kinyara

I'd say she's referring to current monthly levels which have gradually recovered from the low early months, which is likely why she used the word " typically " rather than " every ". Jan - 91,841 Feb - 155,656 Mar - 269,773 Apr - 328,414 May - 285,547 June - 311,888 July - 410,311

A nationwide computerised system recording every tourist arriving and departing daily through every point of entry in the country vs the opinion of an Asean Now poster. Tough call.

I'm not sure a PM who is less than 1 week in the job and whose Cabinet has yet to be formally sworn is in a position at this stage to enact any policy change, that is unrealistic and legislatively impossible. However it appears to be a priority in his to do list and I expect we'll see action somewhat quicker than the 2 years and 2 weeks of hemming and hawing and protesting from every tom, dick and harry led Committee it took Vietnam to finally enact a change. I wonder if Thailand will insist on compulsory insurance like Vietnam.

https://www.mots.go.th/more_news_new.php?cid=411

Absolute nonsense, Vietnam's visa situation has been a disaster for their tourism industry since the end of Covid. While Thailand sensibly increased visa free entry from 30 to 45 days ahead of the last high season to kickstart tourism the Vietnamese pen pushers were still shuffling paper from department to department. It may have taken them 2 weeks to sign it off but it's actually taken them almost 2 years to get there. The tourist numbers before and after Covid speak for themselves. In 2019 Vietnam attracted 45% of Thailand's total, in 2022 that number had reduced to 33%, so far to July 2023 it has still not recovered to 2019 levels. at 43%. Hence why they have finally decided to awaken from their coma and do something. To tout the Vietnamese government as a model of fast responsive law making is laughable, it remains the epitome of a slow moving Communist style committee bureaucracy.

Although no one you know is going to Thailand, the fact is over half a million Americans, ( 534k ), do find Thailand an attractive destination and have chosen to visit Thailand already this year.

Not seen any evidence of them increasing their estimate of 5 million Chinese this year, they have however admitted they are likely to fall short of that target.

Nothing has surprised me so far and I see nothing to be positive about. Whether it be the blocking of the public's wishes by unelected officials, the composition of the coalition to now include parties unanimously rejected by the public and previously promised to be excluded by the coalition leader, the likely inclusion of crooks, criminals and relatives in the proposed cabinet and the barely 1 night stay of a convicted criminal in prison who coordinated the whole masquerade. I'm sure the individuals in the photo are very positive though, especially those that are likely to be on the receiving end of the 10,000 baht spending bribe handed out to 60m Thais, and increase numbers of Chinese passing through duty free at their airports when their visa restrictions are eased.

Nothing has surprised me so far and I see nothing to be positive about. Whether it be the blocking of the public's wishes by unelected officials, the composition of the coalition to now include parties unanimously rejected by the public and previously promised to be excluded by the coalition leader, the likely inclusion of crooks, criminals and relatives in the proposed cabinet and the barely 1 night stay of a convicted criminal in prison who coordinated the whole masquerade. I'm sure the individuals in the photo are very positive though, especially those that are likely to be on the receiving end of the 10,000 baht spending bribe handed out to 60m Thais, and increase numbers of Chinese passing through duty free at their airports when their visa restrictions are eased.

King Power enjoy a monopolistic position in their duty free franchise granted by the govt. Thai Bev and CP Group hold dominant market positions achieved by either the beneficial barring of new entrants to their market by govt in the case of Thai Bev, or favourable govt approval of competition eliminating acquisitions of major competitors in the case of CP Group.

I doubt they will, but 30 million was the top of their 2023 forecast range which was 24m to 30m. It would seem more likely at this stage that mainly due to the shortfall in Chinese they end up around the middle of their forecast circa 27 million.

The Ministry of Tourism and Sports, they have published the tourist statistics by the just under 100 countries entering Thailand monthly for years. The data is compiled by the National Office of Statistics, similar to the gathering of economic data all countries in the world use.

I think TAT did recognise the potential slow recovery of the Chinese market due to China's internal economic problems, that's why they only forecast 5 million in 2023 compared to the 11 million in 2019. The fact as it stands it looks like they won't achieve even 5 million, rather than just hoping it is clearly why it is the focus of the new govt's immediate attention.

To put the article in context based on the 7 months to July 2023 compared to 7 months average monthly arrivals in 2019 : Tourist arrivals excluding China and Japan - 84% China - 28% Japan - 37% Clearly China and Japan are the 2 markets that standout as having failed to recover so far, whereas all other major markets have recovered to a great degree with the long-haul non-Asian markets I would say being impacted by reduced flight capacity and the resulting higher flight costs. UK arrivals are actually 92% of 2019 over the same time period.

I can't remember to be honest but the office is at the back right corner of the building as you enter from the street with a few rows of seats outside, pretty sure you go down a flight of stairs to the lower level. If you have your bills just show them to the staff or security as you enter the main building - " pay tax bill " - and they should point you in the right direction, also staff were at the entrance to the actual office to help people. Pretty sure it's the main reason foreigners visit City Hall so the entrance staff will know why you are there and where to direct you.

Re point 4, yes if you have received bills from City Hall for your real estate tax and in arrears it requires going to City Hall in person to settle them. Within the normal time allowance from invoice there is the option to pay by scanning the bar code and paying it via your mobile banking app or paying it at a Krung Thai Bank Branch. As far as I'm aware TIN number and the tax office in Jomtien mentioned above relate to State personal income taxation handling issues, nothing to do with local House/Condo tax assessments issued by City Hall. I didn't have any problems with the bill payment process in person at City Hall the twice I've done it, the usual number collection and waiting system in official places. You'll pay extra for being overdue but there won't be any hassle. Hall

Wonder if they looked at recent arrivals, 76k in June, and 2019 when they attracted 820k.

I doubt it, they've already stated several times their target of 5 million Chinese this year is unlikely to be achieved given numbers to date. The numbers may increase when high season starts as per normal but that against a historically low current level How did they ignore their bread n butter Western markets ? When they reopened in advance of their first high season the first incentive they introduced was to increase the visa free stay from 30 to 45 days for those markets who have the ability to stay longer. Exact opposite of what you suggest

I don't know myself, but If you are on Facebook it might be worth asking the question on the Bangkok Photographers group. Someone on there might have a contact.

I'd say the trouble with these sweeping generalisations you make from what appears to be a very low knowledge base is they are the exception not the wider reality for the majority of permanent long-termers . Live in tourist central you see tourists doing what tourists do on holiday, there's nothing wrong with people wanting to party non-stop on a 2 or 3 week holiday. It's not representative of the balanced normal lifestyle I suspect the majority of us retirees lead, certainly the case with my wide circle of friends and associates I've known over the years.

https://www.mots.go.th/more_news_new.php?cid=411 No idea what tolerances they apply to the known future 100% load capacity of incoming flights but I'm sure they look at the actual % load factors currently being achieved as a start point. That's as good an indication of economic headwinds as anything especially in such a short timeframe of 5 months. Both June and July ( if confirmed ) were higher than Jan-Mar presumably because more flight capacity has been added in the Asian region as that's where the arrivals are increasing from.

Errr no

Didn't miss it at all, it took me a few minutes to compose myself after reading your hilarious comment, I was just giving you some context to help you improve your comedy act. Living in Pattaya so well aware of the current problem with young Kuwaiti gangs indulging in street racing. unfortunately I suspect it will only get dealt with properly if there is an accident involving a Thai with influence.

Yes let's not forget the 41st country in the list of arrivals with a whopping 30,704 arrivals year to date June. ????????

No, those countries were 5th, 30th and 2nd in arrivals by country up to June and were only 18% of the total. 82% of Thailand's international tourists didn't come from those countries.