Feel sorry for the young Thai ladies.  Now with western tourists diminished, Chinese, Indian and Muslim tourists will take their place.  And...they could become the future expats!!

Went through Sampeng market last week. Traditionally one of the busiest tourist markets in Bangkok.

Almost empty.

Never seen that before.

3 hours ago, Greenhill said:

Why you no understand?    They are 'arriving' but not 'touring'!!!    These arrivals, arrive at the airport but then mysteriously disappear!!!

They're all at the temples!

6 hours ago, londonthai said:

it's governments nationalistic, xenophobic attitude and policies, which drive off expats and, equally, long term tourists.

the present growing statistics for arrivals are for chinese, indian, malaysian, who are coming for just few days of shopping. They might be coming several times per year and might be buying goods, but don't go to resorts, spas, tourist places  

With the baht as high as it is i,m surprised you haven,t got loads of this in London shopping

It's not the over valued baht then......

Same same but different. If we look on what have come from this department the last weeks and put it together, what they say is, the number of tourists (including expats) is rising, but the number have going down and that is not Thailands fault, it is the word economy. I guess that there are some thai logic in there, but I am a farang and have not a clue.  

6 hours ago, Sticky Wicket said:

What on earth is wrong with this place! 

The clients I was with found it hard to believe.

5-year-olds (mentally that is), shooting themselves repeatedly into the foot, unable to grasp the consequences of their doing. Then, when it hurts, blaming anyone else.

 

The kind of 'kid' that, over time, gets so annoying that you just want to abandon it at the next gas station, driving off...

Edited September 20, 20196 yr by StayinThailand2much

6 hours ago, Saint Nick said:

It's always someone else's fault!

It's not the dirt, the violence, the traffic- deaths, the xenophobia or racism, the misogyny, the pollution, the non-sensical laws for smoking and beach chairs, the corrupt police, the overall unfriendlyness of the immigration at the 30% occupied airport- counters....

It's us - the rest of the world...

Nick Mate, don't hold back, say it like it is. ????

This a graph for Thailand's Tourism Arrivals!

Even if less than 38M tourists will come in 2019 it is still the second highest figure ever.

Thailand Tourism is not in trouble at all, but we probably will not see +5% annual increases and maybe even a little reduction, who knows.

A bit of oversupply here and there, especially for some who wanted to cash in on the Chinese Tour Group segment maybe.

How is this 15 year period a failure and how is there doom and gloom?

Where do you guys get your information from?

The decline of the Western tourist? Less girlie bars? Can't drink at 3pm?

Who cares?

Whingers......

 

1 hour ago, curlylekan said:

Stupid law, do you mean the hours that they won't serve alcohol? I thought this was only if you wanted to buy it at the store, not a restaurant or a bar. Am I wrong? And why was it brought in?

It was in Central World BKK, no alcohol in the restaurants between 2 and 5!

Also happened to me in Bluport Hua Hin

I'm not a massive drinker by any means but I do enjoy beer/wine with food. 

I hate water and sugary drinks.

 

7 hours ago, madmitch said:

But I thought arrivals were up!!!

Yes, but that was yesterday, or is it tomorrow!!!, cant remember!.

7 hours ago, Tayaout said:

There we go again! 

Every country should govern itself .No because China no longer needs the u.s.dollar for it's country.

11 minutes ago, PhilippBKK said:

This a graph for Thailand's Tourism Arrivals!

Even if less than 38M tourists will come in 2019 it is still the second highest figure ever.

Thailand Tourism is not in trouble at all, but we probably will not see +5% annual increases and maybe even a little reduction, who knows.

A bit of oversupply here and there, especially for some who wanted to cash in on the Chinese Tour Group segment maybe.

How is this 15 year period a failure and how is there doom and gloom?

Where do you guys get your information from?

The decline of the Western tourist? Less girlie bars? Can't drink at 3pm?

Who cares?

Whingers......

 

Maybe, just maybe it is because we over the time has learned that all those charts and numbers are all fake.

Edited September 20, 20196 yr by Parsve
wrong word

7 hours ago, jackdd said:

But a few days ago they just announced that the numbers are up, so what are they talking about?

 

Talking thru' the rear orifice as usual, nothing has changed. 

16 minutes ago, PhilippBKK said:

Where do you guys get your information from?

From a top official at the Thai Ministry for Tourism and Sports

Did you bother to read the op?

18 minutes ago, PhilippBKK said:

This a graph for Thailand's Tourism Arrivals!

Even if less than 38M tourists will come in 2019 it is still the second highest figure ever.

Thailand Tourism is not in trouble at all, but we probably will not see +5% annual increases and maybe even a little reduction, who knows.

A bit of oversupply here and there, especially for some who wanted to cash in on the Chinese Tour Group segment maybe.

How is this 15 year period a failure and how is there doom and gloom?

Where do you guys get your information from?

The decline of the Western tourist? Less girlie bars? Can't drink at 3pm?

Who cares?

Whingers......

 

And you believe it? 

 

38 minutes ago, Isaan sailor said:

Feel sorry for the young Thai ladies.  Now with western tourists diminished, Chinese, Indian and Muslim tourists will take their place.  And...they could become the future expats!!

That's OK, provided they fill in and lodge all the TM forms, so no problems. 

Its the world's fault not ours.

7 hours ago, Saint Nick said:

It's always someone else's fault!

It's not the dirt, the violence, the traffic- deaths, the xenophobia or racism, the misogyny, the pollution, the non-sensical laws for smoking and beach chairs, the corrupt police, the overall unfriendlyness of the immigration at the 30% occupied airport- counters....

It's us - the rest of the world...

Smarten up rest of the world jeez!

When I saw the title I knew what I'd be reading here and sure enough, ha!. Now I have a problem. What with the recent immigration issues and this tourism 'up..' 'got woes..' etc. thing, I just don't know which thread to comment on all this confusion. ????????

If your a cashed up thai  it is the perfect time to travel... 

I love the Asian thinking blame everyone else you can think off instead of yourself. 

Its like its run by a group of z gens. 

 

Going to be a few more kids named Supaporn Singh and Tittiporn Wang knocking about 

3 minutes ago, maddox41 said:

If your a cashed up thai  it is the perfect time to travel... 

I love the Asian thinking blame everyone else you can think off instead of yourself. 

Its like its run by a group of z gens. 

 

I've heard Germany is nice at this time of the year

5 hours ago, wisperone said:

Shhhh….How can those things exist in paradise...

With Les  Majeste almost anything is  possible.

8 hours ago, jackdd said:

But a few days ago they just announced that the numbers are up, so what are they talking about?

 

and since when TAT can be trusted

7 hours ago, worgeordie said:

It's always somebody or somethings fault,never Thailand,

do they not see its the strong THB, compared to other

countries in the area.......that's the main thing,but there

are others.

regards Worgeordie

am with you but we may be the only 2 seeing it as it is, Thai officials keep saying it's something else, the only way to get it into their brain(s) it would be by inserting a chip

Nothing to do with the "inflated" Thai Baht.

4 hours ago, Dario said:

Oh yeah! World economy ...  of course.

we should be happy they didn't blame it on the aliens/martians

5 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

No, no, no, no, no. Thailand is to blame for Thailand's tourism woes. This was self inflicted. It is typical of these small people in the administration to deflect, and refuse to take responsibility for problems of their own creation. That is so inane, and weak on their part. The high baht is only part of the problem. Brexit and other factors is a small part of this catastrophe facing the nation here. 

 

As stated previously, these are just a few ways Thailand shot itself in the foot, when it comes to tourism. 

 

Thailand thought the country was something very special, and was he center of the known universe, and that nobody would ever say no, or find alternative places to visit. The fact is that there are countless other spots, many in this region, that offer better service, more expertise in food and beverage (especially wine service and selection at fair prices, which rich tourists demand), reasonable import duties to sustain a luxury goods market, better training, and far better english skills. Thailand simply lost sight of the big picture, and had very little vision, with regard to big spending tourists, who need to be catered to, instead of scorned.  

 

There are countless things the government could be doing, if they wanted to attract the high quality tourists. The very first thing would be to repeal the anti fareng wine bill, that was passed by a few very corrupt senators way back when, to protect an anemic and truly pathetic local wine industry. They are losing billions of dollars a year in revenue, that could be had from a 100% wine duty, instead of over 300%. The five star hotels would have major wine events, and the entire industry would flourish here. If you are a rich tourist, spending $600 a night at the Banyan Tree in Bangkok, it is difficult to even find someone to have an intelligent conversation with, about the intricacies, the best vintages, and the qualities of the wine you want to order, here in Thailand. The expertise in F & B is really lacking. 

 

Same applies to luxury tax. If it were reasonable, Thailand would be able to attract rich tourists from around the world, who want to spend $25,000 on luxury goods, while on vacation. Will they buy a Prada handbag here for $16,000, that costs $5,000 in Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, London, New York, Paris, Rome, Milan, Monaco, Prague, Moscow, Istanbul, or Dubai? Of course not. What will they do? They will choose any one of those spots, and others for vacation, and Thailand will never even be discussed. 

 

Sorry to say, but the high spending tourists are lost for good. They WILL NOT come back to Thailand, for a dozen different reasons. 

Where have I read that before? 

8 minutes ago, Mavideol said:

am with you but we may be the only 2 seeing it as it is, Thai officials keep saying it's something else, the only way to get it into their brain(s) it would be by inserting a chip

Don't go over-board, potato chip should be sufficient. 

3 minutes ago, emptypockets said:

Where have I read that before? 

Does it matter, the facts don't change.