-
Posts
1,056 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Forums
Downloads
Quizzes
Everything posted by Cabradelmar
-
Concerns after two foreign women sunbathe in Chiang Mai temple
Cabradelmar replied to webfact's topic in Chiang Mai News
there is no accounting for cultural sensitivity and self awareness... but this is only news if they where asked to behave according to local customs, and then refused. -
British and South African tourists clash in street brawl on Bangla Road
Cabradelmar replied to webfact's topic in Phuket News
If there where ever 2 people that didn't deserve a free ambulance and rescue service, it would be these 2 clowns -
Thailand to abolish hefty import tariff on wine
Cabradelmar replied to webfact's topic in Thailand News Headlines
Confusing as the article from Vino News says "The new tax measures will take effect shortly and will last until end of the year, according to the Thai government." As some else said, I've believe when I see it for myself. -
British man arrested in Phuket over violent tuk tuk altercation
Cabradelmar replied to webfact's topic in Phuket News
It's bad enough with the escalation of Thais toting and brandishing firearms... But when foreigners are emboldened to take the same path, Thailand is going to have to finally admit they have a gun problem. -
Phuket simplifies visa extensions with new online system
Cabradelmar replied to webfact's topic in Phuket News
Once, nice. Better than never. But even a broken clock is right twice a day. -
Phuket simplifies visa extensions with new online system
Cabradelmar replied to webfact's topic in Phuket News
“Convenient, fast, safe, impressive.” said no one, ever, about Thailand's bureau of immigration... but it's good to have goals. -
Thailand Pushes ‘Land Bridge’ to Speed Trade
Cabradelmar replied to webfact's topic in Thailand News Headlines
I pray this does not happen... bringing all those cargo ships to Thailand's shores on the Andaman Sea side (to be off-loaded), and then introducing all that new vessel traffic into the Gulf (to re-load and forwarded) would be an environmental nightmare. Not to mention all the new overland truck and train traffic. The region would be forever changed, and not for the better (certainly not for tourism). Assuming any maritime freight carriers would even want to undertake the additional logistics, complexity and cost (of off-loading, overland forwarding, re-loading) just to save 2 to 5 days of travel time through the Malacca Straits. Given the massive construction cost, environmental concerns, almost certain bottlenecks and delays (seeing as it will be Thai managed) and uncertainty about volumes (who would really use the land bridge), it should be scrapped. -
Schizophrenia with a heavy dose of delusion and disorganization... that is every agency/ministry, in a nutshell. Good luck going from somewhere south of 30 million visitors (probably 28 million, using a bit of creative counting) in 2023, to 40 million in 2024. Do these people not follow world news, or even their own news (press releases) about themselves. LOL.
-
In summary... massive populist give-a-ways, and praying for more tourist arrivals. LOL. What the economy needs is more than just a shallow 90-day plan rehashing old ideas. It needs an entire rethink, with massive investment in infrastructure and education to attract and develop high-value, high-growth industries.
-
Thai tourism revolution: Duty-free ditch and booze bonanza
Cabradelmar replied to webfact's topic in Thailand News Headlines
Every recent idea to squeeze more money out of tourist revolves around sell them more booze. LOL. Anyway, buy your duty free at your departure point/on-board, and as long as you don't change planes, you still get duty free booze into Thailand. My guess is if anyone did their homework on duty free spend on booze by arriving passengers at Thailand's international airports, that it's mostly locals returning from abroad. Hopefully this plan gets pitched into the rubbish bin where it belongs. What next, dual pricing of booze at 7-11/Lotus for foreigners. LOL. -
We're on different wavelengths... yours being expenditure-categories focused vs. my industry sub-sector focus. Sure, looking at expenditure categories, tourist spending today looks to account for 12% of GDP. However, to understand the challenges and risk within the industry (and the broader economy), you need to look at the industry level, including emerging trends. We do agree on two things: tourism as 30% of GDP is unrealistic (and by extension, foolish), and arrivals are out of Thailand's control. Variability in arrivals is just one of many risk associated with tourism... jobs created by tourism are slow coming and lower paying, external shocks (e.g., war, socio-economic conditions in other countries) on arrivals, seasonality, and the impact of over-tourism are all significant risk. All of which are going to make it harder to stimulate sustainable consumer spending through tourism. However, investing in diverse higher-paying growth industries would strengthen the Thai economy in real and sustainable ways, and provide more stable consumer spending. But to do that, Thailand is going to need to fix their educational/vocational training systems (IMO).
-
The NESDB, Thailand's official economic planning agency, uses a sector-based classification system. As of 2023, the major breakdown is: Service Sector: 56.18% (including wholesale & retail, tourism, finance, real estate, etc.) Industrial Sector: 34.99% (manufacturing, construction, utilities) Agricultural Sector: 8.82% (farming, fishing, forestry) No matter how you cut it, tourism (as a % of total GDP) is a big number and represents a certain level of industry concentration risk: 18% per Nikkei Asia reports. Only manufacturing at 20% is larger - with low profit margin sub-sectors textile & garments, and food processing representing half of that number. The believe it or not, the Thai government aims for the tourism sector to contribute 30% of GDP by 2030. Which seems incredibly rosey/optimistic, not to mention furthering the existing industry concentration risk. When you uncover the details details, Thailand's economy is, at best, while large, sluggish. The only real bright spots are electronics and automotive, but that's < 8% of total GDP.
-
Increasingly unsafe (roads and personal), polluted (land, air and sea), scams, corruption, shoddy healthcare, foreign dependency (Chinese tourist)... yep. Unfortunately, this country lives and dies with agriculture and tourism/retail trade... Thailand has yet to face the reality that that is increasingly unwise and unsustainable. Until they start making some fundamental changes to allow for a better educated workforce (so to attract new high-tech manufacturing, etc.), diversify the economy, and attract new investment in growth industries, Thailand will continue to flounder. Agriculture and tourism/retail trade is fine, but it keeps the country poor and growth flat. And populist giveaways are not going to help the people in the long run. Take that money, and a whatever other money They have available to them, and invest in the infrastructure needed to truly lift the people up.