I see the Foreign Ministry is doing their very best to make foreign tourists feel welcome in their fairy kingdom. Couldn't they have been a bit more diplomatic (kind of their area of expertise, isn't it!?), by making their concerns known internally? Just saying.

 

I've often thought: If only the Indians knew what most Thais think of them, we wouldn't need to worry about being overrun by Indians.

prone to entering Thailand illegally to either make a living or to protect themselves from natural disasters in their own countries

 

Minister : screw those fleeing natural disasters.  They don't have any money. ????

finally somebody realized the so called ""rich quality tourists" from China and India may not be to TAT quality (expected) standards

2 hours ago, wahpiangeh56 said:

Its baffling to begin with.Why Single out the Chinese and the INdians?

Because there are to many Chinese and Indians....Thailand is for over weight beer drinking farangs and we dont like to share.....We need to keep them there other foreigners out... 

Edited August 20, 20196 yr by fforest1

Is it that Thailand now for low life farangs or bagpackers ????????????

2 hours ago, nickmondo said:

yes, and one less to add to that in November......me.

Where are you off to nickmondo? 

2 hours ago, emptypockets said:

What unwelcome feeling would that be?  The one that some sad, dejected posters go on about incessantly? I can understand some Thais getting sick and tired of the bar stool, balloon chasing cheap charlies amongst the forum membership but my feelings are the exact opposite. I don't live in Pattaya or Phuket which is where I suspect many of these member reside. 

It would be good to hear from some Isaan based members and see if they get this unwelcome feeling from people in their community. 

We're in Issan.... Don't really get that feeling at all,  the occasional bad manners or older person/uounger person sussing you out,  but outside of that, nothing that most here to on about constantly.

 

I reckon your right about where they are basing themselves ????

6 hours ago, Sonhia said:

What are the main reasons tourists visit Thailand, more so than.any other country within SE Asia? In my opinion the answer is very easy to find and clear to see, THE SEX INDUSTRY, which is illigal but allowed to continue. I wonder why...

Sounds like you hang around VERY different circles to most I know... Or did you taken by a woman and just become bitter?  ????

2 hours ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Unfortunately "Cause & Effect" is missing from the education syllabus along with "Critical Thinking". 

 

That, when influenced by face keeping, a belief they're never ever wrong, and a belief that education only adds a little to the unbounded knowledge they're born with, prevents any such thoughts ever entering their heads.

 

Just like if there are less tourists we should put the prices up to compensate mentality.

 

Mind you the FM are right to worry about Indians. I have many Indian friends and lived and worked there. Visa free travel would be seen by many Indians as an invitation for come, stay as long as possible and work.

Maybe I was off school that day, but I don't remember the lessons in critical thinking

or cause and effect, I did play cricket and vaguely remember messing around with caustic

soda in a chemistry lesson.

 

 

 

 

 

I don’t think they should I am sick of Indian men prowling along the beaches fully dressed taking photo’s of young girls sunbathing what do they bring to Thailand the ones I have seen don’t spend money.

Unfortunately, thailand is on the dangerous countries list for travellers and tourists.Its safety reputation is shot to bits. In this day and age of Internet , it’s the lack of safety plus scams that stop the tourists coming. Not visa rules .

23 minutes ago, Miss Pickle said:

I don’t think they should I am sick of Indian men prowling along the beaches fully dressed taking photo’s of young girls sunbathing what do they bring to Thailand the ones I have seen don’t spend money.

Thats right they need to leave our Thai women alone....

5 hours ago, zydeco said:

And because during the Malayan Emergency it was primarily Malayan Chinese who dominated the Communist insurrection.

The Communists would not have been able to start a war of independence if the British had not been preventing the granting of citizenship and land-rights to the ethnic Chinese who lived in the rural areas.

 

The British were doubtful of the loyalty of these rural Chinese, who had cleared jungles to plant rubber. Ironically, the British won the war against the Communists by enticing the rural Chinese to move to guarded areas by offering them land there, which then deprived the Communists of a source of food and manpower. So, if the British were not wary of the rural Chinese in the first place, the Communists might not have taken up arms.

 

Eventually the ethnic Malay leaders agreed with the British to grant citizenship to around a million rural Chinese and that paved the way for the Independence of Malaya.

17 hours ago, donnacha said:

I do sometimes wonder if the Thai authorities will ever recognize that it was a mistake to torpedo their reputation, built up organically over half a century, as an easy-going destination for Westerners.

Just this week, I was talking to a friend making his first visit to S.E. Asia. He will be using Kuala Lumpur as his hub because, somehow, he heard that Thailand are no longer happy to have Westerners coming in and out of Bangkok - he wants to visit Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam but has now arranged it so that he will have to make only one entry into Thailand. I have not said anything to him, but his understanding is that if you leave Thailand and then return a week later, you can be put in a cell and flown back to your home country.

I do not know how representative my friend is of casual Western travelers, but awareness of Thailand's anti-Western sentiment is clearly filtering into that mainstream. That represents a truly massive destruction of hard-won, irreplaceable brand value.

I understand the political reasoning - the Chinese government will never ask awkward questions about democracy - but it seems short-sighted to apply pressure to one group who have been reliably pouring money into your country for decades, in favor of other groups who may not ever actually deliver the five-star visitors that the Thai elites dream of.

I like Thailand, but it is not a five-star destination. For all the lovely things about Thailand, there are very real trade-offs. That's fine with me, because I am not a five-star guy. Thailand was, for decades, the right trade-off for me and many other westerners seeking a break from the world of 9-to-5 and competent driving.

I know that there are Chinese and Indian multi-millionaires, lots of them, but why would they come here? If you have real money, there are far better destinations. I am pretty sure that, at the end of this grand switch, the Thais will end up with roughly the same amount of tourists on roughly the same budgets, but will far less stability and long-term durability.

The real insanity is that they could have continued attracting tourists from both the West while simultaneously developing these new markets. Why jettison their existing market?

I think Thailand’s new policy is for tourists to come just for a short stay ,spend their money as a tourist would, and fly off to other neighboring countries or home. They do not approve the idea of using Thailand just as a staging ground for neighboring trips congesting up the airports and giving the IO more work which could be effectively utilized to welcome .... more Chinese and Indian tourists.   

7 hours ago, Sonhia said:

What are the main reasons tourists visit Thailand, more so than.any other country within SE Asia? In my opinion the answer is very easy to find and clear to see, THE SEX INDUSTRY, which is illigal but allowed to continue. I wonder why...

 

Let's be honest,  is it really for temples? Food? Smiles? Harmony? Relaxation? Cheapness (NOT ANY MORE), polluted seas / beaches with the most dangerous roads in the world plus highest gun related crimes not forgetting human plus animal rights violations etc etc etc..!

Apparently, the Chinese are not interested.

 

Chinese tourists flocking to Pattaya for transgender shows, Thai food, property – but not for sex

 

Likewise, for an ethnic Chinese from Malaysia like me.

 

If Thailand wants to shed its image as a sex capital of Asia, if not the world, who do you think they prefer to welcome as tourists? 

18 hours ago, ThomasThBKK said:

common sense prevailed

Not quite yet.

 

Fantastic headline, however, I see a purple pig flying in the sky along with the sky turning green and the grass turning blue!!

LOS, similar to any other country, is not going to alienate it's biggest cash cow for decades. Would you?

The Chinese will get everything they want when they want it, for now. The cracks will begin to appear; overstay, illegal business, illegal gambling, etc,etc. Unfortunately, until this happens and becomes problematic to the authorities it is going to be hello Chinese goodbye Westerners.

 

 

1 hour ago, Selatan said:

Ironically, the British won the war against the Communists by enticing the rural Chinese to move to guarded areas by offering them land there, which then deprived the Communists of a source of food and manpower.

Interesting. Maybe they should herd them to a farm in Isaan and lock the gate. Shouldn't be too difficult, just pack into the buses and have a big flag to follow.

But, but, they are here to save the economy !

Once the flood gate it open, it is hard to reclaim the water that has gone through.

19 hours ago, MacMan2000 said:

 

Great post, Thanks !

 

It is really amazing how they can't make the connection between the way they treat the long term\frequent visitors to repercussion it will have on the casual tourists.

 

When a country acts in a way that is precived as unjust to one of your fellow countryman, people will generally blacklist this country on thier next travel plans..

 

They can't dance on both wedding..

You can't treat expats like criminals, and then expact their countryman to come here and spend money.

 

 

 

 

 

Well said. The money I spend annually as an expat isn't a six-digit fortune, but it's consistantly spent at locally owned small businesses and supporting other concerns owned by Thais and not the fickle giant way up north.

Social impact?

On 8/19/2019 at 9:24 PM, donnacha said:

I do sometimes wonder if the Thai authorities will ever recognize that it was a mistake to torpedo their reputation, built up organically over half a century, as an easy-going destination for Westerners.

Just this week, I was talking to a friend making his first visit to S.E. Asia. He will be using Kuala Lumpur as his hub because, somehow, he heard that Thailand are no longer happy to have Westerners coming in and out of Bangkok - he wants to visit Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam but has now arranged it so that he will have to make only one entry into Thailand. I have not said anything to him, but his understanding is that if you leave Thailand and then return a week later, you can be put in a cell and flown back to your home country.

I do not know how representative my friend is of casual Western travelers, but awareness of Thailand's anti-Western sentiment is clearly filtering into that mainstream. That represents a truly massive destruction of hard-won, irreplaceable brand value.

I understand the political reasoning - the Chinese government will never ask awkward questions about democracy - but it seems short-sighted to apply pressure to one group who have been reliably pouring money into your country for decades, in favor of other groups who may not ever actually deliver the five-star visitors that the Thai elites dream of.

I like Thailand, but it is not a five-star destination. For all the lovely things about Thailand, there are very real trade-offs. That's fine with me, because I am not a five-star guy. Thailand was, for decades, the right trade-off for me and many other westerners seeking a break from the world of 9-to-5 and competent driving.

I know that there are Chinese and Indian multi-millionaires, lots of them, but why would they come here? If you have real money, there are far better destinations. I am pretty sure that, at the end of this grand switch, the Thais will end up with roughly the same amount of tourists on roughly the same budgets, but will far less stability and long-term durability.

The real insanity is that they could have continued attracting tourists from both the West while simultaneously developing these new markets. Why jettison their existing market?

Short sightedness and fear of westerners spreading democratic principles