Strong baht, lack of westerners, will it really hurt thailand

[Straight8]

18 hours ago, Inn Between said:

I don't know how many tourists really factor in the strength of the baht when making destination decisions. I was going through the checkout at one of the grocery stores here in Canada and was wearing a Thailand t-shirt. The cashier asked me if I'd been there, and when I told her I'd actually worked there for several years, she exclaimed that it was a "bucket list" destination for her. I cautioned her that she may want to check out the exchange rate as the baht is very strong and the CAD is very weak these days. She responded that it probably won't matter much because Thailand is so cheap anyway.

 

I think a lot of people approach it that way, so the strong baht probably doesn't have much adverse effect on arrival numbers. Any slowdown in tourism is more like;y caused by worse economic situations in the countries that would typically supply tourists.  

A cashier. Hmmm, not the smartest tool in the shed to say it doesn't matter. Just shows ignorance and most likely something she may have seen or heard a long time ago and has NFI. A cashiers salary and the current state of prices to exchange, bet she aint never gonna see Thailand.

 

[gamini]

22 hours ago, meand said:

If every westerner flew out of Thailand tomorrow they would be fine. We are the only ones who do not seem to realize that. 

 

Sure, some businesses would be hurt, but places like Taco joints and bars. Do you think Thais really care? 

 

Take Huawei as an example, no US sales, and now second place in the world behind Samsung in phone sales. 

 

Life goes on, the average deal in Thailand is between Thais and other Thai or Asian companies. Foreigners think the red carpet should be laid out for them because they feel the entire economy would collapse without them. This is the problem, the entitlement.

 

The truth is Pattaya and Walking Street would shut down, and Thailand would probably be better off for it. The truth is not popular, but it is still the truth. 

I for one very happy to see them going. Most farangs are pretty lowlife, poorly educated and many of them are here because they can't find a decent looking girl in their own country. They don't respect Thai ways they dress badly. They get into fights many are hiding from the law in their own countries. They don't bother to learn the language or make any local friends.

[iamariva1957]

23 hours ago, meand said:

If every westerner flew out of Thailand tomorrow they would be fine. We are the only ones who do not seem to realize that. 

 

Sure, some businesses would be hurt, but places like Taco joints and bars. Do you think Thais really care? 

 

Take Huawei as an example, no US sales, and now second place in the world behind Samsung in phone sales. 

 

Life goes on, the average deal in Thailand is between Thais and other Thai or Asian companies. Foreigners think the red carpet should be laid out for them because they feel the entire economy would collapse without them. This is the problem, the entitlement.

 

The truth is Pattaya and Walking Street would shut down, and Thailand would probably be better off for it. The truth is not popular, but it is still the truth. 

You are forgetting the long-term ramifications; the trickle down effect. 

Sure Thailand will be okay for a bit... but the hotels, the bars, the resorts, the condo/apartment property markets and even the beach vendors will be affected to just name a few... well... those financial losses will be felt.

Coupled those with the loss of the fees paid (to immigration, ATMs, the dual price system employed here, etc)... well how can you say otherwise. The Chinese nor the Indians won't pick up the balance. The Russians seem to prefer Nam anyway.

As for a "red carpet"... really? That is nonsense. If anything Thailand should be welcoming anyone to come and live here! We are a promotional tool for their tourism markets. Are we vital? No. But we are an asset! But to treat us like Parolees is counterproductive and does nothing for the country or all that Thailand has to offer! 

[TG911]

The most annoying thing really is, it doesn't cost Thailand anything to have Farangs here.

Zero costs ... no social security, not any sort of allowances, nothing, zero, zilch ... only Baht benefits. The ones who have no money, good bye anyway.

 

The money always only flows from one side, for any Farang who is here ... from Farangs/tourists pockets into a Thai pocket, whether this is government fees, visa's, supporting Thai families, Thai girls getting house ownerships and chanote titles for free from loved up guys, local businesses, Hotels, Hospitals, restaurants, bars, real estate, rents, cars, car tax, motorbikes, gas, local health insurances, 7/11's, police tea money  ... name anything ... it doesn't matter. It doesn't cost them anything, they only benefit and create jobs around it. Who also benefit. 

 

All they would need to do and focus on is to get their border security under control and have a working system in place to keep the real criminals out.

 

Or is this too simple of a thought?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 19, 2019 by TG911

[Youlike]

9 hours ago, a3tsw said:

Yes , have to agree with you there , I visited the large KingPower store here in Phuket yesterday and I was the only caucasian in a sea of thousands of Chinese tourists and they were spending , as the queues at the checkouts and registration counter were miles long.

That's all over the world, chinese buying loads of brandnamed goods and of course they want to have a refund for the VAT which causes huge lines.

 

My wife also was in that line but she gave up after 30 min....

[TG911]

4 minutes ago, Youlike said:

9 hours ago, a3tsw said:

 

That's all over the world, chinese buying loads of brandnamed goods and of course they want to have a refund for the VAT which causes huge lines.

 

My wife also was in that line but she gave up after 30 min....

Happened to me at Munich airport also a few years back ... too long queues to get your VAT back, either wait or miss your flight.

I think they do this on purpose.

 

Only time this worked for me was in Singapore ... fully automated everything, with guys/girls next to you to help and speed up everything.

Took all less than 10 min and done

 

[amykat]

22 hours ago, Yinn said:

Japanese company are much, much important than the western company.

How many Toyota, Isuzu, Nissan, Honda etc compare with BMW and Harley.

 

Marriott is one hotel company, There are much, much more Thai owner the hotel.

 

All the big factory area is about 80-90% Japanese company.

 

i went to party in Patong last night. More Indian, Arab and Chinese than farang. 

 

Farang is welcome, everyone is welcome same. Chinese spend more for eating than farang (lot of seafood), farang spend more for drink alcohol. 

Oh good, I suggest Thailand put a 400 percent tax on seafood eaten within the country, you know, like wine,  before the Chinese and other invaders come eat up all your supplies.  Wine you can keep making over and over again, seafood not so much.

[bkk6060]

15 minutes ago, amykat said:

Oh good, I suggest Thailand put a 400 percent tax on seafood eaten within the country, you know, like wine,  before the Chinese and other invaders come eat up all your supplies.  Wine you can keep making over and over again, seafood not so much.

False.

Most of the seafood you are eating is farmed.

So, over and over again is what you are getting.

[ThaiRebound]

Chinese tourists to Thailand will stay at Chinese owned hotels, visit Chinese stores, and eat at Chinese restaurants (or just eat instant noodles in their hotel rooms). Thais aren't shrewd enough to earn money from Chinese tour agencies and tourists. 

Edited August 19, 2019 by ThaiRebound

[TG911]

26 minutes ago, ThaiRebound said:

Thais aren't shrewd enough to earn money from Chinese tour agencies and tourists. 

I'm pretty sure the Thais from my local mom & pop shop and restaurants are more happy to see me than yet another Chinese tour bus passing by. There is a Hotel in this town where I live which exclusively accommodates chinese ppl and it has 10+ tour busses every night parking outside. 

 

They come at 8-9pm ... and leave at 7-8am in the morning. You never see them walking anywhere or buying anything from any local shop. They never even see the beach. Sad kind of touring really, I could never imagine doing something like this.

 

Also pretty strange, the beach is only a short 10min walk from that Hotel. 

 

I would go an explore the area by myself a little, but they don't do that. Complete herd mentality.

 

 

Edited August 19, 2019 by TG911

[Youlike]

4 hours ago, TG911 said:

Happened to me at Munich airport also a few years back ... too long queues to get your VAT back, either wait or miss your flight.

I think they do this on purpose.

 

Only time this worked for me was in Singapore ... fully automated everything, with guys/girls next to you to help and speed up everything.

Took all less than 10 min and done

 

They better do it as Japan, give the refund in the shop before the customer pays....just deduct it from the bill....

[Youlike]

4 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

False.

Most of the seafood you are eating is farmed.

So, over and over again is what you are getting.

And on top of that the seafood is all <deleted>, raised in rivers even when they are salt water fish.

 

Good seafood (i mean steaks without bones like cod-fillet) is very expensive in Thailand...westerners don't need no bones/skin/tails/heads....just a nice fillet is what they want...and in Europe that doesn't cost more than a decent steak.

[ThaiRebound]

4 hours ago, TG911 said:

I'm pretty sure the Thais from my local mom & pop shop and restaurants are more happy to see me than yet another Chinese tour bus passing by. There is a Hotel in this town where I live which exclusively accommodates chinese ppl and it has 10+ tour busses every night parking outside. 

 

They come at 8-9pm ... and leave at 7-8am in the morning. You never see them walking anywhere or buying anything from any local shop. They never even see the beach. Sad kind of touring really, I could never imagine doing something like this.

 

Also pretty strange, the beach is only a short 10min walk from that Hotel. 

 

I would go an explore the area by myself a little, but they don't do that. Complete herd mentality.

 

 

And the the surname of the owner of the hotel with the tour busses that line up is Chen or Wang? Party Membership, implicitly. And why not? I respect the Chinese. Survival of fittest. SE Asia is theirs.  

[Airbagwill]

On 8/18/2019 at 4:24 PM, nomad2019 said:

Chinese tourists do the boat trips,the island tours etc but I've never really seen any I'm restaurants or bars.

Chinese already are outnumbering other tourists in total in some places.

It's all down to product and demographics - the westerners who have businesses here involved in Tourism in general cater for other westerners - is they will inevitably miss out on the new Chinese and Indian tourists.

[emptypockets]

12 hours ago, TG911 said:

The most annoying thing really is, it doesn't cost Thailand anything to have Farangs here.

Zero costs ... no social security, not any sort of allowances, nothing, zero, zilch ... only Baht benefits. The ones who have no money, good bye anyway.

 

The money always only flows from one side, for any Farang who is here ... from Farangs/tourists pockets into a Thai pocket, whether this is government fees, visa's, supporting Thai families, Thai girls getting house ownerships and chanote titles for free from loved up guys, local businesses, Hotels, Hospitals, restaurants, bars, real estate, rents, cars, car tax, motorbikes, gas, local health insurances, 7/11's, police tea money  ... name anything ... it doesn't matter. It doesn't cost them anything, they only benefit and create jobs around it. Who also benefit. 

 

All they would need to do and focus on is to get their border security under control and have a working system in place to keep the real criminals out.

 

Or is this too simple of a thought?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes 

[Airbagwill]

1 hour ago, emptypockets said:

Or is this too simple of a thought?

Complete misunderstanding of the whole situation - expats are causu=ing all sorts of disruption - they require houses and utilities, cars, roads healthcare etc etc - in fact a lot more than Chinese tourists who just come and spend and go.

[emptypockets]

2 minutes ago, Airbagwill said:

Complete misunderstanding of the whole situation - expats are causu=ing all sorts of disruption - they require houses and utilities, cars, roads healthcare etc etc - in fact a lot more than Chinese tourists who just come and spend and go.

Agree except you're quoting the wrong person. 

[Airbagwill]

14 hours ago, TG911 said:

The most annoying thing really is, it doesn't cost Thailand anything to have Farangs here.

Zero costs ... no social security, not any sort of allowances, nothing, zero, zilch ... only Baht benefits. The ones who have no money, good bye anyway.

 

The money always only flows from one side, for any Farang who is here ... from Farangs/tourists pockets into a Thai pocket, whether this is government fees, visa's, supporting Thai families, Thai girls getting house ownerships and chanote titles for free from loved up guys, local businesses, Hotels, Hospitals, restaurants, bars, real estate, rents, cars, car tax, motorbikes, gas, local health insurances, 7/11's, police tea money  ... name anything ... it doesn't matter. It doesn't cost them anything, they only benefit and create jobs around it. Who also benefit. 

 

All they would need to do and focus on is to get their border security under control and have a working system in place to keep the real criminals out.

 

Or is this too simple of a thought?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nonsense - see the post above.....

[LammyTS1]

Average spend by tourist(Jan-Jun 2019):-

 

Australia		80555
UK		80039
USA		76084
Russia		74753
Europe		73144
China		54943
Japan		43176
India		40207

 

 

[Airbagwill]

6 hours ago, LammyTS1 said:

Average spend by tourist(Jan-Jun 2019):-

 

Australia		80555
UK		80039
USA		76084
Russia		74753
Europe		73144
China		54943
Japan		43176
India		40207

 

 

A pretty pointless set of figures

No source 

No trend 

No analysis

No comment

 

 

What is indicated in the other posts is that the amounts spent by Chinese is set to bourgeon and in some places is already exceeding all-comers.

New visa-less entry being considered should further increase their share of the market.

Unless faring hoteliers and the like prepare for Chinese and Indian customers they will use out big time.

 

PS - as Chinese outnumber all orther nationalities it doesn't really matter if their "average" spend is half that of Brits as they outnumber them some many to one. The total coming into Thai coffers dwarfs that of the west.

Edited August 20, 2019 by Airbagwill

[LammyTS1]

A pretty pointless set of figures
No source 
No trend 
No analysis
No comment
 
 
What is indicated in the other posts is that the amounts spent by Chinese is set to bourgeon and in some places is already exceeding all-comers.
New visa-less entry being considered should further increase their share of the market.
Unless faring hoteliers and the like prepare for Chinese and Indian customers they will use out big time.
 
PS - as Chinese outnumber all orther nationalities it doesn't really matter if their "average" spend is half that of Brits as they outnumber them some many to one. The total coming into Thai coffers dwarfs that of the west.

The above figures are average spend per tourist per trip.

Yes, Chinese outnumber all other nationalities due to having the worlds largest population, but if you group farang countries together, they then outnumber and also outspend the Chinese by a whopping 1.2 billion baht over a 6 month period.

Following figs incl U.K., USA, Russia, Australia & Europe but excludes Scandinavia, Canada & NZ:-

Total income from Farang tourists = 4.3 billion
Total income from Chinese tourists = 3.1 billion

There’s also been a drop of 7% Chinese tourists compared to the same period last year.









Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Hans007]

On 8/18/2019 at 10:17 PM, Youlike said:

In Europe you can eat a decent meal for under 10 euro = 340 baht. You'll get much food, much meat, fresh vegy, condiments, good seat/table, police around the corner, clean/safe streets/traffic and so on....And after dinner you can have a free safe walk through the nice cities with perfect sidewalks and mannered drivers.

MM Mind you the safe walk could end up very violent nowadays in larger German cities. We have knife attacks daily. NOT funny. Much does not even get into the news...but we all know what is happening. Most of those attacks (i would say 90%) is being performed by Merkels guests from the MIddel East or North-Afrika.

 

If i see how fe Brazilian,Polish,Chinese or Russian Police handle crime...I can only applaud them:-)

 

Under 10 euros..?? a decent meal??? I live in a border region (D/NL/B) and mind you in Belgium and in The Netherlands you can NOT get a decent meal UNDER 20 euros..in a restaurant..!!(I am not talking snackbar or something like that) In germany yes...but Germany is still an exception in this.

 

Hans.

[Ron jeremy]

No problem in any Eastern European country. Very affordable.

[Nyezhov]

10 minutes ago, Ron jeremy said:

No problem in any Eastern European country. Very affordable.

there are loads of places that are affordable. But Budapest in February is not my idea of fun, and I doubt many others would trade a winter in Thailand over a winter in any Eastern European city.

 

Theres no hey dude lets go lay on the beach when its -20 in Przemysl

Edited August 20, 2019 by Nyezhov

[Traubert]

On 8/19/2019 at 6:46 PM, ThaiRebound said:

Chinese tourists to Thailand will stay at Chinese owned hotels, visit Chinese stores, and eat at Chinese restaurants (or just eat instant noodles in their hotel rooms). Thais aren't shrewd enough to earn money from Chinese tour agencies and tourists. 

Is that like the Farangs who drink in Farang owned bars and eat in Farang owned restaurants and stay in Farang owned hotels?

 

Or is it different if you're white?

[Traubert]

5 hours ago, LammyTS1 said:

 

The above figures are average spend per tourist per trip.

Yes, Chinese outnumber all other nationalities due to having the worlds largest population, but if you group farang countries together, they then outnumber and also outspend the Chinese by a whopping 1.2 billion baht over a 6 month period.

Following figs incl U.K., USA, Russia, Australia & Europe but excludes Scandinavia, Canada & NZ:-

Total income from Farang tourists = 4.3 billion
Total income from Chinese tourists = 3.1 billion

There’s also been a drop of 7% Chinese tourists compared to the same period last year.

Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

Mate that's absolutely desperate stuff. What is it supposed to prove?

 

Look here's four countries and a continent and if we add them together they spend more than one country. Woohoo!!

 

Plus you have UK and Europe in there together and even when Brexit happens, UK will still be European.

 

Pus, the Indian population recently exceeded the Chinese population.

 

I have a little question you might consider. Would Thailand prefer the combined 7.4bn in your dodgy numbers or would they like the Chinese to <deleted> off and take the 4.3bn on it's own?

[Roy Baht]

On 8/18/2019 at 4:47 PM, worgeordie said:

then spending like a drunken sailor, the government could be making matters worse.

 

Oh I can't imagine anything a drunken sailor would enjoy more than taking a nice new submarine out for a spin

[LammyTS1]

Mate that's absolutely desperate stuff. What is it supposed to prove?
 
Look here's four countries and a continent and if we add them together they spend more than one country. Woohoo!!
 
Plus you have UK and Europe in there together and even when Brexit happens, UK will still be European.
 
Pus, the Indian population recently exceeded the Chinese population.
 
I have a little question you might consider. Would Thailand prefer the combined 7.4bn in your dodgy numbers or would they like the Chinese to off and take the 4.3bn on it's own?

I answered a previous comment stating Chinese outspend & outnumber farang, which is factually incorrect.
If they’d stated Chinese outnumber British or American then yes, that would be correct.

If one was to leave Thailand that you are suggesting, then they’d prefer the 4.3b from farang to the 3.1b from Chinese I’d imagine.
Thailand needs more tourists so why would they choose to alienate people from one of their largest markets?


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[Yinn]

On 8/19/2019 at 6:00 AM, Fex Bluse said:

Not correct, sorry.

 

If you look only at FDI, then, you are correct. Japan would be #1.

I thought and said it would be higher than that. But yes, I am correct. Again.

 

 

On 8/19/2019 at 6:00 AM, Fex Bluse said:

 

Or, if we talk about tourism only. Then Asia is more important than Farang of course.

 

That is what this thred is about. I correct again!

On 8/19/2019 at 6:00 AM, Fex Bluse said:

 

 

 

• Rice can be grown elsewhere easily.

Thailand is number one, we have the best rice.

 

On 8/19/2019 at 6:00 AM, Fex Bluse said:

•  
• Sex with beautiful women can be purchased from other countries even in Asia.

You have to pay? Most people don’t, only the ....... people. Sad.

 

On 8/19/2019 at 6:00 AM, Fex Bluse said:

Related point, Thais know the least about their own country than any other country measured.

And they know even less about the world outside of Thailand. So, the arrogance can be explained in part by this.

Thailand is the very complicated, so much to learn, so much culture, history.

You live here and are illiterate. Must be hard for you.

That study, they didn’t ask me, or anyone I know. Don’t believe it.

[Nyezhov]

7 hours ago, Yinn said:

Thailand is the very complicated, so much to learn, so much culture, history.

I find Thailand fascinating because it's a rare example of a modern country developing without ever being "owned" or run by a colonial power