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

[Destiny1990]

Maybe they can set up a panel board comitee and then a sub panel board comitee  to investigate why the Europeans have stopped coming?

Or they just have the discussions here translated into Thai language  but i think they will go for the panel comitee.

[WillyPlatt]

8 hours ago, simon43 said:

Having moved 1 month ago from Thailand to Luang Prabang (Laos), Hanoi is just a 90 minute direct flight away, ideal for weekend trips, and no need to do a TM30 on my return ????

You must be having the time of your life.

2 days and Luang Prabang gets very dull

[DJ54]

China has a week long National holiday beginning Oct. 1 will

be a sign if the numbers aren’t there.... Should get an idea from

Airline tickets already booked....

 

 

[Caldera]

They could start with reining in the hostile attitude that some consulates and IOs have developed towards European tourists who, in their expert opinion, come too frequently or spend too much time in Thailand.

 

That's a low-hanging fruit and costs them nothing in customer acquisition cost: Keep those who are willing to come, for as long or as often as they want to stay.

[terryofcrete]

4 hours ago, NeoDinosaw said:

Add me !!   I have moved back to UK now and will only visit for 90 days in future.  I was planning to travel around the country looking at rocks, the the resurrected TM28/30 means spending a morning at an Immigration office every time I move.  Too much hassle for me now so I shall just stay in my home at the sea side, relax and save money!

So that’s how you get your Rocks Off ! 

[fvw53]

10 hours ago, madmitch said:

How's that losing momentum?

 

Hoteliers realise that arrival numbers mean less in real terms than numbers of nights spent in the Kingdom. They've replaced Europeans spending their two week holiday in Thailand with Chinese on 4-5 day breaks. That means, effectively, you need three Chinese visitors to replace one Swede, German or Brit. So although numbers of arrivals are up, the hotel industry could well be struggling.

You mean the 5 and 4 and 3-star hotels? Chinese tourists are happy to stay in cheaper hotels.

[White Christmas13]

4 hours ago, Donald Trump said:

Hahaha those rich Europeans from Greece and Italy and Spain , let’s kick more foreigners out. Make it hard for them to get work permits , and just hope the tourism and business traffic goes up. Stoopid idiots 

Donald you suppose to be on Twitter not on TVF

[White Christmas13]

3 hours ago, friend of siam said:

well well ...reality sets in in the land of la la smiles...

but who needs these white falangs ( = kanaks ) anyway ...?

only trouble isn't it ?

and worst if they take residence in our supermondane kingdom..these white noses smell bad thats why we need to track them as close as possible...any ideas in the backbenches ? hey wake up...

ok if they leave a circle of five hundret metres around their residence they have to report online and w. selfie...or better attach a tracking anklet to theyr stinking legs..so in real time we know where the are and what they think...

and about tourists...numbers up nigerians banglas burmese Laos and the no bhat chinese...dont forget the Russian big spenders... we dont need europaens....thats all about our bad guy ( europaen ) out and good guy ( any scum from anywhere ) in..

 

and if these puket vendors complain online well thats a computer crime we will make em feel to comply...

Another drunk, at least use your spell checker

[adammike]

1 hour ago, Toscano said:

The exchange rate is horrendous , about 37bt to the pound sterling . When I first came it was 70bt to the pound .

There must be many other beautiful places that are cheaper , better value . The Thai Baht is long overdue for devaluing .   

It's also your pound and my Euro that have fallen so it's going to hurt wherever we go.

Most of us northern Europeans want to visit during our winter and Thailand was great now it's a tip,it's still relatively safe to stay apart from the roads and the dogs.

It looks like Vietnam is the only place where I will get the same level of accommodation and food and beach as Thailand offers on my budget especially as bars and whores are of minimal interest at my age.

Bali would be great but Jan/Feb it's rainy season,the PI might be ok budget wise but it looks like hard work should have gone 25 years ago, Cambodia I have done and Sihanoukville was done for me 5 years ago.

Mind you it's all academic because I am unlikely to go anywhere unless the euro starts rising and I don't see that happening.

 

[peter14]

am in the phil.   visa great. never fill any forms...  lovely visa no one talk about ..   it;s relaxing here thailand become a stress place to be

[mmushr00m]

The truth.

The market they are currently targeting is also a factor in the reduction of western tourists

[Dexlowe]

11 hours ago, ICELANDMAN said:

buy weapons and the only thing the military can do very efficiently

You're very witty for someone whose home is melting. 

 

Let me think now -- oh yes, GT200, a few blimps, some rusty tanks, fighter jets that can barely take off .... and, yeah, a bloody expensive aircraft carrier with no planes. Did I forget anything?

[SteveK]

Thailand is no longer the cheap, exotic and exciting destination it once was. Tourists can get their kicks elsewhere now. Especially with the unstoppable rise of the internet, potential visitors can now check prices and visitors' comments in seconds - there are many places in the world which are cheaper, more welcoming and less dangerous than Thailand. The curtain has been raised.

 

And if Thais do what they always do when the chips are down - raise prices to cover it, then there will be a lot of people struggling to make a baht or two, and whose fault is that?

 

The baht is too strong, but that's great news for the elite who are buying properties in France, USA, Germany, UK etc and all of those foreign investments which now come so cheap. But what about everyone else? The rich just want to get richer, they don't care about the rural Thais who they use derogatory terminology to describe.

 

Just give the elite time to spend their inflated baht on foreign investments, then the baht will come crashing down allowing them to sell their investments for insane amounts of money.

[fruitman]

3 hours ago, Caldera said:

They could start with reining in the hostile attitude that some consulates and IOs have developed towards European tourists who, in their expert opinion, come too frequently or spend too much time in Thailand.

 

That's a low-hanging fruit and costs them nothing in customer acquisition cost: Keep those who are willing to come, for as long or as often as they want to stay.

Even with the right multiple visa i have stress to pass the thai immigration...they always search my passport like i 'm a criminal and even have to accuse me of working illegally in Thailand which i never did or will do. I'm married with a Thai, have plenty cash, never did anything wrong so why they have to treat me so bad??

[emptypockets]

3 hours ago, fvw53 said:

You mean the 5 and 4 and 3-star hotels? Chinese tourists are happy to stay in cheaper hotels.

I often stay in 4 star hotels...full of very respectful Chinese and their kids.

[emptypockets]

3 hours ago, adammike said:

It's also your pound and my Euro that have fallen so it's going to hurt wherever we go.

Most of us northern Europeans want to visit during our winter and Thailand was great now it's a tip,it's still relatively safe to stay apart from the roads and the dogs.

It looks like Vietnam is the only place where I will get the same level of accommodation and food and beach as Thailand offers on my budget especially as bars and whores are of minimal interest at my age.

Bali would be great but Jan/Feb it's rainy season,the PI might be ok budget wise but it looks like hard work should have gone 25 years ago, Cambodia I have done and Sihanoukville was done for me 5 years ago.

Mind you it's all academic because I am unlikely to go anywhere unless the euro starts rising and I don't see that happening.

 

So it is always about the money!

Same as every Thai bashing post...always about the money..tourists or broke 'expats' usually lack of.

[emptypockets]

2 hours ago, Dexlowe said:

You're very witty for someone whose home is melting. 

 

Let me think now -- oh yes, GT200, a few blimps, some rusty tanks, fighter jets that can barely take off .... and, yeah, a bloody expensive aircraft carrier with no planes. Did I forget anything?

yes..a very easy permit to stay.

[emptypockets]

1 hour ago, fruitman said:

Even with the right multiple visa i have stress to pass the thai immigration...they always search my passport like i 'm a criminal and even have to accuse me of working illegally in Thailand which i never did or will do. I'm married with a Thai, have plenty cash, never did anything wrong so why they have to treat me so bad??

Are you a blackfella?…. I've never had a problem. Ever.

Why are you being singled out?

[Destiny1990]

37 minutes ago, emptypockets said:

Are you a blackfella?…. I've never had a problem. Ever.

Why are you being singled out?

Weird because with Emptypockets  u aren’t even suppose to enter Thailand.

So looking at your name better go back home.

[emptypockets]

31 minutes ago, Destiny1990 said:

Weird because with Emptypockets  u aren’t even suppose to enter Thailand.

So looking at your name better go back home.

I have no problem  entering Thailand whatsoever. Have done so for the last years on visa exempt. Not sure what point you are trying to make.

Fruitman said he had a a few problems entering  Thailand..I merely asked his skin colour. If you don't understand the relevance,,,stop posting

[emptypockets]

4 hours ago, peter14 said:

am in the phil.   visa great. never fill any forms...  lovely visa no one talk about ..   it;s relaxing here thailand become a stress place to be

How ' s the local food and security... don't bother answering...both <deleted>. There is no plus side compared to Thailand. Sorry but that's the truth.

[adammike]

2 hours ago, emptypockets said:

So it is always about the money!

Same as every Thai bashing post...always about the money..tourists or broke 'expats' usually lack of.

It's about value for money I for one don't want to sit in a crappy bar on a filthy street drinking over priced beer any more.I first visited Thailand in 1979 and have flown into and out of Bangkok for the last 28 years exept one year I went to India.

Thailand may be a victim of its own success but it can't cope with so many tourists and that's what I am,I have good pensions and benefits that I won't <deleted> up in a place that doesn't want me.

[Destiny1990]

1 hour ago, emptypockets said:

I have no problem  entering Thailand whatsoever. Have done so for the last years on visa exempt. Not sure what point you are trying to make.

Fruitman said he had a a few problems entering  Thailand..I merely asked his skin colour. If you don't understand the relevance,,,stop posting

Lots of us with a white skin have problems entering and or even get send away nowadays.

I rather believe them and my own experiences at airports then whatever feel good fairytale you trying to smearing here. 

 

[Teee]

10 hours ago, sunnyboy2018 said:

Yep. But where?

Siem Reap

Or your home country

[steve654]

Two reasons my family and I have not traveled to Thailand for 5 years now is that the baht is just too high.  It has risen so much against the Canadian dollar that we have zero interest in traveling there.  Second reason is that it really seems Thailand is doing anything and everything to discourage Westerners from visiting and it's really working.

[Teee]

8 hours ago, Toscano said:

The exchange rate is horrendous , about 37bt to the pound sterling . When I first came it was 70bt to the pound .

There must be many other beautiful places that are cheaper , better value . The Thai Baht is long overdue for devaluing .   

Loads of great places cheaper....even UK ????????????????????????????????????????????

[Damrongsak]

17 hours ago, madmitch said:

How's that losing momentum?

 

Hoteliers realise that arrival numbers mean less in real terms than numbers of nights spent in the Kingdom. They've replaced Europeans spending their two week holiday in Thailand with Chinese on 4-5 day breaks. That means, effectively, you need three Chinese visitors to replace one Swede, German or Brit. So although numbers of arrivals are up, the hotel industry could well be struggling.

And three times the number of visitors strains the infrastructure as well. 

[Mike Teavee]

1 hour ago, emptypockets said:

How ' s the local food and security... don't bother answering...both <deleted>. There is no plus side compared to Thailand. Sorry but that's the truth.

There are actually some very tasty Filipino dishes (Adobo, Kare Kare, Crispy Lechon, Caldereta etc...) but if you don't like that every 2nd restaurant is Korean & every 3rd Japanese (2 of my favourite foods). 

 

Also, there are some very safe places in the Philippines, Davao City being a good example where D30 basically executed most of the bad guys, you won't even find people smoking in restaurants or throwing litter on the streets there...

 

I'm not promoting the Philippines, just trying to add some balance to the typical gumph that's repeated by people who have never even been (Angeles City doesn't count, that's like saying you've been to Thailand when you've only been to Pattaya or even the UK when you've only visited London).  

 

 

[4MyEgo]

12 hours ago, sunnyboy2018 said:

Its not the rules of the Thai people. Its the rules of the military and the elite who have imposed their authoritarian rules on the Thai people via a thuggish military coup.

The first thing I did before moving to Thailand was to Google many things about Thailand, being fully aware of its political system, military coups etc etc, then asked myself, can I live under their laws, well so far so good, although I have to duck and weave, duck and weave.

 

There laws as draconian and behind the rest of the world as they are, don't really bother me, except for them burning rice and sugar cane fields which gets up my nose.

 

Different countries have different laws/rules and governments, yes we didn't come from military dictatorships, or ruling "democratically elected" military governments, but at the end of the day we all have choices, i.e. if we are in a financial position to assist our choices, as bad as the air quality is at times of the year, and if we don't like it, we can choice to float or set sails, for me ATM, I am still floating, for how much longer depends on the next burning season, because those sails might just pick up some wind..........????

[donnacha]

 

2 hours ago, emptypockets said:

How ' s the local food and security... don't bother answering...both <deleted>. There is no plus side compared to Thailand. Sorry but that's the truth.

The Philippines is not Thailand but, really, it has a lot of pluses. The best way I can describe it is to say that on a day-to-day basis you notice the missing comforts compared to Thailand but, by the end of your visit, you have had more fun and excitement. A lot more.

Avoiding Manila and Angeles, the Philippines is reminiscent of how Thailand was in the 90's, when farangs were still considered special and respected. You would get into these wild situations, fueled by the general sense of excitement as two very different worlds crashed into one another, and you usually walked away feeling impressed by the Thais you had met, warmed by the crazy sincerity.

Now, frankly, most Thais are bored by us and any interest they have in the outside world is quite cynical. Within just three decades, their existence has utterly transformed, and with it their needs.

I like comfort, security, tasty food, all the stuff that Thailand does so well but, when I think about what I will look back on at the end of my life and value the most, I have a hunch that what the Philippines distinctively offers is more important. Thais can be fun, and I have many Thai friends, but there is always a wall there, even with longterm girlfriends.

You will always be a farang and, in their minds, that disqualifies you from ever understanding their reality. There is a casual disrespect I have seen play out, time and time again with so many farangs, in which they are kept in the dark about a vital matter because their nearest and dearest simply didn't think that telling them mattered. I mean, there are times when the gaps in the logic of it are astonishing. There are times when a serious disaster could have been avoided if they had simply had a quick discussion with their resident farang. Mind-boggling.

The Filipinos are crazy too, but in a distinctly different way. Yes, of course, some will lie, some will cheat, but what I have sensed over the years is that most Filipinos accept and respect us. They are, I believe, open to us in a way that the Thais can never quite be. Perhaps the fact that their English is so much better contributes to that, or perhaps their poverty makes a western friend more valuable, but I think it is something deeper, something rooted in their turbulent colonial history.

So, yeah. I am comfortable in Thailand. It has been good to me. Since the coup, however, it has been obvious that westerners are no longer welcome. I believe the retirees on this forum who smugly enjoy the visa troubles of those under 50 are in for a rude awakening over the coming years - this cleansing has only started, and no one with real power in this country cares about the hoteliers, or the language schools, or the overweight pensioners wobbly around shopping malls with Isaan wives half their age. They see us as their country's shame.

I have used the last few years to try all the other options. For most farangs, Vietnam is going to be their replacement for Thailand. Again, not a direct replacement, but good enough.

For some of us, however, there is something more important than comfort and the Philippines is where we can find it.