TAT chief blames high baht and lack of Europeans for drop in Thai tourism

[Percy P]

4 hours ago, marcusarelus said:

I believe the Chinese make up 25% of Thai tourism.  Last I read.  Maybe a little more this year.  

May be right but where no they make up the money when Chinese tourists drop. Getting a Visa now is becoming a nightmare.  Have a look at the latest Thai Embassy London new rules and visa price increases. TOT have only themselves to blame. The exchange rate of the Baht has a little to do with it 20,000 Baht to enter the Country and when thats gone, that it.

Edited June 26, 2019 by Percy P

[CNXexpat]

59 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Only low end Chinese tourists.

I wonder why the Le Meridien in Chiang Mai is full of Chinese tourists and they pay the normal room rate of minimum 5,000 Baht per night. Also the other 5 star hotels are full of Chinese. But the dormitories are full of western tourists. 

Tourists are not interested in the political system or the human rights of the vacation country. They visit China, Cambodia, Turkey, etc. - all not known as democratic countries.

[Guderian]

High season beginning in October - give us a break, with things as they stand it'll probably start the third week of December in Pattaya and end the second week of January.

[Chelseafan]

18 minutes ago, British Bulldog said:

Huh ? Europeans, Chinese and others all decide not to come to Thailand because of a sway of 1 or 2 baht difference to their respected currency .... come on ... try pulling the other one. (International exchange rates at 30.80 to the USD this morning) the Aussie dollar dropped heaps this year, but it doesn't stop them coming !

I agree to an extent. It certainly doesn't stop the likes of us going there but to the families who have never been and are planning their vacation I'm sure they are carefully reviewing websites with regards to how much bang for their buck they are getting. It's not the main reason but I'll bet it's part of their decision making process.

 

[Chelseafan]

1 minute ago, CNXexpat said:

I wonder why the Le Meridien in Chiang Mai is full of Chinese tourists and they pay the normal room rate of minimum 5,000 Baht per night. Also the other 5 star hotels are full of Chinese. But the dormitories are full of western tourists. 

Tourists are not interested in the political system or the human rights of the vacation country. They visit China, Cambodia, Turkey, etc. - all not known as democratic countries.

Do you really think they are paying 5000 a night? And even if they are, taking one hotel as a snap shot isn't the reality of the situation. The same can be said for the Hilton in Pattaya or any other of the 4-5 star hotels in Bangkok. Those establishments will always have affluent customers but what about the other thousands upon thousands of smaller hotels?

Luckily there's Airbnb...no wait ????

 

[BestB]

6 minutes ago, CNXexpat said:

I wonder why the Le Meridien in Chiang Mai is full of Chinese tourists and they pay the normal room rate of minimum 5,000 Baht per night. Also the other 5 star hotels are full of Chinese. But the dormitories are full of western tourists. 

Tourists are not interested in the political system or the human rights of the vacation country. They visit China, Cambodia, Turkey, etc. - all not known as democratic countries.

How exactly do you know what they pay?

[Percy P]

8 minutes ago, varun said:

Typical Thai knee-jerk reaction to blame everything on everybody else, but themselves.

 

Listen up Somchai:

Stop the Grand Palace scams

Stop the taxi meter & tuktuk mafiia scams

Stop the gem shop scams

Stop the jet-ski mafia scams

Stop the dual-pricing scams

Stop the police stop-and-search scams

Stop the gogo bar overpricing scams

Stop the seafood market scams

Do all of the above, and you will find tourists coming back.

It's that simple.

And what about the taxi scams.

[Chelseafan]

17 minutes ago, Isaanbiker said:

  No smoking at beaches, no smoking near government offices, etc... and no this, and no that. Who wants to go to such a place? 

   

 

And God-forbid if you bring in a vape-stick!!!

[CNXexpat]

26 minutes ago, SteveB2 said:

many bars and resturarants with no one sitting in them at all.

And what are the bars and restaurants doing? They increase the prices because they think they can make the same money with the few guests in this way.

[Percy P]

10 minutes ago, varun said:

Typical Thai knee-jerk reaction to blame everything on everybody else, but themselves.

 

Listen up Somchai:

Stop the Grand Palace scams

Stop the taxi meter & tuktuk mafiia scams

Stop the gem shop scams

Stop the jet-ski mafia scams

Stop the dual-pricing scams

Stop the police stop-and-search scams

Stop the gogo bar overpricing scams

Stop the seafood market scams

Do all of the above, and you will find tourists coming back.

It's that simple.

And what about the taxi scams

[BritManToo]

56 minutes ago, Chelseafan said:

Absolutely true. Go back to 2002 and it was 75-80+ to the pound. The baht has steadily strengthened over the past 15 years or so.

 

Why not go back to 1997, what was the exchange rate then?

[ocddave]

It already caused me to not bring in money this month from the US (first time I haven't done so in 3 years), will wait until the Baht is back above 32 before I consider it again.

[30la]

Turn to those in charge, Central Bank of Thailand.
The problem of tourists is the smallest, your export becomes more and more expensive and many companies will leave Thailand if you don't move!
I know you are only the head of the TAT, but you have the chance to make yourself heard, if your people become even more impoverished, the problem will be immense!

[Chelseafan]

20 minutes ago, CNXexpat said:

Then you spend a lot. Perhaps Chinese don´t spend so much, but more than an average western tourist. Here in Chiang Mai the Chinese stay in minimum 3 star hotels, never in super cheap guest houses or dormitories. A friend of mine has a restaurant near Thapae Gate. He loves the Chinese guests. They order 4 dishes for 2 people,  western travellers often one dish to share. 

In Chiang Mai you see rarely group tours. The most Chinese came with friends or family. They spend a lot of money at restaurants, markets, massages, shopping center and so on. Nearly nobody in Chiang Mai complain about them. 

How do you know they spend more than a western tourist ? Westerners spend money in resturants, markets, massages, maybe not so much in shopping centers but I bet they make up for it in other activities, scuba diving, girls, drinking etc.

 

And how any westerners REALLY share one dish between two of them? come on!

 

[Chelseafan]

2 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Why not go back to 1997, what was the exchange rate then?

Yes, that was a one-off due to the Asian crash. From memory I seem to recall getting around 85 for a short period of time.

 

[ocddave]

1 minute ago, Chelseafan said:

How do you know they spend more than a western tourist ? Westerners spend money in resturants, markets, massages, maybe not so much in shopping centers but I bet they make up for it in other activities, scuba diving, girls, drinking etc.

 

And how any westerners REALLY share one dish between two of them? come on!

 

Yeah, I am guessing any Westerners travelling here have probably spent at the very least $5000 on their trip, this isn't just a hop-skip away, they plan to party like there was no tomorrow.

[CNXexpat]

8 minutes ago, Chelseafan said:

Do you really think they are paying 5000 a night? And even if they are, taking one hotel as a snap shot isn't the reality of the situation. The same can be said for the Hilton in Pattaya or any other of the 4-5 star hotels in Bangkok. Those establishments will always have affluent customers but what about the other thousands upon thousands of smaller hotels?

Luckily there's Airbnb...no wait ????

 

Yes, I know. And I know that nearly no one of the Chinese tourists sleep in dormitories, but many westeners do. 

 

7 minutes ago, BestB said:

How exactly do you know what they pay?

Talking with the director.

[cardinalblue]

I thought ivory was a prohibited trade item?

[nev]

3 hours ago, Father Fintan Stack said:

Because those are colonies and still belong to the UK. 

Good luck explaining that they are colonies to a Thai ????

[legend49]

So Thainess rules; always someone to blame never TAT. OK high baht thats a job for the Bank of Thailand to manage, but lack of European tourists; lets blame Brexit!

[CNXexpat]

4 minutes ago, Chelseafan said:

How do you know they spend more than a western tourist ? Westerners spend money in resturants, markets, massages, maybe not so much in shopping centers but I bet they make up for it in other activities, scuba diving, girls, drinking etc.

 

And how any westerners REALLY share one dish between two of them? come on!

 

As written, a friend has a very popular restaurant. Sometimes he put "reserved" signs on the table before lunch and dinner time, so he can say to western backpacker tourists "Sorry, we are full". When Chinese come, he take away the sign. 

[zydeco]

3 minutes ago, CNXexpat said:

As written, a friend has a very popular restaurant. Sometimes he put "reserved" signs on the table before lunch and dinner time, so he can say to western backpacker tourists "Sorry, we are full". When Chinese come, he take away the sign. 

Does he have a special slobber and spit plastic cover on the floors?

[peter14]

Maybe also mentioning how difficult  is to get TR visa....   too

[goldenbrwn1]

7 minutes ago, CNXexpat said:

As written, a friend has a very popular restaurant. Sometimes he put "reserved" signs on the table before lunch and dinner time, so he can say to western backpacker tourists "Sorry, we are full". When Chinese come, he take away the sign. 

Exactly. Backpackers. They have their place in the Thai economy but obviously not big spenders. And as for your friend, see how welcoming he is of Chinese when they start gobbing on his floor or worse! Have never seen a Chinese do a No2 but have witnessed many times the spitting on the floor.

Edited June 26, 2019 by goldenbrwn1

[johnarth]

4 hours ago, Assurancetourix said:

Thailand has opened the Pandora's box with the Chinese;
I fear that they will soon have to cry all their tears when we see what is happening in Cambodia which is literally invaded, submerged by the Chinese;
everything is now for them; everything is written in Chinese.
Europeans who had found a haven of peace are asked to go elsewhere.

yes as we know Cambodia has pros ,gambling and is cheaper dont know about their beaches though the Chinese probably do not have time for a swim

[nev]

5 minutes ago, CNXexpat said:

As written, a friend has a very popular restaurant. Sometimes he put "reserved" signs on the table before lunch and dinner time, so he can say to western backpacker tourists "Sorry, we are full". When Chinese come, he take away the sign. 

Funny that as last year I met my brother and his girlfriend in Chiang Mai and we avoided anywhere the Chinese was as the prices were higher and the noise level of the Chinese was unbearable, I will also add all you can eat does not mean taking every prawn that came.

 

[zydeco]

4 minutes ago, nev said:

Funny that as last year I met my brother and his girlfriend in Chiang Mai and we avoided anywhere the Chinese was as the prices were higher and the noise level of the Chinese was unbearable, I will also add all you can eat does not mean taking every prawn that came.

 

CNX should tell the name of the restaurant. That way we could help the owner to keep us Westerners out of it by a publicity campaign on social media.

[mindfulness]

LOL !!!  It’s taken them 8 / 9 years to realise DUH !!! 

 

Amazing Thailand ‘Mental Insanity’ ! 

[madmen]

3 hours ago, ftpjtm said:

Western distrust of military governments, and recent media coverage of an unfair election keeping Thailand's military government intact.

Nah if you asked 10 tourists who is running Thailand you would get a blank look. Without an official travel warning it means nothing. They also distrust communists but never stopped them hitting vietnam either

[ocddave]

1 minute ago, madmen said:

Nah if you asked 10 tourists who is running Thailand you would get a blank look. Without an official travel warning it means nothing. They also distrust communists but never stopped them hitting vietnam either

Yeah, the only thing that scared me was when the bombings were happening near Victory Monument, and elsewhere in the city.