PM Prayut instructs officials to boost tourists' confidence

[Fex Bluse]

2 hours ago, BoganInParasite said:

Wondering if returning to a democratically elected government instead of an amoral military dictatorship might tick at least one box.

HJs and BJs feel the same no matter the goverment in power. 'Moo ping' and sticky rice costs about the same No matter the type of government in power.

 

I doubt more than 1% of tourists care... ????

[Jimbo in Thailand]

2 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Of course, the new 'elected' Prayut government will probably make Thailand more like China

Probably more like North Korea since it's been steadily moving in that direction post-2014.

[domdom]

Dear Prime Minister,

 

Should the published numbers be completely fake, Thailand tourism would be extermely good and Prime Minister himself wouldn't have to show up and give orders....

 

Confidence is something you have to build up day in day out by providing good facts and gestures towards somebody you want to convince you're reliable and trustable.

 

Tourists want a warm welcome, security, fun, clean places, clean beaches, safe trips around by any mean, good housing and autenticity of the local people when dealing with them. On top of this if it can be a good price/quality ratio, that's cherry on the cake.

 

Ask yourself if Thailand meets all these criteria, every day, everywhere........complaining is always easier than changing attitude. By the way, stopping what is described in the next topic as "the rop 10 scams in Thailand" could be very beneficial......

[dallen52]

Didn't we have a report from the ministry a little while ago that a certain amount of Thai officials were learning to speak Chinese?

To help with more interaction between Thailand and China?

 

Or was it to speed up the take away orders?

[connda]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

PM Prayut instructs officials to boost tourists' confidence

It should read: "PM Prayut instructs officials to suck up to Chinese tourists"

[Jack Mountain]

10% better exchange rate will do it for me ...

[robsamui]

Depressing how it's all changed in the last couple of years. Prayut is chuntering on about tourists, tourists, tourists, whereas what he is actually talking about is Chinese, Chinese, Chinese.

[Justgrazing]

4 hours ago, bluesofa said:

How does the good man suggest false news is 'pre-empted' - by visiting a fortune teller?

 

Isn't the FT on sick leave for not  foreseeing the flooding ..

[Jackin1960]

That should fix it 5555

[Jackin1960]

4 hours ago, BoganInParasite said:

Wondering if returning to a democratically elected government instead of an amoral military dictatorship might tick at least one box.

Wow can we now use the word "dictatorship" when I used it last I was banned from the forum. 

[unamazedloso]

im less confident day by day.

 

Chinese are trying to hurt thais rep. Ummm...., yeh,blame the chinese...

[Hooliganzone]

6 hours ago, YetAnother said:

scaremongering

Depends on what reputation he means. 

[ttrd]

RE - as there are groups that have been trying to hurt Thailand’s reputation, particularly among the people of China. 

 

The Thai Elite contain a mix of ThaiChinese. It is the Elite who has set the std as everything starts on the top - the tourists experience it further down the chain as a domino result of that...

[hotchilli]

8 hours ago, Orton Rd said:

Groups hurting Thailand's reputation, would that be immigration officials taking bribes and bashing people, rouge taxi drivers ripping visitors off, the Police of course and those double charging visitors?

Plus every other scam you can imagine that will get the unsuspecting tourist to cough up some ready cash...

like the South Korean man hit with a 160,000 baht bill for a few beers..

I bet he won't be telling many of his friends to come over here !!

 

[hanbla]

On 10/13/2018 at 1:53 PM, SABloke said:

It might be your computer that's the problem.

 

I did my last 90 report using the Chrome browser. I submitted in the morning and had my confirmation by 4pm the same day.

Thanks! I did test on different computers but got the same result However, I have learned they upgraded their system October 1st.I have not tested yet, but will do when I have my next 90 day report.

Case closed from my side. 

[chama]

9 hours ago, Orton Rd said:

Groups hurting Thailand's reputation, would that be immigration officials taking bribes and bashing people, rouge taxi drivers ripping visitors off, the Police of course and those double charging visitors?

Well...there is that, but that would be far to difficult to address so we'll work about stamps.

[guest879]

you can take the general out of the army but you cant take the army out of the general.

[zzaa09]

How about concentration on domestic confidence and bliss, firstly....

[spidermike007]

I think perhaps a few decades from now, they will have tourism classes at university, where they will discuss how Thailand lost the golden egg of Western tourism. Those tourists, unlike most Chinese tourists, spent anywhere from $100 a day, to over $2,000 a day. They brought real money into the country, and in exchange, were treated with utter and complete disregard, scammed, disrespected, and abused. Eventually, most said no more. Thailand thought the country was something very special, and that nobody would ever say no, or find alternative places to visit. The fact is that there are countless other spots, many in this region, that offer better service, more expertise in food and beverage (especially wine service and selection at fair prices, which rich tourists demand), reasonable import duties to sustain a luxury goods market, better training, and far better english skills. Thailand simply lost sight of the big picture, and had very little vision, with regard to big spending tourists, who need to be catered to, instead of scorned.

  

So, what happened? The Western tourists started to decline in number, and the genius minds at the TAT decided it was time to "lure" the Chinese. They came. They came in droves. But, they did not spend much money. Hotels, restaurants, gift shops, jewelers, galleries, spas, massage shops, bars, and countless other businesses suffered, and will continue to suffer from this extreme myopia, on the part of the officials in charge of tourism. Oh well. Can't say they were not warned. Zero baht tourists are perhaps the majority who visit Thailand now. Sure, they spend some money in restaurants, and in 7/11. But, that is about it, for some of the super low budget Chinese tours. Not many rich Chinese are not visiting Thailand, for a dozen good reasons. They have too many other options.

 

There are countless things the government could be doing, if they wanted to attract the high quality tourists. The very first thing would be to repeal the anti faring wine bill, that was passed by a few very corrupt senators way back when, to protect an anemic local wine industry. They are losing billions of dollars a year in revenue, that would be had from a 100% wine duty, instead of over 300%. The five star hotels would have major wine events, and the entire industry would flourish here. 

 

I was recently with a group of friends, and we wanted to order a bottle of wine, at of one of those high end restaurants in the EmQuartier complex. It was Bella Rocca Restaurant. I asked about a 2011 Chianti they had on the list. I was told they were out of stock. I asked about a Barbaresco, at 2,600 baht. Again, out of stock. How about this Nebbiolo? Do you have the 2010, as stated on the list? No, we only have the 2015. OK, what is that wine like? Is it drinking well now? I do not know. Is there anyone here that is familiar with this wine list? No. Sorry sir. Wait a minute. You have 100 bottles on this list, ranging from 1200 baht to 10,000 baht per bottle, and NOBODY who works here knows anything about the wine? Are you serious? We all just looked at each other, and got up and walked out. We realized the restaurant was a pretender. And more than likely the food was marginal at best. It was all dressed up to look like a very nice Italian restaurant. But, it appeared to be only window dressing. High end tourists have little patience for that lack of quality and lack of service. 

 

No doubt the wine duty was about a small lobby, that paid a senator to pass anti fareng wine legislation, to promote a handful of very inferior domestic wineries. A myopic policy, that staggers the imagination. To think of the hundreds of billions of baht the country is losing every year. If the duty was only 100%, the wine industry here would explode. It would benefit tourism, but attracting a far higher level of tourist, the hotel industry, restaurants, and the people, and ex-pats, who could choose from good wine, at fair prices. As it stands now, a decent bottle here costs in excess of 1,000 baht. And at the restaurants, the prices of good wine is downright silly. I have seen house wines, that cost 1,500 baht, that are available in Los Angeles for $4. Good wines that I pay $30-40 for in LA, cost 6,000 baht here, if you can find them. And who is going to pay that kind of money for a wine that is 80% less overseas? It is a bit like an ignorant hi-so guy paying 15,000,000 baht for a Porsche 911 here, that cost $120,000 in the US. 

 

But again, the lack of vision, combined with a naive, surly, silly, churlish, and ignorant sense of nationalism, bites the country in the butt. And again, who is the loser? The Thai people. 

The entire country is suffering from a declining tourism industry. And that will not change. It is a permanent declining trend. For a hundred valid reasons.