newnative

2019 tourist revenue: Asia, not including China: 738 billion China: 543 billion Europe: 462 billion Americas: 116 billion Thailand did not have all its 'eggs in one basket. And, the biggest egg wasn't China, it was the rest of Asia. China was, of course, the #1 country for tourist revenue that year.

You must not have stayed too long. They sell far more than just laminated furniture.

Instead of wondering, why don't you go to that supposedly Chinese-owned hotel in Jomtien and ask the manager how many of the employees are from China? Then it's on to the tour bus companies. How many of the drivers are from China? And the mechanics and the rest of the staff? While you're doing that I'll tackle the Holiday Inn and see if I can find out how many Americans they have cleaning the rooms and so on. Together, we can get to the bottom of this! Inquiring minds want to know!

What are the facts?

I think it's a bit unrealistic to expect someone from China to visit Thailand 2 times, let alone 3, unless they own property here. There are lots of countries that my spouse and I only plan to visit once. For example, we visited Portugal and Spain last year and enjoyed both countries. But, we saw about all we wanted to see so it's highly unlikely we will make a second trip to either one--there are too many other countries we want to see for the first time. We've been to Australia, and could go again, but we haven't been to New Zealand yet so we would probably choose to go there rather than make a second trip to Australia. If I was still living in the US, with no ties to Thailand, I would likely just visit Thailand once, if at all. A second visit to Asia would take me somewhere else new. I think that's fairly normal for many travelers. Lots of countries to see, limited time. Luckily for Thailand, there are 1.4 billion Chinese. Even if most Chinese choosing to visit Thailand only come once, that 1.4 billion should provide a steady stream of first-time visitors.

The Chinese spend in 2019 was about 49,000 baht/tourist. 543 billion baht. Europeans spent about 69,000 baht/tourist. 462 billion baht. 'Americas' spent about 71,000 baht/tourist. 116 billion baht. Even though their spend was less per tourist, the nearly 11 million Chinese tourists collectively spent more than Europe's 6.7 million visitors, and a great deal more than the visitors from 'Americas'. All three markets, of course, are important, as you can see by the revenue numbers. Left out from the above is a fourth category, and the biggest--Asia, not including China. The spend, at 41,000 to 45,000 baht/tourist, was the lowest, but the tourist number was the largest, at over 18 million visitors. Using the lowest spend, 41,000, yields 738 billion baht. 738 billion baht in non-China Asia revenue plus China's 543 billion baht in revenue shows pretty clearly, I think, the importance of the Asian market to Thailand. All four markets contribute to a diverse tourist economic demographic, important when a country like Thailand has a wide range of price points for tourist businesses.

Yes, I liked that series, too.

Me, too. Black and white tv and only a few channels when I was really young. I remember at one point--I think I was maybe 5 or 6--someone in the family sent away for a clear plastic screen that could be taped over the tv screen. The top third was blue for sky, the bottom third was green for grass, and it was beige in the middle, I suppose for skin color--few blacks on tv in those days. We taped the plastic to the tv screen and sat back to enjoy our 'color' tv. What in the world were we thinking? Lasted maybe a few days, then it was back to black and white. I do remember, starting in 1964, living a couple of years in Alabama--DoD Dad was stationed there--and my best friend actually had a color tv, one of the very few in the neighborhood. I would go over to watch Bonanza in color, and some of the other shows being broadcast in color--not all the shows were in color then.

Interesting. In 2019 it was 60% of the Chinese traveling independently, and not in tour groups.

Sorry, your information is incorrect. You're simply repeating false information you have read, or incorrect tidbits picked up here or there, along with your false observations. In the latter, you see a number of groups being lead by someone with a flag, and you think, all Chinese travel in tours. Incorrect. And, they may not even be from China; they could be from Korea or Taiwan. Of course, a big group is far more visible than a couple traveling, or three or four friends traveling, but perception is not always reality. As I said in my earlier post, the majority of the Chinese tourists in 2019 were independent travelers and, no, they were not 6 million backpackers. 6 million, by the way, is not, as you say, a 'few independent' travelers, it's a lot. Like far more than the visitors from any other country. Chinese tourists spent 543 billion baht in Thailand in 2019 and, once again no, the 543 billion did not end up back in China, no matter what so and so says. Had that been the case, why would Thailand be trying so hard to get the Chinese back? If there's no money in it, why make the effort? This is not brain surgery.

As a gay man, who grew up with very little gay representation in movies or on tv, and most of that being of a very negative, hurtful nature, I am pleased at the number of shows with positive gay characters that can be found these days. Recently, Sex Education and Heartstopper were both well-done, I thought. I think you will find that majority straght character shows still far outnumber majority gay character shows. So, relax. And, take heart, nobody is going to turn gay--or straight, for that matter--by watching a gay or straight tv show or movie. For maybe the millionth time, it doesn't work that way. For the OP, being gay is perfectly normal--for a gay person. Just like being straight is perfectly normal--for a straight person. Hard to believe that in 2023 we would have someone like you complaining about gay shows making being gay seem 'perfectly normal'. It is, get over it already. I suggest watching some of the shows you distain and perhaps you'll learn something. Maybe start with the two shows I mentioned--they both have lots of straights, too!

Utter nonsense. The 543 billion baht was spread all over Thailand. The 10 million Chinese tourists in 2019 had to sleep somewhere, eat somewhere, be transported to different places, and entertained at various tourist attractions all over the country, etc., etc.. It bears remembering that the majority of Chiese tourists in 2019 were not with tour groups. They were independent travelers, spending independently wherever they wanted in Thailand.

Just more empty, useless chitter chatter. 'Encourage'. Yeah, that'll work.

Well, that was smart waiting until next year--likely he will be paroled by then. Problem solved. That was easy!

Thanks for the info. Hope things work out with your sister.

Yes, absolutely. Bears remembering that he lost the popular vote badly in both elections. The majority of the voters rejected him both elections.

I think the complete description is authoritarian-narcissist-serial lying-grifter.

Send the money now. I'm doing 3 transfers from the US to fund 2024 spending.

Or, why not make all the visas free.

No great loss if the party disappears. Far too many parties already.

And, well it should. Absolutely disgraceful behavior. Seems we are only hearing about the accident, which happened Dec. 8, because Taiwan has stepped in wanting answers. Really no excuse that something like this still happens. Let them be slammed. As others have said, the penalties are way too weak and should be strengthened.

This just gets more and more ridiculous. It's really just so simple--send him back to prison, where he belongs. Not to the army--or anywhere else.

Agree. I've made the same argument when posters have discounted the Asian market because the spend is less per tourist--not to mention the tiresome argument that none of the tourist revenue stays in Thailand. Thailand will continue to draw more of its tourist numbers, and revenue, from regional Asian countries. Which actually is pretty normal--the top seven countries visiting France are its regional neighbors. Thailand is fortunate that the 2 most populous countries in the world are short plane rides away, not to mention Indonesia at #4. My spouse and I were in the Hunan province of China last week and the plane ride was less than 4 hours from Bangkok. Things may be slow now but these Asian numbers will return. One thing I found interesting from the 2015 to 2019 stats was that visitors from the US increased almost 35%. In comparison, the European countries that were tracked increased by only around 5 to 13%, except Russia. Even with USA's big increase, the 2019 figure for visitors from America was only 1,168,000. There are 339 million Americans vs. just 68 million in the UK, yet the UK's 2019 numbers were close to America's, at nearly a million. Looking at the comparison between the US and the UK, it would seem that TAT has an opportunity to tap the American market and increase the visitors from that country. The 35% increase from 2015 to 2019 shows that more Americans were willing to make the long trip during that period--and, as an American, I can vouch that it is a long trip. Now that the world is opening up again, TAT could see about improving the American numbers. Given the population size, I think they should be higher.

The majority likely came in the first quarter of 2020. The country was still open in the first quarter, flights were suspended on Apr. 4.

I, for one, don't see much of a need for TAT. I've said before that my spouse and I have never decided to visit any country because of anythng done by any country's tourist department. We've been to China 3 times--never seen a single ad or promotion for China. We want to visit, so we do. Same for Europe, Australia, Japan, etc. If we want to learn about a country or an area of a country, there are usually plenty of Youtube videos. If you held a gun to my head and forced me to choose, I'd look at the 2015 to 2019 tourist data. Asian numbers expanded qute a bit in those years, western numbers mostly made just modest gains, with Australia and Singapore dropping slightly. I think the Asian numbers will take care of themselves. Since I think its a good thing for a tourist country like Thailand to have a diverse tourist demographic, and it's perhaps a harder sale to attract long distance tourists, I'd concentrate the budget on those countries, with perhaps some of the budget used for untapped markets.