Chinese flock to ladyboy shows

[reader]

From South China Morning Post

 

 

The notorious sleazy side to Thai seaside resort Pattaya is not what is pulling in millions of Chinese tourists every year who, guided by social media like WeChat, go to see things like Tiffany’s Show, and are even buying property.

 

A transgender extravaganza that has been running since 1974, Tiffany’s Show in Pattaya is still going strong, packing in hundreds of ogling tourists every night. The entrance fee is not cheap – 900 baht (US$28) for an ordinary ticket and 1,600 baht for VIP seats – but this does not put off an audience that nowadays is more than 60 per cent made up of Chinese tourists.

 

Of the 35 million international tourists who visited Thailand last year, about 30 per cent came from China, making it Thailand’s main tourist market for the third year in a row. Pattaya, a seaside resort town with a seedy reputation 100km southeast of Bangkok, attracted between 2 million and 3 million Chinese tourists last year, out of an estimated 10 million international visitors, according to local tourism authorities.

 

 

Unlike tourists from many other countries, however, the Chinese do not seem to be attracted to Pattaya for its notorious nightlife of girlie bars and prostitution. They are more interested in all other things Thai, including the food, silk and the exotic “ladyboy” performances staged by the 44-year-old Tiffany’s Show.

 

“Many people have already visited the show and they have recommended it,” says Chan Xiali, 30, waiting outside the venue’s entrance with a friend. “We want to see the show because they [transgenders] are so beautiful and dance so gracefully. There is nothing like this in China.”

Chan, from Guangdong province, is a so-called FIT (foreign independent tourist) visiting Thailand, but is constantly guided by social media advisers such as WeChat, which provides input on everything from hotels to street food.

 

“I think the Chinese who come to Pattaya now are better informed,” says Alisa Phanthusak, managing director of Tiffany’s Show and part of the family that established it. “Everywhere they go in Pattaya they have WeChat giving them suggestions all the time. So this is the new word of mouth. And if you consider that China has a billion people, if you can get them all plugged in by word of mouth via social media, that’s your marketing.”

 

“In the beginning we had a lot of [Chinese] group tours coming to Tiffany’s, but now the market has changed,” Phanthusak says. “Now we get more Chinese FIT customers than tours.”

 

That is good news for Tiffany’s bottom line. The Chinese group tour agents and guides demand at least 50 per cent of the show’s ticket price as their cut, whereas Tiffany’s keeps 100 per cent of FIT ticket sales.

http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/2132657/chinese-tourists-flocking-pattaya-transgender-shows-thai

 

 

 

[Vessey]

The tour groups with their massive coaches and flag-waving guides will, I am sure, still make up a large proportion of visiting tourists.  But I had no idea they demanded 50% of the ticket price at places like Tiffany's.

 

We farang are perhaps a slowly diminishing resource to the city, although hopefully still an important one. I have seen lists of the different proportions of nationalities visiting Thailand each year - someone else may have a link to it. Its quite an eye-opener. 

 

As to Tiffiany's - I love it and have been several times - its a real extravaganza - a million miles above some of the LB shows you get in Boyztown for example.

[vinapu]

 

 

We farang are perhaps a slowly diminishing resource to the city, although hopefully still an important one. I have seen lists of the different proportions of nationalities visiting Thailand each year - someone else may have a link to it. Its quite an eye-opener. 

 

 

keep in mind , visiting Thailand  and visiting Pattaya are not the same although first is required for second.

 

Many frequent  visitors  to LOS skip Pattaya altogether including me  in my earlier years ( only on 9th trip I braved to venture there, LOL ) and there are those who go straight to Pattaya from Swampy and never ever visit other parts of the country