1 hour ago, jaywalker said:

I just mentioned this on the Pattaya news forum, but it can be said for the country as a whole.

 

Thailand is like a little boy with a giant bag of bubble gum when it comes to tourism.

 

The little boy thought one piece was good, so he crammed the whole bag into his mouth at once and started choking.

Spot on! The greedy bastards are happy when they are lining their pockets off the backs of visitors, but when they realise not everyone coming here is throwing handfuls of free money left right and centre, they don't like it.

They had too many Golden Years of the high spending American GI's followed by droves of crazy westerners handing over millions of Baht over and over - even spending millions marrying their humblest of country daughters....now they are getting a taste of reality! You can't always have your cake and eat it!

1 hour ago, Valentine said:

The Chinese are making very few people mega rich (likely more mega rich than they already are) as the tours only go to selected places to shop, eat & visit. The man on the street does not benefit the same as they used to when they were able to attract walk by customers.

It's a little naive of you to think that tourism policy was designed so that the "man on the street" benefits. Why should he benefit for doing nothing?  It's Business people that do all the work attracting and arranging tours, so it's only natural the benefits of tourism go mostly to these people. 

And besides why the hell should the success of tourism be measured in how much money "the average man on the street" benefits? Next you'll be proposing mandatory minimum spending quotas for all foreign tourists.

“Our strategy was more for less, not less for more, so we invited a lot of tourists from China,” said Suvit Maesincee, in an interview last month, when he was the minister attached to the Prime Minister’s office. “I think in the near future we need to change from volume to value.”

 

I suppose that's one way to insult the Chinese!  Another government minister with his foot in his mouth; keep it up mate, they'll go elsewhere!  Problem solved.

1 hour ago, Valentine said:

The Chinese are making very few people mega rich (likely more mega rich than they already are) as the tours only go to selected places to shop, eat & visit. The man on the street does not benefit the same as they used to when they were able to attract walk by customers.

So true.  The only thing the community gets is pollution and traffic caused by huge busses.  You will rarely see any Chinese even in a 7-11.  It's off the bus go to sauna, on the bus, off the bus buy fruit, on the bus, off the bus eat, on the bus back to airport.  I think they may even sleep on the bus. One resort near me was busing them in for meals and a swim and then back on the bus.  There is no doubt the bus stops kick back to the tour guide but I am starting to suspect the Chinese own all the businesses they frequent also to cut out the Thai middlemen or if they don't now they will in the future.

3 hours ago, observer90210 said:

Just rule in drastic visa regulations for the Chinese, before arrival, and problem solved overnight.

I've been suggesting that for a while now. Too bad government officials don't look at ex-pat forums. Charge 1000 baht (or more) per chinese head as they come in through customs! What could be easier? They are all here for "1" reason and it's not for the so called white-sand beaches. It's a "CHEAP" holiday. That's it, a cheap holiday with little or no spending!  

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand, land of golden temples, white-sand beaches, smiling hosts. Or of overcrowded airports, epic traffic jams and littered seashores.

The latter for sure. 

Free water for the Masses goes back down the wall to near Information desk

Hows about Immigration do their job and actually put people in seats rather than serving tea and polishing the boots of their supreme boss.  Thats what causes misery.  Right now the Chinese are saving Thailands economic Ass.

Typical Thai trait of blaming everyone/everything around them, except themselves.

The years of misery are caused not by Chinese tourists, 

but the inept watch-flashing, kickback-taking, non-asset declaring,

dissent-squashing & jetski-scamming Somchai's and their band of cronies.

 

If the amount these incompetent idiots wasted in purchasing GT200 bomb detectors, submarines, radar guns, digital clocks and overpriced microphones was instead, invested in infrastructure, we would be in a very different place right now.

 

Som nam na. 

 

 

27 minutes ago, Time Traveller said:

It's a little naive of you to think that tourism policy was designed so that the "man on the street" benefits. Why should he benefit for doing nothing?  It's Business people that do all the work attracting and arranging tours, so it's only natural the benefits of tourism go mostly to these people. 

And besides why the hell should the success of tourism be measured in how much money "the average man on the street" benefits? Next you'll be proposing mandatory minimum spending quotas for all foreign tourists.

"Man on the street" (stalls) works, supports his family, money is spent locally so multiplier effect, pays taxes (even if only VAT) and happens to be a citizen of this country. Reasons enough? All those small shop vendors, food stalls, etc ARE "business people", even if they don't wear suits and ties. Brought to mind Hitler's description of England as "nation of shopkeepers": that's a good thing IMO.

 I imagine you are a proponent of the discredited "trickle down theory" of economics. Or earlier version "let them eat cake".

3 minutes ago, varun said:

Typical Thai trait of blaming everyone/everything around them, except themselves.

The years of misery are caused not by Chinese tourists, 

but the inept watch-flashing, kickback-taking, non-asset declaring,

dissent-squashing & jetski-scamming Somchai's and their band of cronies.

 

If the amount these incompetent idiots wasted in purchasing GT200 bomb detectors, submarines, radar guns, digital clocks and overpriced microphones was instead, invested in infrastructure, we would be in a very different place right now.

 

Som nam na. 

 

 

Well said.

Just now, Jimbo2014 said:

Hows about Immigration do their job and actually put people in seats rather than serving tea and polishing the boots of their supreme boss.  Thats what causes misery.  Right now the Chinese are saving Thailands economic Ass.

Apart from Hotels and flights most don't spend much money, hence the free water, I've seen them filling up their water flasks at water taps inside the boarding gate. Also, zero dollar holidays are encouraging people to not spend money. Half their number in Farangs would spend double the money 

Thailand is getting the bumpkin ones for 10-dollar tours, because the high spenders can afford London, Paris or NYC.

They are really scummy. Pushing, shouting, spitting and anything goes. Thailand was already a shadow of itself, but this shower just pulled the plug. Why anybody would now choose a scrum in LOS is beyond my ken. I was in central BKK yesterday, and there are zillions of poured-concrete condos going up. Who is gonna buy these?

 

More bad news is that the Russians are coming back to Patts and Phuk. Most of them are gruntingly impolite, often drunk and quite happy to shove you aside. They exude a bad and unfriendly "vibe". Vile.

Did anyone take a look at the graph ? It shows that the majority of Chinese tourists are INDEPENDENT travellers.

Not package groups...

4 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

Er... Ahem...

 

Chinese tourists have already caused years of misery at Thai airports. 

 

As a past tour driver in NZ, I know all their tricks.

Tour guides line them up and charge them for free venues.

 

They only use Chinese connections to eat and buy souvenirs, they stay in Chinese connected accommodation and use Chinese connected buses .

They are taken to factory shops owned by Chinese and ripped off.

 

They have to use some things and venues but the shopping and eating transport  and accommodation is largely controlled.

They rip the crap out of their own people.

They are of poor value to the countries economy, only the big rich boys at the top are scoring from them.

The bottom gets B/all.

They smoke and spit everywhere walk over the top of people and create havoc and noise at the airports and restaurants.

 

When they leave a restaurant it looks like a bomb site with bones and food scraps all over the table and floor.

 

If the Country wants value instead of quantity then this direction is not where they should be going.

We were at the floating market some time ago and even the woman at the toilet was complaining how they try to sneak in so as not to have to pay . As for my wife ,she just tells them to shut up and not shout ,when we are in a store and they will insist on talking so loudly ,

4 hours ago, webfact said:

white-sand beaches

Bloomberg haven't been to the beaches in Thailand lately, have they?

The Chinese are all very similar to each other; there is very little differentiation between them. And you have two types of Chinese: loud and louder.

1 minute ago, soistalker said:

The Chinese are all very similar to each other; there is very little differentiation between them. And you have two types of Chinese: loud and louder.

I was working with/training a platoon of Taiwanese Army guys once near Taipei.

 

My translator was a captain, Cpt Kang. Nice guy.

 

I desperately wanted to get a red hat for him to wear so I could pick him out of the crowd.

dont be too hard on the Chinese tourists,for most of them,its their first ever holiday,i spoke to an elderly couple,and they were just thrilled to have this chance at a holiday out of china,yes they are loud and  yes they are rude,but its the way they live..no one has the luxury of ''their own space'' in china....the blame is totally on the thais who courted the Chinese since 2003 ,with the AMAZING THAILAND '' dog and pony show...yet Thailand still seems to think its military is first priority...AMUSING THAILAND...

4 hours ago, webfact said:

image of cheap shopping, hotels and sex

I think it's time to drop the "sex" part of the propaganda.

It's been a slow change, and happened without being obvious, but the farang side has diminished to the extent that it's no longer really visible unless going to look for it ( just like the Thai scene has always been ). Walking around Pattaya now, the only notable thing about the bar beer scene is the lack of customers, and a few bored girls looking at their phones is hardly a scene of debauchery.

 

The Bkk scene, as always is restricted to 3 small streets ( blink and you miss them ), and in Chiang Mai it's so low key it's virtually invisible, and finishes by midnight anyway.

 

What caused the change is a subject for debate, but IMO it just got too expensive.

Nothing worse than arriving into one of the airports at the same time as a few plane loads of Chinese tourists. My worst nightmare. But they do tend to flock together and leave some queues shorter than others rather the split the pack. 

19 minutes ago, zaZa9 said:

Did anyone take a look at the graph ? It shows that the majority of Chinese tourists are INDEPENDENT travellers.

Not package groups...

Oh dear, what a spoilsport you are, disrupting the rantathon by introducing facts.

At a prime location in Pattaya a Chinese estate/property agent has just opened for business. Many high spending Chinese are here and more and more will come.

If you don't like seeing lots of Asians, you are in the wrong place in Thailand.

22 minutes ago, kiwikeith said:

 

As a past tour driver in NZ, I know all their tricks.

Tour guides line them up and charge them for free venues.

 

They only use Chinese connections to eat and buy souvenirs, they stay in Chinese connected accommodation and use Chinese connected buses .

They are taken to factory shops owned by Chinese and ripped off.

 

They have to use some things and venues but the shopping and eating transport  and accommodation is largely controlled.

They rip the crap out of their own people.

They are of poor value to the countries economy, only the big rich boys at the top are scoring from them.

The bottom gets B/all.

They smoke and spit everywhere walk over the top of people and create havoc and noise at the airports and restaurants.

 

When they leave a restaurant it looks like a bomb site with bones and food scraps all over the table and floor.

 

If the Country wants value instead of quantity then this direction is not where they should be going.

It’s the same in all the countries they visit. Whatever you do don’t stand between them and their photo opportunities. 

2 hours ago, mercman24 said:

yes it is all regimented, they are like sheep being herded around by flag waving guides,its a shame realy, they only get to see what the itinery dictates, ever see a chinese person eating street food, i fish a lake at Lat Krabang, and beside it is a chinese restaurant, every 30 minutes a coach load of chinese would pull up,  must gobble their grub down as right behind them was another bus full,waiting their turn, so the dollar tours are still thriving, putting jack shit into the economy

yes exactly, seems the same whatever country they go to.

There are Chinese tourists, and Chinese tourists. I stay at an upmarket hotel in Dubai and see large numbers of them at breakfast. They are perfectly well behaved. They don't attack the buffet like pigs. They don't talk loudly or shout. They don't clog everywhere and spit. Thailand promotes itself as cheap so it gets cheap. Not all Chinese are like what we see in Thailand.

 

Thailand attracts the low end of the market and quality tourists, both Chinese and westerners, often prefer to go elsewhere to places with better attitude, better infrastructure, no double-pricing etc etc etc.

1 hour ago, wombat said:

falang have been causing misery since the first one arrived way back when.  so whats new?

Nothing changes it just rearranges.

 

"Misery"? I wouldn't mind a bit of the financial misery that has been brought in since "way back when", and this "boom" of Chinese tourists is what TAT have been planning/wishing for (as usual without any forethought for potential problems)

No topic more likely to incense the forum membership

Lots of butthurt farangs still pouting over the Thais' wholly understandable decision to start courting tourists from other parts of Asia while the West

was in the middle of a financial crisis and still trying to work out whether or not it could afford bus fare to get here.

 

As an exercise in diversification, it worked well enough.

Tourist numbers kept rising and contrary to what many still insist on believing, the cash registers kept ringing.

OK maybe not in the same areas that farangs favour - brothels, boozers and hand shandy massage parlours - but in Thai-based businesses that pay tax

 

Yes the Chinese can be annoying but, while I can understand the Thais being particularly pissed off about them, i don't know why foreign migrants here think they have a right to have a dig.

It's not our country and let's be honest . . . . I've not heard of a Chinois being nicked for keeping a dead body in a freezer or arrested for interfering with children.

I'm sure the Thais prefer a few unruly scrums around a hotel buffet to finding a Thai child on a bed with a farang. 

 

We can't exert any influence on who is or who is not allowed to come to Thailand on holiday (thank God)

Collectively, we seem to have this all-encompassing delusion, this breathtaking arrogance that, somehow, we know better.

We don't and if the Thais wanna find their own way, it's no one's business but theirs

43 minutes ago, Dave67 said:

Apart from Hotels and flights most don't spend much money, hence the free water, I've seen them filling up their water flasks at water taps inside the boarding gate. Also, zero dollar holidays are encouraging people to not spend money. Half their number in Farangs would spend double the money 

 

That's where you're wrong.  They spend like crazy.  Per visitor, more than western tourists.  Look it up- the statistics have been posted many times.  But they spend it on things they're going to take back with them to China. 

 

Smart businesses will catch on and thrive.  The businesses that want to treat them just like they've treated western tourists for decades, won't.

 

38 minutes ago, kiwikeith said:

 

As a past tour driver in NZ, I know all their tricks.

Tour guides line them up and charge them for free venues.

 

They only use Chinese connections to eat and buy souvenirs, they stay in Chinese connected accommodation and use Chinese connected buses .

They are taken to factory shops owned by Chinese and ripped off.

 

They have to use some things and venues but the shopping and eating transport  and accommodation is largely controlled.

They rip the crap out of their own people.

They are of poor value to the countries economy, only the big rich boys at the top are scoring from them.

The bottom gets B/all.

They smoke and spit everywhere walk over the top of people and create havoc and noise at the airports and restaurants.

 

When they leave a restaurant it looks like a bomb site with bones and food scraps all over the table and floor.

 

If the Country wants value instead of quantity then this direction is not where they should be going.

TAT got what they wished for, and bragged about!