Thailand Aims to Turn Away From Mass Tourism and Target the Wealthy

[Rookiescot]

The rich already have a wealth of exclusive holiday destinations to pick from.

Even the wealthy Chinese will not want to come here because its not exclusive enough. Telling their rich friends they have just come back from 2 weeks in Thailand does not have the same ring as saying they just spent a fortnight in the Seychelles. 

[SkyFax]

Luxury travel advice for Kuhn Phipkat courtesy ThaiVisa or "I have a wealthy friend who ..."

[Blumpie]

3 minutes ago, lovesthespicy said:

The allure of Thailand is the value. Take away the value and most will come elsewhere for vacation. 

It was fun while it lasted, but now just the dregs go to thailand for a holiday.  It's full of asians, indians, and other value guests and have flooded the market ruining the experience.  

Bali was the replacement for backpackers but even that place is turning into a complete dump.  

[quake]

Rich tourists !!!

That boat sailed a while back Thailand and is not coming back.

 

No Hab now. 

[meechai]

Quote

Phiphat said Thailand sees the crisis as an opportunity to address problems that existed before the pandemic,

including over-crowding at some beaches and temples and environmental destruction.

Sorry environmental destruction was not the result of many tourists

 

It was the result of corrupt city officials that looked the other way when restaurants & temples, tour operators etc who made $$$$

off tourists paid backhanders to excuse their polluting ways...dumping sewage straight into ocean etc etc
 

Edited June 20, 2020 by meechai

[Damual Travesty]

There is an obviousness to his remarks. Air travel will be more expensive for some time. The numbers must be limited, and therefore everything he says is common sense. It is very wise to target the wealthy at this time. Nothing about that is a bad idea in the current climate.

[thaibeachlovers]

3 hours ago, rooster59 said:

marketing efforts will be geared toward wealthier individuals

 

3 hours ago, rooster59 said:

which will probably include previous visitors to luxury resorts in the islands of Phuket, Samui, Phangan and Phi Phi, the minister said. Phuket is “a prototype” because it has all the needed facilities.

Sure thing. That'll take care of about 0.01% of the hotels/ guest houses in Thailand.

The millions of other hotel workers and owners might have something to say about it.

 

Phuket is IMO a <deleted><deleted><deleted> that needs to be razed and started over again minus the taxi mafia.

[RichardColeman]

Seems to me that the big hole in this plan is that no airline on the planet is going to fly in 30 people in first class - and have coach completely empty of people who cannot afford the extra payments for the covid immigration nonsense

[thaibeachlovers]

1 minute ago, Damual Travesty said:

There is an obviousness to his remarks. Air travel will be more expensive for some time. The numbers must be limited, and therefore everything he says is common sense. It is very wise to target the wealthy at this time. Nothing about that is a bad idea in the current climate.

and what happens to the millions that depend on the hotel/ guesthouse industry that don't have/ work in 5 * places? Crawl away and die quietly perhaps?

[Walker88]

I'm not sure I would want to come to Thailand and wade through the 10 million street beggars thrust into abject poverty after TAT drove all their employers out of business by catering solely to the wealthy.

 

People who siphon off the public trough seem oblivious to what actually drives their economy. Besides, how will leaders grift off a mega project like an airport when it's built merely to handle a couple of Gulftreams rather than 40 million arrivals per year? Suvarnabhumi 2.0 or U-Tapao will only need to be the size of a 7-11.

[Creasy]

Stick to what you're good at Thailand.

 

The wealthy foreigners  aren't as naive as the Thai people

[thaibeachlovers]

17 minutes ago, quake said:

Rich tourists !!!

That boat sailed a while back Thailand and is not coming back.

 

No Hab now. 

Rich people don't go to countries with broken infrastructure, out of control air sea and land pollution, and garbage strewn islands.

The Thais shot themselves in the foot far as the really wealthy are concerned with zero environmental controls.

What rich person wants to holiday wearing a gas mask?

[Blumpie]

6 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

Seems to me that the big hole in this plan is that no airline on the planet is going to fly in 30 people in first class - and have coach completely empty of people who cannot afford the extra payments for the covid immigration nonsense

I see that some of you are starting to understand what is going to happen here with travel when it does start up.  It's refreshing to see.  All the airlines are on to this, and they will turn a profit or die.  If it costs x amount of dollars to fill a plane and they sell these many tickets, then your price goes up.  If they don't make a profit, they die.  It's so simple to grasp!  

Thailand for exclusive travel?  Ha I don't think so but hope it works out for them.  

[Blumpie]

1 minute ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Rich people don't go to countries with broken infrastructure, out of control air sea and land pollution, and garbage strewn islands.

The Thais shot themselves in the foot far as the really wealthy are concerned with zero environmental controls.

What rich person wants to holiday wearing a gas mask?

Or go to places where, god forbid, you rinse your toothbrush in the water and you get sick.  

Good lord, Thailand as a luxury tourist destination is laughable beyond belief.  

[thaibeachlovers]

Nothing new from the <deleted> in the OP that hasn't been seen/ heard before. They regularly come up with such like nonsense, often about converting Pattaya to a place the wealthy will flock to.

They must think everyone else is a the sort of idiot that will believe them.

[sapson]

What would Thai Visa be without the daily fantasy nonsense statements from one minister or another to justify their positions.

[essox essox]

3 hours ago, petermik said:

This chap is in cloud cuckoo land...????

 

3 hours ago, petermik said:

This chap is in cloud cuckoo land...????

 

3 hours ago, petermik said:

This chap is in cloud cuckoo land...????

you think HE is THE ONLY ONE????!!!!

[Airalee]

The wealthy go to London, Paris and NY for Ballet, concerts (the Phil) museums and shopping.  
 

They go to Bayreuth and Santa Fe for the Opera festivals.
 

Rome (And other Italian Cities) for the Ruins.

 

Monaco for the Grand Prix and the Yacht shows.

 

Seychelles, Maldives, South Pacific and The Mediterranean for beaches.
 

Zermatt, Whistler, Aspen, Deer Valley, Sun Valley and Lake Tahoe to ski.

 

Holland for the Tulip festival. 

 

They’ll slum it to go see Machu Picchu

 

They don’t care about Pad Thai, Kantok, gaudy temples, pretentious skybars for the wannabes or Siam Paragon.  They snigger and call Phuket  “F*** it” 
 

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

Edited June 20, 2020 by Airalee

[Grumpy John]

555!  It makes my day when I see what some government Pratt has had the audacity to write or record.  He must be living in La La land!  The rich he seeks usually travel in private jets...not commercial.  They will stay at high class resorts where other well healed dudes stay. They want to be seen,  interact with Other high profile people not some 2 week millionaire called Colin who is from Ipswich Queensland.  Nope,  this government guy is in need of a major crystal ball realignment.

[Genmai]

3 hours ago, WhatsNext said:

- Make clean beaches, streets, sewage systems that work, no floodings, get rid of air pollution, soi dogs, crazy dangerous traffic, overhead cables, make food safe, supply service on a western level, have flexibility for guests in hotels, increase english knowledge, have sidewalks bigger than 40cm, have clean public parks, boulevards without traffic, classy nightlife, quality all in hotels, and have a street appearance on 1st world level not somewhere between 2nd and 3rd. Put sex industry out of sight and then maybe MAYBE some high class tourists might come. 

 

That's a perfectly accurate description of Singapore. And they could achieve this thanks to 1) - good governance, 2) - good education, which subsequently led to 3) - a populace with their priorities straight.

 

Thailand should just accept its position and leverage the differential to their advantage.

[essox essox]

11 minutes ago, Grumpy John said:

555!  It makes my day when I see what some government Pratt has had the audacity to write or record.  He must be living in La La land!  The rich he seeks usually travel in private jets...not commercial.  They will stay at high class resorts where other well healed dudes stay. They want to be seen,  interact with Other high profile people not some 2 week millionaire called Colin who is from Ipswich Queensland.  Nope,  this government guy is in need of a major crystal ball realignment.

you think HE is THE ONLY ONE???!!!!

[BritManToo]

If I were wealthy I wouldn't be visiting Thailand.

I'd be going to Mauritius, Seychelles, Caribbean, etc.

 

At the moment I can't see the wealthy going anywhere with a 14 day quarantine.

You can target who you like, nobody is going to waste 2 weeks of their life.

Edited June 20, 2020 by BritManToo

[essox essox]

1 minute ago, BritManToo said:

If I were wealthy I wouldn't be visiting Thailand.

I'd be going to Mauritius, Seychelles, Caribbean, etc.

think MOST of us would do same matey.......

[Walker88]

This "Tourism Minister" seems to pretend the wealthy don't come to Thailand for the agogos and escorts, as if the wealthy don't have their peccadilloes.

 

Wealth and its often concomitant power allow one to feed one's appetites. He should know, as it's likely many of his fellow leaders have their university age mia nois luxuriating in a Bangkok condo while waiting for 'daddy' to sneak away for an afternoon tryst.

 

Certainly a man of his 'sophistication' knows that the "Gentlemen's Clubs" of London and NY are not filled with truck drivers getting thousand dollar lap dances, but rather $10 million/year Investment bankers and hedge fund managers, i.e., the super wealthy.

 

The well off, perhaps as much or more than anyone, like to get down and dirty.  Birds do it, bees do it, and the uber rich definitely do it.

[Creasy]

Another Thai minister. Another Thai expert. Another daily brain fart to be in the media.

[Logosone]

1 hour ago, Sundown said:

I'm not sure centara grand in Karon is a good reference for evaluating how Phuket is fit for the riches. Maybe you spend some nights at Amanpuri (30k/night), the Surin, Sri panwa or some hi end hotel or resort in Laguna or Layan, rent a villa in Ayara or millionaire's miles where Chinese live like in Beverly Hills. then you might change your opinion! 

 

I agree anyway with the fact that this is a nonsense propaganda, just to fill newspapers with bs. For 95% of tourists Thailand is a good destination for its convenience. 

 

I stayed in a private villa in the Centara Grand, was very pleasant in an old world kind of way. Big ceilings, sunken living room. The villas are way better than the hotel rooms. I actually booked a hotel room and they were so disappointing I asked for a villa. I went to all the top 5 star hotels in Phuket for lunch or dinner, just to check out if I picked the best place. Didn't see anything better. The villas in Centara Grand are very comparable to Amanpuri. Now of course outside Phuket there are many places that are better than the Centara Grand in Phuket, but someone mentioned Phuket as the "jewel in the Crown".

 

I was in a Laguna resort in Bali, Nusa Dua, which frankly was worlds better than Cenatra Grand Phuket in every way. Of course there are comparable ultra luxury resorts in Thailand, however, the problem is if you go to the city, say in Phuket, the ugliness and poverty envelop you like a bad smell. 

 

I think Japanese and Korean now prefer Malaysia for this reason. More luxury there.

 

I totally agree that Thailand will do well with tourism from the mid to low end range, because it still has a lot to offer.

[Airalee]

Thailand only needs to do two things to make tourism BOOM.

 

1. Embrace and Own the fact that they have some of the best looking prostitutes in the world.

 

2.  Legalize ganja (after learning how to grow something worthwhile...California dispensary quality)

 

Then, market it like crazy in puritanical feminist ridden nations. (Yes...this will <deleted> off the women...but so what?  They aren’t the big spenders here)
 

Advertise smoking a doobie on the beach after hitting up the BJ bars and you’ll have every male from Australia to Timbuktu beating a path to your door.

[owl sees all]

3 minutes ago, Creasy said:

Another Thai minister. Another Thai expert. Another daily brain fart to be in the media.

Why don't these Thai ministers take notice of what is written in TVForum? Having a decent read would give them a few ideas of how to 'make Thailand great again'.

 

It's beyond me. So much brain fart.

[Logosone]

14 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

If I were wealthy I wouldn't be visiting Thailand.

I'd be going to Mauritius, Seychelles, Caribbean, etc.

It's a nice life in the Caribbean, Seven-Mile-Beach in Grand Cayman, where I used to live, is perfection for a beach. Amazing restaurants. Good shopping.

 

The problem is that it's a tiny, tiny place, like almost everywhere in the Caribbean, so the very rich quickly get bored there. Most only stay for a few weeks. Even the locals want to go somewhere else, they're bored out of their mind.

 

That's one of the big allures of Thailand. It's not just seen as value, but an exciting party place, with good food, great massage, sexual adventure. It's got a lot going for it. Shame about the beaches, air, traffic and poverty, but for a holiday it's okay.

 

 

 

 

[Logosone]

15 minutes ago, Airalee said:

Thailand only needs to do two things to make tourism BOOM.

 

1. Embrace and Own the fact that they have some of the best looking prostitutes in the world.

 

2.  Legalize ganja (after learning how to grow something worthwhile...California dispensary quality)

 

Then, market it like crazy in puritanical feminist ridden nations. (Yes...this will <deleted> off the women...but so what?  They aren’t the big spenders here)
 

Advertise smoking a doobie on the beach after hitting up the BJ bars and you’ll have every male from Australia to Timbuktu beating a path to your door.

Hasn't worked for Jamaica though. You can get Ganja there easy, but not exactly a destination of choice for the very rich. Errol Flynn excepted, but that was many moons ago.

 

Jamaica has spectacular women, btw.

Edited June 20, 2020 by Logosone