Phuket tourism dodges ‘Chinese hit’, Vice Governor told

[worgeordie]

Teflon Thailand,nothing affects it.

regards Worgeordie

[wvavin]

Thai agencies just like to create figures to comfort themselves.

[stevenl]

1 hour ago, Bob12345 said:

I have studied the huge amount of quotes, links, and research you just supplied and must say you make an excellent case. Clearly i was in the wrong and didnt look well. 

Just did a count specially for you. From Chalong to Kata encountered Russians: 1x Coral minibus, 1x Anex minibus, 2x Pegas minibus, 1x Anex big bus and 2x Pegas big bus. Unspecified many more minibuses and 3 more big buses.

[steelepulse]

Long may this "slight" downturn continue!

[CLW]

"The news was delivered at a meeting at Phuket Provincial Hall which was intended to cover the economic developments made to prepare the island to become the ‘Phuket Mice Destination’."

Then they should introduce proper public transport system and link it with the airport. Busses would be a good start.
From my experience and knowledge it is easy to get from the airport to your destination but the way back is rubbish.
Also once you want to get around except renting a scooter or a car you have to rely on the tuk tuk mafia.

[Basil B]

3 hours ago, ebean001 said:

Maybe a better way to judge the figures is to look at the stock AOT that is listed on the SET stock market. They collect money for each passenger that arrives at the airport. Their revenue is down 19% from prior quarter. This is an indication that fewer tourist are coming. Another stock to watch is MINT (hotels) and to some extent AAV

Not the best way to compare as tourism does fluctuate through the year, better to compare with the same quarter last year.

[dallen52]

Watch the coloured balls. 

Round and round they go.

Where it stops nobody knows. 

 

Same the tourist figures in Thailand. 

Smoke and mirrors. 

[MickeyR]

Who gives a hoots

[LivinginKata]

1 hour ago, CLW said:

<snip>

Then they should introduce proper public transport system and link it with the airport. Busses would be a good start.
From my experience and knowledge it is easy to get from the airport to your destination but the way back is rubbish.
Also once you want to get around except renting a scooter or a car you have to rely on the tuk tuk mafia.

 

They made a good start with the Smart bus running from Airport to Rawai. follows the coast road passing through all the west coast beach towns. Get on and off any where.

 

Edit - and just started a late night service for the beach towns.

Edited November 30, 2018 by LivinginKata

[maddox41]

Go to a shop and ask a farang that owns a Bussiness there they will tell you the truth not hyped up numbers 

Thai love denial  remember save face what will people think. 

[joecoolfrog]

21 hours ago, frankphuket said:

Being in the hotel business I can say with confidence that business from the Chinese market is down and not only a little. If tour operators are even not requesting rooms for next Chinese New Year yet, the situation is dire in that market. Why always painting all "pink"? what good does it do escapes me? 

Tourism forms a large part of Thai GDP , cant admit that the economy is taking a hit , not with an election looming some time in the next decade.

[CLW]

 
They made a good start with the Smart bus running from Airport to Rawai. follows the coast road passing through all the west coast beach towns. Get on and off any where.
 
Edit - and just started a late night service for the beach towns.

Indeed, that is a useful service.
Can I get also to the Airport from Patong by a regular bus service?

[LivinginKata]

1 hour ago, CLW said:

Indeed, that is a useful service.
Can I get also to the Airport from Patong by a regular bus service?

 

Yes. Just get the service app https://phuketsmartbus.com/

[sambum]

"According to a report by the Phuket office of the Public Relations Department, local tourism business representatives told Vice Governor Prakob that occupancy across the island for the month of October was 71.13%, a fall of only 2.3% compared with October last year."

 

Substitute "Tourist Authority of Thailand" (TAT) for "Public Relations Department" and the story would be more believable! Sorry! - My mistake - the figures are actually showing a FALL of 2.3% - can't be TAT after all!

[Derek B]

On 11/29/2018 at 5:30 PM, madmitch said:

Anyone believe these figures?

 

 

Anyone really interested in statistics like this?

 

[Bob12345]

19 hours ago, stevenl said:

Just did a count specially for you. From Chalong to Kata encountered Russians: 1x Coral minibus, 1x Anex minibus, 2x Pegas minibus, 1x Anex big bus and 2x Pegas big bus. Unspecified many more minibuses and 3 more big buses.

Didnt know Anex & Coral were for russians, did see a couple of those yesterday from koh kaew to Central. 

If Pegas, which was the predominant one a few years ago, has become smaller and the russians are divided over more companies than it makes sense to see fewer of each one but combined there are more.

[Retiredandhappyhere]

22 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

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.

 

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. 

 

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.

Tat should be thanking God (or whoever) that they have a free-spending ex-pat like you living here to boost the spending figures and to keep the economy turning over.  

[stevenl]

1 hour ago, Bob12345 said:

Didnt know Anex & Coral were for russians, did see a couple of those yesterday from koh kaew to Central. 

If Pegas, which was the predominant one a few years ago, has become smaller and the russians are divided over more companies than it makes sense to see fewer of each one but combined there are more.

Anex seems to be the big winner here at the moment.

[madmitch]

I know this will appear on its own thread later but despite the promise of improved marine safety, avoidable incidents involving Chinese are still occurring.

 

https://www.thephuketnews.com/chinese-woman-on-phi-phi-tour-slashed-by-speedboat-propeller-69531.php#6lxS4xoRQ3ZxWz4R.97

 

[ParadiseLost]

Any word on the number of Vanuatu arrivals?