Thai Tourism Minister to seek free visas for Chinese, Indian tourists; floats ‘Eat, Shop, Spend’ scheme for foreigners

[yellowboat]

5 hours ago, unamazedloso said:

Malaysia and surrounds are nicer and not so greedy! You guys aint got nothing interesting to sell. See one market and you seen em all. Thai food, massage and even the good ones are now cheaper abroad so no need to be ripped off and have a miserable un safe holiday. People shop online, they travel to unwind. TAT is stuck in the stone age literally.

Free visas to china right now is just plain stupid but i must say why not to everyone? Equality will get the tourists. Nobody likes to feel insignificant.

Maybe TAT needs a video to guide them. 

[Max69xl]

5 hours ago, RotBenz8888 said:

Reading this, it's obvious that those tourist numbers faked.

TAT's numbers has always been fake, especially 2019 and if they came from the boss.  

[Autonuaq]

4 hours ago, Gweiloman said:

Are you a Republican by any chance?

Thai food and massage cheaper abroad?

Free visas to go to China?

You should really check your facts. 

Thai food is cheaper abroad in many countries I have visited the past two year.

 

Thailand is getting as expensive with many things as in the west.

 

Many destination that replace thailand are cheaper and more freindly for foreigner to come and stay.

 

Also for comapanies Thailand loses the postion it thinks is has and is now filled in by others. You see many reconcider investments.

 

Thailand supposted to be today like South Korea the both started at the same level with Thaoland having a head start. For some reasons Thailand not catched up with South Korea.

[hotchilli]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Minister to seek free visas for Chinese, Indian tourists; floats ‘Eat, Shop, Spend’ scheme for foreigners

 

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Minister to seek free visas for Chinese, Indian tourists; floats ‘Eat, Shop, Spend’ scheme for foreigners

I had to read it twice as I fell off my chair the first time !!!!!

A new "gimmick" every day... "eat-shop-spend" with cash coupons, why not just reduce the prices to start with instead of all the price hikes that are going on now!

[DrTuner]

6 hours ago, unamazedloso said:

Malaysia and surrounds are nicer and not so greedy!

Muslim. No-go. Next!

[bobbymack]

What does Thailand actually gain from an increase in Chinese arrivals? They are a drain on local resources and the amount they spend is minimal - going back to the phrase 'zero dollar tours' where the monies paid by the tourists is upfront to the tour operator and then goes to pay for local Chinese owned businesses. As the article in a link above says, when Thailand imposed B1,000 fees for each tourist to counter this, the Chinese arrivals dropped by 30% the following year (2016). The solution for boosting the economy by increased numbers from China (and India) is therefore not the answer. But then it seems that all TAT wants is a figure they can boast about.  

[KCPhuket]

Tell them to bring water if they come to Phuket.

[BestB]

Why bother when tourist numbers are skyrocketing? Or is that a way to

bring quality high spending tourist?

[ukrules]

How about making it easier for European tourists to come to Thailand, get rid of that stupid website for visa application and open the doors.

 

People would come for up to 6 months at a time over the winter if it was easy to do so.

 

If it's hassle then a lot of people don't bother to stay longer than 60 or 90 days.

 

[aspenbkk]

6 hours ago, zydeco said:

Free quarantine facilities, too?

You imagine if the Indians and Chinese combined are infected with this flu problem the population mass of both. Yes invite more Chinese flu types and stick them and Indians in same area in Thailand and close the country down. 

[simtemple]

Even with Taal on the brink of a second eruption, Manila is still a much better proposition. Pattaya is too dead for dreaming. The corpse is decomposing. 

[Elkski]

Cash  vouchers?  This sounds of such desperation.  How will this look to  the chinese?   It's now free visa and w give you some cash to spend.  We really love you in our country? Or have many ways to bend you over? Free visa could  lower a trip  cost.   So tax  payers lose but hotels make more?  Maybe hotels need to pay for this free Visa. 

I don't mind the Chinese so much but they do not want to talk to a western person I think they are worried their English is not very good.  They do talk loud and make crowded groups everywhere but I'm seeing more couples and small groups. I only come to Thailand two or three months a year so I don't have 100% prospective. I do have a bad line cutting encounter multiple times per week from Chinese people including at the immigration lines and just everywhere.  Just this week on my return waiting for the passport check on departure a couple of Chinese the lady tried to get in my line right next to me so we were three of breast and her husband was in the other line and she tried to decide which line was faster but her husband was not happy with this but finally after 10 minutes she went back over to his line which probably was progressing faster. The lady to my left who even had some people behind her that we're friends was trying to cut in front of me as the line came down to one single line. Or at least putting pressure on to me and invading my space which maybe is just normal for them. Many of these Chinese women look very cute and dressed very nice and their husbands are somewhat chubby and out of shape probably from being overworked and eating to much.  Or Chinese  gals marry for money  like thai.  

 

I agree with everyone that Thailand needs to fix its product first.  It's broken. Trash, air pollution, dirty  beaches, greedy people are not even hiding this anymore.  the more tourists you bring over now the more negative impressions are going to go back and taint the chinese well long into the future.    I do think TAT has it right on one account.   China is a good tourist draw because they are used to dirty air and crowds and dirty streets and Shanghai is only a 3 hour flight.  

[fraggleRock]

Like many here have stated its clear the 39 million visitors quoted by the TAT are utter lies, where are the other 25+ million tourists coming from considering these make up the greatest tourist numbers... Its clearly impossible to believe anything any ministry says in Thailand clearly.

[Steve Vincent]

Thailand is being run by buffoons ‘free visas for Chinese & Indian tourists. Free coupons ( eat & shop being sponsored by the bank ) being English i suppose my visa will become more expensive already pay £100 for 3 month stay ...... corruption at its finest .....

-

how about helping those that keep Thailand’s economy running foreigners who support there Thai families ‘ sending children to private schools simply because the Thai education system is failing.  Getting poor exchange rates ? Without us many Thai families would suffer austerity .... yet we’re treated worse than dogs.

if Thailand continues in this manner then i will be left with little choice other than to remove my Thai family and move them over to the uk. It would certainly be cheaper ...the only thing Thailand can offer me that i don’t get in the u.k is sunshine on a regular basis... 

[fred110]

6 hours ago, Gweiloman said:

Are you a Republican by any chance?

Thai food and massage cheaper abroad?

Free visas to go to China?

You should really check your facts. 

It's free visas for chinese coming to thailand. They can bring the flu.

[fred110]

7 hours ago, RotBenz8888 said:

Reading this, it's obvious that those tourist numbers faked.

And if they're given cash coupons they won't spend their own money.

[lensta]

I don't know about anyone else, but a free visa would not influence

me to holiday in any particular country. If I couldn't afford a visa,

then I couldn't afford a holiday.

[Duck J Butters]

7 hours ago, unamazedloso said:

Malaysia and surrounds are nicer and not so greedy! You guys aint got nothing interesting to sell. See one market and you seen em all. Thai food, massage and even the good ones are now cheaper abroad so no need to be ripped off and have a miserable un safe holiday. People shop online, they travel to unwind. TAT is stuck in the stone age literally.

Free visas to china right now is just plain stupid but i must say why not to everyone? Equality will get the tourists. Nobody likes to feel insignificant.

Malaysia??? Hahahahaha. You can hate on Thailand all day long but the bottom line is that Thailand is quite developed. I come from the single most developed city and community on Earth: San Francisco, California. Graduated from Stanford. I’m mid 30s. I don’t need to live in Thailand. I’m not running from anything. I choose to live in Thailand. 

 

I can live anywhere in the world. I have picked Phuket, Thailand out of all the places on Earth I could have chosen. Let that sink in. If Thailand is such a dump, why on Earth would someone like me choose to live here when I could say, live in Maui, USA? Why would I live here if it’s so crappy?
 

Clearly you are missing out on a lot of the great things Thailand has to offer if you think Malaysia or any other country in SEA comes close to Thailand. 

The bottom line is that there is nothing that the US offers that Thailand doesn’t. I know this to be a fact. The cushy luxury life that I had in San Francisco, I’ve been able to replicate it in Phuket. 100%. There is nothing that America has that Thailand doesn’t. Nothing. And it’s significantly cheaper in Thailand to match the same standard of living. 

 

I don’t work here. I don’t need to live here. I’m not a criminal hiding from anyone. I don’t owe back taxes in my home country. I choose to live in Thailand.

 

Malaysia, give me a break. Been there a few times and I’m not a fan at all. I mean, there is a reason Malaysians all flock to Phuket on the weekends. Malaysia sucks. It’s boring, depressing, Muslim, and just super behind the times.  No way could I live in Malaysia as it’s not nearly developed enough. Indonesia sucks as well. Bali isn’t nice enough for me. Can’t stand Bali.
 

Phuket, that’s where it’s at if you want to have the same standard of living that you had in the West. They even let you go to the water company here and set up your own personal water filter on your water supply to guarantee that you’re getting the purest water possible. Thailand is an amazing country. By far the best bang for buck on Earth. And I would know :)

[khunjeff]

Over the past few years, various officials have claimed that there was a fiscal crisis because foreigners had supposedly run out on 300-700 million baht in unpaid hospital bills (the amount varies depending on who's talking).

 

Yet now they want to waive the 2000 baht VOA fee for 11 million people, for a loss in income of 22 billion baht, and offer vouchers to 30+ million foreign arrivals, which would amount to an expenditure of over a billion baht even if the vouchers were only for a paltry 30 baht each. How is that affordable, while reimbursing hospitals for a few unpaid bills as a cost of running a huge tourism-driven economy is somehow impossible?

[agood1963]

The Indians can spend even less with a free visa or buy some deodorant.

[lensta]

4 hours ago, spetersen said:

How would that be possible ‘Eat, Shop, Spend' with a balloon currency that sooner or later will explode, no one with sane mindset will go to destinations where you will get ripped off, people don't afford Thailand anymore and it's not only tourists and expats even Thai people suffering. The only way would be that BOT devaluate the currency 15-20 %, and the tourist will be back...

" The only way would be that BOT devaluate the currency 15-20 %, and the tourist will be back"

No they won't, there are a multitude of problems that need to be fixed before the tourist come back. The high Baht is just one of them.

[lensta]

14 minutes ago, Duck J Butters said:

Malaysia??? Hahahahaha. You can hate on Thailand all day long but the bottom line is that Thailand is quite developed. I come from the single most developed city and community on Earth: San Francisco, California. Graduated from Stanford. I’m mid 30s. I don’t need to live in Thailand. I’m not running from anything. I choose to live in Thailand. 

 

I can live anywhere in the world. I have picked Phuket, Thailand out of all the places on Earth I could have chosen. Let that sink in. If Thailand is such a dump, why on Earth would someone like me choose to live here when I could say, live in Maui, USA? Why would I live here if it’s so crappy?
 

Clearly you are missing out on a lot of the great things Thailand has to offer if you think Malaysia or any other country in SEA comes close to Thailand. 

The bottom line is that there is nothing that the US offers that Thailand doesn’t. I know this to be a fact. The cushy luxury life that I had in San Francisco, I’ve been able to replicate it in Phuket. 100%. There is nothing that America has that Thailand doesn’t. Nothing. And it’s significantly cheaper in Thailand to match the same standard of living. 

 

I don’t work here. I don’t need to live here. I’m not a criminal hiding from anyone. I don’t owe back taxes in my home country. I choose to live in Thailand.

 

Malaysia, give me a break. Been there a few times and I’m not a fan at all. I mean, there is a reason Malaysians all flock to Phuket on the weekends. Malaysia sucks. It’s boring, depressing, Muslim, and just super behind the times.  No way could I live in Malaysia as it’s not nearly developed enough. Indonesia sucks as well. Bali isn’t nice enough for me. Can’t stand Bali.
 

Phuket, that’s where it’s at if you want to have the same standard of living that you had in the West. They even let you go to the water company here and set up your own personal water filter on your water supply to guarantee that you’re getting the purest water possible. Thailand is an amazing country. By far the best bang for buck on Earth. And I would know ????

You are <deleted> delusional

[Isaan sailor]

Perhaps Pipat should make his pitch directly and in person to potential tourists in Wuhan...

[Parsve]

Hmm, isnt it also TAT who says that  

Chinese and Indian tourists are quality tourists that spend heavenly? If so, my question is, why should the rather small cost of a visa hold them back from coming?

[Traubert]

54 minutes ago, Parsve said:

Hmm, isnt it also TAT who says that  

Chinese and Indian tourists are quality tourists that spend heavenly? If so, my question is, why should the rather small cost of a visa hold them back from coming?

I think it's probably the cost of re-incarnation, got to get them back down here somehow. Maybe one of the vouchers is a discount 'Roll Away The Stone' or something?

[Traubert]

I'd like to thank each and every poster who contributed to this thread.

 

After the sad passing of Terry Jones this week, it's great to see that satire and off the wall comedy survives.

 

It was comedy wasn't it? Like the bloke that told me I was diluted in another thread?

[davemos]

16 hours ago, zydeco said:

Free quarantine facilities, too?

Free face masks and quarantine

[brianbbb]

visa free for chinese and indians all will get cheap charles

[Jane Dough]

I wonder what research was done to indicate how many more people would come if they were given a coupon compared to if they were not. 

 

That is a rhetorical question. 

 

Rooster

[Sametboy2019]

13 hours ago, Parsve said:

Hmm, isnt it also TAT who says that  

Chinese and Indian tourists are quality tourists that spend heavenly? If so, my question is, why should the rather small cost of a visa hold them back from coming?

And the offer of a voucher for somtam or Khao pad ain't gonna swing it.