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Thailand's a financial winner as free Visa on Arrival extended to end of April


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1 hour ago, phantomfiddler said:

I,m beginning to think all Thais care about is how much money they can make out of us ????

Correct, and albeit off topic, but still visa connected, the latest requirements regarding Retirement/Extension of Stay Visas are just another example of the same - Govt/Immigration in collusion with the Thai banks. 

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1 hour ago, semtech said:

I came over for a month to stay in BKK, cha am and Hua hin. I’ve never seen so few tourists. Tourism seems to have crashed ? 

why go on holly-day ..when there are more strangers than locals in your own city ? 

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27 minutes ago, Huckenfell said:

So why are'nt they a little kinder to long term retirees who spend millions here, rather than making it more difficult.

 

Thats a very good question.  You would think they would like the money being invested by long terms retirees, especially in a country where money is more important than anything.

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1 hour ago, carmine said:

Thats interesting because Bangkok was/is supposed to be the one tourist area that is busy!!  Admittedly they only stay for one or two nights but its an extremely popular transit stop.

 

Problem is, thats all it is then they are flying out to a different country for their main holiday. Or rather, they are going somewhere and its not here.

Some of us have been querying for a long time, whether Thailand is counting arrivals or holiday-makers.

 

Not at all the same thing. I think there's quite a body of evidence, even anecdotal evidence, that tourism in Thailand is following the same path of tourism in Spain and Greece before it. In their zeal to grab all the golden eggs, they killed the Golden Goose.

 

To improve things, Thais might start by making Thailand a more pleasant place to spend one's retirement, lots of opportunity given the state of USA and Europe at the moment. Instead, many Thais love to kick OAP's in the head or arrest them for playing bridge or darts so they can feel better about themselves. And then they cry when nobody wants to come to Thailand any more. Too many other places to go with populations which are are more civilised in their behaviour and which don't look down their noses at foreigners and try to swindle them all the time.

 

Not that you can tell a Thai anything about anything of course, they know everything from birth, which is the reason they never have to learn how to drive, or paint a room, or dig a hole. That's what happens when you have a demi-God to lead you, you progress beyond being a savage and are able to stop living in shanty towns and trees.

 

Still, wait a while, they might change. Stranger things have happened, even if not very often.

 

 

 

 

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Though money lost from not charging for the stamps was 2 billion baht the extra tourists have spent a whopping 6 billion. 1st paragraph

While revenue from charging for the stamps was down 2,140 million baht he said that revenue from tourist expenditure was 6,420 million baht. Last paragraph

Is it a billion or a million either they have no idea or the journalist cannot count.

It does not really matter as the figures are all BS anyway

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Tight ass.!!!! Lol...

Right. Because most people suddenly decide to visit Asia and choose Thailand so they don’t have to pay a few bucks. 
 
Anyone want to go to Peru with me next week? They are running a deal that’s so good that I couldn’t pass on... we don’t have to pay $20 for the entry visa. What a deal!


Sent from my CPH1725 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

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1 hour ago, sambum said:

Correct, and albeit off topic, but still visa connected, the latest requirements regarding Retirement/Extension of Stay Visas are just another example of the same - Govt/Immigration in collusion with the Thai banks. 

 

The requirements changed? In what way did they change?

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So a chinese tourist spends about 6k THB for his trip here (i assume that's what many western tourists spend per day), probably at least 4k THB go to chinese companies (hotels, tour companies, restaurants...), and all non chinese tourists get annoyed by the chinese tourists (does anybody like them?) so next year they go somewhere else.

Smart move Thailand ????

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Hopefully you dont live in thailand...

Some of us have been querying for a long time, whether Thailand is counting arrivals or holiday-makers.
 
Not at all the same thing. I think there's quite a body of evidence, even anecdotal evidence, that tourism in Thailand is following the same path of tourism in Spain and Greece before it. In their zeal to grab all the golden eggs, they killed the Golden Goose.
 
To improve things, Thais might start by making Thailand a more pleasant place to spend one's retirement, lots of opportunity given the state of USA and Europe at the moment. Instead, many Thais love to kick OAP's in the head or arrest them for playing bridge or darts so they can feel better about themselves. And then they cry when nobody wants to come to Thailand any more. Too many other places to go with populations which are are more civilised in their behaviour and which don't look down their noses at foreigners and try to swindle them all the time.
 
Not that you can tell a Thai anything about anything of course, they know everything from birth, which is the reason they never have to learn how to drive, or paint a room, or dig a hole. That's what happens when you have a demi-God to lead you, you progress beyond being a savage and are able to stop living in shanty towns and trees.
 
Still, wait a while, they might change. Stranger things have happened, even if not very often.
 
 
 
 


Sent from my CPH1725 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

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20 minutes ago, CeeGee said:

Though money lost from not charging for the stamps was 2 billion baht the extra tourists have spent a whopping 6 billion. 1st paragraph

While revenue from charging for the stamps was down 2,140 million baht he said that revenue from tourist expenditure was 6,420 million baht. Last paragraph

Is it a billion or a million either they have no idea or the journalist cannot count.

It does not really matter as the figures are all BS anyway

Not particularly wishing to stick up for these nitwits, but 6,420 million IS 6 billion (with rounding).

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6 hours ago, ThreeEyedRaven said:

Meaning that each of these one million visitors spent on average 6,000 baht during their entire stay, a figure that Western tourists might well be expected to spend every day. 

With the extortionate tax on wine and and any imported item here I can spend that on a night out

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"Though money lost from not charging for the stamps was 2 billion baht the extra tourists have spent a whopping 6 billion. "

This is what Thai immigration should be thinking instead of making it harder for expats here. 

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3 hours ago, Proboscis said:

As I understand it, this is only about visa on arrival. It is not about visa waiver when crossing borders, which until recently was limited to two per callendar year. The cabinet made the decision to change this but no one is sure whether it has been implemented. Any news?

To the best of my knowledge it has not been implemented. I live in Laos and with the start of the new year I have my 2 free trips in the bank, as it were. After that, it's off to the Thai embassy with 1000 baht for my next trip. Not likely.

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There is little doubt that these figures , especially for expenditure, are plucked from thin air.

It is a racing certainty that a) the waiving of a small visa charge has not increased tourist numbers by the percentage claimed and b) the fact that the scheme has been extended is a strong indication of panic caused by an actual fall in tourist numbers.

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5 hours ago, semtech said:

I came over for a month to stay in BKK, cha am and Hua hin. I’ve never seen so few tourists. Tourism seems to have crashed ? 

I came 5 days ago to Chiang Mai. From the U.S. through Bejing and I have never seen so many tourists. About a thousand Chinese - milling and pushing and yelling at the airport, glutting the 4 Customs lines for Chinese and also the one line for the farangs. I waited in the mob for V.O.A. and when I finally worked to the window the nice Thai lady told me to never mind, that my T.M. 6 was my 30-day permit and I didn't need a free V.O.A. Then I had to get into the lines for admittance.

CHiang Mai is just filled to capacity with tourists, no room for one more person. 

Thinking about Cha Am, where I have never been to. Besides beaches and lack of crowds does it also have accessible medical for an aged, decrepit veteran?

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2 hours ago, MuuKondiao said:

I came 5 days ago to Chiang Mai. From the U.S. through Bejing and I have never seen so many tourists. About a thousand Chinese - milling and pushing and yelling at the airport, glutting the 4 Customs lines for Chinese and also the one line for the farangs. I waited in the mob for V.O.A. and when I finally worked to the window the nice Thai lady told me to never mind, that my T.M. 6 was my 30-day permit and I didn't need a free V.O.A. Then I had to get into the lines for admittance.

CHiang Mai is just filled to capacity with tourists, no room for one more person. 

Thinking about Cha Am, where I have never been to. Besides beaches and lack of crowds does it also have accessible medical for an aged, decrepit veteran?

Agreed. Phuket is slammed with tourists too. I have no idea what these folks on Thai visa are talking about. No tourists? Are you kidding me? You have to wonder if some of the people that leave comments on Thai visa ever go outside.

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