41 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

The Chinese were the first nation banned from Thailand. Knowing them, it will not soon be forgotten.

Didn't China stop all Chinese tour groups from traveling internationally long before Thailand imposed any restrictions? China will not stop tourism to Thailand. They have loaned far too much money to the country that needs to be paid back. And Thailand is essential to their Belt and Road Initiative.

tourists don't care about politics.  so what if some minister i never heard of said something foolish about foreigners, something that never made the headlines during peak wuhan on cnn?

 

unless the natives are actively hunting down foreign tourists and stringing them up in the public squares, none of the twatter feed comments matter.  tourists want beaches or mountains, chicks and cheap booze.  (some might even find a tourist 'purge' exciting, gets more clicks on their travelblogs.)  what some minister or deputy mayor said on line (what's a line?) is irrelevant.

 

tourism will start up again in a couple months, once there are a few locations with no new cases for long enough, AND we have a cheap, reliable, fast screening test.  money will win out in the end.

 

china will likely be one of the first to start up, as they (think they) have it contained.  let's say thailand gets to the point where the government can say they have it "100% under control," then thailand and china can mutually drop quarantine requirements, possibly limiting tourism to specific parts of each country.

 

your average chinese isn't offended by a travel ban.  everyone is banned from travel now, so what?  assuming they get their economy back on track, the middle class folks will want to travel.  and if 100 million migrant workers lose their jobs, again so what?  they'll go back to their hometowns and raise pigs.  yay, more pork!  they aren't the ones who travel anyway.

 

thailand is the perfect destination.  only a couple hours flying time from major chinese hubs, cheap flights, cheap hotels, cheap package tours, all-you-can-gorge buffets, ladyboy shows, and they can do it all without needing to know any thai language, or even english.  thailand has the sights and the infrastructure and budget and travel distance to draw chinese tourists.

 

ah, and don't forget, the (medium) high-speed rail from kunming to vientiene is nearing completion.  much of the tunnel/bridge building through laos is actually ahead of schedule, so their expected turn-on date should be achievable.

 

 

Book em all on a boat trip problem solved????

16 minutes ago, ChouDoufu said:

unless the natives are actively hunting down foreign tourists and stringing them up in the public squares, none of the twatter feed comments matter. 

Twitter is banned in China so doesn't matter in any case. And as the peasants can't read English, the other evil gweilo sites don't matter either. 

 

First order of sanctions against China should call for demolishing the Great Firewall. Would be interesting to see how eager Chinese would be to travel after they found out what the rest of the world now thinks about them.

44 minutes ago, timendres said:

Didn't China stop all Chinese tour groups from traveling internationally long before Thailand imposed any restrictions? China will not stop tourism to Thailand. They have loaned far too much money to the country that needs to be paid back. And Thailand is essential to their Belt and Road Initiative.

Yes. Strangely it was the Chinese that saved us from the Chinese.

11 hours ago, DrTuner said:

Twitter is banned in China so doesn't matter in any case. And as the peasants can't read English, the other evil gweilo sites don't matter either. 

 

First order of sanctions against China should call for demolishing the Great Firewall. Would be interesting to see how eager Chinese would be to travel after they found out what the rest of the world now thinks about them.

not exactly banned.  according to the law, they have an open internet.  (at least that's my understanding.)  but access to various news sites, social media sites, facebook, twitter, etc is blocked.  i don't know that there is a law anywhere that bans those sites, it just......happens.

 

going to a banned site doesn't result in a swat raid, you don't even get a notice that the site is blocked.  you get "sorry, must be a problem somewhere, can't find the site, check your connection or try again later" with a cute cartoon of a telecoms engineer trying to plug two too-short cables together.

 

it's all a game with the net minders.  they know they can't shut down the vpn's completely, so they simply try to make it as frustrating as possible, knowing most will take the easy road and click on the approved links.

 

enough people have vpn's that they do know what's going on in the world.  and of course there are plenty that can read english.  you can be sure that anything found in the western media will make its way past the great firewall.

 

comments in western media won't affect chinese tourists, just as westerners in general don't worry about what politicians or media in other countries say about them.  "hey, i'm just a tourist, don't blame me, blame the folks in peking or washington or brussels."

6 minutes ago, ChouDoufu said:

comments in western media won't affect chinese tourists, just as westerners in general don't worry about what politicians or media in other countries say about them.  "hey, i'm just a tourist, don't blame me, blame the folks in peking or washington or brussels."

Chinese must be more hard core. I would never go to, say some sandy muslim country, where the populace proclaims the white man from the west is the devil incarnate.

1 hour ago, DrTuner said:

Chinese must be more hard core. I would never go to, say some sandy muslim country, where the populace proclaims the white man from the west is the devil incarnate.

Yes but you're not everyone

Bills click bait 

8 hours ago, smedly said:

This is a rather misleading story, just because they ticked a box of preferred destinations "in Thailand" doesn't mean Thailand is their preferred destination, I'd like to see the full survey published were their actual preferred destination is - I'll bet it's not Thailand

The question was "Where would you travel to Thailand" Not what is preferred destination? Chinese travellers would be wary about travelling to Europe and America becuase of their mismanagement of the virus pandemic and then finding scapegoat to blame. 

6 hours ago, at15 said:

Air China just released their May 1 to June 1 flight offerings with routes all over Asia, Europe, and North America. Other airlines have been doing the same opening schedule offerings up in the month of may. They most know something is coming with relaxed restrictions. Even a pilot came on the forum here and said it himself.

It remains to be seen how that turns out.

 

Remember, China are forcing people into a mandatory 2 week quarantine on arrival after leaving the country. There will be no tourism whilst that's in place.

 

Also, I think China hasn't really been hit hard by the virus yet, but it will be.

9 hours ago, rasmus5150 said:

When there is a proven cure, the tourists will come back - also from Europe.

 

People have a deep urge to travel, and would rather skip their big steaks and red wine in order to be able to travel for a holiday.

Proven cure? Perhaps you mean when a vaccination has been developed in a year or more, meanwhile the virus will continue to destroy the economy of Europe and the rest of the world.

 

It will take more than a decade to get back to normal assuming other viral outbreaks do not occur over that time. Life as we knew it is over. A new normal will replace it. 

4 hours ago, Surelynot said:

Yes. Strangely it was the Chinese that saved us from the Chinese.

They didn't stop coming, only the tour groups were cancelled.

1 hour ago, Mulambana said:

The question was "Where would you travel to Thailand" Not what is preferred destination?  

no it wasn't - read the article again - it was not Thai specific it was but carefully worded to maybe seem that way, it did quote that 71% would "like" to travel to Thailand  - and I quote

 

...................................................

 A comprehensive new survey of consumers in China’s first tier cities has concluded that 53% of respondents would like to travel overseas within 2020

....................................................

A strong positive message from the research is that 71% of Chinese consumers said they would like to visit Thailand. 

......................................

 

 

The most significant takeaway was that Chines now prefer individual travel (83%) as opposed to tours - that will not make Thailand happy at all as that is how they gouge Chinese tourists - leading them round like sheep to predefined venues/locations on predefine tours at predefined prices, this survey is an indication that Chinese are now wanting to travel like western tourists (farangs) 

9 hours ago, paulikens said:

more people die from flu every year and most people dont get the vaccine for that. so what does having a vaccine for it make any difference to travel. screening machines at airports makes more sense

Contagion, overwhelming hospital systems, and in many countries high uptake flu vaccines, 

14 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Not gonna happen. The Chinese were the first to be "banned" from Thailand. Do they really think that slight will not be forgotten? There are simply too many other nations to compete for the tourist dollar, and most are doing a better job. The Chinese will return, but I suspect the numbers will be far lower than before. You know what they say about putting all of your eggs in one basket? Thailand had been warned of the dangers of becoming too dependent on China for years. Now, after you have made your bed, you get to sleep in it. You have alienated all tourists but Indians and Chinese.

 

And as for the Western tourists? Not gonna happen either. Why? Quality Western tourists are declining here, in a big way, for a dozen very good reasons. You insulted us. You demeaned us. You accused us of being evil, and you accused us of being criminals. You mounted campaigns touting us as bad for the nation. You demonstrated deplorable amounts of racism and xenophobia, and fear of the outside world. Some of your officials even went as far as saying we prefer to have tourists that look more like us! And now you want us to come back? Really? How soon you forget. Sorry, but we have not forgotten what was done and said. Neither have the Chinese forgotten their ban. Not saying it was not the right thing to do. But, that does not necessarily make it less offensive to them. 

 

What alot of tourists worldwide have forgotten is the nation named Thailand. There are too many alternatives now, and they are not only trying harder, they actually have competent people in charge! Surprise!

Chinese will come back in droves, as that's where the volume and dollars are. White people will come back, tourists do not see a lot of the drama that expats have to put up with to stay here,and are unaware of the xenophobia. Relying on the "government" to make sensible decisions based on logic, health and security instead of money is delusional at best. A lot of eggs will go back into one basket, the powers that be will ensure it is a bigger basket.

13 hours ago, holy cow cm said:

I for one will walk a far away berth from the Chinese and will never forget or forgive their government and private sector for their bio (warfare) economic and life travesty either purposely or mistakenly released by them. And nothing can sway my thoughts that it was engineered. I hope Thailand is smart enough to not welcome the hordes of Chinese again as this is just not a smart idea.

Whilst I agree with your sentiments, I feel that TH will have no choice other than to once again court the CH tourist market. Tourism means a lot more to TH than the supposedly 20% of GDP. It impacts the whole of their economy.

If Thailand is getting a grip on this virus and then let the Chinese come right back in I think we’re gonna have a big problem TAT

15 hours ago, Somtamnication said:

Well, if true, we need more tissues to clean up all the spit around us.

Make it mandatory for all inbound travelers for that area to wear masks at all times.   So they can spit away!

Gee, this survey seems the kind of "Smoke and Mirrors" propaganda CCP puts out for other governments to release.  It would be interesting to see just how much the CCP was involved in the participation of this survey!  55555   

16 hours ago, Somtamnication said:

Well, if true, we need more tissues to clean up all the spit around us.

Don't forget, also, the plastic scoop and paper bag to deal with Number 2s left on the kerbs and verges.

Wishful thinking is the other side of the optimism coin is it not?  An August restart of tourists from China would be a silly thing to do.  My guess is if their foolish enough to get the tourists in it will be November and December and if no sign of the virus revisiting turbocharge tourism to get back to pre-virus levels.  With manufacturing being in the doldrums the country needs some way to earn foreign exchange.  Increased rice sales may help a little but then they are battling with the other rice selling countries who offer better prices.  I think we will see tough times to well into 2021.

Finally some good news! So I'll tell my wife and kids we'll book the tickets to leave in August. ????????  

Wonderful news.????

14 hours ago, Fex Bluse said:

Won't be many Chinese tourists when all the Japanese and American and Australian and Western European companies shift production out of China...

That’s what I’ve been thinking too but when I pondered more on the subject I think in the long run they won’t. They know what’s waiting for them back home with unions, workers rights, pensions etc and all the while they have their share holders to appease. I think profitability will outweigh in the end. The only scenario I can see with this happening is if companies who relocate manufacturing back to their home countries are guaranteed certain things with a guarantee that if there is another outbreak of a contagion that their government will immediately shut its door to the source being paramount! Regardless of what that wet brown paper bag the WHO says!

To come out with a statement like this is totally irresponsible, you cannot predict a date based on what the Chinese would like to do it should surely depend on the state of the country (Thailand) with regard to the CV-19 figures with containment being the operative word.....!!!!

I hope the Chinese travellers get the chance to escape their country again.

 I also like to travel and will do so when conditions are safe to do so.

I think I will be cautious for at least 2 years, so will stay in Canada for that long.

Right now I fear the Americans more.

Geezer

15 hours ago, tropo said:

What Europeans think of Thailand is beside the point. Europe is in the throws of a total economic collapse and the viral outbreak is yet to peak as the UK is fast catching up with Spain, France and Italy. Travelling Europeans to anywhere will be a rarity for years to come.

 

Thailand can thank the lucky stars they have China to fall back on.

A little bit of exaggeration here, It isn't possible to have a major block like Europe collapsing without causing a worldwide economic collapse. The major blocks, North America, Europe and Asia are tightly woven together, to wish ill on one of them is to wish ill on all of them.

 

I think (means don't know) that the tourist industry in general as well as for Thailand will remain in the doldrums for 2020 and possibly even into 2021, too much economic chaos has been caused by Covid-19. Not only must corona be beaten ( dubious) but industry must restart to full capacity again, wages paid, the debts incurred by individuals due to being furloughed must be paid off, the savings account refilled, etc. There is very little discretionary money left over for the general public anywhere and I doubt that China will be pleased to see money pouring out of China to be spent abroad.

 

The world is now swimming in debt, this has to be settled. The chances of a vaccine for the virus corona don't look good to me, it's here to stay, like influenza, and although it won't break out again with the same ferocity, it will come along every year.

15 hours ago, tropo said:

Thailand can thank the lucky stars they have China to fall back on.

They got us into this mess and now they can get us out.

 

Then all will be forgiven

The Chinese need to make Indian their new holiday destination and Indians holiday in China

That would generate a collective global smile ????