Thailand Shifts Tourism Strategy as Targets Cut for 2026

8 hours ago, Bday Prang said:

Thanks for the heads up, that's the maldives off my bucket list I'm guessing the maldives was not to your taste either.

The Maldives was great. Transfer to a hotel by seaplane because it was on its own island. Fantastic scuba diving and snorkeling, great food in the several hotel restaurants. Didn’t try the spa myself, the missis seemed to like it. My daughter was blown away by the experience.

It was up market and worth every penny as far as I was concerned. It was something that Thailand will never be. For better or worse depending on your taste and/or budget.

6 hours ago, Yumthai said:

"Sharia law in the Maldives is highly rigorous, operating as a foundational component of a strict Sunni Islamic state."

I never saw a sign of any religious activity while I was there. 🤷‍♂️

Was I supposed to see stonings and beheadings?

3 hours ago, wensiensheng said:

I never saw a sign of any religious activity while I was there. 🤷‍♂️

Was I supposed to see stonings and beheadings?

Not being woken by a Mufti singing his head off at 4am would be a good thing.

4 hours ago, wensiensheng said:

I never saw a sign of any religious activity while I was there.

There are "slight" differences between resorts islands vs local islands.

On 4/7/2026 at 4:01 AM, wavodavo said:

Mate ,what do you mean by ( the product ) ?? is it the women , the beaches the cheap happy hour bars , the go go's ,the cheap Thai food , the ladyboys , the massage parlours the beaches , the relaxed lifestyle ,the weather ?? If that's what you mean then that's exactly what brings tourists here. That's the THING.

Like I said, the product hasn't changed...and I specifically said "quality." Next time understand what you reply to.

6 hours ago, Yumthai said:

There are "slight" differences between resorts islands vs local islands.

6 hours ago, Yumthai said:

There are "slight" differences between resorts islands vs local islands.

6 hours ago, Yumthai said:

There are "slight" differences between resorts islands vs local islands.

Aren’t we talking about tourism?

In fact you even make my point. Maldives has a reputation for quality tourism because that is the product it has created, despite what you say are strict Islamic practices for locals in their daily life.

Thailand has created a product aimed, in the main, at the mass tourist market and simply saying that they want to focus on quality tourists achieves nothing unless they change their product and reputation.

1 hour ago, wensiensheng said:

Aren’t we talking about tourism?

In fact you even make my point. Maldives has a reputation for quality tourism because that is the product it has created, despite what you say are strict Islamic practices for locals in their daily life.

Thailand has created a product aimed, in the main, at the mass tourist market and simply saying that they want to focus on quality tourists achieves nothing unless they change their product and reputation.

Indeed, I think both countries are addressing different kind of tourists.

Maldives and countries alike for the ones who are eager to enjoy enclosed environments specially created (as you mentioned) for them whereas locals often "enjoy" a total opposite and strictly ruled lifestyle (and that's the least of tourists' concern), and the ones who like to experience and feel the real vibes of the local culture and people as in Thailand.

5 hours ago, wensiensheng said:

Aren’t we talking about tourism?

In fact you even make my point. Maldives has a reputation for quality tourism because that is the product it has created, despite what you say are strict Islamic practices for locals in their daily life.

Thailand has created a product aimed, in the main, at the mass tourist market and simply saying that they want to focus on quality tourists achieves nothing unless they change their product and reputation.

According to Google, the Maldives has 14 hotels and 176 resorts. Being that small, it's easy to cater to one demographic, so-called quality, higher-end tourists. Wikipedia says Thailand has 60,000 hotels, Google says 16,500 to 60,000.

Whatever the exact figure, it's huge in comparison to the Maldives. 60,000 hotels equals a lot of hotel rooms to fill every day--about 847,000 rooms, according to AI. And, those hotel rooms run the gamut from lowly hostels to 5-stars. Every time I read about some official spouting off about only wanting quality, high-end tourists, I think about all the hotel owners who really need a broad demographic of tourists--to fill the broad types of hotel rooms Thailand has.

40 minutes ago, newnative said:

According to Google, the Maldives has 14 hotels and 176 resorts. Being that small, it's easy to cater to one demographic, so-called quality, higher-end tourists. Wikipedia says Thailand has 60,000 hotels, Google says 16,500 to 60,000.

Whatever the exact figure, it's huge in comparison to the Maldives. 60,000 hotels equals a lot of hotel rooms to fill every day--about 847,000 rooms, according to AI. And, those hotel rooms run the gamut from lowly hostels to 5-stars. Every time I read about some official spouting off about only wanting quality, high-end tourists, I think about all the hotel owners who really need a broad demographic of tourists--to fill the broad types of hotel rooms Thailand has.

Well that’s the issue isn’t it. How do you pivot from mass tourism to high end quality, when for years an infrastructure has built up to support the former? And by no means least, people livelihoods are tied up in mass tourism.

And yes, Thailand is a bigger market, so simply emulating somewhere like the Maldives probably isn’t practical. But is there a happy medium? Something that cuts off the drunken sex tourist aspect at the bottom, maybe over several years, and builds on what’s perceived as better quality tourism?

I guess the point I am making is that TAT simply saying something doesn’t then make it happen. And they have said so often that they are focusing on quality tourists, that everyone knows they don’t really mean it.

No, if Thailand really wanted to change its tourism industry then they would come up with a multi year plan of actionable items. It can be done, Spain has in a number of ways shaken off its cheap booze filled package holidays reputation. Not entirely, but in comparison to what it used to be, they have changed perceptions, mine anyway.

Thailand is locked in a trap. It needs what it’s got in terms of tourism because that’s what can be offered and a lot of capital and employment is tied up in it. Couple that with a seemingly inherent inability to think strategically and what you get is no change and knee jerk announcements that have no relation to reality.

So they better just make the most of what they have got because there is nothing else.