Lack of European visitors the cause of Thailand's tourism woes, says hotelier

[Fred white]

24 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

4!

 

Any advance on 4?

Yes me

[miamiman123]

My Friend who is in management at a high end hotel said that we were told by the parent company to make “no comment” if asked our opinion as why the tourists are not in Thailand.

says it all . 

[Benmart]

1 hour ago, metempsychotic said:

why is this posted twice?

I saw the same and ignored it, as I often do these days.

[PatOngo]

50 minutes ago, mok199 said:

Apparently ToT is awarding 50 bt cash to every European and or westerener on arrival .

Funded by public donations?

[tabarin]

40 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I just use non-os and never interact with Thai immigration, so don't need to do TM30s.

Trip to Vietnam every 90 days isn't that onerous a duty.

Went to DaNang in July, off to Hanoi in October.

Tickets cheap as fk as well, the other day was 1200 baht direct flight CNX to Hanoi and 1600 for Da Nang. 
It is actually rewarding to go there rather than a local holiday or even Laos / Cambodia,
flying to Udon often costs me 1500B and not includes the scam minivan + tuk tuk as soon I cross the border.

Many of my Thai friends are also on holidays in Taiwan, Vietnam and not in Thailand itself anymore.

European friends tell me they are sick of Thailand, most go to every country except Thailand (only use it for transit flights and stay 1 night max),
guess that counts as Tourist for TAT. Can't wait for my new non-o visa in december, gonna be fun in Vietnam again,
it is thriving there, compared to me being Bored as fk over here (in terms of having some fun outside of home, its just depressing nowadays).

Miss the days you came across tons of people from 2PM, have some chats and drinks in this bar and another bar. Nowadays it is just me alone in there.

Edited September 18, 2019 by tabarin

[bkkcanuck8]

12 minutes ago, Oziex1 said:

Europeans of a certain age enjoy their smokes, Thai smoking on the beach laws with big fines and threats of jail time, do not make for a relaxing holiday. 

Well then, good riddance ????

 

When it comes to tourism here the things that affect it most are money and economy... The rise of the baht against tourists countries make it more expensive... the rest of the issues don't generally affect tourists who come here for a short time... and those that do would just be irritations... 

[bkkcanuck8]

4 minutes ago, PatOngo said:

Funded by public donations?

Funded by a 50 baht rise AOT fee on taxis...

[Muhendis]

1 hour ago, metempsychotic said:

why is this posted twice?

Same reason as double pricing I expect.

[Saint Nick]

29 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

But just like Pattaya isn't Thailand, nether is Phuket or Krabi... or even Chiang Mai.

Last time I checked...it was!

[BritManToo]

6 minutes ago, tabarin said:

Tickets cheap as fk as well, the other day was 1200 baht direct flight CNX to Hanoi and 1600 for Da Nang.

I paid

2,900bht return for Hanoi.

2,600bht return for Da Nang.

 

Prices are up and down all the time, free 14 day VISA waiver for Brits helps too.

Edited September 18, 2019 by BritManToo

[phantomfiddler]

The currency is not the only problem. Having seen 8 people from that large triangular country openly urinating group style in the centre of Soi 4 I would hazard a guess that certain factors are leading to a decrease in Pattaya,s charm. While this type of behaviour may be acceptable in certain countries, notably India and Pakistan, Europeans tend to be slightly more up-market and avoid such places ????

[bbbbooboo]

Hmmm... som nom na?

[Teee]

2 hours ago, smedly said:

also, lets not forget the expat/retired population who generally provide a steady 12 month spend that is often overlooked, I am hearing more and more exit stories as people are fed up being targeted by nonsense new cumbersome immigration rules that seem to have no other purpose than to force some people down a route of paying hefty bribes for application approvals because of some very simple marginal technicality

I doubt if the expat population are that worried about the TM30 rule changes althou I see that being relaxed soon

I know from all the expats i still have contact with is the money situation due to currency rates.

Thailand esp Bangkok is just so expensive now. As i said on another forum the other day, rentals for a small room 35sqm going now for 10 to 15k a month.

If you want to live the dream and live in a nice place like for like rental maybe getting top end of rental in UK. What i mean is....why lower your living standards to chase the dream.

Rentals for a nice place to call home in Bkk around min 50000 bht a month....far to expensive.

Now expats have to decide if they stay their there living standards will be lowered and most feel uncomfortable with that.

Lets put another way....they wont be able to chase the easy young asian be it Thai or Fillipino girls or lbs to keep them company for a few days a week.

Edited September 18, 2019 by Teee

[capdagde]

Sofitel is a 4-star hotel brand belonging to Accor Hotels, the 6th largest hotel chain in the world - "the Sofitel group" is a misnomer.... https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-largest-hotel-chains-in-the-world.html

[chingmai331]

"new found friends from China, Russia and India."

Um, did you mean 'new foul friends'?

[EricTh]

I really doubt the truth in this article.

 

Traditionally, the top 5 tourist countries to Thailand is

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Thailand#Top_25_arrivals_by_nationality

 

China

Malaysia

South Korea

Japan

Laos

 

 

Edited September 18, 2019 by EricTh

[zydeco]

1 hour ago, barryofthailand said:

The lack of American visitors also caused by the strong Baht and the TM 30 woes

We don't figure in their calculations. They only want to see the American taxpayer committed to a defensive pact should they screw up--always a good chance. Fortunately, the percentage and raw numbers of Americans in Thailand seems to be declining. People would rather risk the drug cartels cutting off their heads as tourists and expats in Mexico than come to Thailand. I guess that says something.

Edited September 18, 2019 by zydeco

[BritManToo]

7 minutes ago, Teee said:

Rentals for a nice place to call home in Bkk around min 50000 bht a month....far to expensive.

I have a new 3 bed/3 shower house in Chiang Mai for 10,900/month (mortgage).

It's every bit as comfortable as my former homes in the UK ranging from 300-500 thousand pounds.

But there were less buffalo in the field behind my house in the UK.

 

 

[Colabamumbai]

With my Canadian Dollar at about 22 Baht, etc. After 10 years going to check out the Philippines, easier immigration policy and not losing or costing me 33% more, with a high Baht. 

[Xonax]

Clean up the country and stop fleecing the foreigners, if you would like to have returning visitors.  The Western Tourists have been here, and won´t come back.

Edited September 18, 2019 by Xonax

[southcoast]

2 hours ago, Mavideol said:

all sounds good but,.....according to TAT nothing to worry about, numbers are up

Yeh, and 6 feet of snow reported for Bangkok tomorrow...

[ThomasThBKK]

9 minutes ago, EricTh said:

I really doubt the truth in this article.

 

Traditionally, the top 5 tourist countries to Thailand is

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Thailand#Top_25_arrivals_by_nationality

 

China

Malaysia

South Korea

Japan

Laos

 

 

 

Most of these aren't tourists, how many wealthy laotian tourists do u think are here? That's a HUUGGEE amount of business travellers including Malaysia and China. Laotian, Japan, Korean....

 

Just look at the fancy phuket resorts, it's mostly europeans and americans,russians having the money to spend there.

 

 

 

 

Edited September 18, 2019 by ThomasThBKK

[Jane Dough]

23 minutes ago, phantomfiddler said:

The currency is not the only problem. Having seen 8 people from that large triangular country openly urinating group style in the centre of Soi 4 I would hazard a guess that certain factors are leading to a decrease in Pattaya,s charm. While this type of behaviour may be acceptable in certain countries, notably India and Pakistan, Europeans tend to be slightly more up-market and avoid such places ????

Oh come now, sir. Britain is hardly large and I would dispute the fact that it is even vaguely triangular. 

 

Rooster

[Teee]

2 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

I have a new 3 bed/3 shower house in Chiang Mai for 10,900/month (mortgage).

It's every bit as comfortable as my former homes in the UK ranging from 300-500 thousand pounds.

But there were less buffalo in the field behind my house in the UK.

 

 

Very nice and Wow!! Love the buffalo. But most expats do not want to live in Chaing Mai....i only came to live in Thailand Bangkok because I was living with my ex...a filipino who is head of a school in Bkk so living outside Bkk was not an option.

As a senseable persons I looked after my pension money and watched what I spent. She would get peed off and say stop counting your money.

She thought money grows on trees.

I used to say...if you dont watch your money then soon you dont have any.

As a couple i used to pay the rent elec etc and any food and then trips away a few times a month. From Dec 2016 to May this year i see an increase of my expendature up at least 35%.

Hence why i gave up my dream.

Most expats i still talk to...are not comfortable anymore

[Beggar]

3 minutes ago, Teee said:

Very nice and Wow!! Love the buffalo. But most expats do not want to live in Chaing Mai....i only came to live in Thailand Bangkok because I was living with my ex...a filipino who is head of a school in Bkk so living outside Bkk was not an option.

As a senseable persons I looked after my pension money and watched what I spent. She would get peed off and say stop counting your money.

She thought money grows on trees.

I used to say...if you dont watch your money then soon you dont have any.

As a couple i used to pay the rent elec etc and any food and then trips away a few times a month. From Dec 2016 to May this year i see an increase of my expendature up at least 35%.

Hence why i gave up my dream.

Most expats i still talk to...are not comfortable anymore

For sure you must be a happy guy. On the Philippines where I stayed almost 3 years I never heard a story about a sick water buffalo. 

[glennb6]

1 hour ago, NanLaew said:

The expat/retired demographic is infinitesimally small compared to agriculture or tourism and thus a totally insignificant blip on the radar when it comes to contributing to Thailand's GDP.

 

I hear and read plenty stories as well... about people hearing stories about other people's stories about leaving.

Per head, tourist probably spend what, maybe 4 to 8000b a day x 14 days = 84,000b average vacation, and I'll bet that most tourists come here once or twice in their life simply because there are many other places to see.

 

Expat spends maybe 30,000-65,000b a month so 23,750b for same period, and they do that year in year out. Per head expats per year that would be 617,500b vs 84,000b, or roughly 800% more income per expat than tourist.

 

I'm sure that the overall number of tourists vs expats are far higher, but some tourists become expats. And, expats are 100% positive cash flow, not to mention the 800k entry fee....

 

Does govt consider these numbers?

[davidstipek]

everyone Is blaming Issues here on TM30 and TN=M28... In the first place why are they needed? Immigration know who everyone is and where they are Lodged. It is not the responsibility of Land Lords, Wife, Family and Businesses to report where every Tourist is. This Is an Immigrations issue, if they were keeping records as the "ARE" required to do. 30 day Visa's. 60 day even 90 day they have everyone Passport Number Address and Visa number. If system does not show them exiting Thailand when required, Immigration needs to go look for them! Period!  ! year Visa, Retirees, and everyone else is doing a 90 day report. This is suppose to tell Immigration where everyone else is (Addresses) every three months. The only logically reason for the requirement of the TM30 and TM28 is to do someone in Immigration's Job for them... Why? First of all we are not allowed to work! If I am doing a Government Job for them... I Damn well want to be paid for it! The real hurt on the economy here is requiring Thai Citizens and Businesses to pay fines for someone failure.... 

 

Wonder who is really keeping this cash flow, is this the real reason these forms are being pushed down the throats of Thai People?

 

If someone has stayed beyond their exit dat... Immigration knows... It's in the system right? Then go get them and do "Your " job!

The 2nd Logical reason for these forms is for Tax Purposes.  "Income"! and who is not reporting it. The way Thai Citizens are treated by their own Government is appalling!. Can any one blame people for not reporting? Does not the Bureau of Taxation keep records? do inspections? Or just a chair in an office  where they reside... telling their Bosses how over worked they are (Yet nothing to show for it...)

 

This is not by any means injection the loss of face on anyone! It is showing the real reasons why Thailand has forced the use of the TM30 and TM28. No wonder there is a double price for everything here, someone has to replace funds that are being used (Minus any Brown Envelopes… if you please) 

 

This is why people are afraid to rent rooms anymore. I get what retirement I can from the Government so I tried to increase it to help my family expenses (Neighbor just told me...) But it's not worth it anymore, I just end up giving it to the Government! They always find a way...

 

This is just one Major reason Tourists are staying away... They Love Thailand, their longtime friends love them too. But we are tired of Thailand always finding a way to take what they can and then run... Politicians not caring one Iota about Thailand or its people and future

 

I will stop here before I really get upset! I am here by Karma... Served my Oversea' duty here, went home! Survived (Thailand Protected me!!) Married Stateside Thai Lady, Ordained a Monk... to learn more, Retired and returned to the Country Kingdom who made sure I survived, returned to Thailand with my Wife to help her take care of her family as She had done in America.... Karma.... say what you want... Just plain Old Honest to Goodness Karma!

[Percy P]

1 hour ago, mok199 said:

Apparently ToT is awarding 50 bt cash to every European and or westerener on arrival .

Might as well just offering them a glass of beer.

[crazykopite]

To many silly regulations and a very strong baht meaning less money in the tourists pocket

[Joromei]

2 hours ago, smedly said:

also, lets not forget the expat/retired population who generally provide a steady 12 month spend that is often overlooked, I am hearing more and more exit stories as people are fed up being targeted by nonsense new cumbersome immigration rules that seem to have no other purpose than to force some people down a route of paying hefty bribes for application approvals because of some very simple marginal technicality

True, we are only one family, but our holiday stays in hotels have gone from each month to nearly nothing. Mainly due to baht. Add that many others and it's got to have some effect.