The Bangkok Post said.

Suppabawonsathien said he expects the number of Russian vistors to Pattaya to plunge by more than 50% in 2014, compared to last year, due to the weakening of the ruble, which fell to an all-time low against the dollar this week.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered his annual end-of-year news conference in Moscow on Thursday, in which he said that the central bank and government are taking adequate measures to put the country on a positive track and that Russia would bounce back from the current economic crisis within two years.

 

from here; http://www.businessinsider.sg/russian-tourists-market-slumps-in-thailand-2014-12/#.VJPwK_8u0HA

Edited December 19, 2014 by Chang_paarp

[Shilo 371]

Some interesting numbers in this small piece about the importance of Russian tourism to Thailand:

 

http://thainews.prd.go.th/centerweb/newsen/NewsDetail?NT01_NewsID=WNECO5712190010007

 

They said the number of Russian tourists coming to Thailand rose from 90,000 in 2003 to 1.75 million in 2013. Last year, the revenue gained from Russian tourists alone made up as much as 10.1 percent of all revenue generated from tourism.

According to the analysts, the Russian currency has already fallen from 30 rubles per dollar early this year to 62 rubles per dollar at present. They cautioned that should the value of the ruble nosedive by more than 300 percent as in 1998 during which time Russia faced a severe economic crisis, the number of Russian holiday makers may shrink by 30 percent compared to the number this year. The tourism sector may as a result lose 50 billion baht in revenue next year or about 0.5 percent of the country’s GDP. - See more at: http://thainews.prd.go.th/centerweb/newsen/NewsDetail?NT01_NewsID=WNECO5712190010007#sthash.U6YGZMpI.dpuf

They said the number of Russian tourists coming to Thailand rose from 90,000 in 2003 to 1.75 million in 2013. Last year, the revenue gained from Russian tourists alone made up as much as 10.1 percent of all revenue generated from tourism.

Edited December 20, 2014 by Shilo

[Idefix 2,275]

Hi. I just come back from auctions not far from Jomtien.

- Today was for sale all the desks/chairs/cabinets/signage of a company selling condos to Russian that clearly stopped its activity...

- The manager of the auctions place also announced he received this week hundreds of objects (furniture, decorations, ...) of Russian who sell everything in their house/condo because they return in their country.

Just other signs showing that there will be far less Russian in Pattaya in 2015...

[MM 6,562]

Hi. I just come back from auctions not far from Jomtien.

- Today was for sale all the desks/chairs/cabinets/signage of a company selling condos to Russian that clearly stopped its activity...

- The manager of the auctions place also announced he received this week hundreds of objects (furniture, decorations, ...) of Russian who sell everything in their house/condo because they return in their country.

Just other signs showing that there will be far less Russian in Pattaya in 2015...

 

Was that Collingbourne Auctions? I'm in the market for just those sorts of items right now.

[Idefix 2,275]

Yes MM, Collingbourne Auctioneers

Today was the last auctions of the year; they are closed for holidays

Next auctions should be on January 10th

[wacmedia 277]

Hi,

 

It's easy to feel smug if you dont like the Russians. However, it is likely to have a negative effect on you if you have a business. Should be easier to buy or rent a condo, of course.

[Shilo 371]

Hi,

 

It's easy to feel smug if you dont like the Russians. However, it is likely to have a negative effect on you if you have a business. Should be easier to buy or rent a condo, of course.

 

I'm afraid that many people are missing the point. There is a good chance that EVERYONE will feel the "negative effect" of this crisis before it's over. Right now we're talking about the Russians.

 

I've read a few items that suggest that the satellite countries around the Soviet Union are feeling the pinch. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-19/belarus-steps-up-capital-controls-to-stem-ex-soviet-currency-rot.html

 

Oil producing countries (such as African) are having their own problems: http://blogs.platts.com/2014/12/16/africa-oil-politics/

 

Or Venezuela : http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2014/12/venezuela_collapse_oil_dropping.html

 

If the price of oil stays low and the Russian currency crisis continues then one of the least bad options for Russia will be to sell more oil at even lower prices just to get the dollars and avoid defaults.

 

And speaking of defaults that brings in another batch of countries that could feel the pain in their banking systems... countries like Austria, the Netherlands, Italy, France... many of their banks have seen their stocks drop by 30% in the past month alone: http://www.businessinsider.com/banks-most-exposed-russias-looming-debt-crisis-2014-12

 

This ballgame is only in the second inning. Putin himself said yesterday that he expects this to drag on for the next couple of years,

[MM 6,562]

And, Shilo, of course US financial markets will be subject to pressure from collapsing junk bonds holding shale oil bonds if they start defaulting on their debts.

 

It's all a jumble.

[MeGoDanceNow 4,281]

Yes, the knock-on effects will be immense, and worldwide.

 

Germany is suffering too, as energy deals fail to go through.

 

Sudden economic reversal means social instability, and God knows what could happen then, in plenty of countries worldwide.

 

In a global economy where just about everything is overpriced, this is the breeze that could knock over the whole house of cards.

[Butch 3,456]

Good time, if any, to stick some dollar on Oil stocks. We might see the price of gold rising as well, which will be good news for me cos I've got a 2.8 pence per share punt on "Solgold" at the moment.

I see also that the Swiss Banks will soon charge starting foreign investors negative interest rates, prompted in part by the Ruskies dumping huge deposits.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-30528404

[Jiklo 1]

Keep those Rooskies away from Thailand and the rest of the world. Oil crashes, Ruple crashes... good news all around.

[wacmedia 277]

And, Shilo, of course US financial markets will be subject to pressure from collapsing junk bonds holding shale oil bonds if they start defaulting on their debts.

 

It's all a jumble.

 

 

Hi,

 

I agree, it's all connected.

[MM 6,562]

 

 

Hi,

 

I agree, it's all connected.

Please don't ever agree with me again..You'll make me doubt my sanity.

[wacmedia 277]

Please don't ever agree with me again..You'll make me doubt my sanity.

 

Hi,

 

I like to think I bring a bit of balance and sanity to these threads.