High season in Udon, or not?

The second new hotel under construction, soi sampan

The life of Charly is fortunately full of pleasant surprises (unfortunately sometimes also less pleasant ones). Until a few years ago, he would never have dared to predict that he would spend the rest of his life in Thailand. However, he has now been living in Thailand for a while and in recent years close to Udonthani. This time an impression of the high season in Udon and a small update of soi sampan.

High season in Udon, or not?

Last month we were in for a few days Udon in connection with the stay there of a friend of mine, with his Thai wife. My friend lives near Roi Et, in a village with maybe 300 inhabitants in total.

There is of course little entertainment to be found in such a village. Some entertainment consists of events organized and paid for by the temples and the (local) government. And of course the celebration of birthdays, the consecration of a house by the monks who like to be paid well for it, wedding parties and sons who go into hiding in a temple for some time. To break the daily grind, my boyfriend regularly drives to Pattaya and Bangkok. When he returns he always drives via Udon. He finds, just like me, Udon a very pleasant town.

Moreover, he is a real junk food fanatic and since he knows that Brick House sells imported bitterballen and frikadellen from the Netherlands, he can be found in Udon every two months. We always have a very pleasant time together, also because Teoy and his wife get along very well.

For this occasion, I ordered salmon fillet from daSofia, so salmon without bones. Normally, salmon fillet is not on the menu because the purchase price is quite high, much higher than that of the salmon steak. The salmon fillet is therefore too expensive for most customers. At my request, Manfredo started buying especially for us. After which Tjum prepared this salmon fillet fantastic for us again. The ladies are going to eat a Thai fish bbq in UD Town, and then go shopping in UD nightmarket.

Also used this opportunity to map soi sampan and a piece of prajak road again. Also a great opportunity to see how things are going with it peak season in Udon.

To start with the latter. It's going bad this year with the so-called high season. I had already expressed my concerns about this in an earlier post, but that was reasonable at the start of the high season. It is now already the second half of January and it seems that my premonition will unfortunately come true in November. A number of expats and pensioners may think and say: fortunately, not so many tourists, but so quiet. With my sense of empathy for the Thai, I have a different view. I think it's wonderful if the Thai can earn money, for example through a strong tourist flow. And I therefore find it sad to see that this year does not offer the tourist flow that they rely on every year.

In a well-functioning bar/restaurant like Good Corner, I see an occupancy of a maximum of 30 to 40% of what I saw last year. Smiling Frogs also has a very moderate clientele, although this is not an unusual pattern for Smiling Frogs. The Whitebox, in Nutty Park, desperately wonders where all those tourists are.

When I'm drinking my wine on the terrace at Good Corner or daSofia, I don't see nearly as many tourists as last year. DaSofia also has fewer visits from tourists, but is still doing very well in relative terms. This is mainly due to the solid customer base that daSofia has built up over the past three years.

Irish Clock, back in the hands of the old owner, is also doing reasonably well. But there are still rooms for rent here. That was never the case last high season. During a number of nights at the Pannarai Hotel, first in December and very recently in January, I see an almost empty parking lot and no crowds at all at breakfast.

I walked a few laps with my friend and here too I notice how remarkably quiet it is everywhere. In Vicking Corners bar I only see the regulars, not a tourist in sight. In Zaaps bar and the Red Bar I hardly see any customers at all. Little to no customers in Happy bar and the Meeting Point Bar either. There is an exception, namely the Fun Bar (next to daSofia) of Bill and Faa. There are always about 8-10 animation girls present here and often also a number of customers. But in conversation with Faa I also get to hear that it is all considerably less than in previous high seasons.

The Eight Hotel under construction, soi sampan

During our walk we sit down on the terrace of Kavinburi hotel. Oddly enough, it's my first time here, even though the Kavinburi is located right opposite Good Corner, so I've walked past it many times. I am curious about their rooms and the facilities. The girl behind the reception is kind enough to show us the rooms and facilities. There is a nice little swimming pool with lounge chairs on the roof of the hotel. There is also a fitness room - which will certainly appeal to Teoy - and a roof terrace, where you can enjoy the view over Udon. The rooms are on the small side. This certainly applies to the bathroom, which is very small. But all standard facilities such as a LED TV, air conditioner and a double bed are available. Price of the room per night: 2 baht (excluding breakfast).

Took the opportunity to study the menu. This includes European and Thai dishes. Reasonable variety in starters, mains and desserts. The dishes are all cheaply priced. What is also striking is a fairly large choice of both white and red wines. Order a glass of white wine. The taste was good, the alcohol percentage with 12% also sufficient. The price of the bottle of white wine, 700 baht, makes me suspect that this cannot be a real wine. So just study the label. The wine is based on sauvignon grapes, but with the addition of apple and melon juices. Of the fruity whites, this is the one with the best taste, better than the Castle Greek, Mont Claire and MarYsol.

We now know that it is Kavinburi hotels is an asset in our search for pleasant stopping places, both the hotel and the bar/restaurant. After this extremely useful and informative stop, we cross Prajak Road again and enter Nutty Park. Nutty Park is a really bleak sight at the moment. There are bars for rent and the number of visitors in all bars in Nutty Park together can be counted on one hand. Only the Whitebox showed any activity. Based on this and previous visits, I fear for most of the bars here's right to exist but even for the future of Nutty Park as a whole. If a major investor becomes interested in this complex, for example to build an apartment building, Nutty Park will be done quickly.

The Eight Hotel under construction, soi sampan

The same picture in Day and Night, although the number of visitors there is considerably higher compared to Nutty Park. The Flowers Bar remains closed for days at a time, so probably a tenant who can no longer pay the rent. Oy, the former tenant of Flowers bar, left for England with her farang boyfriend. One of her animators then took over the business, but unfortunately without success. And apparently she has now thrown in the towel.

The only real highlight seems to be the Little Havana beer bar, at the end of Day and Night. There are quite a few visitors here on a regular basis. The tenant of this bar is doing good business and he will certainly survive this way. However, for the animators in Little Havana, the rinse is thin. Usually there are about 6 to 8 present. And not every visitor is generous in giving lady drinks. The composition of the service staff therefore changes regularly.

It is also doom and gloom in the massage parlors. The bustle of the high season is nowhere to be seen here. I've talked to a number of masseuses and also some owners. Same story everywhere. This year there is hardly any difference between the number of customers in the low and high season. The difference with last year's high season is striking. And this phenomenon certainly does not only apply to Udon, if I pick up all the messages.

How can this big difference with the previous high season be explained? One of the reasons could be that the tourists who used to book Thailand as a holiday destination in the past have shifted their attention to the Philippines, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and China. Just out of curiosity and to experience what it is like in those countries.

Possibly partly due to the strong exchange rate of the Thai baht, or if you prefer, the weak euro. Furthermore, the Thai government is doing its utmost to nullify attractive things for tourists as quickly as possible. I am thinking, for example, of the ban on sun loungers and the like on the beach in Pattaya and Phuket. The smoking ban on a number of beaches is also not appreciated by at least 30% of potential visitors. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a beachgoer and I don't smoke, so it really doesn't bother me. But a number of potential tourists probably do.

And there are probably more measures that do not benefit Thailand's tourist image. Such as, for example, the early closing times of the catering industry. It must be an accumulation of measures that make potential, well-to-do tourists decide not to come to Thailand (anymore). Who benefits from this? Not the tourists, expats and pensioners that are present.

You know the Thai logic, if less customers come, you increase the prices to get the same turnover as before. The Pannarai hotel also couples this with a lousy internet connection, while that connection was normally very good in the past. Probably for cost-saving reasons, but removed a number of routers? Internet via your mobile phone does not work at all. Not even after logging in several times. The staff of the Pannarai can't get the internet to work over the phone either, followed by the ridiculous remark that Teoy should buy another phone.

So far my findings and impressions of the current high season in Udon. A confirmation of those impressions can be found in an article of January 26 here on the blog.

It is reported that in Pattaya 12.000 newly completed condos in 2018 have remained unsold. A number of reactions to the article of February 02nd “why is the rate of the Thai baht falling so quickly”, apart from the erroneous statement, reinforces my impression that the high season in Thailand will not get off the ground this year. As mentioned in an earlier post, there is a lot of construction going on in soi sampan. A large new hotel will be built opposite Irish Clock. Recently we also know the name of this hotel: The Eight hotel.

A hotel is also being built opposite the Old Inn hotel (initially it was reported that it would be an apartment building). Unfortunately no name yet. I expect that both The Eight hotel and the other new hotel will be completely ready for use before July of this year. I am very curious about their facilities and the pricing. Other than that, not much changes in soi sampan.

I'll keep you informed.

Charly www.thailandblog.nl/tag/charly/