DonniePeverley

But if you are in desperate need of a taxi, and the driver doesn't cancel - you are then unable to get a taxi. You have to cancel to try and find another driver.

They will reach those numbers, and probably some more. Tourism has bounced back around the world. They panicked and stopped visa fees for Chinese and Indians to give a boost, which was a stimulus that wasn't needed. If you cancel some 2000 Baht for nearly 15-20 million tourists that is a big massive investment. The only way you are going to even recoup that (and then some more) is by massively allowing millions more tourists to enter. Now effectively what you have done is remove all the levers that could sustain a level of tourism that the country can handle. There is no way they will reinstate visa fees for the Chinese again. You now have no levers to stop the masses coming in. The knee jerk decisions have been astonishing. You are already seeing many complaints from Phuket and some islands about the sheer volume of tourists. If you are going to open the gates to allow a free for all, then you need the infrustructure in place (roads, transport system being vital). At the moment Bangkok roads are a standstill. Phuket has zero public transport system, nor do the islands. The airports have seem massives queues. The vaunted BTS in Bangkok (although still great) has gone from seating, to removing many seats, to now everyone just stand up and get squashed in. You need to invest in the infrustructure like Singapore has to accomdate that many people, but sadly that is not going to happen here. So what you are going to get is 40-50 million tourists this year. Most will be low spenders, and most will have miserable experiences. And those who live here will suffer.

I have news for you - even the regular taxis on the street have fees to pay to use a taxi.

So they refuse to cancel themselves. Then kind of play a game a chicken to see if we cancel ? Knowing the mentality of Taxi drivers here they would rather sit and not accept any jobs rather than have to cancel.

We unfortunately got rinsed by our agent, who showed us a lovely condo - but deceptively failed to mention the school runs in the area are absolutely horrific. So whenever we attempt to order a grab, they will always accept it straight away, but then immediately call and message and tell us to cancel. Even if i attempt to book the premium grab, they just want to cancel. What is the glitch in the system that makes them accept the job in the first place? Then why can't they cancel it themselves? But no, they want me to cancel. Sometimes i give it ten minutes, and watch their cars sitting their stationary (they could have come to me in 5 mins), and they still don't cancel. The problem is as soon as you cancel, Grab then penalise me and add a fare onto the next attempt i make. With the taxi mafia now in full swing in Bangkok and rarely anyone using a meter, it's become ridiculous here.

Nothing will be done. Unless it hurts tourism. Apparently tourism is all that matters now

Did he inspect the taxi drivers refusing to use meters ?

concerns? They've literally been one of the most visited countries in the world last year. Why always a constant concern and panic ?

Obsessed with tourism. Horrific for locals.

I miss that General.

It's quite clear they have invested billions in waving Chinese and Indian visa fees, so they are going to pack in as many tourists as they can - regardless if they are quality or not. If you live in Thailand it means misery. This is what they want EVERYDAY They want Sukhuvit like this EVERYDAY

How many tourists will they be happy with ? 40 million? 50 million ? 100 milliom? They've removed all barriers from China, and relaxed Indian barriers. It's going to be carnage.

Vehicle pollution is utterly disgusting. You come back from western countries to this depressing crap really bothers you. It's a scandal they still have the busses that omit black smoke.

The United States of China. Might as well just become a part of China now.

Thailand has some of the most spectacular landscapes in the world, and some incredible beaches. A brilliant culture, great street food (when they are not trying to ban it), and some fascinating history. Thailand has the hard part all done. The easy part the fail on. You would think the easy part would be providing the world class services and amenities, and cutting out the shady practises on the ground. But sadly no, there is little will to make changes.

How is a Chinese tourist different to a European tourist?

Thailand had one of the highest tourist numbers in the world in 2023. At what point do they stop obsessing with China and a few other countries? They should stop looking at numbers, and look at quality tourists. Tourists who will spend in Thailand. Not tourists who book 'everything' on a zero dollar holiday before they leave their country, or tourists who come on an extreme low budget.

Oh dear .... where do we start?

Personally i think once you move abroad and leave the UK, you should have no rights to claim on pensions and come back to use the NHS. Free loaders.

I was in Pattaya a few weeks ago. There was often talks of politics, and honestly it was soul destroying. I'm not exaggerating when i say 99.9999% of British immigrants living in Pattaya are racist / xenophobic. Primarily everything revolved around immigration, and how Britain should not allow foreigners in. The irony that they too were immigrants in another country, and on top of that they were hardly the 'model type immigrants' Britain could be proud of in Pattaya (boozy sex immigrants) was lost on them. Any attempts to counter balance the talks (ie the official statistics state that immigration economically brings in more than it takes out, the need for workers in the NHS, low skilled jobs, etc didn't matter was usually met with greater degrees of racism. There was one faith that seemed to bother them more. Soul destroying, and i just avoid any Brit in Pattaya. Furthermore, if any of them engage in politics i walk away.

Is this why they have opened the borders for everyone and their dogs ?

At the risk of wafting through 15 pages - can someone give me a summary of whats going on.

They're aiming for 40 million tourists this year. Most from India and China. I expect some 'youtubers' 'tiktokers' from these countries etc doing 'RANDOM' content videos around Thailand.

Mass tourism turning Thailand into a tourist state. Horrific for anyone living here.

The flags were out in force over the weekend.