Thailand looks to India for new wave of high spending senior citizen tourists

[Matt96]

Just now, toenail said:

Infrastructure, ones safety, and preserving its natural beauty is not a too priority- only $$$. 

maybe it's because for Thai government people's welfare and salaries are more important than joy of a few westerners from natural beauty?

 

you just want this country for yourself, not for a mass tourist. and you dont care of all these "ma and pa" small businesses.

[Matt96]

8 minutes ago, Benmart said:

Knowing several well-to-do Indians, they seem to be more educated and intolerant of shabby service and being ripped off.

did you ever visit India? do you know how much shabby service and rip-offs there?

 

maybe that's why Indians come to Thailand.

[DoctorG]

10 hours ago, BestB said:

I Guess bored with Chinese now , so on to the next lot.

 

but in all honesty what Is wrong with us westerners? Why TAT not investing as much energy and resources to attract  westerners ?

We complain too much ????

[CMNightRider]

The survey found, many western expats had decided to leave Thailand, citing financial pressures due to rising costs of living.  What???  Try Thai Immigration and their ever increasing loonie requirements for a one year visa. ????

 

 

[Matt96]

1 minute ago, DoctorG said:

We complain too much ????

maybe just spend not enough? chinese spend much more now

[Jimbo in Thailand]

1 hour ago, scorecard said:

"My perception is the Thais have never been very accepting of Indians. "

 

Did you ever think about why?

OUCH there's some racist undertones in that reply.  And, no, I wasn't referring to today's negative view of the stereotypical Indian tourist since I first noticed the Thais being 'not very accepting of Indians' way back during the Vietnam War.  This was back when international tourism here was still in its infancy and Pattaya was an insignificant R&R (Rest & Recuperation) stop for US Navy sailors.

 

Maybe the deep-seated dislike of Indians here is because there's some bad blood between Thailand and India from the distant past.  Don't know and don't care.  I was merely offering an observation.

[malibukid]

13 hours ago, SammyT said:

Great, so now it will be 10 octogenarian Indian men standing around a single hooker on Beach Road, rather than ones in their 30's... 

it's called a package deal

[malibukid]

13 hours ago, fforest1 said:

Thailand had loads of high spending westerners for decades until they decided to trade them in for millions of zero dollar Chinese tourist.. 

right on

[sammieuk1]

I suppose they must be buoyed up by not killing hordes of Chinese this season????

[wvavin]

Who would want to spend their money in a more expensive place?

[Matt96]

2 minutes ago, Jimbo in Thailand said:

Maybe the deep-seated dislike of Indians here is because there's some bad blood between Thailand and India from the distant past.  Don't know and don't care.  I was merely offering an observation.

maybe it has something to do with typical Indian personality and cultural background?

 

or it is politically incorrect to say so?

[malibukid]

12 hours ago, Justgrazing said:

God bloody blimey .. Thing is Indians are legendary for being frugal , they don't even like renting out sunlounger's on the beach .. And the negotiations about the boat rental to Koh Larn can go on for ages and get very animated with loads of arm waving and head shaking .. So it is optimistic to believe they are the new big spenders .. And when was the last time you seen an Indian " ling the bell " in a bar .. Exactly .. 

would love to see this????

[nasa123]

I know many Indian tailors in phuket, and everyone says if that the new goal for Thailand is Indians so they can just shut down all the stores. Indians like and stay at the hotel all day and stroll along the sea in the evening and right back to the hotel. No bus tours no boat trips on these guys good luck. 

[RoadWarrior371]

7 minutes ago, malibukid said:

it's called a package deal

In the US, we call it 'Bundling'........

[RoadWarrior371]

4 hours ago, Soikhaonoiken said:

High spending Indians ???  Goodness gracious me.. might even buy to bottles of coke in the bar and share it with the other 5 now they are high rollers j????????

Bingo.  If the Russian stereo-type is 6 lads huddled in a one-room condo, with Indians it will be 10+. 

[Snow Leopard]

Indians are divided into the have's and have nots. The have's will come and spend money. The have nots will compete with the mass Chinese market to drive prices through the floor. 

 

I really don't see the benefit of mass market tourism for Thailand. Right now with this government its about numbers and propaganda. It involves penis size I think and how far you can pee. 

 

Mass-market tourism destroys the environment, strains resources, it is very low value and has little or no benefit to the population in general. 

 

Quality always brings value. So fewer visitors but with a higher spending capacity. 

[malibukid]

9 hours ago, DrTuner said:

We bring in nasty ideas like democracy and freedom of speech. No such worries with the Chinese, Indians are already a bit suspect though.

and religious belief

[shaurene]

OMG.!!!! This TAT, where do they get them from. TAT just needs someone to know what they are talking about.

They would do better to employ a fortune teller rubbing a glass ball.

The problem can be so easily improved, it is right in front of them, STOP PROTECTING THE BAHT. Tourists from every country are going back home and telling people, Oh, it's nice but so expensive, not like it was before. And so many Falange having to move to another country to live, like Vietnam, Cambodia, Laso, Malasia which are all cheaper to live in and the immigration are more friendly and helpful.

The Baht has sored like the crime rate.

Drop the Baht, exports with surge holidaymakers will flood the country, get rid of 50% of TAT and save a fortune. OK, imports will cost more but the The government could sort that out, like many other country Cut the high import duties.

[mickymouse1]

Thailand sounds to be so hungry and willing to do anything for money.

Now I know where all these money hungry women get IT from 555

[scorecard]

22 minutes ago, Jimbo in Thailand said:

OUCH there's some racist undertones in that reply.  And, no, I wasn't referring to today's negative view of the stereotypical Indian tourist since I first noticed the Thais being 'not very accepting of Indians' way back during the Vietnam War.  This was back when international tourism here was still in its infancy and Pattaya was an insignificant R&R (Rest & Recuperation) stop for US Navy sailors.

 

Maybe the deep-seated dislike of Indians here is because there's some bad blood between Thailand and India from the distant past.  Don't know and don't care.  I was merely offering an observation.

I'll be honest, I've had dealings with Indian companies in India and with Indians who are Thai nationals, got cheated every time. 

 

I worked for an international consulting company, I was under strong pressure from the global BOD to get business in China and to start an office in India.

 

Just when you think you've got it all under control a surprise jumps out.

 

We took consulting contracts with Indian companies, I took several well experienced senior consultants with me from Bkk and Singapore.

 

Again and again I would ask my consultants what they were doing because I could see it was nothing to do with the scope of the signed contract. They explained and also said 'Mr IIII said you agreed to add this work to the contract scope'. Then a careful confrontation with Mr. IIII  and lots and lots of bullshit from Mr. IIII about he misunderstood etc etc. 

 

Promised progress payments turned into a nightmare of 'lost in the mail' 'cheque now cancelled, new cheque issued, old cheque now found do the new cheque now cancelled', etc etc etc., and we never ever got paid the full agreed / signed professional fees. 

 

Sold a house to an Indian family, 5 minutes before the ownership was transferred at the LTO they gave me a personal cheque (not bank cashiers cheque as agreed) and had already shown everything to the LTO officer and tricked him into believing everything was OK to process the ownership transfer. Bottom line the personal cheque was drawn on the account of a cousin his bank account was in another province a long way from the location of the land office and it took a week to get it cleared plus they had deducted 10% from the agreed and signed sale / purchase amount. We never got the missing 10%, and 2 lawyers were too frightened to challenge the Indians.  

 

I had friends from the US staying at the Shangri-La in Chiang Mai, a group tour of Indians was there at the same time, the utter rudeness and insults to the hotel staff from the Indians was just awful and frankly unacceptable. Plus the housemaids didn't want to clean their rooms.

 

Again and again the Indian guests would just take the mobile phone from the maid and make calls back to India. Or tell the maid the GM had promised they could each take 2 new hotel towels home, etc etc etc. 

 

Chits for food and beverages at the pool had been endorsed with wrong room numbers.

 

And more... 

 

 

 

 

 

[Srikcir]

12 hours ago, SpaceKadet said:

I really don't know what would entice the Indian senior citizens to come to Thailand.

For the most part, Indians holiday within their own state; over 80% of all vacations and travel for shopping or medical purposes was within the same state. https://www.huffingtonpost.in/2017/04/28/here-are-some-sobering-facts-about-how-indians-vacation-to-curb_a_22059983/

November 2018:

• India has been ranked as the most vacation deprived country globally with 75% of Indians reporting they don’t travel enough up from 60% last year, according to a survey by Expedia, a US based travel agency.
• nearly 41% of Indians wished to go on a vacation but haven’t been on a holiday in last six months due to workload. Only 3% took a vacation every month while over one-third said they go without a vacation for six months to a year.
• The survey showed that about 24% Indians can't afford a holiday while have many a preference for a longer holiday. The results reflect the prevailing perception for many Indians (18%) is that professionally successful people don’t take vacations.

https://www.businessinsider.in/india-ranked-as-the-most-vacation-deprived-country-in-the-world-survey/articleshow/66749566.cms

 

[thesetat2013]

Im sorry . But where exactly are these luxury cruises and world class spas? 

Or are they hyping it up the same way hotels do.. using photos from 20 years ago when it was new and not let into disrepair?. Or their world class spas with soapy massages and happy endings. 

[thhMan]

I have seen 1 coke between 4 men at bars... Maybe the elders do 1 coke for 3 elderly men

 

 

[Thongkorn]

India where they Worship the Cow and treat women like Animals. Send Rockets into space while children shit in ditches because no proper toilets , And cannot find clean drinking water. All fact.

[727Sky]

14 hours ago, fforest1 said:

Thailand had loads of high spending westerners for decades until they decided to trade them in for millions of zero dollar Chinese tourist.. 

The western guys bought houses, married Thais, and tried to live in country.. Are the Chinese or anyone else doing the same thing in such past large numbers ?

[Pilotman]

46 minutes ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

But Australia and NZ are British Colonies...

 

????

Indeed so. 

[micmichd]

13 hours ago, SpaceKadet said:

I really don't know what would entice the Indian senior citizens to come to Thailand. If they want beaches, there is plenty of clean beach in Goa and Kerala. Jungle treks with real live tigers... And best of all, much better heath care. I would trust an Indian doctor over Thai any time. And Thailand even imports generic medicine made in India....

 

And, let's face it. There's just more culture in India.... do I say more? Even Thais do the pilgrimage to Bodgaya...

India is simply larger than Thailand, no wonder there's more to see. 

 

About medicine: I happened to get sick in India once, and I was treated in a government hospital - which probably saved my life. And I was treated in a Thai hospital a couple of years ago after an accident. I can't see any difference in the medical qualiy between India and Thailand really.

[micmichd]

1 hour ago, Snow Leopard said:

Indians are divided into the have's and have nots. The have's will come and spend money. The have nots will compete with the mass Chinese market to drive prices through the floor. 

 

I really don't see the benefit of mass market tourism for Thailand. Right now with this government its about numbers and propaganda. It involves penis size I think and how far you can pee. 

 

Mass-market tourism destroys the environment, strains resources, it is very low value and has little or no benefit to the population in general. 

 

Quality always brings value. So fewer visitors but with a higher spending capacity. 

Don't get mistaken. In India there's a new middle-class emerging, like in most ASEAN countries. 

[PerkinsCuthbert]

14 hours ago, Justgrazing said:

God bloody blimey .. Thing is Indians are legendary for being frugal , they don't even like renting out sunlounger's on the beach .. And the negotiations about the boat rental to Koh Larn can go on for ages and get very animated with loads of arm waving and head shaking .. So it is optimistic to believe they are the new big spenders .. And when was the last time you seen an Indian " ling the bell " in a bar .. Exactly .. 

Last time I saw anybody ling-a-ben in a bar was some time in the early noughties, when the girls, more often than not, were in their naughties.

Edited March 19, 2019 by PerkinsCuthbert

[micmichd]

28 minutes ago, 727Sky said:

The western guys bought houses, married Thais, and tried to live in country.. Are the Chinese or anyone else doing the same thing in such past large numbers ?

The OP is about tourists, neither about expats nor pensioners.