As one ministry appears to disagree with another a business leader says that tourism on the ground in Pattaya is much worse than the figures suggest. Whatever those figures are.

In fact the outlook is terrible – with Vietnam presenting a “scary” proposition as a competitor for the tourism dollar.

Now the National Economics and Social Development Council – a ministerial body – has said that first quarter results in Thailand showed an across the board slowdown in tourism.

From an increase of 4.3% in the last quarter this plummeted to 1.8%. Tourists from Oceania, Europe and the middle east were not coming as expected.

Pattaya business and tourism leader Ekkasit Ngamphichet – who two weeks ago said that tourism in Pattaya was going down the pan – has not changed his mind in a new interview with the Thai media.

If anything he is even more pessimistic than before.