Thailand set to welcome 39 million tourists

By Don Ross

 

  

BANGKOK, 25 November 2019: With just two months to the end of the year, Thailand is now set to score more than 39 million arrivals by the end of the year, based on the current performance for January to October.

 

The most recent Ministry of Tourism and Sports data, based on a headcount of foreigners at immigration checkpoints recorded 32,508,014 arrivals for January to October this year up 4.29% year-on-year.

 

Revenue for the 10 months of 2019 was estimated at THB1,577,048.72 million up 3.27% year-on-year. In October alone, the country recorded 3,042,282 visits an increase of 12.51% on the same month last year. 

 

Full story: https://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2019/11/thailand-set-to-welcome-39-million-tourists/

 

-- © Copyright TTR Weekly 2019-11-25

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everything is up, doesn't reflect this when look at businesses/locations in tourist hot spots .

doesn't reflect this when talk to many thai's in resort hotel business or any business suporting tourism, exception being some who get slice of chinese tour group action .

3 minutes ago, BuckBee said:

everything is up, doesn't reflect this when look at businesses/locations in tourist hot spots .

doesn't reflect this when talk to many thai's in resort hotel business or any business suporting tourism, exception being some who get slice of chinese tour group action .

yes and they are all owned by Chinese not Thais.

15 minutes ago, webfact said:

Thailand is now set to score more than 39 million arrivals by the end of the year

39 million arrivals does not mean 39 million tourists. I have been out of the country three times this year and obviously come back again three times. I am not a tourist, but I have been counted three times, and i am not alone. You only need to visit any of the genuine tourist areas to see that tourism most definitely is not up.

this can't be correct  !!   TV farang keep telling us tourists aren't coming. Must be fake news.

 

28 minutes ago, webfact said:

4.29% year-on-year.

 

Despite strong Baht tourists are still coming...people are willing to pay anything to come to Thailand!

Indian coming. They can sell fake clothes in market. Russian coming. They can eat potatoes with Russian meat cakes.

African coming. Can get fake I'd or driving licence. No problem. And of course some can get big penis.

Chinese is good for Thailand . Can spent some money

23 minutes ago, webfact said:

Thailand is now set to score more than 39 million arrivals

I think somebody got the message that these BS numbers are a bit more palletable if they say arrivals as opposed to tourists.

 

However, I do note that the OP header uses the term "tourists". 

I travel the Hanoi Bangkok route many times a year and have done so for the past 12 years.

I arrived in Hanoi last week from my most recent trip and couldn't believe my eyes at the arrival immigration area. It was packed to the scuppers and ALL immigration counters were open. It was full to an extent I had never seen before in all those years. 

A quick check of the crowd and I would estimate 65% were western foreign tourists with the rest mainly mixed Asians. Locals, Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese etc.

Outside the terminal was absolute chaos as people departed for their local destinations.

Does this partly answer the question about the disappearing farang tourists in Thailand?

Perhaps all 39 million are waiting for one special day for all to arrive as up until now it’s been dead. 

The Thai population is listed as 69m. A tourist for every 2 Thai citizens, really? 

 

37 minutes ago, webfact said:

Thailand set to welcome 39 million tourists.......Revenue for the 10 months of 2019 was estimated at THB 1,577,048.72 million up 3.27% year-on-year. In October alone

Truth before fiction....please!

Thailand set to welcome the money of 39 million arrivals.

24 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

39 million arrivals does not mean 39 million tourists. I have been out of the country three times this year and obviously come back again three times. I am not a tourist, but I have been counted three times, and i am not alone. You only need to visit any of the genuine tourist areas to see that tourism most definitely is not up.

Truth be known, you've probably been counted seven times! ????

All of the criticism in the above posts is fully justified. I am not even sure why TAT and here the Ministry of Tourism and Sports even bother coming up with such dumb statistics. It's almost as if they believe that if they twist things enough then all of the problems with an obvious lack of tourists will go away. Certainly nobody else believes any of the rubbish they come out with.

I think that theses statistics are mainly aimed at local consumption to solicit ooh and aah an owe from the locals, us farangs are much more savvy and intun to fake and drummed up news and willy nilly figures...

36 minutes ago, darksidedog said:

39 million arrivals does not mean 39 million tourists. I have been out of the country three times this year and obviously come back again three times. I am not a tourist, but I have been counted three times, and i am not alone. You only need to visit any of the genuine tourist areas to see that tourism most definitely is not up.

That makes two of us or is it 7 ??????

Pattaya has many many more non-chinese, non-indian tourists visible during the last week or 2. 

Baht buses full in the evenings, malls more crowded, more people walking around in the afternoon and evenings.  

 

 

7 minutes ago, ezzra said:

ooh and aah an owe

The last word is the key word. The locals "owe" too much so they're trying to placate the locals with these big bogus numbers.

I just looked at the plane ticket prices, my work or semi retirement work schedule, and decided to wait until after New Year to visit, sometime around Jan 12.  Spend the holidays in the USA, then get lower prices.  I am in the Los Angeles area and love the convenience of being near LAX, and I really do like being over there over Xmas, but just getting tired of the price gouging.

I have also been counted several times in both 2018 and 2019.

I had no idea that the pu$$y was so powerful......even with most currencies 20% down, add the cost of flights, accommodation, etc, etc, etc, not to mention the 100% increase in the bar fines and availability of all of those p's, but then again as the old saying goes, never underestimate the power of the py ????

Considering the high growth rates in the years after the Coup in 2014,  a less than 2% increase for this year is not a great performance and in line with what is said in general about Thailand Tourism in 2019.

Let's see how things work out in 2020!

 

1 hour ago, steven100 said:

this can't be correct  !!   TV farang keep telling us tourists aren't coming. Must be fake news.

 

Yes, Thailand is and has always been the bastion of truth! Right?

1 hour ago, darksidedog said:

39 million arrivals does not mean 39 million tourists. I have been out of the country three times this year and obviously come back again three times. I am not a tourist, but I have been counted three times, and i am not alone. You only need to visit any of the genuine tourist areas to see that tourism most definitely is not up.

But those same movements take place every year by a similar proportion of resident expats and tourists, that doesn't mean the forecast needs to be adjusted.

1 minute ago, saengd said:

But those same movements take place every year by a similar proportion of resident expats and tourists, that doesn't mean the forecast needs to be adjusted.

Very good point

1 hour ago, RotBenz8888 said:

Despite strong Baht tourists are still coming...people are willing to pay anything to come to Thailand!

I am willing to pay, but not a lot.  I skipped the country for three years recently because things had changed so much and the USD exchange rate was so bad.   I was there in August and it was OK, but the hotels still charged too much even though it was low season, and they were less than 1/2 full etc. 

The number of 'arrivals' includes all visitors and workers from Malaysia, Laos, Myanmar and Camdobia (5.8mil so far this year) and just like some Expats, many of them come into Thailand several times each year.  

 

But the bigger number of 8.6mil visitors from 'ASEAN' is a lot more iffy - I didn't know ASEAN issued passports. Also very dubious when each country member of ASEAN has its own total number of 'visitors'. Anyone know that the ASEAN visitors means?

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

That will be 39m going somewhere else next year when they find out the prices ????

Same ol' BS all over again....and again, and again....

2 hours ago, ThreeEyedRaven said:

All of the criticism in the above posts is fully justified. I am not even sure why TAT and here the Ministry of Tourism and Sports even bother coming up with such dumb statistics. It's almost as if they believe that if they twist things enough then all of the problems with an obvious lack of tourists will go away. Certainly nobody else believes any of the rubbish they come out with.

Cynically it just a plot to keep us expats who live here quiet, they just dont need us.