StayinThailand2much

I saw way more Western tourists, be it in Bangkok, Pattaya, or Phuket, more than 20 years ago... Their numbers (judging from own observations) seem to have steadily decreased. Yes, nominally there may be more now, but they tend to stay for much shorter holidays these days. Last time I went to Pattaya, there seemed to be, with the exception of middle-aged Russian tourists, few genuine Western tourists, but mostly elderly male expats.

Yes, according to the TAT, they were all at the temples...

I never got a taste for local beers. They're cheap, but IMHO awful. And the local "wine" is basically grape- or fruit juice. Happy partying with terrible beer and fruit juice... LOL No, unless prices of imported alcoholic beverages drop significantly, and the quality improves, don't expect me to spend much on them while in Thailand.

The professional investors and insiders make profits, while the amateur investors are always behind, effectively losing out long-term...

True. Fifteen years ago, or so, the average tourist stayed for more than 3 weeks, but now it is only 9 days. - What does that tell you about Thailand's appeal to international tourists?

Here we go again... Only because some wishful-thinking Thai bureaucrats dream of glorious times in the past, doesn't mean that it will happen again (anytime soon)... Sometimes it pays to look at a world map to realise that Thailand is not the center of the world, and reading or watching international news to know that the world of 2019 is unlike that of 2023 or 2024... (Pssst, you can, partially, thank your beloved overlords further up north for developments over the past few years, possibly with repercussions for the rest of the decade.)

Well, even if they had no empathy, or no sense of good governance, at least they should have done it out of good business sense... Fat chance that these scammed, then treated like criminals by the government, tourists will return to Thailand (and neither will their families, friends, work colleagues, etc.) - Best advertising not to travel to Thailand...

In the original article it says that a teacher of a language school pretended to extend the visas for the passport holders. So it was just people falling for the oldest scam in the world; trusting a random person with their money (and passports) who could not deliver the service she was pretending to sell.

Also, what is a 'female waitress'? Are there male waitresses as well?

It will heavily depend on the procedure. If worst-case-scenario, and really all transfers are taxed right after transfer, then, perhaps, all those Chinese and Russian condo buyers in Phuket and Pattaya will think twice about such investments. But we won't know till mid 2024 at the earliest.

When I buy food at large supermarkets, I frequently see shelf labels that (not known to me at that time) are outdated and show a lower price than what I later have to pay at the checkout. (Knowing that the price is higher, I may not have bought the products.) But do I complain? No. - So, why should I 'complain' in such a situation? (None of the staff will have to pay for their mistakes. Different situation, though, if at a restaurant, where staff may be liable for such a mistake.)

Probably just a PR initiative to impress social media in China...

Maybe they needed Chinese construction workers to learn about the Tofu-dreg method...

They must be getting desperate, seeing that, even if all their 2023 figures are accurate, 2024 likely won't bring back 2019 tourist numbers...

Wonder, what scheme they will come up with now to screw tourists for such an insurance. No way that the government will pay for that for an extended time.

Is this story in any way related to the other one on TikTok, of the Grab driver who "flew all the way to Singapore to buy chicken rice for a customer in Bangkok"? Asking for a friend...

Yes, strangely, for the foreign 'devils' it's always 'double the prices' (as suggested by Anutin(?) right after the end of the pandemic - "Foreigners should pay more for hotels" was the word then). And for imported wines and spirits they add so much tax, while importing the worst wines, that would probably in the countries of origin made to vinegar if not sold to Thailand. At the supermarkets, at the same time, the bottles only collect dust on the shelves instead of finding customers... - Great strategy, indeed, to increase tourism revenue... Not!

Correct. As I understand it, the proposed 'alcohol tax reduction' is probably just meant for locally produced beers and spirits. While this may help domestic tourism to a limited degree, it won't, at the same time, draw in more international tourists.

Drinking away the (lousy) Thai beer and chasing Thai women... Locals had to act, and rat him out to the BiB. If he only had been Chinese (or Russian), but he wasn't...

Wasn't there an article quoted here a couple weeks ago about Thai people complaining that some Russians worked as taxi drivers and barbers for their compatriots on Phuket?

National parks in Thailand? Maybe Chinese or Indians like to go there. As far as I care they could charge 10,000 baht; doesn't concern me...

I think, I remember. Suddenly Thais were walking around in jackets, as the temperature had dropped to 22 degr. C or so. I loved it, and still walked around in a T-shirt, as it just felt like spring back home.

Cunning plan! Especially as imported wines and spirits are so "affordable" (and the wine they import is what no-one else wanted), and the local stuff is undrinkable too. I'd like to thank Thailand here for keeping me away from alcohol while I'm in Thailand, which gives me the opportunity to spend more on quality wines and beers whenever I'm abroad...

That would have to be the biggest fool... There's a reason why, in the article, the numbers for this year are left out on purpose. By my calculation, considering earlier published numbers (27 million tourists × 50,000 baht), the income from international tourists cannot be much more than 1.3 trillion baht. - How to they plan to (almost) triple that income next year; by raising hotel and restaurant prices, etc., by 200% for the "dirty falang"? - No way that they will be able to attract, say, 50 million extra tourists to get to 3.5 trillion baht! Neither from China, nor anywhere else...