Tearful Kobkarn plays up her "quality tourism" achievements as chop looms

[Mac98]

Most successful tourism campaigns tout what they are already good at: skiing, gambling, gastronomy, shopping, fishing,  or beer. Vegas tried a family image and failed; now it's, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." Wildly successful. San Francisco had the famous North Beach topless bars. Closed it down. Now who goes to San Francisco? A city now full of high-tech nerds, gays, and homeless. Hollywood Boulevarf was thronged with tourists and nightlife. Cleaned it up. Now it's empty of all but traffic on the way home from work. That doesn't mean a decaying, scam centered industry should be promoted; it means tourist interests should be considered in the regulation of that established  attraction, along with the continued success of the investors. In short, if you are known for fun, promote fun.

[KIWIBATCH]

10 hours ago, Cadbury said:

It looks like back to the knitting for Kobkarn. If she is dumped the country will certainly miss her creativeness.   

Lest we Forget: Kobkarn Watanavarangul and TAT's Thai tourism attractions and hubs.

·        Durian Kit Kat tourists

·        Pokemon Go tourists

·        Rusting naval base tourists

·        Jetski tourists hub

·        Eliminate prostitution

·        Sports tourists hub

·        Medical tourists hub

·        Jewellery tourists hub

·        Pattaya good clean family tourist fun hub.

·        Target wealthy Chinese tourists who normally go to Japan

·        Target wealthy Japanese tourists who normally go to Taiwan

·        Promote 400B National Parks for tourists

·        Promote off-season tourism

·        Attract Chinese couples for marriage in Thailand

·        World film locations hub

·        Rainy season tourist programme

·        Village to the World project

·        Gastronomy tourism

·        Wedding and honeymoon hub

·        Indian Bollywood stars hub

·        Thai Sustainable Tourism in Thai Way of Life Project

·        Attract India couples for marriage in Thailand

·        Thailand Golf Paradise hub

·        Cultural world heritage development in lower northern provinces

·        Married couples hub

 

...and the "Burst into tears Hub".......

[roo860]

My Thai friend went to the UK about two years ago to study. She said that sometimes when she told people where she was from they'd ask about/talk about the sex industry and ladyboys, etc (don't ask me why but they did). Anyway, she said it was impolite and that people shouldn't talk about it. Right or wrong, I asked her that if a visitor comes to Thailand and sees a lot of prostitution and ladyboys, etc, should they talk about it when they go home? She said they shouldn't. 
 
I explained the difference in cultures. We all know about Thai culture, but in British culture, as with many cultures around the world, people will talk openly. They will criticise and mock, etc. You can't expect people to follow your rules when they go home because it benefits you. Again, right or wrong, if you want someone to think well of you, act well. I don't care about prostitution or ladyboys. People can do as they please. But if locals feel it's embarrassing and don't wanna address it, you will sometimes get a dose of the real world. You can't have you cake and eat it. 
 
It's like when my brother messaged my missus to ask if she could get him some fake Ray Bans. Her first reaction was, "does your brother think Thailand is just full of fake goods?". I had to tell her that I don't know what my brother thinks of Thailand. But he knows you can openly buy fake Ray Bans. If you don't want people to think you can openly buy fake Ray Bans then don't openly sell fake Ray Bans. 

Well said!!!!!!

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[bangrak]

Ms Kobkarn would not even recognise a 'quality tourist' when she would run over one with her limo... 

[lamyai3]

13 hours ago, rkidlad said:

My Thai friend went to the UK about two years ago to study. She said that sometimes when she told people where she was from they'd ask about/talk about the sex industry and ladyboys, etc (don't ask me why but they did). Anyway, she said it was impolite and that people shouldn't talk about it. Right or wrong, I asked her that if a visitor comes to Thailand and sees a lot of prostitution and ladyboys, etc, should they talk about it when they go home? She said they shouldn't. 

She probably isn't aware of the extent sex and Innuendo is woven into British culture. Thailand's reputation in this regard is more embedded than ever before, with so much stuff in the media drawing attention to the subject nowadays. Popular comedy programmes like Little Britain, Alan Partridge etc all had ladyboy themes, major tabloid exposés (one of which triggered a high level drive to wipe out the sex industry), Hollywood movies like Hangover 2.... the sex genie's never going back in the bottle.

[greatwhitenorth]

3 hours ago, lamyai3 said:

She probably isn't aware of the extent sex and Innuendo is woven into British culture. Thailand's reputation in this regard is more embedded than ever before, with so much stuff in the media drawing attention to the subject nowadays. Popular comedy programmes like Little Britain, Alan Partridge etc all had ladyboy themes, major tabloid exposés (one of which triggered a high level drive to wipe out the sex industry), Hollywood movies like Hangover 2.... the sex genie's never going back in the bottle.

 Christ man, if a closet is a small place to to spend your life because of sexual preference, a bottle seems inhumane.

Free the Bottled

[hawker9000]

14 hours ago, observer90210 said:

Nobody can change things alone.

But maybe if she pointed out certain points "higher up"...who knows ?

No finger pointing here...my fingers are better off elsewhere

She's not accused of not being able to change things, or of being in charge of the country's policies.  What HAS been mentioned, frequently, around here are the fanciful, purely propagandistic, over-the-top public announcements and absurd claims & tourist statistics intended to beat the drum.  I've no desire to know where your  ""  fingers might be able to give you more satisfaction than they apparently already are, but the vast majority not so pleasurably occupied belong pointed right where they are.

 

Edited November 24, 2017 by hawker9000

[Oziex1]

14 hours ago, sambum said:

"Though she admitted that safety was still a concern - personally, she would like to see zero accidents and no deaths of tourists."

 

And there we have it - "The Impossible Dream" What planet is this woman from?

Nothing wrong with a bit of idealism, maybe she wanted to do better and was scoffed at by those who dont care about the welfare of tourists.

[KMartinHandyman]

She’s officially gone.

[mok199]

if building new malls and condos, destined to be empty , and creating tour bus  and beach chaos, filled with screaming cheap Asians ,whose only mind set is to eat all the shrimp at the free hotel buffet is progress...then you are a genius..AMUSING THAILAND....

[scubascuba3]

Saying she was going to do away with the sex industry was stupid, they should embrace it, a major part of Thailands success

[anon537687643]

My Thai friend went to the UK about two years ago to study. She said that sometimes when she told people where she was from they'd ask about/talk about the sex industry and ladyboys, etc (don't ask me why but they did). Anyway, she said it was impolite and that people shouldn't talk about it. Right or wrong, I asked her that if a visitor comes to Thailand and sees a lot of prostitution and ladyboys, etc, should they talk about it when they go home? She said they shouldn't. 
 
I explained the difference in cultures. We all know about Thai culture, but in British culture, as with many cultures around the world, people will talk openly. They will criticise and mock, etc. You can't expect people to follow your rules when they go home because it benefits you. Again, right or wrong, if you want someone to think well of you, act well. I don't care about prostitution or ladyboys. People can do as they please. But if locals feel it's embarrassing and don't wanna address it, you will sometimes get a dose of the real world. You can't have you cake and eat it. 
 
It's like when my brother messaged my missus to ask if she could get him some fake Ray Bans. Her first reaction was, "does your brother think Thailand is just full of fake goods?". I had to tell her that I don't know what my brother thinks of Thailand. But he knows you can openly buy fake Ray Bans. If you don't want people to think you can openly buy fake Ray Bans then don't openly sell fake Ray Bans. 

Yes! Tell your friend we can mock the hypocrisy of a nation publically and to someone’s face in our own country ! When in that country we tend not to do it verbally for obvious reasons, so that’s when this forum
Comes handy .


Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[hawker9000]

4 hours ago, Oziex1 said:

Nothing wrong with a bit of idealism, maybe she wanted to do better and was scoffed at by those who dont care about the welfare of tourists.

No, she was scoffed at for her continuous lack of credibility.  I'm sure she wanted to do better.  Furthermore I haven't any doubt that she wanted to improve the tourist industry.  It was however the methods employed in going about her business  - 'you could say an "emperor's new clothes" thing.  Form without substance.

Edited November 25, 2017 by hawker9000

[Cadbury]

2 hours ago, hawker9000 said:

she was scoffed at for her continuous lack of credibility

She sure was and I include myself among those who has done a good share of scoffing. Her incredibility with statistics and outrageous ideas seemed to be her downfall and probably caused some embarrassment to PM Prayut. And any minister who embarrasses him puts themselves in line to be dumped (except his mate Prawit).

All that aside, she appeared to have pleasant personable nature and could show humanity and maximum dedication to her job which is a lot more than can be said for most of the other worthless Ministers who seem to delight in being obnoxious and uncaring as they possibly can.

 

Edited November 25, 2017 by Cadbury

[whaleboneman]

On 11/24/2017 at 12:18 PM, rkidlad said:

Nothing but buzzwords. My boss does the same thing at the work. Goes for work to Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, etc, and comes back with buzzwords. Her mostly untrained and uneducated staff do nothing but repeat the words and forget them quickly. Rinse and repeat. 

Hope she's not a TV reader.

[rkidlad]

Yea

Edited November 25, 2017 by rkidlad

[rkidlad]

1 hour ago, whaleboneman said:

Hope she's not a TV reader.

Oh, yea. I have sleepless nights worrying about that. 

[sambum]

20 hours ago, Orac said:

 

Carefull!

 

I never said she directly has a stake in any of them.

Okay - sorry :-  "Oddly enough her family appears to have a stake in all of these ventures mentioned."

[sambum]

8 hours ago, hawker9000 said:

She's not accused of not being able to change things, or of being in charge of the country's policies.  What HAS been mentioned, frequently, around here are the fanciful, purely propagandistic, over-the-top public announcements and absurd claims & tourist statistics intended to beat the drum.  I've no desire to know where your  ""  fingers might be able to give you more satisfaction than they apparently already are, but the vast majority not so pleasurably occupied belong pointed right where they are.

 

"What HAS been mentioned, frequently, around here are the fanciful, purely propagandistic, over-the-top public announcements and absurd claims & tourist statistics intended to beat the drum."

 

Couldn't agree more!

[nausea]

On 24/11/2017 at 12:26 PM, samran said:

She's a pretty impressive speaker. Speaks off the cuff in English pretty well, and better than most of the knockers here.

 

 

I expect she's a very able person, I've talked enough BS in my time job-wise. One thing I've learnt in life is you have to be very careful what positions to accept, some are just poisoned chalices.

[bobbymack]

On ‎24‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 4:43 AM, Cadbury said:

It looks like back to the knitting for Kobkarn. If she is dumped the country will certainly miss her creativeness.   

Lest we Forget: Kobkarn Watanavarangul and TAT's Thai tourism attractions and hubs.

·        Durian Kit Kat tourists

·        Pokemon Go tourists

·        Rusting naval base tourists

·        Jetski tourists hub

·        Eliminate prostitution

·        Sports tourists hub

·        Medical tourists hub

·        Jewellery tourists hub

·        Pattaya good clean family tourist fun hub.

·        Target wealthy Chinese tourists who normally go to Japan

·        Target wealthy Japanese tourists who normally go to Taiwan

·        Promote 400B National Parks for tourists

·        Promote off-season tourism

·        Attract Chinese couples for marriage in Thailand

·        World film locations hub

·        Rainy season tourist programme

·        Village to the World project

·        Gastronomy tourism

·        Wedding and honeymoon hub

·        Indian Bollywood stars hub

·        Thai Sustainable Tourism in Thai Way of Life Project

·        Attract India couples for marriage in Thailand

·        Thailand Golf Paradise hub

·        Cultural world heritage development in lower northern provinces

·        Married couples hub

 

Don't forget she wanted all tourists to have a 'Thai buddy' to accompany them around Thailand and wear GPS tags for safety, in the aftermath of the murder of the 2 English backpackers on Ko Tao.

[Sid Celery]

On 24/11/2017 at 6:11 PM, Enoon said:

 

In a nutshell:

 

Foreigner plants themselves in another country and expresses dismay and annoyance that people of that country do not share their cultural/social norms and notions of "impolite" behaviour. 

 

In this particular case the "impolite" behaviour is public and free discussion concerning prostitution and a proliferation of transgenders in their home country.  It's not something that "nice" people do in their home country (in fact "nice" people do their best to look the other way) but it might have been any one of a number of behaviours that transgressed the codes of their home country.

 

Foreigner goes to the extreme of suggesting that the people of that country should adopt the codes of their country, which is absolutely outrageous of course.......but a not unfamiliar outline of the behaviour and attitude of uncomprehending foreigners in another country. 

 

Such an attitude reveals itself 1000's times every year..... right here on these pages.

 

It is to these pages what rice is to Thailand....a staple crop.

 

I going to say it whether I need to or not:  Oh, the irony.

 

 

 

Buckle up my friend because another one's coming. Anyone who's lived in TL for more than 5 minutes, and who understands that the smiles are usually fake and the snarl you see when Thais are talking is an enforced attempt to appear to be smiling while talking, knows that Thailand is a backward 3rd-world country full of backward 3rd-world people who are never taught about law and principles and ethics. Hence the corruption and idleness, though not all Thais are lazy imho, some put a lot of effort into their dishonesty. If a job's worth doing...

 

Of course, there are the apologists who generally say some nonsense about there being crime in all countries. Which is true but you don't see armed coups détat in many countries these days, not outside Thailand and Zimbabwe anyway, and the coup in Zimbabwe lasted a week, not 4 years. And who knows? maybe Thailand could learn from others, though they've shown no appetite for that so far unless there's a buck in it. They could probably learn a bit from the USA too... though they already seem to have the racial prejudice pretty much worked out.

 

 

Edited November 25, 2017 by Sid Celery

[madusa]

On 11/24/2017 at 11:58 AM, ezflip said:

Maybe she ran into an obstacle had more power and influence than her...

Of course when she said such silly things like doing away with prostitution it rubs many feathers the wrong way. She imagines a clean Thailand with healthy wholesome activities for tourists? Yes of course if that happens the number of tourists will drop drastically because all sex starved tourists will not be visiting Thailand they will go to China or vietnam or philippines wouldn't they? How are the big bosses going to feed their concubines and their children go to international school or Harold boarding school in England? The most profitable business is the sleazy business in terms of the amount of money made per 30 minutes or an hour, go figure how much you pay for a quickie you will see how profitable the business, and the main bulk of the profit goes to the big boss of course, the women are paid a pittance.

She should realized in certain jobs you keep very quiet and you don't step out of the line.

Edited November 25, 2017 by madusa
add more words

[ezflip]

3 minutes ago, madusa said:

Of course when she said such silly things like doing away with prostitution it rubs many feathers the wrong way. She imagines a clean Thailand with healthy wholesome activities for tourists? Yes of course if that happens the number of tourists will drop drastically because all sex starved tourists will not be visiting Thailand they will go to China or vietnam or philippines wouldn't they? How are powerful going to feed their concubines and their children go to international school or Harold boarding school in England?

She should realized in certain jobs you keep very quiet and you don't step out of the line.

I was referring to the head of the small villages that have their local brothels and local 'love hotels' that no foreign tourist has set foot in because it is only known to the locals. She probably pissed off a local chief who had good contacts higher than her position. But that is pure speculation on my part, nothing more.

 

To think that the sex industry only exist because of foreign tourists is pretty narrow minded. The sex industry in Thailand existed way before us foreigners heard about this country.

[Sid Celery]

1 minute ago, ezflip said:

I was referring to the head of the small villages that have their local brothels and local 'love hotels' that no foreign tourist has set foot in because it is only known to the locals. She probably pissed off a local chief who had good contacts higher than her position. But that is pure speculation on my part, nothing more.

 

To think that the sex industry only exist because of foreign tourists is pretty narrow minded. The sex industry in Thailand existed way before us foreigners heard about this country.

 

Indeed, when I was in Australia in the late 1960's, Phuket and Pattaya were the favoured destinations for randy little buggers like me. Hasn't changed much, though nowadays they seem to be the favoured destination for randy old buggers like me.

 

It seems not to have occurred to Kobkarn, that the tourism is not in spite of the Thai sex industry, a goodly part of it is because of the Thai sex industry (though at my age I confess that I look at most of the women in that category and shake my head - how time changes us eh?).

 

Everyone and his mother knows what Phuket, Pattaya and Bangkok are... everyone except Kobkarn it seems. She'll not be missed. I wonder if and how much her husband made off the sex industry...

Edited November 25, 2017 by Sid Celery

[mok199]

21 hours ago, KIWIBATCH said:

...and the "Burst into tears Hub".......

AMUSING THAILAND

[mok199]

2 hours ago, bobbymack said:

Don't forget she wanted all tourists to have a 'Thai buddy' to accompany them around Thailand and wear GPS tags for safety, in the aftermath of the murder of the 2 English backpackers on Ko Tao.

they dragged around the idea of a thai ''disneyland'' ..

[madusa]

1 minute ago, ezflip said:

I was referring to the head of the small villages that have their local brothels and local 'love hotels' that no foreign tourist has set foot in because it is only known to the locals. She probably pissed off a local chief who had good contacts higher than her position. But that is pure speculation on my part, nothing more.

 

To think that the sex industry only exist because of foreign tourists is pretty narrow minded. The sex industry in Thailand existed way before us foreigners heard about this country.

Yes of course you are right about the existence of sex industry before foreigners came, but the open big neon lights and girls dancing with little clothes on in the public is what this honorable lady wanted to wipe out I believe if I am not wrong. Is the bad image of Thailand she was concerned about I guess, She didn't blame the sex tourists. Tourists coming for sex be they Farang or Indians, or Chinese doesn't matter make any difference to her, she just wants a clean Thailand image. She is not blaming foreigners she just want a clean Thailand by doing away with these pimps and big bosses and that is not a possible thing to do in the present climate and circumstances. She is a dreamer I would say.

[wakeupplease]

Who was it on here who said she was a good looking woman? not so long ago?

 

That is as rough as S>>> and her statements smell like it, by by cry baby, glad to see the back of you.

[mommysboy]

4 minutes ago, madusa said:

Yes of course you are right about the existence of sex industry before foreigners came, but the open big neon lights and girls dancing with little clothes on in the public is what this honorable lady wanted to wipe out I believe if I am not wrong. Is the bad image of Thailand she was concerned about I guess, She didn't blame the sex tourists. Tourists coming for sex be they Farang or Indians, or Chinese doesn't matter make any difference to her, she just wants a clean Thailand image. She is not blaming foreigners she just want a clean Thailand by doing away with these pimps and big bosses and that is not a possible thing to do in the present climate and circumstances. She is a dreamer I would say.

I really don't know what her motives were.  From my own point of view, it appeared that she was tampering with areas that made Thailand the unique place it was, whilst seeming unable to do anything about the issue that tourists really care about- protecting them from beatings or worse.