Big spending Indians keeping Thai tourism afloat, says media

[ThomasThBKK]

I am at a loss as to how they calculate these spending figures.When I go to Tesco Lotus and buy for example a new washing machine costing ie 12000 baht and pay cash,no one takes my nationality.Same when I eat out,buy anything.When I stay in a hotel,usually it is my Thai partner registers,again they can see I am "white" but could be russian,english,american.So how do they know?

They don't, also all my credit cards are thai, Singaporen or US.

They have no way of knowing my nationality is german.

Same as TATs tourist numbers, just because someone flies into bkk airport doesn't mean he's going to thailand. Thailand is simply geographically in the middle of SEA and that's why it's a hub.

Sent from my LYA-L29 using Tapatalk

[pokerface1]

I've known a few wealthy Indians over the years and found the only real difference between rich and poor is the technique they use in order to cut down your price. Even the rich ones make you feel as if your extracting their last tooth. Oh the pain 555.The Thais will quickly start to wish for the good old days or start jumping 

[BestB]

And you were all worried, see 3 days ago it was doom and gloom and within 3 days Indians arrived and saved Thailand by spending HUGE money , so HUGE that not only it made up for the losses 3 days ago but went over into +.

 

phew , now all can rest easy 

Edited July 13, 2019 by BestB

[Artisi]

1 hour ago, Thaifriends said:

Go to Intercontinental, Novotel and many of those 5 & 4 star hotels around BKK then you will realise. Buy a beer worth THB300 which appears you cant afford.

B300 split 3 or 4 ways anyone can afford that. 

[Artisi]

1 hour ago, ThomasThBKK said:

Was on Novotel rooftop bar in Suk 20 yesterday the whole night, didn't see a single indian.

 

 

Lots of smoke, no Indians 

[mok199]

It wont take long for thainess to drive them off too..

[djayz]

1 hour ago, Thaifriends said:

EU bagpackers spend merely 300-500 per day. Are they big spending tourist? Havent you seen at Siam expensive retail outlets filled with Indian and Thai buyers. Could hardly see a tourist farang. Yes there are expats farang

Just because you see X or Y at Siam doesn't mean they're actually out "shopping". Lots of people go there to cool down, have dinner in the food court (me for example), walk around window shopping, etc. I've seen Bangkokians spending more money in those malls than any other group. Admittedly, the wealthier Chinese visitors are a close second. 

[Lashay]

Another day, yet more bullshit from TaT.

 

Just in last 2 days we have business associations in both Phuket and Pattaya reporting 20%-30% drops in business in a single year, while for the 3 years previous they have been reporting shrinking revenue, while TaT is claiming tourism is actually up. Over last 3 years not seen any tourist related sector saying things are good...except TaT

 

The problem is TaT is totally dysfunctional, stupid and needs to be dissolved

 

• Arrivals ≠ Tourists. Thailand intentionally made BKK an international flight hub for the region. When they did that they needed to stop counting arrivals because someone here for a few hours before flying somewhere else in the region should not be counted as a "tourist". Same with visa runners. They have the data to properly count actual tourists, duration of stay and even region and level of accommodation they are staying at (TM30), they need to be releasing that data and using it instead of using a metric that is only actually useful to airlines and airports alone

 

• Where they are getting their spending/revenue data needs to be open to scrutiny, because this claiming Indians are big spenders is as false as claiming the Chinese low class mass market were big spenders. (i will make exception for Indian weddings, those are big money...for the 4 and 5 star beach hotels that cater them but no one else and the bulk of the guests for those only come for 2-3 days on average)

 

• TaT are to stupid to realize an over abundance of any 1 market is actually going to put off other demographics and that some nationality's will have an even worse impact. Yes it's racisim but its also reality. To many Arabs, Indians, Chinese, Russians especially guarantees a drop in tourists from elsewhere as those nationality's are generally disliked by everyone else (including each other),  but hell if there were to many Germans you would see a drop in British. Balance is the name of the game.

 

• TaT are still trying to downplay, (and up to about 2 weeks ago outright deny) the strength of the baht is having a major impact on not only tourists numbers but more importantly tourist spending while actual tourists and businesses have been telling them this for at least 3 years

 

• TaT have been going on for years about wanting quality tourists, yet in that time every market they have pursued has been about quantity instead.

 

• And last but not least, they have completely mismanaged Thailands image, be it tourist safety, be random official blabbering about death sentences for taking pictures on certain beaches, be it police operations with racist code names, be it not shutting down obvious transport mafia ripping off tourists, or every year some random official declaring Songkran will have alcohol banned or making sure beaches actually have life guards, or constantly changing visa rules and total miscommunication about them, the list is endless. These are all self inflicted wounds Thailand has done to its self and TaT never seem to get involved.

 

A new TaT is needed, with actual industry experts, both Thai and foreign, working for it and it needs to given actual power to either control idiots in power or force them to do their jobs properly.

 

 

 

Edited July 13, 2019 by Lashay

[tjo o tjim]

Nationalities spend money differently. Most westerners don’t find LV prices in Thailand to be a bargain; there are only a handful of things I can think of that are cheaper in Thailand than the US (which are available in both in the same quality). 

 

The data (should) come from ATM, credit card, and foreign exchange. That should give a very real picture. It is likely skewed by one source though. 

 

Personally, I haven’t seen where Indians spend their money, maybe on gold or something else I have no interest in— but I have heard hotels, restaurants, and tourist attractions are not it. I do not see them in the high end malls or the upper-middle end either. 

 

Ultimately though, Thailand should be looking at the total economic impact the money spent has— why the ripple effect of each dollar is. Money spent on imported low margin things does not provide much value. 

[Jane Dough]

1 hour ago, ThomasThBKK said:

They don't, also all my credit cards are thai, Singaporen or US.

They have no way of knowing my nationality is german.

Same as TATs tourist numbers, just because someone flies into bkk airport doesn't mean he's going to thailand. Thailand is simply geographically in the middle of SEA and that's why it's a hub.

Sent from my LYA-L29 using Tapatalk
 

Don't you think the lederhosen might be a giveaway?

 

On a slightly more serious note, don't you think the TAT might conduct surveys rather than record the actions of every single person.

 

Rooster

[Artisi]

21 minutes ago, Lashay said:

Another day, yet more bullshit from TaT.

 

Just in last 2 days we have business associations in both Phuket and Pattaya reporting 20%-30% drops in business in a single year, while for the 3 years previous they have been reporting shrinking revenue, while TaT is claiming tourism is actually up. Over last 3 years not seen any tourist related sector saying things are good...except TaT

 

The problem is TaT is totally dysfunctional, stupid and needs to be dissolved

 

• Arrivals ≠ Tourists. Thailand intentionally made BKK an international flight hub for the region. When they did that they needed to stop counting arrivals because someone here for a few hours before flying somewhere else in the region should not be counted as a "tourist". Same with visa runners. They have the data to properly count actual tourists, duration of stay and even region and level of accommodation they are staying at (TM30), they need to be releasing that data and using it instead of using a metric that is only actually useful to airlines and airports alone

 

• Where they are getting their spending/revenue data needs to be open to scrutiny, because this claiming Indians are big spenders is as false as claiming the Chinese low class mass market were big spenders. (i will make exception for Indian weddings, those are big money...for the 4 and 5 star beach hotels that cater them but no one else and the bulk of the guests for those only come for 2-3 days on average)

 

• TaT are to stupid to realize an over abundance of any 1 market is actually going to put off other demographics and that some nationality's will have an even worse impact. Yes it's racisim but its also reality. To many Arabs, Indians, Chinese, Russians especially guarantees a drop in tourists from elsewhere as those nationality's are generally disliked by everyone else (including each other),  but hell if there were to many Germans you would see a drop in British. Balance is the name of the game.

 

• TaT are still trying to downplay, (and up to about 2 weeks ago outright deny) the strength of the baht is having a major impact on not only tourists numbers but more importantly tourist spending while actual tourists and businesses have been telling them this for at least 3 years

 

• TaT have been going on for years about wanting quality tourists, yet in that time every market they have pursued has been about quantity instead.

 

• And last but not least, they have completely mismanaged Thailands image, be it tourist safety, be random official blabbering about death sentences for taking pictures on certain beaches, be it police operations with racist code names, be it not shutting down obvious transport mafia ripping off tourists, or every year some random official declaring Songkran will have alcohol banned or making sure beaches actually have life guards, or constantly changing visa rules and total miscommunication about them, the list is endless. These are all self inflicted wounds Thailand has done to its self and TaT never seem to get involved.

 

A new TaT is needed, with actual industry experts, both Thai and foreign, working for it and it needs to given actual power to either control idiots in power or force them to do their jobs properly.

 

 

 

Who cares, numbers are down according to those relying on a living, the TAT rubbish is just part of the overall daily nonsense from the Thai "government" and is likely to get worse. 

[Lashay]

7 minutes ago, Jane Dough said:

On a slightly more serious note, don't you think the TAT might conduct surveys rather than record the actions of every single person.

 

Rooster

It is assumed that is one of methods. Few years ago when Thai public opinion was turning against Chinese (misbehaving in Temples, acting like pigs in buffets so forth) TaT suddenly did surveys at airports and month later TAT declared Chinese were individually the biggest spenders.

 

Problem with surveys is, even unintentionally, they can lead to very misleading results if worded incorrectly or just due to a selection bias. Worse, if you want a certain result it is very easy to get that result by questions you ask, how you phrase them and who you ask and how you choose to interpret the data.

 

Example: "How much did you spend per day on this holiday?"

 

Some people will factor in flights and hotels, others just their daily spend, some are here for 6 days, some are here for 3 weeks. Some are just calculating spend for one person, others are giving total for 4-5 people (family) together. Hell, even when and where you ask can affect results. Most Chinese zero dollar package flights depart in middle of the night while around midday its wealthier independent travelers. Dont survey at 2-5am and you instantly raise Chinese average spend

 

And not mentioned yet who from and how Chinese buy their holidays, it is well known that most of Chinese tourist spend stays in Chinese hands in China, for example Chinese tourist pre books massage in China with tour operator. Price 700b, but local operator only charges tour company 150. Thailand is not seeing nearly 80% of that spend

 

Also if you read the released data back then, headlines all said "Chinese biggest spenders", but if you read the details they were here shortest time. Overall spend per trip, per individual actually made Europeans the biggest spenders. But the objective then was to talk up the Chinese, so the (questionable) data was presented differently. It also led to amusing "anomalies" like Laos being the 3rd biggest spenders...sure country with average income sub $2000 per year really are 3rd biggest spending tourists by nationality, we totally believe you...could not help by notice updated versions of that table always seem to leave Laos out completely

 

Another method they can be using is monitoring card usage and exchange shop data, but again that can be misleading. For example, I have cards from 3 different country's, i actually come from a 4th....and to boot am not a tourist. Many tourists bring wads of cash (foreign or Thai baht), some for tax reasons, many to avoid the outrageous ATM fees.

 

There really is no decent way for Thailand to estimate tourist spending until they reach western levels of "cashless" 

 

 

[DLock]

I don't know or care about who spends what.

 

But I do enjoy watching a group of 5 or 6 Indian men haggle for a ladyboy on Bangla road....and watch "her" stroll back in 15 minutes 1,000 baht richer.

 

That never gets old.

[ThomasThBKK]

1 hour ago, Jane Dough said:

Don't you think the lederhosen might be a giveaway?

 

On a slightly more serious note, don't you think the TAT might conduct surveys rather than record the actions of every single person.

 

Rooster

No they don't they use the mastercard index.

[GeorgeCross]

hmmm so 45K per tourist now is it? but indians magically spend 50K??

 

odd because only a month ago TAT figures in an article posted here, once broken down by one of our smarter members showed an amazing anomaly..

 

the average tourist spends.. wait for it.. exactly 50K 

 

same agency, same tourists, different numbers.

 

i'm gonna call BS on all of it.

[choff56]

3 hours ago, ThomasThBKK said:

Was on Novotel rooftop bar in Suk 20 yesterday the whole night, didn't see a single indian.

 

 

That's because they were all forced into room reservations.

[joecoolfrog]

3 hours ago, CeeGee said:

I am at a loss as to how they calculate these spending figures.When I go to Tesco Lotus and buy for example a new washing machine costing ie 12000 baht and pay cash,no one takes my nationality.Same when I eat out,buy anything.When I stay in a hotel,usually it is my Thai partner registers,again they can see I am "white" but could be russian,english,american.So how do they know?

They dont !

[BestB]

I do not know why so many of you doubt TAT figures, Ever read a story of Indian who was robbed by a ladyboy who had less than 35 000 cash in his pocket or gold chain worth less than 60 000? who was just out for a casual stroll at 3-4am

 

I wish i could take nightly strolls wearing 60 000 baht worth of gold and 35 000 cash in my pocket.

[SoilSpoil]

I have lived in India for a couple of years and find that Indians are super friendly when dealing with people in their own caste. Indians in higher castes, however, tend to treat the lower classes as dirt. I wonder how they will treat the Thais who are servicing them, like hotel staff? 

[BestB]

1 minute ago, SoilSpoil said:

I have lived in India for a couple of years and find that Indians are super friendly when dealing with people in their own caste. Indians in higher castes, however, tend to treat the lower classes as dirt. I wonder how they will treat the Thais who are servicing them, like hotel staff? 

As a hotel staff i can tell you like dirt, and these are not even from high casts but markets peddlers, rude, arrogant, obnoxious , no manners,

[nong38]

What a load of old tosh ! All the Indians have been in England for the Cricket World Cup.

[Soikhaonoiken]

Totally fake news, who are TAT trying to kid,  having just done a trip to India, yes there are rich Indians but they don't come to Thailand, and if that was the case why do   3-4 Indians share a room in the hotels ????

[fforest1]

39 minutes ago, Soikhaonoiken said:

Totally fake news, who are TAT trying to kid,  having just done a trip to India, yes there are rich Indians but they don't come to Thailand, and if that was the case why do   3-4 Indians share a room in the hotels ????

Why do 3-4 share a room?....Because the other 5 had already caught a flight home...

[sotonowl]

"Big spending" and "Indians" just shouldn't be in the same sentence.

[Mai Mee Tang]

The method TAT might have used to measure their spending would involve going to any club in Bangla Road and count how many 20B notes are thrown on the dancefloor per minute, then extrapolate to the whole stay.

[aspenbkk]

 50,000 BAHT ONE indian spends each trip GARBAGE !!!! HAHA Each One does not spend 1000 Baht  a Week This Gets More Hilarious as it Goes On . They Are making it up Again Absolute Rubbish.

[madmitch]

I can't remember the figure but tourist numbers were well up after May, according to the TAT.

 

After June the figure's up but below 1%. This implies to me that the low season numbers are dropping quite sharply. But of course that doesn't give quite the spin the TAT like.

[Chelseafan]

5 hours ago, Jane Dough said:

Don't you think the lederhosen might be a giveaway?

 

On a slightly more serious note, don't you think the TAT might conduct surveys rather than record the actions of every single person.

 

Rooster

If so then the data isn't worth jack.

 

[Chelseafan]

4 hours ago, ThomasThBKK said:

No they don't they use the mastercard index.

And that's the problem, I am a high spending tourist at around 200k per 2 weeks trip (not including flight). I very rarely use credit cards in Thailand. Most of my spend is cash which is spent in Thailand.

 

[Chazar]

9 hours ago, aspenbkk said:

Rubbish i have yet to See a Big Spending Indian in Thailand Ever 4 Share a Bottle of Beer . FAKE NEWS Again Here What a Lot of Garbage. How Can People Be Expect To Take This Rubbish In .

4  sharing a  room  would also be on the low  side