newnative

I didn't see any 'new strategy'--or any strategy at all.

A kiss is just a kiss.

Boo hoo

Over 500 billion baht spent in Thailand in 2019 by Chinese visitors, the most, by far, of any country. Not exactly 'zero' baht and a good reason why Thailand wants them back

Given the choice between official data and 'facts flying in my face as I walk down the street', I'll choose official data, because I know what I am observing as I walk down the street is just a snapshot of a particular point in time, at a particular place; and an hour or a day later the snapshot might look entirely different, and certainly could in different areas. Questioning something as being accurate or inaccurate doesn't imply lying, rather it questions whether information is actually correct or not. It's only human nature that observations will color our thinking. If someone had asked me sometime ago if I thought there were more Chinese visitors to Thailand in 2019 in tour groups rather than independent travelers, I would have said yes, more in tour groups. That was based on my observations of seeing a lot of tour buses and a lot of Chinese walking around in tour groups following a guide with a flag on a stick. In reality, as I have since found out, there were more independent Chinese travelers in 2019--they just weren't 'flying in my face' and not as visible. I wasn't lying with my answer, I was just inaccurate in my observations, which lead to an incorrect answer.

Yes, we were talking about 2019 statistics, which you disputed in your original post. Which led me to ask for any hard data you had to back up your statement that the statistics were incorrect. Your answer: None. Just observations and a 'memory' of what TAT might have said about travelers visiting the North, temples, etc.--which has nothing to do with the actual tourist numbers for 2019. And, once again, observations of empty bars, restaurants, hotels, etc., in your 'neck of the woods'---wherever that might be and whether accurate or not--cannot be used as a gauge for Thailand's overall tourism in 2019. In my 'neck of the woods', Pattaya, 2019 was a good year for tourists. Does that mean that every single bar, restaurant, and hotel was also doing well that year? No. Demographics are ever-changing and that was certainly true for tourist demographics in 2019. Supply and demand often takes awhile to kick in. Meanwhile, some empty businesses can be observed--true any time, anywhere. One thing to remember--there's a big difference between observations and predictions from this or that tourism official or business person, whether local or national, and actual, published official statistical data. TAT has made several numbers predictions for 2023 as more data is received as the year goes on, but they are just predictions, subject to change. I suppose these would be your 'U turns', when TAT 'U turns' and revises its predictions--rather meaningless in the long run. The official numbers when the year is over are far more important.

I'm using a Fujitsu. Main reason I bought it is the weight--it's super light and I use a laptop to read books and sometimes watch tv shows and movies, as well as surf the internet, manage my stocks, email correspondence, Facebook, etc. Main complaints: No touchscreen, which I miss a lot. When I'm typing on an unstable surface, like my lap, the cursor sometimes jumps around when I am typing and I end up typing over what I've already typed. Sometimes the fan is noisy. I've had it about a year and the power cord it came with has malfunctioned and no longer charges the laptop. Luckily, I bought a lighter backup power cord for traveling and I'm using that until the problem with the other one is handled. Although it's a Fujitsu laptop, it seems like Lenovo is involved as that shows up on the screen when I power up.

Yes, it certainly would for me. But, maybe not for a desert person who rarely sees rain on a short visit to Thailand.

So, no actual data, just some observations from you and some others. In 2019, 10.9 million of the 39 million international visitors to Thailand were Chinese. The majority of them were independent travelers, going wherever they wanted all over Thailand. There were also large numbers of Asians from other countries in 2019, as well. Visitors from Asian countries were the majority of the international visitors in 2019. It's likely that many of these Asians were not in your favorite western bar or bars--so, you're possibly correct when you say that 'they ain't here"!!!' You can't, however, make the leap that if 'they ain't here' they must not be anywhere else, either, and, hence, the data must be wrong because you're looking at an empty bar. An empty bar is just that--an empty bar--and not an accurate gauge for a country's overall tourism. Ditto for this or that person complaining about his tourist business being slow. Certainly could be for his or her business but, again, that doesn't equate to anything more than that. You may not like or agree with the data and that's certainly up to you but it seems accurate to me. TAT recorded the dip in tourist numbers in 2014, the year of the coup. In 2021, it posted less than 500,000 international visitors. Talk about 'they ain't here!!!'. Very true that year! That must have been a very bitter pill for TAT to swallow but there the numbers are in black and white for all to see.

He and Pattaya's mayor should do lunch--Pattaya's mayor could regale him with stories on the unfinished stadium, years and years late. The service center sounds like complete waste of money.

I would say it's the tenant's responsibility but you might see if the landlord would agree to split the yearly cost of an exterminator.

Any actual data to support your claim that 'their figures were way off the mark' ? And, no, a personal observation of an empty bar doesn't count.

If we're lucky he will be the Republican nominee for 2024 and he will be a THREE TIME LOSER with the voters. Sweet.

It's no wonder with all the people he has been coming in contact with since the election.

I would imagine some people living in a desert climate all their lives might since rain would be a novelty for them.

Now if we could just get a groundswell of others speaking out and calling for the investigation to be dropped, as well.

Try Switzerland.

I found the article to be just chock full of extremely useful insights, such as this one from the CEO: 'Ultimately, he emphasised the significance of increasing the number of visitors, as a higher influx of tourists directly correlates with a more positive impact on the country’s revenue.' Wow, just wow. More visitors will increase the country's revenue. That's deep. Who would have thought it? Let me get that gem tattooed on my arm so I won't forget it. Meanwhile, Thailand managed to attract 39 million visitors in 2019, who thought Thailand had plenty of attractions to entice them to visit. As Kinyara has pointed out, in April we were around 73% of 2019 numbers, with some nationalities even at higher numbers than 2019 at this point in the year. The only nationality not yet recovering at this point is Chinese visitors. Likely that will change at some point. I feel Thailand has attractions galore. If it could attract a Disney World that certainly wouldn't hurt but Thailand's tourist numbers were growing every year, pre-covid, without it. What I feel is needed more than new attractions is more emphasis on infrastructure maintenance and improvement, coupled with a truly serious--for once--all-out, no expense barred, full-throttle effort to reduce pollution. The world-wide, extremely negative stories regarding Chiang Mai's pollution being the worst in the world had a much more negative impact on tourism than the number of attractions on offer.

Walk it off.

140MB. That's a lot of 'love'. And, now, off to your inactive post--if there are any left.

Yes, total mess. The other day we were driving on it and noticed one of the workers using his foot to smooth the soil before doing lord knows what. Talk about primitive tools. As always, very few workers on site. If they were going to do turning lanes they should have eliminated parking in the turning lane sections to allow space for an actual turning lane and 2 thru lanes. Our least favorite road and getting worse, not better. And, the less said about the sidewalks, the better.

Drip, drip, drip.

Attempted rape, bad, but I am equally disturbed that the shop apparently videotapes customers getting massages. The CCTV footage was deleted, says the article. But, no mention, or condemnation, as to why there was CCTV footage in the first place invading the customer's privacy.

That is unfortunate.

Not broke, thank goodness. We've just mostly spent our money on stuff that's impossible to steal in a 10-minute break-in.