Tourism was a powerful economic engine in Thailand. Then a boat full of Chinese sank

By JOHN REED

 

Divers on a rubber raft during a search operation in the water off the resort island of Phuket, Thailand, in July 2018 after a boat with Chinese tourists sank in a storm. (Associated Press)

 

Phuket —  Phuket’s old town, with its open-air noodle shops and brightly painted Sino-Portuguese shop fronts, is a favorite social media and selfie backdrop for tourists from China. The island, which has a year-round population of 500,000, typically attracts about 7 million foreign visitors a year, of whom 2 million are Chinese — Thailand’s biggest source of tourists.

Chinese tourists can normally even be relied on to come to Phuket in the May to October rainy season, when Europeans mostly stay away. But this month Thalang Road, in the heart of the old town, has been largely deserted.

 

Chinese groups canceled trips to Phuket en masse last year after a boat carrying tourists from the mainland capsized in July, killing 47 people. This season, say tradespeople, things are even worse. According to the local hotel association, occupancy on the island is running at only 40% to 50%.

 

Chutimon Konglao, a minivan driver, says this is the worst season she has seen in more than a decade of driving tourists around the island.

 

Full story: https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2019-08-22/tourism-was-a-powerful-economic-engine-in-thailand-then-a-boat-full-of-chinese-sank

 

Los Angeles Times: 2019-08-24

 

It's the only way the Thai will learn that safety is important.....

I think the strong Baht has a much bigger impact than that boat accident.

Good article with a lot of home truths.

Edited August 24, 20196 yr by madmitch

17 minutes ago, Youlike said:

It's the only way the Thai will learn that safety is important.....

Hilarious ????????????

The sinking of the boat was the tipping point. The bad PR had been building for years before that incident. 

People can only herded , abused and ripped off for so long...even the Chinese have had enough of the Land of Smiles....

Edited August 24, 20196 yr by mok199

The real question is why did the boat sink and the answer is greed. 

31 minutes ago, RotBenz8888 said:

I think the strong Baht has a much bigger impact than that boat accident.

For Brits and Aussies surely, beyond that ...... there is a pretty big world out there.  

19 minutes ago, notasmartassknowitallfarag said:

The real question is why did the boat sink and the answer is greed. 

Once the boat is flooded with Indian and Chinese saviours?

Chutimon Konglao, a minivan driver, says this is the worst season she has seen in more than a decade of ripping off tourists around the island.

The problem is the taxi not the boat. 

"I so glad we were not on the Phoenix."

"Me too. Where you want to go on vacation next year?"

"Syria."

 

1 hour ago, LomSak27 said:

For Brits and Aussies surely, beyond that ...... there is a pretty big world out there.  

And nearly all the western currencies are doing just as badly.

But the sad truth is, all the other countries around Asia are much more tourist friendly these days.

Thailand has just become a bit uncomfortable, and a bit expensive.

Edited August 24, 20196 yr by BritManToo

1 hour ago, HLover said:

Once the boat is flooded with Indian and Chinese saviours?

No, the Thaitanic is full of Thais!

2 hours ago, Youlike said:

It's the only way the Thai will learn that safety is important.....

They're learning slowly (thinking about road accidents)'

The slowdown in tourism has highlighted lapses in development of its infrastructure; Thailand’s five main airports are all accommodating millions more passengers than they have capacity for, meaning long queues on arrival.

 

Nope. Going to have to run that past me again.......

3 hours ago, RotBenz8888 said:

I think the strong Baht has a much bigger impact than that boat accident.

It will certainly slow down any chance of a recovery.

 

Last year there were about 450 THB to 100 CNY. Today, 5 of the 7 Thai banks that I have rates for are below 400 THB to 100 CNY

2 hours ago, notasmartassknowitallfarag said:

The real question is why did the boat sink and the answer is greed. 

I believe the owner was a Chinese citizen

2 hours ago, mok199 said:

People can only herded , abused and ripped off for so long...even the Chinese have had enough of the Land of Smiles....

The Chinese seemed to cotton on to this a lot quicker than most of their predecessors... social media is massive in China and clips like the Thai girl wai-ing or man being assulted for not giving a tip and the like get a lot of air-time there.... and as we all know from the herds you see around Pattaya etc, where one goes (or doesnt) others follow in large numbers

The boat incident was make worse when General Fatso said this and put the blame on the Chinese instead creating a backlash. 

“Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan blamed Chinese tour operators for not respecting Thai safety legislation”. 

2 hours ago, HLover said:

Once the boat is flooded with Indian and Chinese saviours?

There is no remorse on the deaths. What about if 47 were filthy bagpackers?

36 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

The boat incident was make worse when General Fatso said this and put the blame on the Chinese instead creating a backlash. 

“Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan blamed Chinese tour operators for not respecting Thai safety legislation”. 

A few Chinese that I met where not happy with his comments they told me it was all over the Chinese media

4 hours ago, Youlike said:

It's the only way the Thai will learn that safety is important.....

Which part of

 

selling the boat

 

restoring the boat

 

putting the boat back to the sea

 

make you think Thais are able to learn?

Edited August 24, 20196 yr by HeyHeyHey

Prayut cares nowt for tourism. Bars close early, economic FX is ****, foreigners can't buy property - even condos without jumping through hoops

AND don't even start me on TM30, 90 days reporting, Visa letters etc.  What happened to Land of Smiles?  Thais are just not happy anymore (apart from the rich pigs) and it all filters down to US.

 

BTW not much publicity for this tragedy compared to the cave kids.

Not ONE WORD in the article about how to keep this country CLEAN.I'm sure this need to be adressed because the tourist want to come for their holyday to a country that take safety and ecological careseriously.Who wants to come for a expensive holiday when the beaches look like they look..I think quality is the buzzword,not quantity..another word would be sustainability..

What are the types of sustainable tourism?

Tourism forms identified by the literature as being “sustainable” are numerous: ecological tourism (ecotourism), green tourism, soft, rural tourism and agrotourism, community tourism, solidarity and responsible tourism, all these opposing to the traditional, mass tourism.

Were does people want to go on their holidays,her's what Google says:

https://www.travelsupermarket.com/en-gb/travel-insurance/where-the-world-wants-to-go-on-holiday/

Not one word mentions Thailand..Thailand need to rethink MANY things..Language skills is lacking BIG times,English that is..To teach what the word SERVICE really means..so many more things but i stop for now and crawl back to hide under a rock...But living here with family for 17 years i can still say that i love Thais and Thailand ????

4 hours ago, Youlike said:

It's the only way the Thai will learn that safety is important.....

They still won’t learn. 
 

 

1 hour ago, Eric Loh said:

The boat incident was make worse when General Fatso said this and put the blame on the Chinese instead creating a backlash. 

“Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan blamed Chinese tour operators for not respecting Thai safety legislation”. 

This is why they won’t learn and it will happen again. They refuse to take responsibility for anything. Ever.

and has any lesson been learned from the accident? 

What a sad situation that was, the sad part is there was still two empty seats!!!!!!!!!!!