Thai tourism in trouble: And competitor Vietnam is "scary" for Pattaya

[Sticky Wicket]

9 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

For backpackers maybe but not for us retired folks.  Nothing about immigration has changed for me in 15 years.  I brought my money over 15 years ago so no change in money.  I'm not alone.  Many have done the same thing. 

Me, myself and I

[marcusarelus]

Just now, Sticky Wicket said:

TOURIST - a person who is traveling or visiting a place for pleasure.

 

Nothing more, nothing less. There is NO specification on time in any definition anywhere

Don't be silly.  I've been having pleasure here since 1968 - am I a tourist?

[crazykopite]

5 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

For backpackers maybe but not for us retired folks.  Nothing about immigration has changed for me in 15 years.  I brought my money over 15 years ago so no change in money.  I'm not alone.  Many have done the same thing. 

It’s not always about money it’s about all the stupid changes they keep making year in year out when it comes to renewing the extension of stay it’s become a pain in the @$$ sadly it’s no longer the land of smiles and that’s why I will be leaving when my extension of stay runs out in June 2020 if I can sell my property otherwise I will have to look at renting it out long term which I want to avoid.

[malibukid]

1 hour ago, AllanA said:

Was in Pattaya in the early part of 2019 and it was quite ! Never seen it so quite for what they called ‘peak season ‘ there was definitely no peak yet hotels still charged peak season prices . . thus tourists that are there feel ripped off and thus talk negatively of time spent there. The more negative talking, the less tourist will come. Yes Vietnam is booming, went there and it was packed out, lots of hype and positive vibes and people seem to really be enjoying it. 

and they want to learn English and are quite friendly and out going.  not afraid of blue eyed devil.

[Dogmatix]

Thai tourism in trouble.  This is clearly the right time for Immigration to revive some archaic regulations from the 80s and deny entry to anyone wearing sandals, silk pants or other forms dress arbitrarily deemed impolite by Immigration officers.  

[marcusarelus]

Just now, Sticky Wicket said:

Me, myself and I

I'm a pretty reasonable example of a long term retired expat.  I came here many years ago and made it my home.  House, wife and money in the bank.  Same as Kansas with spicy food. 

[Sticky Wicket]

1 minute ago, marcusarelus said:

Don't be silly.  I've been having pleasure here since 1968 - am I a tourist?

YES, you have no rights, and can be chucked out at a moment's notice like the rest of us common plebs. 

 

[DPKANKAN]

1 hour ago, Pete Webb said:

The dodgy figures are probably because an arrival at Suvarnabhumi is being counted as a tourist visitor ! Then people change planes and fly elsewhere ! Somewhere cheaper, cleaner, smarter and less dangerous, that listens to the needs of it's guests and doesn't take them for granted. Somewhere that doesn't make it's visitors jump through hoops of fire to stay for a while in the country and spend their money. Thailand is suffering because of its 'take it or leave it' attitude. Clearly, people are leaving it. I want Thailand to do well, but it needs to do much better for people who are used to a much better standard of living.

Don't forget all the long stay border visa jumpers. Out and in. Out and in. More tourists to the Los!! 5555

[marcusarelus]

1 minute ago, crazykopite said:

It’s not always about money it’s about all the stupid changes they keep making year in year out when it comes to renewing the extension of stay it’s become a pain in the @$$ sadly it’s no longer the land of smiles and that’s why I will be leaving when my extension of stay runs out in June 2020 if I can sell my property otherwise I will have to look at renting it out long term which I want to avoid.

Maybe you.  I don't know you.  I know me and I've had no changes in my extension except it took me only 12 minutes this year. 

[sambum]

2 hours ago, Garybaldy said:

Not only are the tourists down but the ones that are coming are not spending as much because it’s too expensive. If you can go to Vietnam for less then most people have no loyalty they will go. As for us who live here full time then we are feeling the pain of the strong Baht and ever increasing hoops to jump through at immigration etc so we have 2 choices, tighten our belts and hope for a better exchange and dance to the Thai tune or leave Thailand for pastures new.

Crazy Thailand! TAT once again spouting that the tourist figures are UP, when in fact they are DOWN. (No surprise there!) So they "manipulate the figures? (No surprise there either!)

 

But what is surprising is Immigration making it more and more difficult for ex pats to stay here when they are spending money here all year round - even at 40,000 baht a month (probably on average more than that!) which equates to nearly half a million baht a year per person and they don't want it!!???

[Millcx]

4 hours ago, Metapod said:

Exchange rate is bad, costs are going up, visas are getting a lot harder to get, and more competitive alternatives are arising.

 

it isn't really surprising stuff. Thailand ain't that cheap anymore. Aussie dollar is like 21.7 thb these days. A lot of things are cheaper back in Aus now,

Nam isn’t just scary for the loss of tourists but also expats .... But mentalities will not change ... Its the rise and fall

[Dogmatix]

If VN is scary for Thai tourism, they should wait till Burma gets its act together and starts eating the rest of Thailand's lunch.  Both countries will probably need to import jobless Thai slave labourers to work in their tourist industries in the future but they will only be able to do menial jobs because of their lack of knowledge of English and other foreign languages. 

[marcusarelus]

1 minute ago, Sticky Wicket said:

YES, you have no rights, and can be chucked out at a moment's notice like the rest of us common plebs.

I've been on a long stay visa for 15 years.  Clearly different than a 15 or 30 day tourist permission to stay. 

[Scott3000]

Mistreat us, and we leave. It's pretty simple.

 

After 5 years, the attitudes of Thai people have shifted, most notably at the airports.

 

The change in attitude was palpable as I changed planes from Thai Lion to Malindo Air -- same parent company, but the latter had a KUL-based crew. At first, I was a bit incredulous of this happy crew, starting at the gate in DMK airport. But I quickly realized, unlike the Thai Lions, the Malindos were HAPPY TO HAVE ME... I felt WELCOME.

 

Even if/when the Thais sort out their politics, who knows if the attitudes will shift back to the good old days, a mere 5-10 years ago? The past 5 years, Thai people have been re-conditioned from smiling at us, to scowling at us.

 

What would anybody do?

[Sticky Wicket]

1 minute ago, Dogmatix said:

If VN is scary for Thai tourism, they should wait till Burma gets its act together and starts eating the rest of Thailand's lunch.  Both countries will probably need to import jobless Thai slave labourers to work in their tourist industries in the future but they will only be able to do menial jobs because of their lack of knowledge of English and other foreign languages. 

Burma has 800 islands, wait til they are operational, this place will be DEAD

[marcusarelus]

2 minutes ago, sambum said:

Crazy Thailand! TAT once again spouting that the tourist figures are UP, when in fact they are DOWN. (No surprise there!) So they "manipulate the figures? (No surprise there either!)

 

But what is surprising is Immigration making it more and more difficult for ex pats to stay here when they are spending money here all year round - even at 40,000 baht a month (probably on average more than that!) which equates to nearly half a million baht a year per person and they don't want it!!???

I don't think they want expats because of the rising middle class in China and India. 

[Rimmer]

A post all in caps has been removed

[Sticky Wicket]

1 minute ago, marcusarelus said:

I've been on a long stay visa for 15 years.  Clearly different than a 15 or 30 day tourist permission to stay. 

Yet you have the same rights as everybody else. ZERO!

If they heaped insurance on top of you, then you would be gone too

[marcusarelus]

12 minutes ago, Sticky Wicket said:

Well done !! Two graphs with absolutely no headings or titles. GENIUS work!!

Tourist arrivals Thailand to Vietnam Millions to thousands.  Go to the website on the bottom of the graph to see Vietnam is not even in the ballpark. 

[Sticky Wicket]

2 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

I've been on a long stay visa for 15 years.  Clearly different than a 15 or 30 day tourist permission to stay. 

You can be really myopic at times. Just because you have got it 'easy' it doesn't mean everybody else has.

Just look at the forums in the last few years and the various stories of pain/suffering

The last 5 years have seen cataclysmic changes in Thailand re visas and attitudes towards expats/westerners. 

[Dogmatix]

I remember Thai academics in the mid 90s saying that Vietman was no possible threat to Thailand's rice exports when they starting exporting rice for the first time.  So Thailand remained complacent and did nothing to improve its farmers' yields and productivity, preferring instead to support agri conflomerates like CP and the petrochemicals industry's sales of dangerous pesticides and fertilisers to farmers. Some years later they woke up and found their competitiveness in rice exporting was history. 

 

They have applied the same head in the sand approach to tourism without bothering to try to remain competitive and try to provide better experiences and value for money to foreign tourists every year.  Plus the corrupt law enforcement and lack of concerns for safety generate a continuous stream of horrendous stories of tourists being scammed or killed and injured. 

[THE REVERAND]

Pattaya and Thailand struggling that BAD you cannot even get a BANG for your BUCK. 

[alzack]

Thailand has had its day, all take, take now killed the goose that lays the golden egg

OVER SATURATED TOURISM bye bye Thailand, lots of better places for pink fat farangs

[Sticky Wicket]

Just now, marcusarelus said:

Tourist arrivals Thailand to Vietnam Millions to thousands.  Go to the website on the bottom of the graph to see Vietnam is not even in the ballpark. 

Tourist arrivals!! You make me laugh. Malaysians coming for a quick shag at the weekend and millions in transit who never spend a single night here

[alzack]

A quick Shag????  what ever next, not here in Thailand surely

[Dogmatix]

4 minutes ago, Sticky Wicket said:

Burma has 800 islands, wait til they are operational, this place will be DEAD

 

Absolutely. Burma has several islands the size of Phuket that will eventually be developed for tourism.  Thailand has only Phuket and Samui and both were overbuilt, overrun and overscammed by Thais who flocked there from elsewhere to fleece the tourists.  Mafia control public transport on both islands with the connivance of corrupt state officials. 

 

  

[malibukid]

12 minutes ago, Dogmatix said:

Thai tourism in trouble.  This is clearly the right time for Immigration to revive some archaic regulations from the 80s and deny entry to anyone wearing sandals, silk pants or other forms dress arbitrarily deemed impolite by Immigration officers.  

love beads?

[Dogmatix]

Thai government officials really have only the foggiest notion why foreign tourists come to Thailand and will be equally puzzled when they stop coming. 

[eddysmit]

4 hours ago, GeorgeCross said:

wait a minute..

 

if visitors from china, europe, oceania and the middle east are down but tourism is still up where are the new tourists coming from?

 

russia, india? they dont have the numbers to offset europe never mind china, so are they counting surrounding countries too?

 

this cannot be good either way (well for thailand, good for me :D)

 

 

Probably a bit of truth for both sets of Thai speakers,only problem is the American,European spenders are staying away,some ex long stayers are moving to easier countries Visa wise and better for spending wise and happy to put up with a bit lower conditions. where as the lower spending Chinese and Indianans have risen slightly.

[cheapcanuck]

I was one of those tourist who went to Vietnam. It was refreshing change from Thailand. I intend on going back to Vietnam for longer period of time. Which will cut into my visit time to Thailand in the future. Bottom line, my tourist dollars will be going elsewhere and not stopping in Thailand.

Edited July 23, 2019 by cheapcanuck