Thailand's May foreign tourist arrivals fall 1.03% y/y - ministry

[webfact]

Thailand's May foreign tourist arrivals fall 1.03% y/y - ministry

 

 

BANGKOK, June 20 (Reuters) -

 

* Thailand saw a 1.03% drop in tourist arrivals in May from a year earlier, after a 3.31% increase in April, the tourism ministry said on Thursday.

 

* The 2.7 million tourists in May spent about 135 billion baht ($4.36 billion), down 0.95% from a year earlier.

 

* Visitors from China, Thailand’s biggest source of tourists, declined 8.55% in May from a year earlier after falling 8.89% in April.

 

* Foreign tourist receipts account for about 12% of Thailand’s gross domestic product.

 

($1 = 30.96 baht)

 

(Reporting by Orathai Sriring Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-06-20

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[PatOngo]

7 minutes ago, webfact said:

* Visitors from China, Thailand’s biggest source of tourists, declined 8.55% in May from a year earlier after falling 8.89% in April.

 

I don't believe this for 1 minute. Tourists numbers down? Please don't tell me the image of Thailand has been affected. How did this news get leaked to tourists, who will be held to account for this?

[JASON THAI]

It's must be because there are no prostitutes in Thailand 5555 

[yokat]

It makes me wonder... are Chinese repeat tourists ? Maybe they come here hyped by a travel agent and realize they never want to come back.

[keith101]

The baht is to strong and tourists can no longer get good exchange rates making Thailand a less desirable place to come to for tourists of all nations .

 

It could also send many expats packing ( even me if I cant meet the 40,000 baht per month for my extensions )  as well affecting the economy even further .

[PhilippBKK]

Vietnam is luring in Chinese group travelers.....new destination + currently cheaper + legal casinos....

However number  of Chinese independent travelers to Thailand are up big time.

Good signs on long term.

As the below graph shows, Thailand is an unpopular destination in trouble.......NOT

[GeorgeCross]

48 minutes ago, webfact said:

Visitors from China, Thailand’s biggest source of tourists, declined 8.55% in May from a year earlier after falling 8.89% in April.

 

i'm telling ya that baht has got to come down..

 

 

 

Edited June 20, 2019 by GeorgeCross

[PhilippBKK]

13 minutes ago, GeorgeCross said:

 

i'm telling ya that baht has got to come down..

 

 

 

 

However this is really my favorite.....and even before Brexit.

No wonder they have to resort to picking up lost money, bawhahahahahah

 

 

[Lemonltr]

The Chinese currency is down 10% against the baht since last January! 

[Danthai]

After Songkran tourists around Chiangmai went dead. Still see fewer tour buses around town as well as back packers individual travelers. Only a few out at major tourist sights. Out around city for 20+years until recent move out of city. Now just reckless drivers and vans because schools and universities have started.

[dbrenn]

There are far too many tourists in Thailand. They destroy what they come to see.

[BestB]

I just returned from a short trip to Australia . 

 

Airplane was packed, not a single empty seat.

 

i was somewhat shocked as prior to

leaving it was dead but also excited to know tourists are back .

 

all my shock and excitement were gone once we landed , vast majority were only transiting through Thailand, very few actually entered Thailand . Immigration was a breeze in less than 7 mins with about 6-7 desks open .

 

driving from airport to Pattaya there was no traffic at all, 

 

once back home just as dead as previous month 

[Alan Michael]

This trend  may get worse. One thing is that the Thai immigration are less friendly to long stay foreigners and the word gets back to their own countries about this unfriendliness.  The popular places in Thailand are said to be too crowded, especially with Chinese mass tourists, which the Thai government seem to love, ( although when asked, Thai people don't seem to like them too much ) The baht is way too strong against all currencies. The boat accidents and various scams and murders in Thailand will make foreigners think about going somewhere else. The motorbike, car, boat and ferry business is lacking in insurance cover for it's customers putting them in financial and accidental danger.

 

Edited June 20, 2019 by Alan Michael

[DrTuner]

2 hours ago, BestB said:

I just returned from a short trip to Australia . 

 

Airplane was packed, not a single empty seat.

I'm going to contribute to that soon. As a tourist to Australia. Maybe the fed up expats like me are the culprit, trying to escape Thailand.

[stanleycoin]

2 hours ago, dbrenn said:

There are far too many tourists in Thailand. They destroy what they come to see.

Nah

The Thai people, are doing a fine job of destroying there own country.

It looks mostly like a rubbish tip, if you scratch the veneer.

But they do like to blame us for it.

 

[StayinThailand2much]

I blame the tourists!! They want to tarnish Thailand's reputation and make her lose face... 

 

On a positive note, nice for Thailand that each of the 2.7 million tourists in May spent EXACTLY 50,000 baht!

Edited June 20, 2019 by StayinThailand2much

[BestB]

41 minutes ago, DrTuner said:

I'm going to contribute to that soon. As a tourist to Australia. Maybe the fed up expats like me are the culprit, trying to escape Thailand.

I am thinking cancelling 1 daily flight to be the main reason for packed flights now ????

[GeorgeCross]

48 minutes ago, StayinThailand2much said:

On a positive note, nice for Thailand that each of the 2.7 million tourists in May spent EXACTLY 50,000 baht!

 

if ever there was clear evidence that tourist spending figures are just been pulled out of a hat this is it lol!!

 

135,000,000,000 / 2,700,000 = 50,000baht 

 

jeez what are the chances of that happening? 

 

 

[kritsana77]

5 hours ago, dbrenn said:

There are far too many tourists in Thailand. They destroy what they come to see.

Have you ever heard the saying "you bit the hand who fed you". You need the tourist kwai. The tourist and foreigners do not need you. See ya Somchai.

[mommysboy]

7 hours ago, keith101 said:

The baht is to strong and tourists can no longer get good exchange rates making Thailand a less desirable place to come to for tourists of all nations .

 

It could also send many expats packing ( even me if I cant meet the 40,000 baht per month for my extensions )  as well affecting the economy even further .

On balance, I think they's rather see the back of expats, but I'm sure they are worried about the lack of two week millionaires.

[kritsana77]

30 minutes ago, mommysboy said:

On balance, I think they's rather see the back of expats, but I'm sure they are worried about the lack of two week millionaires.

50,000 baht per month expats time 52 weeks per year spend a lot of money. Your short sided thinking will be just want the Thais want. The Thais kind wai my backside ass saying goodbye. BTW, I have a lot of money.

[dbrenn]

4 hours ago, stanleycoin said:

Nah

The Thai people, are doing a fine job of destroying there own country.

It looks mostly like a rubbish tip, if you scratch the veneer.

But they do like to blame us for it.

 

I'll grant you that Thais are responsible for the lack of regulation that has led to over development of places that were pristine. 

 

I remember back in the early 90's reading that there were around 6 million tourists - the beaches were still quite nice. Now there are 35 million tourists, buildings and rubbish everywhere. Last time I went to Samed a couple of years ago the place was inundated with group tours. It's not just Thailand that mass tourism is ruining either - Venice and Amsterdam have been in the news recently with the same problem. 

 

Travelling is too easy and cheap these days, and millions more can do it, I suppose. 

[Traubert]

1 hour ago, kritsana77 said:

50,000 baht per month expats time 52 weeks per year spend a lot of money. Your short sided thinking will be just want the Thais want. The Thais kind wai my backside ass saying goodbye. BTW, I have a lot of money.

Spend some on English lessons <deleted>.

 

See if they'll chuck maths in, while you're at it.

[garyk]

You haven't seen anything yet. If the Chinese market keeps dropping, Chinese tourism will dry up and blow away.  

[BestB]

1 hour ago, garyk said:

You haven't seen anything yet. If the Chinese market keeps dropping, Chinese tourism will dry up and blow away.  

It’s not the matter of if but the when .

 

many economists are very sceptical of china being able to withstand the trade war with US for long period.

 

Once chinese economy goes into recession , Chinese tourism will take serious nosedive, along with the rest of the world.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

2 hours ago, garyk said:

You haven't seen anything yet. If the Chinese market keeps dropping, Chinese tourism will dry up and blow away.  

 

Why? A small drop (or rather: an end to the crazy growth of the past years; a 1% drop is not statistically relevant usually)  is in line with changes to the exchange rate. 

 

11 hours ago, yokat said:

It makes me wonder... are Chinese repeat tourists ? Maybe they come here hyped by a travel agent and realize they never want to come back.

 

They by and large have a great time and then recommend it to friends and family.  Some are repeat visitors and/or want to by a condo in Thailand.  Either way there are more than enough Chinese to become first time visitors.  

 

6 hours ago, GeorgeCross said:

 

if ever there was clear evidence that tourist spending figures are just been pulled out of a hat this is it lol!!

 

135,000,000,000 / 2,700,000 = 50,000baht 

 

jeez what are the chances of that happening? 

 

Welcome to average numbers and statistics.  It's not an unreasonable amount for an entire holiday which for many Chinese especially also includes heavy shopping.  That said, the spend number will always be an average / estimate. 

 

2 hours ago, garyk said:

You haven't seen anything yet. If the Chinese market keeps dropping, Chinese tourism will dry up and blow away.  

 

Why?   I mean it would be a disaster if that happened as it's about half of the entire tourism market, but most people have a great time.  The exchange rate is squeezing it a little but do keep in mind that the exchange rate is largely the result of so much tourism and the demand for Baht from all those tourists.

 

[ZeVonderBearz]

The country is going to regret not investing the tourist dollars back into tourist infrastructure. By now with all the tourists that have visited over the years they could have created 10,000s of jobs in the tourist sector around the country.

[ChipButty]

14 hours ago, yokat said:

It makes me wonder... are Chinese repeat tourists ? Maybe they come here hyped by a travel agent and realize they never want to come back.

  They dont seem to be, maybe once bitten twice shy

[mikebell]

Other destinations are also cashing in on the strong baht.  Did a week in Vietnam & my TGF was very impressed by the prices; dresses; hotels; restaurants; souvenirs; tourist attraction entrance fees; booze.

Once the word gets out, long term ex-pats will be making the visits permanent.

[ChipButty]

5 minutes ago, mikebell said:

long term ex-pats will be making the visits permanent.

I think its already happening 3 of my friends have gone lock stock and barrel