Coronavirus forces tourism rethink in Bangkok, the world's most visited city

[CLW]

KSR was going downhill before for several reasons. Covid just the final nail in the coffin.

 

Anyway, the experts quoted in the text are foreigners. Thais generally don't listen to advice of foreigners so say tourism and economy goodbye unless they come up with a quick and easy solution within October.

[2 is 1]

3 hours ago, Youlike said:

Just let them build something really amazing and huge....there's no landmark building in whole BKK like there is in ANY European citie...build the biggest Wat of Asia in BKK and make it last for thousands of years.

 

Something like the Borubodur or Taj Mahall or that temple in Cambodia....Thailand doesn't have any of that scale.

Great idea! Put last coundry money to huge "building". Where nobody visit! Or make "asia disneyland" noup, nobody visit also because nobody dont want spend 14 days whit mickey mouse!

[shackleton]

I think we can all agree mass tourism will never be the same again 

Thailand needs to get rid of the sex tourist image 

And concentrate on quality family visits who will appreciate the things Thailand is known for scenery beaches Temples dinning out and the Thai people

[Xonax]

7 hours ago, daveAustin said:

Yes, a right old mess. Believe Bangkok gets 'world's most visited city' counting repeat visits. London, Paris and NYC are (or were) all over it on genuine singular visitations. 

Bangkok is only ranking as the worlds most visited city, because all Thailands major international airports are located there. Tourists travelling to anywhere in Thailand, will have to pass through Bangkok. It´s simply too convenient to make a stopover in Bangkok.

Edited August 21, 2020 by Xonax

[ThailandRyan]

1 hour ago, mtls2005 said:

 

Boran.

 

 

With what ~ 4 million foreign workers here there are plenty of jobs. Fishing boats, fish packing/processing, fruit picking, coconut picking, consrtuction.

 

Time to get off the foreign teat, get up off one's backside and get to work.

 

 

 

 

But then they are jobs a Thai won't do not that a Thai can't do. It is pure Laziness because of there perceived worth and a lack of salary for the job they expect. 

 

Dad: Go get a job you lazy POS he says to his son  

 

Son: But Dad, where can I find a job that pays me 30,000 Baht for playing on my cell phone, looking at girls, drinking and riding my motorbike fast 

 

Dad:  Forget I asked, Just go ask your sister to work harder and support you, that's what girls are supposed to do in our society.

[herfiehandbag]

3 hours ago, overherebc said:

Unfortunately I can see vaccination, when it arrives, just being added to the entry requirements already in place.

Yes, they have worked out how to make the other requirements (insurance and quarantine) a money spinner. Vaccination will no doubt be another.

 

It would be interesting to know to what extent those with "deep pockets" and "influence" ( the two concepts are interchangable really) are involved with the enterprises offering insurance and quarantine. No doubt any vaccination which is acceptable will have to be sourced from certain (Thai) companies, even if administered in the tourists home country prior to travel.

[NightSky]

Many expats had already packed up and left thailand before covid 19 because of all the crack downs and stress that caused..

 

many who remain are planning to leave too..

 

Edited August 21, 2020 by NightSky

[Bender Rodriguez]

eggs, basket, broken, dead

 

thank god thailand is full of highly well educated people that can easily find a new job, right

[phantomfiddler]

Thailand has shot themselves in the foot and they don,t have enough common sense to figure a way out of it. ????

[ThailandRyan]

8 minutes ago, NightSky said:

Many expats had already packed up and left thailand before covid 19 because of all the crack downs and stress that caused..

 

many who remain are planning to leave too..

 

Just an opinion some hold. Many, like myself live comfortably here and will stay until they forcefully evict us.

Edited August 21, 2020 by ThailandRyan

[Deli]

Open borders, airports, keep high risk countries blocked ( India, Brazil, Bangladesh, etc. ) and get back to work. There is NO other way around, unless back to the stoneage

[mtls2005]

6 minutes ago, phantomfiddler said:

Thailand has shot themselves in the foot and they don,t have enough common sense to figure a way out of it. ????

 

Better the foot than the head.

 

 

[NoBrainer]

Just open already. Thailand will need to reach herd immunity like everywhere else. They are just delaying the inevitable.

This flu is very treatable now, the worlds Dr.'s have learned a lot. Open & get it over with.

[hotandsticky]

5 minutes ago, NoBrainer said:

Just open already. Thailand will need to reach herd immunity like everywhere else. They are just delaying the inevitable.

This flu is very treatable now, the worlds Dr.'s have learned a lot. Open & get it over with.

 

 

No thank you.

 

 

You will get little traction for that idea from Thai people.

Edited August 21, 2020 by hotandsticky

[Caldera]

Quality over quantity? I have yet to see a quality tourist (read: wealthy tourist) who gets excited by the prospect of being quarantined for 14 days, treated like a leper (arm wrist, tracing app, whatever else they may dream up) and/or confined to visit certain areas only. That will be a tough, tough sell!

 

[NightSky]

My wifes niece just lost her job at a shrimp farm and she is worried about finding new work - not enough business 

 

it will be the knock on effects that will affect the poor families the most. 

 

The labourers can be retrained but that will take time. It will be rough for many and for a good few years i reckon. 

[johnnybangkok]

3 hours ago, Dukeleto said:

Well reading that was a complete waste of my time and was full of complete drivel extracted from people who apparently have actually no understanding of tourism in Thailand. I’ll give it to you in a nut shell. You are never going to change Thailand from mass tourism to selective high spending “quality” tourism simply because the second these tourist step out of their 6 star hotels they are in a rat infested, traffic jammed, smog choked, sewer smelling third world dive hole in the case of Bangkok. It’s this mix of modern luxury and $hit_hole that gives it its charm and is what actually makes it appealing. Unless you are going to break all that down and start again which will only turn it into another big modern city with absolutely no charm!

 

Thailand is what it is and it was successful in luring tourists. Nothing needs to be changed or rethought. Simply open up the borders. It’s really that simple. This virus has been turned into a child’s boogie man of deluxe proportions and the media fear mongering articles designed purely to sell content and folks gullibility has fuelled The populace’s fear of it. ENOUGH I say!

You were doing so well until your last 3 lines.

So you think this is all media hyped nonsense then? Do you want tell that to the 790,000 (and counting) already dead? And as for all those that bemoan lockdowns and social distancing, a recent Imperial College London study shows that if lockdown hadn't occured, Europe alone is conservatively estimated to have been looking at 3 milion dead and worldwide, the number would have hit 7 million (https://www.bbc.com/news/health-52968523). That's some big numbers by anyones estimate so before you start talking about 'media fear mongering' and fueling 'the populace’s fear' perhaps you should take a moment to think it was in fact an appropriate response given what could have been and possibly still might be.

[Mark17AA]

16 hours ago, RotBenz8888 said:

Doesn't the sex industry provide a kind of cultural tourism? 

In a petri dish maybe

[Bangkok Barry]

1 hour ago, shackleton said:

I think we can all agree mass tourism will never be the same again 

Thailand needs to get rid of the sex tourist image 

And concentrate on quality family visits who will appreciate the things Thailand is known for scenery beaches Temples dinning out and the Thai people

Have you been reading the TAT literature? Many countries in the region and beyond have magnificent temples, and many places in the region and around the world have far better beaches and scenery, often with superior infrastructure.

 

What drew many people to Thailand in its heyday was the sex industry, whether the authorities and you like it or not. But that has been reduced to a shadow of its former self by the rise of the Baht and greed from landlords that has led to unsustainable prices, as well as often ridiculous prices demanded by the girls.

 

And absolutely none of the decline has been due to Covid, until now. As time goes by, people develop more and more sophisticated tastes and demand better value for money and, outside of five-star hotels at a reasonable price, all too often Thailand is stuck in a time-trap of yesteryear standards. When Thailand was cheap that didn't matter so much. Now it isn't, and it does.

[MikeN]

21 minutes ago, NoBrainer said:

Just open already. Thailand will need to reach herd immunity like everywhere else. They are just delaying the inevitable.

This flu is very treatable now, the worlds Dr.'s have learned a lot. Open & get it over with.

Anybody that still thinks this is just a flu has not learned anything in the last 6 months. Maybe you should delete the last two letters from your user name ? That would be more apt.

[Surasak]

15 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

It's called unemployment. Wandering around with nothing to do and nowhere to go

If you have nothing to do, please don`t do it here.

[Airalee]

3 hours ago, Dukeleto said:

the second these tourist step out of their 6 star hotels they are in a rat infested, traffic jammed, smog choked, sewer smelling third world dive hole in the case of Bangkok.

So what you’re saying is that walking along the klongs of Bangkok isn’t the same as a stroll along the Seine in Paris?

[Tony125]

14 hours ago, madmen said:

I would not worry about Qantas, they mothballed planes and sacked everyone because no chance of oz opening borders before then. Plenty longhaul Europe flying daily to BKK and accross Europe 

New Survey Uncovers Nearly Half of Physicians Believe COVID-19 Will Not Be Under Control Until After June 2021

 

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-survey-uncovers-nearly-half-of-physicians-believe-covid-19-will-not-be-under-control-until-after-june-2021-301113722.html

[mac1970]

So traveling should be only for high spenders and high class. Do I see here somekind of cast thinking? Ou boy we are on the way back to 30's on all levels. Some of our friends in this world will make same mistakes by using the same or different arguments, ending up more divided society and everyone knows where it ends up after the critical mass is reached. Its not going solve problems as they will do the same mistakes again, like everywhere else, and end up asking how this happened again. 

[chilli42]

9 hours ago, SteveK said:

What a shambles, it seems nobody has a clue about what to do. Millions are now going to be living on a tiny bowl of white rice with a few drops of nam plaa, congratulations.

Sweden is the only country in the world I am aware of that managed this correctly.  Just follow them.  How difficult can that be with a clear roadmap?

[Tony125]

4 minutes ago, chilli42 said:

Sweden is the only country in the world I am aware of that managed this correctly.  Just follow them.  How difficult can that be with a clear roadmap?

Sweden records highest death tally in 150 years in first half of 2020

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/19/sweden-records-highest-death-tally-in-150-years-in-first-half-of-2020

Sweden, which has stood out among European countries for its low-key approach to fighting the coronavirus pandemic, has recorded its highest tally of deaths in the first half of 2020 for 150 years, the Statistics Office said.

Covid-19 claimed about 4,500 lives in the period to the end of June – a number that has now risen to 5,800 – a much higher percentage of the population than in other Nordic nations, though lower than in some others, including Britain and Spain.

[ThailandRyan]

19 minutes ago, Airalee said:

So what you’re saying is that walking along the klongs of Bangkok isn’t the same as a stroll along the Seine in Paris?

Sarcasm at its finest.  Tell me does the Seine River smell like a toilet like the Klongs of Bangkok do after a rain.  I know the answer, so no reason for you to tell me.  Just think about this statement "The river Seine is a curious pea-soup color, with tree trunks floating in some parts. The banks of the river are covered in dried mud and sand, which the city’s cleaning services are busy scrubbing off".  At least they try to spiff up the Seine through Paris for tourism, unlike Thailand.

[Chiang Mai Bill]

''But with flight bans and quarantines, the central bank expects only 8 million visitors this year.''

 

I wonder where these 8 million visitors are going to come from this year?  Must have had a lot of people before the lockdown!

[diks]

6 minutes ago, Tony125 said:

Sweden records highest death tally in 150 years in first half of 2020

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/19/sweden-records-highest-death-tally-in-150-years-in-first-half-of-2020

Sweden, which has stood out among European countries for its low-key approach to fighting the coronavirus pandemic, has recorded its highest tally of deaths in the first half of 2020 for 150 years, the Statistics Office said.

Covid-19 claimed about 4,500 lives in the period to the end of June – a number that has now risen to 5,800 – a much higher percentage of the population than in other Nordic nations, though lower than in some others, including Britain and Spain.

That sounds like pure hype. Looking at deaths in Sweden for the last ten years, the number of death will be approaching the same number or a little higher than 2018.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/525353/sweden-number-of-deaths/

[diks]

4 minutes ago, Chiang Mai Bill said:

''But with flight bans and quarantines, the central bank expects only 8 million visitors this year.''

 

I wonder where these 8 million visitors are going to come from this year?  Must have had a lot of people before the lockdown!

6.6 million in the first few months.

Edited August 21, 2020 by diks
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