Immigration Joins Weibo To Regain Chinese Tourists

By Chayanit Itthipongmaetee, Staff Reporter

 

Photo: Surachet Hakpal / Facebook

 

BANGKOK — Immigration police took another step Wednesday to reach out to the country’s largest tourist group.

 

The immigration police launched an official account on Sina Weibo, the top Chinese social media channel, hoping to regain tourists from the mainland, which dropped for the first time ever this year.

 

Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/featured/2018/10/18/immigration-joins-weibo-to-regain-chinese-tourists/

 

-- © Copyright Khaosod English 2018-10-18

It is pure bliss not having so many of them around. Efforts should be made to increase tourism in all sectors, but please please please, less effort on bringing them back. They're like a very loud, very rude, very cheap plague of locusts!

Things are not going well, as always the Thais have been lazy and failed to make improvements timely when times were good, and now when things start to turn sour they wake up and start to focus on PR. But PR is not going to save the tourism industry in the long run, because every next accident, ripoff, or incident will damage all the PR efforts quicker than they have build their image.

 

Spoke to some friends in the past few days who own hotels and restaurants, and they have noticed the downfall all over the country. Phuket and the rest of the south has been hit hardest, but also in BKK they felt a noticable drop in Chinese arrivals. At this moment the hotels (all high-end) are still almost completely fully booked, but if this continuous trouble will start for Thailand. The least impact has been felt in Chiang Mai, where we own a restaurant, but even there they see a slight drop.

 

We are still expending our restaurants but the focus is now much less on the Chinese. Problem is that tourists of other countries have been slow for years already, so there is no clear winner at the moment. As the government just tries to sail on every breeze of wind, no matter the direction, it is telling they keep on focusing on the Chinese which is easily explained by the fact no other group is up and coming and loving Thailand in such huge numbers.

On the bright side, uncle Somchai got an order for another vinyl board. Chai-yo weibo!

4 minutes ago, Bob12345 said:

The least impact has been felt in Chiang Mai, where we own a restaurant, but even there they see a slight drop.

Yes and no ... the great hotel and boutique hotel building and re conversion boom, plus condo boom in Chiang Mai was predicated on an increasing number of Chinese tourists.  In case you are not getting it just walk around the inner moat and note the 'new' boutique hotels and conversions (like the M or old Montri now) which are absolutely and completely empty. Low season sure but they were empty three months ago too.
 

Unless they get all the Chinese touristS back and then ADD 10,000,  to fill the new beds .... things are going to be seriously not good.

Edited October 19, 20187 yr by LomSak27

The immigration police? There lies a problem, a law enforcement agency involved in the promotion of the tourism industry.

 

The Military Junta deputy PM Somkid has a plan to lure the Chinese back that is not a plan at all really just hot air talk. 

 

Then there is TAT with their predictions of ever increasing numbers of tourists.

 

I suspect the Junta will be under increasing pressure from their elite backers to get the tourist revenue back, of course they are clueless on sound and effective business practices. Clearly demonstrated by allowing Big Joke and his cronies to communicate with the Chinese tourist market.

 

What next? Engaging the services of a foreign marketing organisation. 

Edited October 19, 20187 yr by Oziex1

I still do not get why they do not put as much effort or any effort to bring back Europeans , Indian or Russians.

 

 

Just now, BestB said:

I still do not get why they do not put as much effort or any effort to bring back Europeans , Indian or Russians.

 

 

I suspect the groups you mention spend their money here, there and everywhere. The Chinese package tourists have, so it is said, paid for everything up front to the benefit of a small group of Chinese and Thai business people.

 

Small money it may be but think of the economy of scale and there is some very serious money changing hands.

Edited October 19, 20187 yr by Oziex1

46 minutes ago, BestB said:

I still do not get why they do not put as much effort or any effort to bring back Europeans , Indian or Russians.

That started 20 years ago, (discouraging) the E's, a little late to change things now. Unfortunately if you put your eggs in one basket .... 

geez! begging much. Hope they stick there foot in it again and it backfires. You cant force people to spend money more than you already do. VALUE is important to ALL and that includes Chinese!

Thailand might soon take the role of being the Hub of beggers? Certainly starting to look a little needy and desperate. Thais dont understand the "don't bite the hand that feeds you" saying.

2 hours ago, BestB said:

I still do not get why they do not put as much effort or any effort to bring back Europeans , Indian or Russians.

 

 

There was a period where the focus was on "high spending" tourists, which included these groups.

But there being a focus on something means nothing in Thailand: its just talk.

 

At that same time the Chinese started to come in droves, without any effort. So they quickly focused on the Chinese tourists: as in telling everyone that is what they focus on so they can get promotions when there are more chinese coming every year. Now the chinese growth levels and starts to decline, and they are waiting for another group to come here and then the focus will be on them. Till then they try to get the chinese back but lack any plan.

The horse has bolted methinks ?

It's fine with me. I try to stay away from all the mass Chinese tourists when traveling - they're too loud, messy, spitting and smoking everywhere, huge groups that have no respect for others. So many people on here want to call the Thai people a  me" first culture, but I say the Chinese far outnumber the Thai people on that area. Single Chinese travelers or those below the mid 30s are usually just fine

" Single Chinese travelers or those below the mid 30s are usually just fine "   

            Curlylekan got it just right.    

"official account on Sina Weibo"

 

Hope they didn't write their blog in Thai !

 

A great site for the Chinese to let Thailand know what they really think about this place.

What is interesting about the statistics that TAT and others publish is not the amount of money each ethnic group spends but the concentration on the numbers of arrivals that each group present.  Hub of numbers without concern for income shows that numbers are more important to maintain striving to be number 1 for tourism.

 

'nuf sed

Should your quote not read, "In the land of the blind the man with one eye is king," instead of "In the land off the blind the man with one eye is king."  Just curious.

 

'nuf sed

30 minutes ago, wotsdermatter said:

Should your quote not read, "In the land of the blind the man with one eye is king," instead of "In the land off the blind the man with one eye is king."  Just curious.

 

'nuf sed

Yes you are correct, in 8 years you are the first to notice, having a busy day are you ?

Glad that they are just trying to lure the folks next door as

the tourist hordes  have bolted from North America.

Geezer

On 10/19/2018 at 8:35 AM, Pember said:

It is pure bliss not having so many of them around. Efforts should be made to increase tourism in all sectors, but please please please, less effort on bringing them back. They're like a very loud, very rude, very cheap plague of locusts!

they should concentrate in the quality not the quantity.... cheap chinese tours don't bring money

On 10/18/2018 at 8:47 AM, webfact said:

The immigration police launched an official account on Sina Weibo, the top Chinese social media channel, hoping to regain tourists from the mainland, 

Even the really badly dressed ones ..