Chinese tourist numbers increase following visa fee exemption

[ThaiFelix]

Laughed my head off when I read the two headlines side by side in my TV newsletter.  One says "Chinese Tourist Numbers Increase....."   while next to it is "Patong Business Suffering Worst High Season in Ten Years".  So where are they hiding??

[THE REVERAND]

Creative counted at its best. We all know these people can only count to 5, It is too difficult to change hands as you must start from the little finger.

[sawadee1947]

15 minutes ago, sapson said:

I thought the moderators had a duty to delete nonsense posts.?

 

So why is this complete garbage topic still here?

,5555 because it's tailor made for you 

[jmccarty]

I have seen at least 10 million Chinese a few times trying to get through immigration at Swampy!

[bluesofa]

5 minutes ago, jmccarty said:

I have seen at least 10 million Chinese a few times trying to get through immigration at Swampy!

Aha! You're obviously a graduate of the TAT School Of Accountancy.

[new2here]

6 hours ago, UnkleGoooose said:

There is no way to accurately Guage tourist expenditure, it cannot be reliably isolated out or filtered from local spending. As with most economics these figures are spurious and engineered to fit a desired narrative. I suspect that as they have conceded a fall in numbers, then the reality may be much worse. 

Sure, I agree that there is one one single, unified way to truly track each tourists spending and isolating that from ”locals” or nationals spending.

 

but.. I do think that there are ways to make a statistically solid way to take survey samples and extrapolate from there- what spending is estimated to be.  I suspect most major tourist locales do substantially the same.

 

now.. WHO exactly does those calculations, the quality or legitimacy of the data that is claimed to have been used and such may be something to question- but I don’t think that spending simply can’t be tracked.

 

while I’ve never done such work, I’d reasonably guess that on a very simplistic basis that a spend per day is first calculated, then multiplied out per day in country and further multiplied out per head.

 

but like most all numbers.. the numbers are what they are... but the larger story that they’re told through can radically alter their designed perception.

[mindfulness]

BTW,  anyone know what the Visa fee is for these Chinese Tourist folks when it is being collected ??? 

 

 

[Lacessit]

The Thai tourism board obviously prefers quantity over quality. Chinese tourists come in highly organised tours, have a well-earned reputation for stinginess, and overload Thai infrastructure. Good luck with that.

[Burma Bill]

Quote: "revenue generated by Chinese tourists in November was Bt36.454 billion"

 

How on earth did they come up with this figure? I thought most were on "zero dollar" package holidays.

[simon43]

And in more breaking news: Tourists from Andorra increased by 200% as an Andorran couple were seen transiting through Swampy.

I thought it was a country in a sci-fi film 

 

OT a bit, but I used to live in Andorra.  No airport there, so no chnace to fudge the airport arrival figures ????

[wvavin]

Only idiots made such statements!

[shackleton]

Who cares if the numbers of Chinese tourists are up or down 

wont affect my life style here in Thailand 

[norfolkc]

Must be full moon 

[mok199]

This amzing news makes all the corruption ,road carnage , poor education, lawlessness , air quality and plastics in the ocean pale in comparrison

[chama]

8 hours ago, UnkleGoooose said:

There is no way to accurately Guage tourist expenditure, it cannot be reliably isolated out or filtered from local spending. As with most economics these figures are spurious and engineered to fit a desired narrative. I suspect that as they have conceded a fall in numbers, then the reality may be much worse. 

Welcome to the spin!

[chama]

So the spin has begun...."our efforts have minimized the reduction in Chinese tourist" tomorrow it will be, "We have tripled the previous high of Chinese visitors". And all the while no one will notice that the rest of the world isn't coming because of the need to travel in near proximity of the Chinese.

[BigStar]

1 hour ago, chama said:

So the spin has begun...."our efforts have minimized the reduction in Chinese tourist" tomorrow it will be, "We have tripled the previous high of Chinese visitors". And all the while no one will notice that the rest of the world isn't coming because of the need to travel in near proximity of the Chinese.

 

Just like Rome, Venice, Florence, and Milan, right?

[Stokakrishna]

Two topics contradicting eachother on top of the page. Well done

[White Christmas13]

5 hours ago, PerkinsCuthbert said:

It's another Christmas miracle!

Yes TAT forecast snow for Christmas 

[BestB]

Thats good to hear, All the quality Chinese tourists have come back with pockets full of money, because they could get free visa.

 

Businesses around Thailand are rolling out red carpet for the big spenders 

[Torrens54]

Maybe the Chinese, like the Aussies, Kiwis, Singaporeans, Germans, French, English  ETC., have got the message that the Thais will RIP THEM OFF at every opportunity and have gone elsewhere 

[quandow]

11 hours ago, dcnx said:

Just yesterday they celebrated 10 million Chinese tourists in Bangkok. 

I saw that. They claimed it was the first time - now they're going to count a 2nd, a 3rd time for 10 million Chinese tourists? Whoever writes these articles is a few bricks shy of a full load.

[taxin]

You gotta love the TAT, let’s offer free VOA one month before high season, and take the credit for the influx of tourists that were coming anyway. Haha !

[Formaleins]

I just cannot move an inch here for Chinese tourists, they are everywhere, all the shops are brimming with them, they are forming queues 100 deep outside of every overpriced junk shop (OTOP) in our area. All the restaurants are standing room only with Chinese customers ordering 10-15 plates of food each, instead of 20 of them sharing a bowl of rice.

 

The taxis are all booked solid, the tour buses are overflowing, hotels are at 100% occupancy for the foreseeable future.

 

The internet has ground to a halt with the sheer weight of Chinese tourists all logging on to get their discounted visa. 

 

Thai hookers cannot be found anywhere, doctors clinics are full to overflowing with hundreds of Friction Burned young ladies whose privates are red raw due to the overwork from this huge influx of Chinese tourists.

 

Doi Internon is no longer Thailands'  hjghest point, it has sunk 100 feet due to the extra weight of all of the Chinese visitors.

 

Most of the local family stores have now closed as the Chinese have bought up everything in sight and given such huge tips that most of the locals have bought a new house in Munich and have moved over there to their new spiritual home and retired.

 

Well done TAT, you are so clever, it is like a dream or a fairytale, welcome to happiness land of smiles. Thailand.

[impulse]

9 hours ago, Lacessit said:

The Thai tourism board obviously prefers quantity over quality. Chinese tourists come in highly organised tours, have a well-earned reputation for stinginess, and overload Thai infrastructure. Good luck with that.

 

You've never waited in the check-in line for a flight to China, have you?  I have- many times.  I have an apartment in China. 

 

And they are loaded to the gills with goodies they're taking back with them.  Even the ones on zero dollar tours spend a lot.  They actually come with shopping lists of stuff their friends and family have asked them to bring back.  Sure, they spend money differently that western tourists.  But they do spend.  A lot.  In fact, some of my Chinese friends fund their overseas trips by reselling goodies they smuggle back into China where a lot of foreign goods are not available, and luxury goods are taxed at exorbitant rates.

 

[garyk]

13 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

You've never waited in the check-in line for a flight to China, have you?  I have- many times.  I have an apartment in China. 

 

And they are loaded to the gills with goodies they're taking back with them.  Even the ones on zero dollar tours spend a lot.  They actually come with shopping lists of stuff their friends and family have asked them to bring back.  Sure, they spend money differently that western tourists.  But they do spend.  A lot.  In fact, some of my Chinese friends fund their overseas trips by reselling goodies they smuggle back into China where a lot of foreign goods are not available, and luxury goods are taxed at exorbitant rates.

 

This is TV! Where rational thought goes out the window and nurotic personal opinions rules... haha

That being said, I have lived threw the Chinese onslaught at some of the tourist areas, I was lucky to leave with my life.   ????

[impulse]

5 minutes ago, garyk said:

This is TV! Where rational thought goes out the window and personal opinions rules... haha

 

And it's a shame, because vendors who understand their spending habits can make a lot of money.  Those who expect the next 10 years' tourists to be exactly like the last 10 years' tourists won't do very well.

[impulse]

17 hours ago, Just1Voice said:

These idiots in Thailand don't seem to understand that people make their holiday travel plans MONTHS in advance, and not a sudden spur of the moment decision because of the exemption of a visa fee.  But TIT and they will grab at anything they think they can make sound good.  It really is sad to see grown people (supposedly) to constantly make such fools of themselves.

 

Chinese folks coming to Thailand are like Brits going to France.  With the flights being a few hours and a hundred GBP or so, they can decide on a Thursday, hop a flight to BKK after work on Friday and be back at work on Monday.  But not if they have to jump through visa hurdles.  And the 5000 baht (+/-) visa fee is a significant percentage of the whole trip when the airfares are that low.  Just like driving over to the continent.

 

It's called an impulse buy...

 

[garyk]

1 minute ago, impulse said:

 

Chinese folks coming to Thailand are like Brits going to France.  With the flights being a few hours and a hundred GBP or so, they can decide on a Thursday and be on a flight to BKK after work on Friday.  But not if they have to jump through visa hurdles.

 

It's called an impulse buy...

 

That is exactly why China is on track to rule the tourist industry in this part of the world. As soon as their economy get's on track again. Look out... ????

Thailand is just trying to pick up the slack as best they can until the Chinese economy gets back on track. Then business as usual IMO.

[robsamui]

In November Chinese tourists generated 36 billion baht.

In November all tourists together generated 167 billion.

So the Chine make up only 22% of all Tourists.

So why on earth is the government so obsessed with them?

 

Why, instead, don't they try working on the others, instead?

 

 After all, an Aussie wedding party staying for five days generates as much revenue as a whole month's-worth of Chinese spend in the shops!