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

[Airalee]

12 minutes ago, GinBoy2 said:

Trouble is that Thailand likes to 'aspire' but without the will to actually commit to the hard work, ie improve the infrastructure, remove the scams and really make it a wonderful vacation destination.

 

Building a few hundred more condos doesn't make the environment any better, fix bust up sidewalks, make the water out of the faucet drinkable, keep the power on after two claps of thunder, and certainly doesn't resolve the garbage that will litter any picture that 'rich tourist' tries to take of even the most beautiful vista.

 

Got to change some attitudes before you can change the place I fear!

I’ve never been been to Mallorca, but looking at pictures of Palma...the cathedrals, the beaches, the beautiful architecture, sidewalk cafes, markets...well...if that’s what Thailand aspires to, it’s gonna take a whooooole lotta bulldozers.

[Mr Meeseeks]

As I alluded to on another thread, they want rid of sex tourism and this is gonna do it for them.

 

It's been a wild ride guys, but the party is over.

[Caldera]

They've tried that many times and for many years. For whatever reason (or combination of reasons), they cannot attract more wealthy foreigners. I doubt they'll be able to change that.

[Misterwhisper]

4 hours ago, tlandtday said:

Why not target aliens from another galaxy they won't have the virus and may believe the "amazing trust thailand" slogans.

They tried that already. But when the first test group of aliens witnessed Chinese beating each other to a pulp during ferocious fights at the seafood buffet; Brits binge-drinking until they fell over while still grunting blood-thirsty football club battle cries; Aussies likewise binge-drinking but not falling over and instead rudely accosting every female specimen within a radius of 400 yards; and Germans in white tennis socks and sandals staking out pool area claims at dawn by laying out towels on lounge chairs and subsequently defending their newly conquered territories to the teeth, they decided that this planet was too savage for them. They went to Vega instead, spending, as it turned out, a peaceful and quiet vacation there. And the rest is history. Too bad for Thailand.

[Trujillo]

"As I alluded to on another thread, they want rid of sex tourism and this is gonna do it for them.

It's been a wild ride guys, but the party is over."

 

Patience Grasshopper...If you love it, set it free. 

In a short time, you will be loved again, long time. ....

[NightSky]

good idea, hub of tycoons.

 

[Pluto56]

Thai tourism authorities once again biting the hand that has fed them. Reinvent Thailand and extinguish it's soul. All those quirky, chaotic,seemingly frustrating and affordable things that have attached legions over the decades. 

[anon7854]

Thailand doesn't have the will and thinking to attract wealthy tourists. It's in their nature to aim to make things decent but very far from perfect. Wealthy tourists need perfect.

 

Also wealthy tourists don't accept excuses. 

 

I have been in many 5 star hotels  in  Thailand and they can't compare with 5 star hotel in Spain for example. There is just no comparison. I can't remember to be in one in Thailand were  all things were perfect. 

4 years ago I couldn't dine properly in the restaurant of Dusit Thani Pattaya because the indoor garden was filled with mosquitos.

3 years ago got a different room in one 5 star Phuket hotel totally different that what the pictures were on booking.com.  Nobody cared.

Same with a 5 stars BKK hotel , old furniture , hot/cold water but nowhere in betweek , complain ...get a different room with same issue.

 

Wealthy tourist will not return. Simply put.

Edited June 20, 2020 by anon7854

[connda]

11 hours ago, rooster59 said:

The government will initially allow a small number of arrivals, such as some business executives and medical tourists.

...as well as the filthy rich.  The rest of the hoi palloi can <deleted> off. 

Rich Thailand for The Rich and Wealthy. 
Peasants and the little people need not apply. 

So a few toffee-nosed pomps are going to be rolled out the red carpet.  Cha-Ching!

We're to assume that these few wealthy VIPs are going to make up the 2.5 Trillion THB shortfall that destroying the tourism industry created? 

Welcome to Elysium Thailand!

[joe jadore]

11 hours ago, petermik said:

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

 

10 hours ago, Thechook said:

the wealthy don't Holliday in places like Thailand

Only the Thai Government elites could be this DUMB! Covid 19 doesn't recognize rich or poor, YOU IDIOTS! There is one minute Israeli tests, buy them, use them at the airports and get the Thai economy BACK. 

[4MyEgo]

10 hours ago, GinBoy2 said:

Social media has pretty much put paid to those days

Yep, it does help to pass it on to friends, just so they know exactly what is going on, too bad none of them will be coming back here, I had no part in there decision making, minister Anutin did it all on his lonesome.

[CLS]

8 hours ago, Traubert said:

Could have in 1949 before it changed name to Beijing.

 

Shows where people are in their knowledge of the world here.

 

 

Don’t be so harsh.

In most languages it’s still called Peking or derivations of it.

[CLS]

4 minutes ago, joe jadore said:

 

Only the Thai Government elites could be this DUMB! Covid 19 doesn't recognize rich or poor, YOU IDIOTS! There is one minute Israeli tests, buy them, use them at the airports and get the Thai economy BACK. 

Don’t think the instructions are available in Thai language. So no understand.

[Mr Meeseeks]

9 hours ago, LomSak27 said:

Sure you did.  

 

Backpackers always get a lot of guff, truth is they are an endangered species. They are dying out. Or in rest homes. BTW Lonely Planet closed down their forum. It was the place, the alternative to Thaivisa, for a decade and a half. In fact one of the first TV mods, became the "doyen" of all things Thai, on the LP forum for well over a decade. He's gone, it's all gone now. 

The Lonely Planet Thorn Tree preceded Thavisa by several years. I was a big poster on the Thailand branch back in the day. Remember the Duck who spammed the forum constantly accusing JC of plagiarising his backpacking guide to Burma?

[khunPer]

11 hours ago, Logosone said:

Mallorca tried this without success. There are just not enough rich people. The plebs are the masses, it's where the real money is. Who do you think finances the millions footballers earn? The plebs. It comes from advertising, ie products bought by the plebs.

 

The plebs have huge financial power but don't know it.

10 percent of 7 billion is 700 million, just 1 percent is 70 million...

[Logosone]

5 hours ago, Sambotte said:

I must say Jamaica is the WORST immigration experience i've ever encountered in maybe 40 years and 40 countries visited. The only denial i've ever had, on a second visit, for no reason, and no supervisor.

Not to mention total insecurity. And crazy prices.

Same here, absolute nightmare at immigration. I had to fill out an im card, but there was no aircon whatsoever, so when I came to the Im Nazi the flimsy paper was wet and torn inside my suit jacket. The IM Nazi made me turn around and queue again, in a queue of 300 people. Thankfully I was able to cut in somewhere thanks to a kindly usher girl.

 

Nothing works in that country. The food is awful. Fine women though.

[dave moir]

11 hours ago, WhatsNext said:

Get wealthy tourists to thailand, ok then :

 

- 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. 

 

I live here so for me the reasons to be here are entirely different than for a tourist. If i was an upper class tourist , thailand would not be in my list of goto desitnations.

Exactly!

[Logosone]

2 hours ago, fraggleRock said:

I've lived all over SE Asia and and if I had wealth the last place I would be is Thailand - All the said wealthy go to the likes of Singapore in Asia .... where I'm returning.  Why stay in a 5* star hotel next to an open sewer to the sea, swim in your own turds! I thought Jakarta was bad for trash! Holy cow - Bangkok is an absolute greasy toilet with a lot of angry white hating unemployed people who will remain as such.  I think this guy is after the Cancun, Mexico dream..... problem is, I've been there and its never going to get the investment - Cancun, Hawaii or even Cuba absolutely THRASH Thailand on every Tourism Metric from the US way.. Bali likewise and Greece, Malta, Spain and S. Africa from the other way... This guy is an armchair retard with no experience it seems and its the same cost or less elsewhere without the hassles.... Is he intending a new 'RICH LANE' at the airports <deleted>....

Errrr Cuba does not trash any place. Cuba is an absolute cackhole, the worst place in the world if you're rich. It literally has people with dead eyes looking out of broken ruins of houses, the world's worst restaurants. To even compare Bali to Cuba is ludicrious. Cuba is at the very, very bottom of the desirability scale. It's literally the worst place I've visited. Fantastically worse than Thailand.

[3NUMBAS]

and theyre all chinese wealthy

[Logosone]

1 hour ago, Jon1050 said:

Actually mallorca is moving away from the bottom of the market and have invested hundreds of millions in hotels in an effort to focus on family friendly resorts .it will not happen overnight but the days of the booze cruise and pub crawls are finished.

Yes, I've stayed in some of those new top hotels. The prices are insane. The prices for pretty good package holidays are good, the pubs are still there and if you look at El Arenal and Magalluf the pub crawls will, I think, continue. A lot has changed though, it's true, the Playa de Palma was prettified and many of the Mafia nightclubs like Riu Palace, Gran Joy, etc are gone. Still, would be surprised if the upmarket push really succeeds in Mallorca, doesn't look like it has so far.

[newnative]

    Unless it's perhaps some small, contained place like Monaco this brain-dead strategy has no hope at all of working--certainly not on a large-scale for a big country like Thailand.  Ideally, you want a mix of all kinds of tourists because you have a mix of all kinds of hotels, restaurants, and tourist attractions that need lots of tourists to keep them going.  Are high-end tourists going to flock in sufficient numbers to keep Cartoon Network Water Park open?  Or, the Floating Market?  Or the thousands of other businesses--and their jobs--that have opened over the years to accommodate 20 or 30 million tourists a year?   Get real.  

[Logosone]

1 hour ago, fruitman said:

Mallorca has the best beaches of the world...compare that to any thai beach full of plastic, cheap terraces, soi dogs, annoying vendors, groups of chinese...

On Mallorca you meet nice tourists with whom you can share stories and drinks....much better imo

Lol, Mallorca does not have the best beaches in the world, beaches in the Caribbean urinate all over Mallorcan beaches in a very bad way.

 

Also, in Mallorca people are packed on beaches like Sardines. Not on Seven Mile Beach in Grand Cayman, which is way more beautiful than any Mallorcan beach.

[elliss]

11 hours ago, Thechook said:

the wealthy don't Holliday in places like Thailand

 

 Only the CCs,  cheapest sex , excluding Africa ,,

[AgMech Cowboy]

12 hours ago, rooster59 said:

target big spenders seeking privacy

They need a 'high' priced casino.

[SuperTed]

It's a bit scary to think the Thai government is combing the comments section of TVF, but I am very glad they have been reading my comments and have taken my advice.

 

Thailand must win!

[khunpa]

Does this mean the bucket of ping pong balls in the GO GO will become more expensive?

[Trillian]

1 hour ago, GinBoy2 said:

Trouble is that Thailand likes to 'aspire' but without the will to actually commit to the hard work, ie improve the infrastructure, remove the scams and really make it a wonderful vacation destination.

 

Do you remember when you first came to Thailand, I do? In 1991 I got off the plane from London at Don Muang (sp) and immediately that combination of heat, smells and sounds hit me like a sledge hammer, I'd never experienced anything like it and I immediately wanted more. The degree to which it was so different from the West is what made it so appealing. Did I care the sidewalks were uneven, the electric cable hanging down and unsafe, sewerage was vented into the canals and lots of officials were corrupt? Of course not, why would I, it was part of the difference that was so appealing and I wonder today why so many Westerners want to make the place just like "back home". It's those same sensations and experiences that will make the more affluent spend time here, especially now there are heaps of 6 star bolt holes they can escape to. Those of you who are griping about all the faults that exist in Thailand, either you've never visited or you've lost the plot and should have left long ago.

[GinBoy2]

14 minutes ago, Trillian said:

Do you remember when you first came to Thailand, I do? In 1991 I got off the plane from London at Don Muang (sp) and immediately that combination of heat, smells and sounds hit me like a sledge hammer, I'd never experienced anything like it and I immediately wanted more. The degree to which it was so different from the West is what made it so appealing. Did I care the sidewalks were uneven, the electric cable hanging down and unsafe, sewerage was vented into the canals and lots of officials were corrupt? Of course not, why would I, it was part of the difference that was so appealing and I wonder today why so many Westerners want to make the place just like "back home". It's those same sensations and experiences that will make the more affluent spend time here, especially now there are heaps of 6 star bolt holes they can escape to. Those of you who are griping about all the faults that exist in Thailand, either you've never visited or you've lost the plot and should have left long ago.

Don't get me wrong, I had a very similar experience when I first came to Thailand.

 

But this thread is about Thailand wanting to move away from tourists like you and I and attract 'wealthy' tourists.

 

The truly wealthy want somewhere like a Côte d'Azur or The Hamptons. They don't want all those things you describe. They want luxury, and thats something Thailand struggles with

Edited June 20, 2020 by GinBoy2

[SiSePuede419]

If I was wealthy I would go to California, New York City, Paris, Tahiti, Kenya, Tokyo and maybe Nepal for hiking.

 

Then I might stop by Chiang Mai for some Cowboy Hat Lady 30Baht pork leg, 555.

 

[Trillian]

9 minutes ago, GinBoy2 said:

Don't get me wrong, I had a very similar experience when I first came to Thailand.

 

But this thread is about Thailand wanting to move away from tourists like you and I and attract 'wealthy' tourists.

 

The truly wealthy want somewhere like a Côte d'Azur or The Hamptons. They don't want all those things you describe. They want luxury, and thats something Thailand struggles with

I don't think that's necessarily true, if it were then the 5, 6 and 7 star hotels wouldn't exist. The other point to make is the wealthy Asians don't want the Côte d'Azur or The Hamptons, they're happy to spend their money in their own backyard.