Thailand sees 60% slump in January-May tourist arrivals, spending

[tomauasia]

7 hours ago, Mavideol said:

why claiming 60%.........they close down the country, nobody allowed to enter, the small quantity of the ones forced to stay behind sure will not do much for the tourism, the slump should show 100%, they should start to learn how to properly/correctly report, why always try to make it look rose/pink or whatsoever

They are broke

[AndrewMciver]

Country that relies close to 30% on tourism (direct and indirectly in the chain) this is awful news. 

[Harry Fingerling]

You couldn’t write this stuff, without tourists they’re up the said creek without a paddle.

[trainman34014]

1 hour ago, GAZZPA said:

You cant compare property prices in Thailand to the West, the only number that really matters is the cost of property to the local salary. There are apartments in Pattaya for example that cost 30 million baht plus. The average 2 or 3 bedroom property in Pattaya is already beyond the salaries of most locals today. 

I was replying to a post about Foreigners being able to buy property in Thailand.   I was not talking about how much Thai's can afford to pay.    I know many Foreigners who would love to buy properties and/or land in Rural Thailand in their own name, have the funds to do so and they would quickly do so if it were allowed.    It would not be many years before Thai's, apart from the 'Elite', would never be able to afford to buy anything anywhere in the country as effectively they would be priced out of the market completely.

[eeworldwide]

The rant at the top of this post is all well and good, but it's not really addressing the real issue, which IS a Covid19 issue.

 

A reasonably intelligent person sees the world and analyses the world through reasonably intelligent lenses, but one must not forget the VAST amount of visitors to Thailand who do not give a fig about fine wine and luxury goods.

 

Thailand has catered to the passing trade of backpackers and students for many years - indeed, one could argue that it is they who brought Thailand her fame.

 

Tourism had not trickled to a halt - there are too many tantalising things for a basic human to enjoy here, and despite the strength of the baht, strolling down practically any street in Thailand is preferable to strolling down any street in Catford or Birmingham, not least for the climate and cheap food.

 

Tourism has halted completely BECAUSE of Covid19. 

 

The real fact of the matter has nothing to do with the rant of our beleaguered expatriot friend, but much more to do with other countries being unable to travel for economic reasons and for logistical and practical reasons too.

 

Simply put- you know that there is a second wave currently starting up again in the USA and in Europe and next week or so it will be in the UK.

 

South Korea are all over the shop.

 

Covid19 doesn't give a flying fig where you're from, she's here to stay and she's good at hide and seek.

 

Tourism as a GLOBAL concept is over for the foreseeable - so by all means, have a good bitch and moan about how awful the thais in power and in tourism have treated us, I'm still here and very happy - and I suspect you are too.

 

MY concern is how ANYTHING is going to function properly  - because it's not going to function properly for a HELLUVA long time, and that's got nothing to do with how politely one proffers a wine list.....
 

 

[Captain Monday]

2 hours ago, trainman34014 said:

But that is exactly what they are afraid of because if Foreigners were allowed to buy Property and Land in their own name then there would be little or nothing for Thai's left to buy in five years time !

Nonsense. Thailand, a very very big country. not a tiny island. The properties foreigners would buy would be suburban, rural houses. hardly worthless ag land and Moobans. Lots in Chiang Mai old city are more than Manhattan downtown and you cant build anything on in worth the price of purchase. It is just good for Thais trading amongst each other, and they dont want you in on it.

[joecoolfrog]

8 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

In January, prior to Covid, international tourism was down dramatically here. These problems did not start with Covid. Though it is an easy scapegoat now, it is only a part of the reason for the decline in tourism. Some of the following was written prior to Covid. But, it relates just the same, as they will have these same issues down the road again.

 

This is a situation where nobody is attempting to get to the root of the problem. Of course, in Thai society, it is not particularly popular to look within for the source of the problem. I think perhaps a few decades from now, they will have tourism classes at university, where they will discuss how Thailand lost the golden egg of Western tourism. Those tourists, unlike most Chinese tourists, spent anywhere from $100 a day, to over $2,000 a day. They brought real money into the country, and in exchange, were treated with utter and complete disregard, scammed, disrespected, and abused. Eventually, most said no more. Thailand thought the country was something very special, and that nobody would ever say no, or find alternative places to visit. The fact is that there are countless other spots, many in this region, that offer better service, more expertise in food and beverage (especially wine service and selection at fair prices, which rich tourists demand), reasonable import duties to sustain a luxury goods market, better training, and far better english skills. Thailand simply lost sight of the big picture, and had very little vision, with regard to big spending tourists, who need to be catered to, instead of scorned.  

 

So, what happened? The Western tourists started to decline in number, and the genius minds at the TAT decided it was time to "lure" the Chinese. They came. They came in droves. But, they did not spend much money. Hotels, restaurants, gift shops, jewelers, galleries, spas, massage shops, bars, and countless other businesses suffered, and will continue to suffer from this extreme myopia, on the part of the officials in charge of tourism. Oh well. Can't say they were not warned. Zero baht tourists are perhaps the majority who visit Thailand now. Sure, they spend some money in restaurants, and in 7/11. But, that is about it, for some of the super low budget Chinese tours. Not many rich Chinese are not visiting Thailand, for a dozen good reasons. They have too many other options.

 

There are countless things the government could be doing, if they wanted to attract the high quality tourists. Granted, they will need to get beyond the Covid phase, but this is the perfect time to be laying the groundwork. The problem with that, is it requires an admission that you are doing things wrong to begin with, and some vision. None of which is going to happen.

 

The very first thing would be to repeal the anti farang wine bill, that was passed by a few very corrupt senators way back when, to protect an anemic local wine industry, that produces an highly inferior product. They are losing billions of dollars a year in revenue, that would be had from a 100% wine duty, instead of 360%. The five star hotels would have major wine events, and the entire industry would flourish here. Then they could lower the luxury taxes. Rich tourists like to spend money when they travel. And they cannot do that here, as they do not like getting taken for a ride. Most wealthy people are smart with their money. Thailand could be making a fortune on a 25% luxury tax. Instead of the 100% of more, which discourages most people from buying. How many people do you see in the luxury stores here? They are almost always completely empty. Inane. Beyond inane. 

 

They will continue to get more Indian and Chinese tourists. But, it will be lower income, and lower middle income tourists. Thailand just cannot attract higher end tourists anymore. The focus on quantity over quality will continue to erode the nation on countless levels. More is rarely better. It just lowers the quality of life for nearly everyone, creates more congestion, more smog, more traffic, longer lines at immigration, and makes life difficult, especially in the big cities. There are countless things the government could be doing, if they wanted to attract the high quality tourists, and go for quality over quantity. 

 

Quantity over quality is never a good thing, unless you are selling one dollar items at a swap meet. It just lowers the quality of the experience for all. This is an emergency situation. It needs to be dealt with, and it needs a high degree of intelligence and competence. Not something Prayuth or Pipat possess. Someone else needs to handle this, and it needs to be handled yesterday!

 

You know what they say about putting all of your eggs in one basket? I have been warning 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. Westerners are not coming here anymore 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. And now you want us to come back? Really? How soon you forget. Sorry, but we have not forgotten what was done and said. What we 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!

 

Sorry to say, but the high spending tourists are lost for good. They WILL NOT come back to Thailand, for a dozen different reasons. And places like Pattaya, Phuket and Samui will continue to go downhill. So, the goons at the TAT continue to pursue ever higher numbers, regardless of the noxious air, unbelievable congestion on the roads, and woeful service at the airports, that this policy only exacerbates. 

 

I was recently with a group of friends, and we wanted to order a bottle of wine, at of one of those high end restaurants in the EmQuartier complex. It was Bella Rocca Restaurant. I asked about a 2011 Chianti they had on the list. I was told they were out of stock. I asked about a Barbaresco, at 2,600 baht. Again, out of stock. How about this Nebbiolo? Do you have the 2010, as stated on the list? No, we only have the 2015. OK, what is that wine like? Is it drinking well now? I do not know. Is there anyone here that is familiar with this wine list? No. Sorry sir. Wait a minute. You have hundreds of bottles on this list, ranging from 1200 baht to 10,000 baht per bottle, and NOBODY who works here knows anything about the wine? Are you serious? We all just looked at each other, and got up and walked out. We realized the restaurant was a pretender. And more than likely the food was marginal at best. It was all dressed up to look like a very nice Italian restaurant. But, it appeared to be only window dressing. High end tourists have little patience for that lack of quality and lack of service. 

 

But again, the lack of vision, combined with a naive, surly, silly, churlish, and ignorant sense of nationalism, bites the country in the butt. And again, who is the loser? The Thai people. The entire country is suffering from a declining tourism industry. And that will not change. It is a permanent declining trend. For a hundred valid reasons. 

 

It is a real shame, as I find most Thai people to be quite lovely, friendly, warm, helpful and fun to be around. There are many aspects of life here, that I truly enjoy. I am sure many feel the same way. Just wish the country was not moving backwards, (and was instead moving forward under the leadership of progressive minds) due to a system of meritocracy, and a complete lack of forward looking vision. A nice dream indeed.

 

Moving the country forward? I think not. More like "Moving Thailand backwards at an alarming pace".

It is a mistake to to try and reconcile the actions of the leadership with what is best for the majority of the Thai people. I need not elaborate !

[runamok27]

So 118 billion baht divided by 2.73 million tourists is about 43,223 baht per tourist. That seems kind of weak. I would think any tourist staying here for a week would spend a lot more than that.

[BernieOnTour]

8 hours ago, SuwadeeS said:

Everybody knows the number is down.

I see many shops closed for good.

Many people are unemployed.

Export is down.

 

So, why the Thai Baht doesn't go down????

If you look at the economy, it should be 1$ = 45-50 Baht

 

 

Maybe, they want to have a replay of 1997, the Baht crisis.????

 

Okay, the Baht is not pegged anymore to the US $ ... but in the end, it might result in the same: extreme devaluation of the Baht.

[GAZZPA]

2 hours ago, trainman34014 said:

I was replying to a post about Foreigners being able to buy property in Thailand.   I was not talking about how much Thai's can afford to pay.    I know many Foreigners who would love to buy properties and/or land in Rural Thailand in their own name, have the funds to do so and they would quickly do so if it were allowed.    It would not be many years before Thai's, apart from the 'Elite', would never be able to afford to buy anything anywhere in the country as effectively they would be priced out of the market completely.

i get that my friend, I was responding to your post about foreigners being able to buy property. My point is that the risk is that it could put property prices beyond the average Thai worker so they are unable to buy, my point is it would make no difference because they already are beyond working people in Thailand. So might as well let foreigners buy and boost the property market.. But to be honest I think you would be crazy to invest in property in Thailand right now...

[BernieOnTour]

4 hours ago, trainman34014 said:

But that is exactly what they are afraid of because if Foreigners were allowed to buy Property and Land in their own name then there would be little or nothing for Thai's left to buy in five years time !

You won’t really want that !

 

Foreigner means: ALL foreigners, not only Farang ...

 

Property and Land in Thailand are cheap, compared to 1st tier cities in PR China, Hongkong, Singapore and Taiwan.

 

Less than 5 years and half of the country would be in the hands of guys with Chinese roots....

[GAZZPA]

2 hours ago, eeworldwide said:

The rant at the top of this post is all well and good, but it's not really addressing the real issue, which IS a Covid19 issue.

 

A reasonably intelligent person sees the world and analyses the world through reasonably intelligent lenses, but one must not forget the VAST amount of visitors to Thailand who do not give a fig about fine wine and luxury goods.

 

Thailand has catered to the passing trade of backpackers and students for many years - indeed, one could argue that it is they who brought Thailand her fame.

 

Tourism had not trickled to a halt - there are too many tantalising things for a basic human to enjoy here, and despite the strength of the baht, strolling down practically any street in Thailand is preferable to strolling down any street in Catford or Birmingham, not least for the climate and cheap food.

 

Tourism has halted completely BECAUSE of Covid19. 

 

The real fact of the matter has nothing to do with the rant of our beleaguered expatriot friend, but much more to do with other countries being unable to travel for economic reasons and for logistical and practical reasons too.

 

Simply put- you know that there is a second wave currently starting up again in the USA and in Europe and next week or so it will be in the UK.

 

South Korea are all over the shop.

 

Covid19 doesn't give a flying fig where you're from, she's here to stay and she's good at hide and seek.

 

Tourism as a GLOBAL concept is over for the foreseeable - so by all means, have a good bitch and moan about how awful the thais in power and in tourism have treated us, I'm still here and very happy - and I suspect you are too.

 

MY concern is how ANYTHING is going to function properly  - because it's not going to function properly for a HELLUVA long time, and that's got nothing to do with how politely one proffers a wine list.....
 

 

I agree with your main point, global tourism is a long way off, even after Covid people will need time to financially recover and booking holidays will be low on the priority list for most. 

 

Unfortunately a second wave could happen, history has shown us this, however i hope you are wrong about a second wave in Europe and the UK. i am hoping that with IT and the rapid spread of information these days will mean we can avoid one. If it does happen it will be a global economic disaster for everyone.

 

Stay safe,,,

[Caine]

10 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

These represent 0.0001% of the Chinese tourists who visit Thaland. As stated there are a dozen good reasons the fat cats do not visit Thailand. My guess is that they were visiting Gucci, to have a laugh at the out of control prices!

More than likely their Gucci purchases were shnide, knowing the thieving b*stares here.

[garyk]

IMHO a more accurate account would be close to 100% loss over the year ending December 31 2020.  GDP  for the whole of Thailand is not but 505 Billion dollars.  Also I would bet 20% is tourist money.

So about 1/5 of all money is lost. And that is last years GDP. Other things such as lost domestic sales and revenue will also be dramatically down.

The door will open even wider now for China. 

My opinion would be to get out of Thailand as soon as possible. You guys hanging on better brace yourself's for some rough times ahead.

Edited June 26, 2020 by garyk

[Blumpie]

26 minutes ago, garyk said:

IMHO a more accurate account would be close to 100% loss over the year ending December 31 2020.  GDP  for the whole of Thailand is not but 505 Billion dollars.  Also I would bet 20% is tourist money.

So about 1/5 of all money is lost. And that is last years GDP. Other things such as lost domestic sales and revenue will also be dramatically down.

The door will open even wider now for China. 

My opinion would be to get out of Thailand as soon as possible. You guys hanging on better brace yourself's for some rough times ahead.

I am fairly certain there will be no tourism for 2020.  2021 is a spot where there could be a vaccine and there could be a return to a semblance of normalcy.  

Will it open even more for China?  Eventually.  I can guarantee you that even if they opened it China wouldn't let their citizens come back to China after being in Thailand.  There would be so many hurtles to go through it would be staggering.  Nobody is going to travel under such restrictions, not that they have even proposed them contrary to all this blathering about re-opening.  For god's sake people, it's the government trying to comfort the people with these news stories and give them some hope, it's not reality.  They've kind of done this before, and I continually scratch my head about people believing these travel bubbles, and other such nonsense.  

Just look at the planes now - they have parked them and don't expect to use them for a terribly long time.  Staff has been let go permanently - meaning they won't be called back to work.  

And it's not Thailand either.  It's the entire world.  Look outside the bubble and see what is going on earth wide.  Travel is obliterated.

15 percent GDP?  Easily.  Remember that the percentage that they give for tourism does not include spinoff from the tourism industry which is around 5 percent of GDP.  

People need to stop blaming the government for this.  Fling the doors wide open other than a few fat farangs nobody is going to thailand for a vacation.  

[Soikhaonoiken]

13 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

wish they would make their mind up, earlier in the week foreign tourists made up 22.7% of gdp and thai tourists made up 10% ish of gdp

The figures are never the same, because when they pick a number,  they forget what number it was last week, so have to pick another ????

[Soikhaonoiken]

60% down, well that's what happens when you close your borders and ban foreigners from entering... Duh.. 

[Blumpie]

3 hours ago, Soikhaonoiken said:

The figures are never the same, because when they pick a number,  they forget what number it was last week, so have to pick another ????

Let's just throw numbers out because they are all skewed.

87.6 percent of the 11.7 percent GDP plus 5 percent spinoff is 14.339 percent according to Reuters.  Thais enjoy a corrective value of 92.3 percent which is a stunning example!  Plus the 8.7 percent GDP, we are looking at a staggering 88.5 percent accuracy in a 9.7 percent situation.  

I hope that this clears up the entire problem.  

[Trillian]

3 hours ago, Blumpie said:

 

15 percent GDP?  Easily.  Remember that the percentage that they give for tourism does not include spinoff from the tourism industry which is around 5 percent of GDP.  

 

International tourism, 11.4% of GDP.

Domestic tourism, 6.5% of GDP.

Thai overseas tourism, 18% of GDP

 

https://www.ceicdata.com/en/indicator/thailand/tourism-revenue

https://www.nationthailand.com/Tourism/30349409#:~:text=According to the Tourism Authority,with global median of %242.443.

 

That spinoff is already included elsewhere in GDP in ether services or domestic consumption or similar, you can't add it again!

[kingdong]

17 hours ago, AlfHuy said:

but in a few months, 2 billion Chinese will come, each month.

They booked each 5 holidays at 6 weeks a pop.

all" high end " i hope.

[Stargeezr]

There must have been a fantastic amount of tourism in January and February, and

early March, before the travel stopped and most tourists left to their infected home

countries. Wow the TAT math, seems so different than mine.  I cannot see how

it is just a 60 percent difference. Oh well I have never trusted TAT for a very long

time anyway.

Geezer

[Trillian]

7 minutes ago, Stargrazer9889 said:

There must have been a fantastic amount of tourism in January and February, and

early March, before the travel stopped and most tourists left to their infected home

countries. Wow the TAT math, seems so different than mine.  I cannot see how

it is just a 60 percent difference. Oh well I have never trusted TAT for a very long

time anyway.

Geezer

There was, 3.81 million visitors in January, 2.06 in February and 820k in March.

 

https://www.mots.go.th/mots_en/more_news_new.php?cid=330

 

https://tradingeconomics.com/thailand/tourist-arrivals

[Know not me]

I think spider Mike made the best post  I have read in  a long time. Thanks Spidermike. Some who is not a Thai basher to tell it like it really is.

[Benmart]

20 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

In January, prior to Covid, international tourism was down dramatically here. These problems did not start with Covid. Though it is an easy scapegoat now, it is only a part of the reason for the decline in tourism. Some of the following was written prior to Covid. But, it relates just the same, as they will have these same issues down the road again.

 

This is a situation where nobody is attempting to get to the root of the problem. Of course, in Thai society, it is not particularly popular to look within for the source of the problem. I think perhaps a few decades from now, they will have tourism classes at university, where they will discuss how Thailand lost the golden egg of Western tourism. Those tourists, unlike most Chinese tourists, spent anywhere from $100 a day, to over $2,000 a day. They brought real money into the country, and in exchange, were treated with utter and complete disregard, scammed, disrespected, and abused. Eventually, most said no more. Thailand thought the country was something very special, and that nobody would ever say no, or find alternative places to visit. The fact is that there are countless other spots, many in this region, that offer better service, more expertise in food and beverage (especially wine service and selection at fair prices, which rich tourists demand), reasonable import duties to sustain a luxury goods market, better training, and far better english skills. Thailand simply lost sight of the big picture, and had very little vision, with regard to big spending tourists, who need to be catered to, instead of scorned.  

 

So, what happened? The Western tourists started to decline in number, and the genius minds at the TAT decided it was time to "lure" the Chinese. They came. They came in droves. But, they did not spend much money. Hotels, restaurants, gift shops, jewelers, galleries, spas, massage shops, bars, and countless other businesses suffered, and will continue to suffer from this extreme myopia, on the part of the officials in charge of tourism. Oh well. Can't say they were not warned. Zero baht tourists are perhaps the majority who visit Thailand now. Sure, they spend some money in restaurants, and in 7/11. But, that is about it, for some of the super low budget Chinese tours. Not many rich Chinese are not visiting Thailand, for a dozen good reasons. They have too many other options.

 

There are countless things the government could be doing, if they wanted to attract the high quality tourists. Granted, they will need to get beyond the Covid phase, but this is the perfect time to be laying the groundwork. The problem with that, is it requires an admission that you are doing things wrong to begin with, and some vision. None of which is going to happen.

 

The very first thing would be to repeal the anti farang wine bill, that was passed by a few very corrupt senators way back when, to protect an anemic local wine industry, that produces an highly inferior product. They are losing billions of dollars a year in revenue, that would be had from a 100% wine duty, instead of 360%. The five star hotels would have major wine events, and the entire industry would flourish here. Then they could lower the luxury taxes. Rich tourists like to spend money when they travel. And they cannot do that here, as they do not like getting taken for a ride. Most wealthy people are smart with their money. Thailand could be making a fortune on a 25% luxury tax. Instead of the 100% of more, which discourages most people from buying. How many people do you see in the luxury stores here? They are almost always completely empty. Inane. Beyond inane. 

 

They will continue to get more Indian and Chinese tourists. But, it will be lower income, and lower middle income tourists. Thailand just cannot attract higher end tourists anymore. The focus on quantity over quality will continue to erode the nation on countless levels. More is rarely better. It just lowers the quality of life for nearly everyone, creates more congestion, more smog, more traffic, longer lines at immigration, and makes life difficult, especially in the big cities. There are countless things the government could be doing, if they wanted to attract the high quality tourists, and go for quality over quantity. 

 

Quantity over quality is never a good thing, unless you are selling one dollar items at a swap meet. It just lowers the quality of the experience for all. This is an emergency situation. It needs to be dealt with, and it needs a high degree of intelligence and competence. Not something Prayuth or Pipat possess. Someone else needs to handle this, and it needs to be handled yesterday!

 

You know what they say about putting all of your eggs in one basket? I have been warning 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. Westerners are not coming here anymore 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. And now you want us to come back? Really? How soon you forget. Sorry, but we have not forgotten what was done and said. What we 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!

 

Sorry to say, but the high spending tourists are lost for good. They WILL NOT come back to Thailand, for a dozen different reasons. And places like Pattaya, Phuket and Samui will continue to go downhill. So, the goons at the TAT continue to pursue ever higher numbers, regardless of the noxious air, unbelievable congestion on the roads, and woeful service at the airports, that this policy only exacerbates. 

 

I was recently with a group of friends, and we wanted to order a bottle of wine, at of one of those high end restaurants in the EmQuartier complex. It was Bella Rocca Restaurant. I asked about a 2011 Chianti they had on the list. I was told they were out of stock. I asked about a Barbaresco, at 2,600 baht. Again, out of stock. How about this Nebbiolo? Do you have the 2010, as stated on the list? No, we only have the 2015. OK, what is that wine like? Is it drinking well now? I do not know. Is there anyone here that is familiar with this wine list? No. Sorry sir. Wait a minute. You have hundreds of bottles on this list, ranging from 1200 baht to 10,000 baht per bottle, and NOBODY who works here knows anything about the wine? Are you serious? We all just looked at each other, and got up and walked out. We realized the restaurant was a pretender. And more than likely the food was marginal at best. It was all dressed up to look like a very nice Italian restaurant. But, it appeared to be only window dressing. High end tourists have little patience for that lack of quality and lack of service. 

 

But again, the lack of vision, combined with a naive, surly, silly, churlish, and ignorant sense of nationalism, bites the country in the butt. And again, who is the loser? The Thai people. The entire country is suffering from a declining tourism industry. And that will not change. It is a permanent declining trend. For a hundred valid reasons. 

 

It is a real shame, as I find most Thai people to be quite lovely, friendly, warm, helpful and fun to be around. There are many aspects of life here, that I truly enjoy. I am sure many feel the same way. Just wish the country was not moving backwards, (and was instead moving forward under the leadership of progressive minds) due to a system of meritocracy, and a complete lack of forward looking vision. A nice dream indeed.

 

Moving the country forward? I think not. More like "Moving Thailand backwards at an alarming pace".

Much is an illusion, created by incompetent and corrupt officials. Your post has many truths, one being that the wonderful Thai people are being fleeced by those who profit from the chaos. 

[NoshowJones]

18 hours ago, lks7689 said:

Some People here just like to whine, let them be.

If nobody "whined" you would not have a forum, unfortunately most of the posts will have "whining" comments, but that is because of the way the world is today, with corrupt governments screwing it's people, and Thailand is no exception.

[lks7689]

15 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Add a couple more zeros, huh? So you honestly think a patron has to spend $30,000 for a bottle of wine, to get good wine service? Or, is this more of a math issue?

I can honestly tell you, I have no math issue. So figure that out. 

[lks7689]

6 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

If nobody "whined" you would not have a forum, unfortunately most of the posts will have "whining" comments, but that is because of the way the world is today, with corrupt governments screwing it's people, and Thailand is no exception.

Ideally a forum is where you exchange ideas, experiences and make friends. Here it's becoming mostly an avenue to express angst and pure bigotry. I been screwed in Thailand as well but I moved on. The only life you control is yours. 

[trainman34014]

2 hours ago, Benmart said:

Much is an illusion, created by incompetent and corrupt officials. Your post has many truths, one being that the wonderful Thai people are being fleeced by those who profit from the chaos. 

The Thai people have always been and will always be fleeced by their own 'Elite'; just take a look at New Car prices for instance or Supermarket prices as high in most cases as Western Europe and higher than Oz and the U.S.   How does it make sense in a low paid Society deliberatley kept that way by Thai Employers hell bent on keeping workers as not much more than slaves.   Then there are the Banks and Lending Institutions that push money onto people knowing full well that many will never be able to afford to pay back huge loans and subsequently a lot of Land and Homes end up in the pockets of the already bloated rich.   Add to this the heavy handed control of 'Governments' like the current one and the Temples free hand in extracting cash from the Masses whilst constantly telling them they must 'know their place' and you have plenty of reasons why the general Thai Folks are in the position they are in and their lives will never be a lot better than they are now.   Indeed; if things continue the way they are now the whole country and its people are doomed to be Third World forever and a day !

[mommysboy]

Meanwhile, major economies in Europe are kick-starting their tourist sectors. Thailand is out of the game completely, and even if it does reopen the major tour operators will be focusing on other markets.  What a disaster!  If Thailand is to be judged on it's ability to prevent Covid19, then of course initially it did very well, but coming out of lockdown has been dismal.  If the country is to be judged on economic policy with regard to tourism, specifically with respect to it's declared policy to chase only high-end tourists, then the verdict is indisputably negative.  Moreover, the overall stance is nothing but a wrecking-ball for the Thai economy.

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8464769/Families-book-summer-getaways-air-bridges-open-travel-operators-slash-prices-70.html

[Trillian]

45 minutes ago, trainman34014 said:

The Thai people have always been and will always be fleeced by their own 'Elite'; just take a look at ........or Supermarket prices as high in most cases as Western Europe and higher than Oz and the U.S.   How does it make sense in a low paid Society deliberatley kept that way by Thai Employers hell bent on keeping workers as not much more than slaves.   

Substantially more than 60% of the population earns less than 30k per month (350k per year), that income level is not designed for supermarket spending it's intended for local markets. The ever growing middle class can afford to do some shopping there but this is an emerging picture rather than the norm.

 

"in most cases higher than Western Europe".....what items? Pork, chicken, ground whatever, local vegetables, cooking oil, sugar, bread, milk or other things? Because if you refer to other things you're referring to imported goods or goods in the near luxury goods classification, more expensive products that the middle classes will buy sometimes.

 

https://www.statista.com/statistics/716001/share-of-household-income-levels-in-thailand-forecast/

Edited June 27, 2020 by Trillian