COVID-19 is “worst crisis in Thai tourism history”: TAT spokesman

[kingdong]

3 hours ago, Caine said:

Who gives a toss, deserve everything they've got coming to them ????????????

considering the scorn and contempt tourists were treated with can,t say i disagree.

[Meat Pie 47]

14 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Wish list

1. open the borders.

2. open the airports

3. let in the foreign tourist

4. Get photo with PM for wall

 

Steven will love that

[A512]

This article is pathetic. Things are just getting warm, grab a beer and chill out.

[A512]

4 hours ago, Truth Will Set You Free said:

After reading all the BS this country had said about us White Europeans are trash to them, I hope that no Europeans come to this country for years down the road. They need to suffer to the point that they beg Westerns to return to this country. 

Sorry to say that's not gonna happen. They would drown in their own <deleted> rather than beg for the dirty farang to return.

[Chelseafan]

18 hours ago, petermik said:

Mr Tanes said that "Thai tourism had passed its worse phase and now set to make a slow steady return to normalicy"....perhaps when the authorities announce a firm date when international travelers will be allowed back in potential visitors will then be able to book flights with some confidence...until then they can forget about it.....excepting of course for their Chinese cousins who will be welcomed with open arms

 

You're quantity, not quality

[Destiny1990]

1 minute ago, Chelseafan said:

 

You're quantity, not quality

Only folks who come in by their own Private aircraft are labeled “quality” so now you know ur place also !!

[Chelseafan]

8 hours ago, Max69xl said:

"Mr. Tanes said it will be a long time before Thailand again chalks up the 2019 record visitor arrivals of nearly 40 million."

They are still using that fake number for tourists entering Thailand 2019, when everyone knows that the real number wasn't even close to 40 million. On top of that, counting migrant workers coming and going as if they were tourists.

 

How do you figure ? All stats I can find show it just below 40million

 

[Chelseafan]

Just now, Destiny1990 said:

Only folks who come in by their own Private aircraft are labeled “quality” so now you know ur place also !!

 

Which private jet should I fly in on ? The lockheed or Gulfstream ????

 

 

[sezze]

3 hours ago, GAZZPA said:

Sad but probably true. The economic downturn of the tourist trade will start to have big knock on effects on other industries now such as cars, houses, clothes, shopping malls etc,,, it's going to be a very long recovery for Thailand and the rest of the world and that's assuming we don't have a second wave.. At the moment the USA is seeing huge rises again and India and South America are in the peak of suffering. We are months and months away from a global recovery, if not years. Thailand need to have a rethink on how they can create additional sources on income for the economy.

Yes , problem is in Thai society is the big , huge , inequality between rich and poor , between the countryside and Bangkok . Education for many children in Thailand is virtually non existent , many schools are nothing more then a place where children go to play , if they even want to go .

As for travel , we all see what's going on , even guessing on recovery in 2021 is just nothing more then a guess and the hope of finding a vaccine . On the other hand , some other scientists say that it can just blow away in very short notice , without knowing why or how ( scientists who did find covid virus in sewage water from samples dating back march 2019 , +6 months before 1st case ) . The future is uncertain , and uncertainty is no good for any kind of planning , whether it be travel , economy , investments .... in fact it is only good for war scenarios .

[garyk]

Kinda curious what the next nail in the coffin of Thailand tourist industry will be. First it was the banks, then the insurance companies.

 

In not to many years there will be articles about how Thailand ruined it's tourist industry, and what not to do.

A rags to riches then back to rags story.

Edited July 6, 2020 by garyk

[Lingba]

how do they expect a slow and steady recovery when they are not letting tourists in and when they do they will be in a quarantine holiday if they come...these knuckleheads have no idea

 

[dallen52]

Get the brains out of neutral, fingers out of ears, stop scratching the backsides, look at the thousands of separated families and retirees all still waiting to get back...

 

They all contribute millions of baht to immigration, airlines, local businesses, schools.

We don't hang around the sleazy tourist venues, are minimum risk when compared to others.

 

Why make it so hard and expensive. 

Most of us will head straight to the family and homes.

 

Once again I'm lost for words....

[hotchilli]

21 hours ago, webfact said:

However, he said, the crisis had created an opportunity for the Thai tourism industry to reform itself in preparation for the “New Normal.”

I haven't seen any reform just Thais sitting around waiting to get back to the old ways..

[baansgr]

18 hours ago, Misterwhisper said:

It cannot be healthy in the long term for any country (except perhaps micro nations like San Marino or Monaco) when - as in the case of Thailand - almost 20% (some say sources even claim it's as high as 25%) of GDP is solely generated through foreign inbound tourism. So... what a great opportunity to re-structure, de-clutter and revise the tourism sector now, making it healthier and more sustainable in the process.

 

But as I could glean from the panelists presented in the article, they all are rooting for things to return to "the same old". Hence, nothing's going to change and soon enough the country will be caught up in the rather insane tourist numbers race once more. 30 million? Not good enough. Got to be 35 million next year, and 40 million the year after that. Then 45 million and 50 million, and so on and forth. The question is: How many tourists can a country the size of Thailand "stomach" while at the same time keeping up with the necessary infrastructure AND trying to protect the environment?   

Spain, Greece, France and Portugal are just a few other countries that rely heavily on tourism and are being hit badly. The difference with Thailand is tourism not only keeps millions in work around the tourist areas, it's the money that is then sent to all the Issan villages keeping a larger proportion of the population out of poverty, that's where it is really gonna hurt long term...the rice and rubber is now too expensive to export so even that route of making a living is confined to history.

[GAZZPA]

2 hours ago, garyk said:

Kinda curious what the next nail in the coffin of Thailand tourist industry will be. First it was the banks, then the insurance companies.

 

In not to many years there will be articles about how Thailand ruined it's tourist industry, and what not to do.

A rags to riches then back to rags story.

It reminds me of Spain many years ago. Thousands of people flocked to Spain to invest in second homes only to have the Authorities inform them that the planning permission was not done properly and the Spanish ordered the houses were to be demolished,, huge amount of scams flying around and people voted with their feet.. It has taken Spain decades to start recovering. Now of course it has a much bigger tourist trade then Thailand,, as does France.

[hotchilli]

20 hours ago, Misterwhisper said:

Hence, nothing's going to change and soon enough the country will be caught up in the rather insane tourist numbers race once more. 30 million? Not good enough. Got to be 35 million next year, and 40 million the year after that. Then 45 million and 50 million, and so on and forth.

Thailand and especially T.A.T has always been about the "numbers game", they think the more tourist arrivals the better Thailand must be, it was an illusion, amazing Thailand.
It's was about cheap, it suited the pockets of people traveling on a budget, and the resorts like Pattaya etc suited the beer & sex brigade. The only two things Thailand has to offer.

Now things have changed, Thailand is trying to re-brand itself as some kind of safe haven, but with nothing to offer, Safe haha, trusted Thailand haha even more hilarious, 

they believe their own rubbish but t doesn't convince the rest of the world.

 

[JonnyF]

They need to go back to what they are good at.

 

Easy visas.

Genuine smiles.

Drop the condescending attitude towards normal lowish income travellers.

Friendly immigration.

Clamp down on ripoffs.

Stop double (10x) pricing.

The TV puritans won't like this one, but stop banning everything that was fun for tourists (beach parties, late night street bars, smoking/drinking where and when you like, being able to stay out all night partying etc.)

 

It's ironic how they've been tightening down on visas and telling the world what type of tourists they will lure this month, and now they are left with nothing.

 

Their hubris led them to forget what they are good at and try to focus on something they could never achieve. The reason I fell in love with Thailand in 1998 was the fun factor. If I came here for my first visit in 2019 I'd have never returned and told my friends it's bland and not worth the long flight. Ibiza would be more fun.

 

They walked to the edge of the cliff themselves. C19 simply pushed them off.

[JonnyF]

56 minutes ago, GAZZPA said:

It reminds me of Spain many years ago. Thousands of people flocked to Spain to invest in second homes only to have the Authorities inform them that the planning permission was not done properly and the Spanish ordered the houses were to be demolished,, huge amount of scams flying around and people voted with their feet.. It has taken Spain decades to start recovering. Now of course it has a much bigger tourist trade then Thailand,, as does France.

Funny you say that. My elderly (extremely polite) mother visited 3 years ago and after a few incidents of rude and surly Thais in tourist areas slapping our food down onto the table, sneering, clearly gossiping about us while we ate our food etc. that's exactly what she said with the comparison to Spain.

 

She said it reminded her of the way Spain managed to mess up their tourist industry by getting arrogant and complacent during the good years and forgetting everything that made people want to go there in the first place. So people just went elsewhere.

 

She's also expressed no interest in returning to Thailand and suggested we meet up elsewhere in the region next time.

 

[dallen52]

14 hours ago, RobbyXNorway said:

Ex-girlfriend (last one) lost her job in March at a 5-star resort here in Hua Hin. I told her to get get back on the horse and go around every day to look for a new job. She landed  one at another 5-star hotel in town in May. Today she messaged me that she had lost her job again because there were a lot of students flooding into the already small amount of available jobs. So she was even considering suicide because she was so depressed about the entire situation. Her mom had to leave and go back to her village a month ago (they were living together) and her father is lives out in the sticks with no jobs around (retired army) and cant support her. So she is struggling to find a job to support herself and her daughter. I have forked over around 5000 baht every month to help her, even though i am in a new relationship. While i wouldnt normaly do that as it's not an acceptable thing for most women, i have talked with my current girlfriend (Philippines) and explained the situation. So i guess its ok, but cant keep doing it.

 

The ex applied for the 5000 baht monthly hep, but was denied.

 

In my opinion Thailand is going down the <deleted>ter FAST. People are out of jobs and struggling like hell to have food to eat and clothes on their back. Coupled with a huge domestic household debt, it is really hard for a lot of people who have been suckered into taking on loans and credit. But also for the regular people who have lived hand to mouth for years on small paychecks. Combined with a really stupid "live today, tomorrow you can be dead" outlook on life where they tend to not save or set aside money for a rainy day, this can get really ugly really soon.

 

Also i think that propping up the thai baht currency is now going to strangle the export industry. Other countries will go "cutthroat" in competing for international export production, as the global market will tank and many international companies will start rearranging their production locations to lower their costs even more. We are already seeing problems propping up like the coconut-picking monkeys impacting coconut-product exports. I think the bad news will keep on coming for Thailand, and they need to get their <deleted> together both domesticaly and internationaly.

Welcome to my world...

7 years partner. 

I'm stranded in Australia since February. 

She lost her job. 

Sister lost her job.

Mother died. 

Back to the family home in the village. 

Nobody has received this 5000 grant. 

Several lame excuses for rejection. 

I'm forking out say 3000 a week.

Her, her sister. The daughter 17. Her sons in the army and doesn't always get paid.. true..

So his wife and child are on the support list...

 

They grow some vegetables which helps.

Sweet fa from the government. 

I'm having to rent a place in Melbourne. $1300/month. 

 

I have retirement extension until January. And re entry. 

 

The new scam for getting back into Thailand will cost me about 150,000 baht.

 

One wonders why anyone would even consider going back..

They really have no idea what farang contribute to the economy...

 

[Moo 2]

Mr Tanes says" The crisis has created an opportunity for the Thai tourism industry to reform itself,

I say " bring back the Baht to where it is supposed to be". Half of the problem solved! 

[Mikeasq60]

The so called New Normal means Thailands doomed. Any elections coming up that could stir up the dead weight in Bangkok?

[Huckenfell]

On 7/6/2020 at 12:02 PM, ozz1 said:

I thought that they expected  billions  of baht coming from tourists  this year someone is telling porkies  and  if they dont let anyone to enter there stuffed

If they were really interested in maintaining "paying" guests, they would drop the rediculous health insurance on the O-A visa. I have NEVER owed money to any Thai hospital during my last O-A visas. I have always paid my way or returned to oz and got any med attention required,

and believe it to be so with all the other O-A visa holders which i knew. The reason which the Thai govt', gave for this insurance (in many cases impossible to obtain) was an outright lie, and well they knew it.

[Huckenfell]

On 7/6/2020 at 2:58 PM, Xonax said:

If they upgrade all hotels and resorts to attract more quality tourists, they could hit 20% again. But I seriously doubt that will ever happen.

Do they realise that one of the most important reasons for the high tourism rate, was the fact that Thailand was very cost effective, rather cheap to stay in. I remember people from the UK saying that  the big expense was the airfare there, then it was a cheap affordable holiday ?

 

[Huckenfell]

On 7/6/2020 at 12:15 PM, petermik said:

Mr Tanes said that "Thai tourism had passed its worse phase and now set to make a slow steady return to normalicy"....perhaps when the authorities announce a firm date when international travelers will be allowed back in potential visitors will then be able to book flights with some confidence...until then they can forget about it.....excepting of course for their Chinese cousins who will be welcomed with open arms

For goodness sake !   What good is that if their respective countries won't allow them out ?

 

[Huckenfell]

22 hours ago, BritManToo said:

I suspect the closures, bankruptcies and unemployment have only just started.

Too many service providers and not enough customers ........ ever again.

 

Maybe they should start by returning immigration/VISA rules to the 'good old days' where any foreigner can come as often as they like, and stay for as long as they like.

Maybe this was why Thailand became so popular in the first place. Perhaps it would be worthwhile having another look at this.

[Huckenfell]

22 hours ago, animatic said:

“COVID-19 is “worst crisis in Thai tourism history”: TAT spokesman”

Clearly World War Two didn’t register with the Under-Minister of Silly Talks.

Back in WW2 they actually thought that they were masters of their own destiny, but lucky for them , the "enemy" won.

[Huckenfell]

21 hours ago, geisha said:

Thailand is not attractive anymore due to its catastrophic infrastructure and kamikaze drivers. The quality tourists will not come to Thailand with its sleazy reputation. 

The quality tourists ride around in Chinese owned busses.

 

[Huckenfell]

21 hours ago, Scouse123 said:

 

 

I agree complete.

 

Talk about the Thai authorities trying to ' put lipstick on a pig! '

 

They are so removed from people on the ground, these pillocks belong in ' One flew over the cuckoos nest.'

When we listen to some of the idiotic statements from officials, we can realise what <deleted> they convince each other with at their official meetings.

 

[cyril sneer]

all good things come to an end

 

I expect Pattaya will head in the same direction as Blackpool etc.

[Huckenfell]

10 hours ago, A512 said:

Sorry to say that's not gonna happen. They would drown in their own <deleted> rather than beg for the dirty farang to return.

Hopefully, you are referring to the Hi-So community of Bangkok and Thailand, as i find the opposite in Isaan.