Are there fewer Falangs (western) in Udon Thani than before?

[Mr.Maxwell]

I have been hearing stories that there are fewer western falangs in Udon Thani than there were last year and the year before. This is supposedly due to the coup and to tightening of visa policies. Can anyone provide some anecdotal evidence to either support or refute this? I am curious as to what the consensus is.

[GT93]

Interesting proposition. I'm curious too. Good post Mr. Maxwell.

[BobHelm]

It has always been impossible to get any statistics about the number of Falang in Udon.
There are certainly two completely different Falang groups in the area.
One are long term stayers who see Udon as their home. My own thoughts about the numbers of this group is that it is still increasing, although at a slow level.
The second are tourists who come to Udon while in Thailand. When I first arrived in Udon 10 years ago there was undoubtedly a large influx of short term visitors over the winter months. I think this influx of seasonable visitors all but ceased with the financial crash. It has, i think, been slowly building up again since that time but to nothing like the numbers previously. So far this year I am told that the numbers have been very low.

There are plenty of statistics available about visitors to Thailand in general though & they make quite interesting reading.

http://www.tourism.go.th/home/listcontent/11/221/276

This is quite a good summary of the statistics of visitors between 2002 & 2012 for anyone that cannot be bothered to plough through the individual Government produced figures above..

http://www.thaiwebsites.com/tourists-na ... ailand.asp

[Nong Bua Dave]

I added one to the numbers up here just over a year ago, when my wife and I moved to Udon, after 13 years in Bangkok.
She is from Udon and we are in the process of building a house over the next couple of years. We both agree, it was the best move we have made. We now get to spend quality time with her 86 year mother and others in the family. The air is cleaner. The climate is better and we have a good all round life style.
We've also contributed to the "tourist numbers" with more than a dozen friends visiting, since our move.

[parrot]

I've been on Udon-BKK-Udon flights 4 times in the past 6 months. Judging by the number of foreigners on those flights, I'd be hard pressed to say the numbers in Udon are declining.

[pomps]

Off the Bangers soon returning for the New Year so will see how the numbers are like on Thai,maybe see none as they are all going by the alternative air carriers
My soi has seen an increase in farangs over the years,some have gone to be replaced by new happy couples Found less farang around in the villages than before as I venture out to those parts fairly frequently.
Immigration must be the only verifiable source but to get the information they may charge a fee ,nothing free oop in Udonsville there

[GT93]

Business owners who target the farang market might be able to make some inferences from their business data. Even any consensus amongst the Soi Samphan girls would be interesting. Only a big monger might know that?

As has been said previously, I think economic conditions in farangland affect the answer a fair bit. Main Street in farangland has been struggling for many years now.

Stickman had an interesting column recently where he mentioned that many retired too early in Thailand. Some of those folks might have returned home.

[Mr.Maxwell]

So far it sounds like based on the here feedback that the change in numbers is minimal. How are those of you involved in farang targeting business seeing this years numbers?

[rick]

The last big influx was around 2007-2010 i think. About half the people i know came around that time. Actually, the recession boosted numbers a bit - many were made redundant/early retired and so some people came to Thailand earlier than they planned. On the other foot, because they retired early and the currency exchange rate declined, more stay at home rather than going out in the evenings ..... In my village, we have gone from 1 to 4 falang actually living here since 2010. But many other girls live abroad with their partners.

[wiking]

if you look to all these new massage shop who open in soi farang, than there is coming a lot more farangs up here

[Nick@AUA]

At AUA I used to get a regular influx of requests to study Thai at the school. On average about 4 or 5 per month. Not enough to open regular classes. This last year I have had about 4 or 5 all year. We did think about opening classes again, but the government clamped down on the study visa letter and made it almost impossible to do anymore. That was the only real attraction for a lot of people.

Also very few foreigners here applying for work. I used to get 2 or 3 per month walk-in applicants, not this year.

[waanjai]

At AUA I used to get a regular influx of requests to study Thai at the school. On average about 4 or 5 per month. This last year I have had about 4 or 5 all year.

This empirical observation does not necessarily say something about absolut numbers. It could well be that more and more culturally non-interested and less educated people move to Udon.
As if we wouldn't have already plenty of them, sigh.

[parrot]

At AUA I used to get a regular influx of requests to study Thai at the school. On average about 4 or 5 per month. This last year I have had about 4 or 5 all year.

This empirical observation does not necessarily say something about absolut numbers. It could well be that more and more culturally non-interested and less educated people move to Udon.
As if we wouldn't have already plenty of them, sigh.

Damn, I was just getting ready to report on the number of foreigners shopping in Home Pro today. Unfortunately, I didn't have my hand clicker counter with me, so I'm afraid my report wouldn't hold much value in the scientific community.

[jackspratt]

At AUA I used to get a regular influx of requests to study Thai at the school. On average about 4 or 5 per month. This last year I have had about 4 or 5 all year.

This empirical observation does not necessarily say something about absolut numbers. It could well be that more and more culturally non-interested and less educated people move to Udon.
As if we wouldn't have already plenty of them, sigh.

Damn, I was just getting ready to report on the number of foreigners shopping in Home Pro today. Unfortunately, I didn't have my hand clicker counter with me, so I'm afraid my report wouldn't hold much value in the scientific community.

Were you able to assess - however shallowly - their cultural and education levels?

[fatbob]

Don't know about Udon but I am in Samui for a couple of days and the place is dead quiet, there is nobody here, how good is that!!! Phuket is also quiet, maybe the Thai's will realize there is a whole world out there and the world isn't just Thailand.

[Drunk Monkey]

I doubt we will ever get any real accurate numbers on expats residing here in Udon or Thailands North Eastern Provinces , simply not worth worrying about ...........as for businesses and business owners that target a high percentage or solely expat custom then i would fear for survival anywhere in Thailand . I can think of only 3 possibly 4 venues in Udon that manage to do this comfortably and thats mostly down to the places being well organised / operated and patronaged with long standing customers and friends who follow the owners .. only my opinion ...i may be wrong

DM

[redwolf]

I have been hearing stories that there are fewer western falangs in Udon Thani than there were last year and the year before. This is supposedly due to the coup and to tightening of visa policies. Can anyone provide some anecdotal evidence to either support or refute this? I am curious as to what the consensus is.

I think the numbers of expats are growing.

Come and start a competing business, especially one that caters to both foreigners and Thais. The more the merrier. More choices = a win for consumers. The levels of moral support here within the expat business community are a charming gem to behold. And the officials in town are an amiable, fine and dandy bunch, -always there to lend a helping hand.

Tighter visa restrictions might force a bunch of expats out until said wily rascals can make a comeback. Those who don't will surely be replaced by pecunious types who opt for the usual "retirement" visa.

As our own countries' vast legions of retiring 'baby-boomers' flee the prospect of our homeland becoming a giant government-subsidized nursing home, Udon & other parts of Thailand will unquestionably cash in big on the resultant expat influx.

Udon Thani has never really been a "tourist" destination. So those numbers are neither here nor there. The numbers here are "retiree-based".

Udon Thani is in a sizable growth cycle, no way the expat numbers will go down unless we are all officially ordered out of here by decree or our home currencies are sunk.

RW

[Los Amigos]

No, I think a lot of people are not going out as much as they used to do, or at least not to to same places. There is to much police control at night, and the midnight closure isn't helping also. There is a lot more activity during the afternoons than evenings. I do hear more and more stories from customers about thinking of leaving Thailand. And haven't seen a lot of new faces this year.

[Earnest]

One are long term stayers who see Udon as their home.

The second are tourists who come to Udon while in Thailand.

I wonder where I fit in then? I've been coming here for 25 years but I'm just an occasional visitor on a tourist visa so I suppose I'll fit in the second category.

[Laan Yaa Mo]

Khun Earnest, you are in the 'short stint occasional visitor' category.