Rolex

The sellers seem to have gotten much more aggressive during the economic downturn.  The worst spot is lower Nathan road where they yell at you until you say something back to them.  I am a photographer and I thought about doing a multimedia essay on it, recording them and showing photos of them. I made several recordings.  But the sound quality of my "concealed mike" setup was the problem. Oh well.  If anyone else wants to try it with a better mike set up, it might draw attention to the problem.  The police seem to be busy with bigger and more serious problems.  Either that or they just see it as something that has always been there. I never talked to the police about it. 

akin to a tourist exclaiming: "prostitution is on the rise in Denmark!" when visiting the red light district.

What you are describing is a notorious patch of road along the tourist belt of Tsim Sha Tsui . Yes, there are a few touts flogging copy watches or tailoring needs but  they are in no way aggressive or pushy if you walk by and avoid eye contact.It's a dying trade IMO, as I really don't think they get much business apart from the odd tourist looking for a cheap present or something.

Did you also manage to see a plethora of watch shops that stock a wide range of "genuine" products, which HK is famous for, being the Swiss watch industry's largest export market?

cheers

fernando

This message has been edited by fernando on 2009-12-02 03:18:55

Hi Fernando

I am a Danish citicen, and also living in Denmark after some years abroad.

The sex tourism has increased a little in Denmark, but not much(has always been a issue, since the late 60's) . And again mainly in the country-border areas close to Sweden (Copenhagen and Ålborg) and close to Germany (Southern Denmark). As this somehow seems to be kind of exportproduct, though I believe the girls are from Asia, Greenland and Eastern Europe....

Copywatch sellers are by the way also very aggressive in Bangkok say Sukhumvit road. This is also the road were a lot of the nightlife etc is. I used to go there a lot (nowadays less) due to the company I work for always seemed to book a Hotel in the middle of it (having some great Hotel discounts).

I believe the sellers think less tourist=they need to sell more to each individual. This gives a hassle for me as a business traveller getting sick of beeing attacked and insulted by the copysellers. This because i dont by anything from them anyway. But anyway, working fast and looking straight ahead helps

BR

Hans

Hi Hans,

It wasn't my intention to highlight the sex industry in Denmark or draw attention to it but just an off- the- cuff analogy to humorize the

statement made by the poster of this thread.Thank you for your brief insight and clarification of the matter and for relating some of your experiences in Thailand to us.

I'm sure the problem of touting is more or less worldwide depending on where you go.Best defence IMO and as you rightly said: walk quickly,no eye contact or conversation.

cheers

fernando

This message has been edited by fernando on 2009-12-02 20:37:23

Hi Fernando

No harm done.

Denmark is (unfortunately) well known for its brothels and sexual freedom since the late 60s. Thats just how it is.

But actually I believe, the only sex museum in the world, the Museum Erotica in Copenhagen closed some Month back due to the financial crisis...

BR and keep up the good postings

Hans

Yeah, I visited a lot of hte shops selling the genuine  article, including the new flagship "mall' which is very impressive.  When they saw me going in and out of shops and then not buying anything. It's like AH HAH.  He can't afford it and they pounce.

paying the price for one.
I was confronted with this attitude quite a lot of times.
Especially in Spain ( Catalunya, to be more precise) where I spend quite a lot of time, where it seems normal to wear a fake.
One of my engineers got caught in Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, transiting from Shanghai with 3 rolex in his handluggage, They pulled out his case and found 20 of them.
He had to pay fines and import taxes on the price of the real ones , got the handcuff treatment and will be in debts for quite a while.
I hope that more people get aware of it and stop buying fakes
Can't stand people robbing someones intellectual property!
cheers
Luc