Room rent in Pattaya after the Tsunami.

[gerefan]

Hi

I stayed in Pattaya in December for a few weeks at the Ambience Hotel which was great.

 

I enjoyed Pattaya and I have decided to return in January for a full month. I was going to find a room/condo for rent when I arrive.

 

I was wondering whether any of you guys there know if the town is getting fully booked by tourists, diverted from the South? Will there be a problem finding anywhere?

 

Also, can you give me any leads to a renting agency (or friendly landlord) and the expected rent for something half reasonable (I do not need luxury)!

Thanks for any advice.

 

Gerefan

[+ Lucky]

RE: Thai Hotels Crowded

 

From the Bangkok Post:

Tourists start changing routes

 

Hotel operators report shortage of vacancies

 

NONDHANADA INTARAKOMALYASUT, SUJINTANA HEMTASILPA & BOONSONG KOSITCHOTETHANA

 

The tsunami has created extra demand for hotels and travel services at Thai destinations other than the six affected southern provinces from which tourist traffic is being diverted.

 

Hotels in places such as Chiang Mai, Koh Samui and Bangkok are seeing a shortage of rooms as many of their guests, who had planned to spend part of their holidays in the southern resorts, have decided to extend their stays. At the same time, many recent arrivals from abroad have been diverted from the South.

 

However, many properties are finding it difficult to accommodate more demand as they were already at or close to full capacity before the disaster occurred.

 

Meanwhile, traffic to the South has fallen markedly, with many travellers seeking northern destinations instead.

 

There have been complaints from travel agents that some unscrupulous hotel operators in non-affected areas, such as Koh Samui, had exploited the tragedy by raising their room rates, said Chatri Tangtienkul, managing director of World Planet International, a leading travel company.

 

''But not all the hotels on Koh Samui have increased the rates. Most have decent consciences and have maintained rates as usual,'' he cautioned.

 

Michael Holehouse, chairman of the Thai Hotel Association's Koh Samui chapter, told the Bangkok Post yesterday that there was ''some'' extra demand for hotels on the island. ''There is unlikely to be any enormous increase. Most of us here looked very busy through April, well before the disaster happened,'' he said.

 

There are about 9,000 hotels rooms on Koh Samui, with about 2,000 to 3,000 of international standard.

 

Mr Chatri noted that most tour programmes for January and February had already been cancelled and the tourism industry in Thailand, particularly on the Andaman coast, was expected to be sluggish for a long time.

 

Many of the foreign tourists who had booked holidays in Phuket and Phangnga were upmarket travellers or families who have switched to Hua Hin, rather than going to Pattaya which they regard as too crowded and frenetic.

 

Montri Teedee, vice-chairman of the Korean Guides Association, said the number of Korean tourists to Thailand could fall to between 200,000 and 300,000 next year from the projection of 400,000.

 

Over the next six months, he said, the number of arrivals from around the world would continue to drop and some 70% of the guides in Thailand were at risk of losing their jobs.

 

He said that 30-40% of tour groups from Korea had cancelled while the rest had shifted to Pattaya and Hua Hin but still faced difficulty finding rooms.

 

At the same time, some holiday-makers, especially locals, are not keen to travel anymore, as cheaper train and bus seats have not been taken up.

 

According to the ticketing division of the State Railway of Thailand (SRT), up to 20% of southbound passengers have cancelled their tickets for the New Year holiday. Many have sought northbound tickets instead but demand exceeds supply. First- and second-class train tickets to the North were fully booked, with no cancellations, said a ticketing official.

 

With the exception of southbound tickets, first- and second-class seats from Bangkok to every region in Thailand were fully booked from Wednesday through today, and all such seats on inbound trains are fully booked from Jan 2-5. Typically, the official said, such seats are booked up two months in advance of the New Year.

 

Third-class tickets that do not require advance reservations were still available for all destinations, he said. But such seats tend not to appeal to leisure travellers.

 

A similar situation prevails for bus services operated by the government's Transport Company.

 

Prayot Sangkhasawas, director of the company's Southern Region Bus Division, said almost half of the passengers who had booked tickets for the company's first-class air-conditioned buses to Phangnga and Phuket had cancelled their reservations and received full refunds. Only about 2% have decided to postpone.

 

Mr Prayot said that normally his division had to increase the number of southbound buses for the New Year season by 30% to serve overwhelming demand. But this season, the increase was less than 20%.

 

Tickets for second-class air-con buses and non-air-con buses were still available.