Tourism minister finally recognises that "virus free" expats can play important role in tourism recovery

[spidermike007]

1 minute ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

Funny you keep putting up straw-men to slay...doing so does nothing to support your argument that Mexico is some retiree paradise. There is good and bad in both places...for me, I'd rather live in a country where the police don't feel they can murder a school bus full of students with impunity, and which has one of the world's lowest corona virus infection/death rates in the world, than a country where the police feel they can and has one of the highest.

No. What I am doing is playing devils advocate. I too live here. I love it here. But, I do have issues with the place. And Latin America offers culture, theater, dance, film, intellectual stimulation, fine arts, fine dining, great wine, and countless things that cannot be found here.

 

This is a dialogue. Nothing more. 

[Pattaya Spotter]

40 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

No. What I am doing is playing devils advocate. I too live here. I love it here. But, I do have issues with the place. And Latin America offers culture, theater, dance, film, intellectual stimulation, fine arts, fine dining, great wine, and countless things that cannot be found here.

 

This is a dialogue. Nothing more. 

I completely agree with you...Mexico, its history, people, and culture are facinating and it is a compelling retirement option as well. You just kept intimating that I was overlooking the flaws and blemishes in Thailand when I was not. However, I think the scale of the abuses suffered by ordinary people from these abuses is probably less in Thailand than it is in Mexico.

[Keesters]

20 hours ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

I doubt many poor people will take a vacation, subsidy or not. I stand by my opinion that there is nothing wrong with a Thai taxpayer funded subsidy program for the tourism industry being limited to Thai nationals. I might also suggest foreigners with WPs also be included because they pay income and social fund taxes from their earnings or salaries. There is no reason for the government to subsidize the holidays of retirees in the country...who, if they have the means, can avail themselves of the already special discount rates at almost all hotels at the moment.

You do, I hope, realise you're alienating and discriminating against retirees who bring a lot to this country. I wonder what your attitude will be once you are retired. 

[Pattaya Spotter]

2 minutes ago, Keesters said:

You do, I hope, realise you're alienating and discriminating against retirees who bring a lot to this country. I wonder what your attitude will be once you are retired. 

I am retired and living in Thailand on a "retirement" visa...so you already know my attitude.

[Airbagwill]

Expats are particularly bad at integrating in Thailand and rely in many areas on the same facilities as tourists. E.g Phuket, Pattaya, Samui..

I dont think they realise the significance of this over the next 12 months or next year.

At present most are revelling in the lack of tourists, empty beaches etc . However the long term effects of this is going to be a major collapse in facilities available. Everything from food to property to car hire to utilities.

2019 saw 40 million visitors to Thailand. This year under 7 million and that was in the first quarter.

Next year the forecast is 12 million barely a quarter of the amount required.

This is going to bring about a major collapse in goods and services as companies go out of business. No amount of holidays by expats is going to alleviate this.

[Airbagwill]

2 hours ago, Keesters said:

You do, I hope, realise you're alienating and discriminating against retirees who bring a lot to this country. I wonder what your attitude will be once you are retired. 

Actually I think expats especially retirees grossly over estimate the benefits they bring to the kingdom.

[DouglasTsui]

You believe this <deleted>? Holy Cow,any normal person would just walk away with head shaking.

[DrTuner]

1 hour ago, Airbagwill said:

Expats are particularly bad at integrating in Thailand and rely in many areas on the same facilities as tourists. E.g Phuket, Pattaya, Samui..

I dont think they realise the significance of this over the next 12 months or next year.

At present most are revelling in the lack of tourists, empty beaches etc . However the long term effects of this is going to be a major collapse in facilities available. Everything from food to property to car hire to utilities.

2019 saw 40 million visitors to Thailand. This year under 7 million and that was in the first quarter.

Next year the forecast is 12 million barely a quarter of the amount required.

This is going to bring about a major collapse in goods and services as companies go out of business. No amount of holidays by expats is going to alleviate this.

Well, Pattaya was quite fine in 2006, with far less tourists then when the Chinese hordes descended. In fact it was better. Quality will win and the mass tourist places will die off. Fine by me.

[BobinBKK]

On 9/1/2020 at 11:06 AM, Dumbastheycome said:

Seems  so ! 

I also object  to being forced to learn to play  golf while my wife  goes shopping  unsupervised and unrestricted !

You could always play a couple of holes but it doesn't necessarily have to be golf ????

[ajarnmarc]

On 9/1/2020 at 4:18 PM, apetryxx said:

Expats living here can get a pink card, that should be all one needs for Thai like discounts and promotions. Easily done at Tessabahn if you take a little time to do it. All we need to be treated with the same courtesies extended to Thais is for the government to say okay.

In some provinces the charge for that fancy paper pink card is a whopping....wait for it!

35,000 bht

Several of my friends were quoted this price @ the Tessabahn on Koh Samui, 

and I've had other random friends quoted similar prices way out of line with the supposed 35 bht charge it's reported to cost, but to no avail are we granted that, regardless of how patient we are willing to be, or how much time we are willing to give. 

The people in charge simply figure if you want whatever this Pink card is supposed to provide you, 

you will certainly pay out the wallet and then some, if your wallet is extra large and can carry the entire surcharge within it. 

Nothing is exactly how it seems within this country, it all seems so innocent on the surface, but when you get into the depth of getting what is out there to make life perhaps a bit more uncomplicated, we soon find out that there certainly is an unknown charge, that puts things into a category of simply making it not worth it, and that is just how the authorities want it, or so it so often seems.

Sad, yet certainly true.

[black tabby]

On 9/1/2020 at 10:49 AM, keith101 said:

So the TM30 reports are a thing of the past and no longer need to be done ? 

Hello, Keith101, 

A good news for you.

Domestic travel within Thailand no longer involves TM30 report on your return to your usual address in Thailand.

They scrapped that stupid short-lived requirement sometime earlier this year. 

Thai immigration simply learned that it is the waste of everyone's time. 

Senseless & useless extra paper works to both bureaucrats  & aliens.

So you need to make a fresh report only when you return to Thailand from abroad.

Regarding TM30, there is one thing to be noted.

They now demand your TM30 copy on your 90-day report.  

They previously wanted to see that only when you ever changed your usual address.

But now, they say they want it even if your address is still the same as before.

I have experienced this at Chiang Mai immigration the other day, on my 90-day report.

 

[black tabby]

On 9/3/2020 at 3:37 PM, Airbagwill said:

Expats are particularly bad at integrating in Thailand and rely in many areas on the same facilities as tourists. E.g Phuket, Pattaya, Samui..

I dont think they realise the significance of this over the next 12 months or next year.

At present most are revelling in the lack of tourists, empty beaches etc . However the long term effects of this is going to be a major collapse in facilities available. Everything from food to property to car hire to utilities.

2019 saw 40 million visitors to Thailand. This year under 7 million and that was in the first quarter.

Next year the forecast is 12 million barely a quarter of the amount required.

This is going to bring about a major collapse in goods and services as companies go out of business. No amount of holidays by expats is going to alleviate this.

I agree.

Expats cannot really make any significant difference.

100000 long-term foreign dwellers(whether workers, retirees, or students) can hardly substitute 32.8million foreign travelers(figures from 2019).

And long term border blockade will cripple Thailand's whole inbound tourism industry permanently.

Loss of income for such a long time  will inevitably wipe out infrastructure and the workforce all together.

Hotels, guesthouses, touristy transport services, tour operators, gift shops, tourists-oriented food & beverage outlets will be gone.

Once it happens, the process will be pretty much like irreversible.

Since it will drain bulk of the people with working knowledge and skills.

The government might re-open its border a few  years later.

But then, nothing left to cater for the future tourists' needs.

And the whole Thailand can be ruled out from the possible lists of  the tourist destination.

 

[Artisi]

On 9/1/2020 at 12:07 PM, holy cow cm said:

Ah yes... The good ole expat and foreigner walking wallet. How about offer us people staying here over 3-5 years solid permanent residency for the price of $10,000.

Why $10 000, should be free or no more than a nominal fee. 

[Artisi]

On 9/1/2020 at 1:20 PM, MadMac said:

Any hotel will re-register you and you have to do a TM30 again when returning home. No way around it.

You're way out of touch. 

[holy cow cm]

16 minutes ago, Artisi said:

Why $10 000, should be free or no more than a nominal fee. 

Because if you look at the Elite card visa, they obviously think nothing is free. $1000, $2000, $5000 still all good for me to have solid security here. Even $10k is worth the burden of being at their will or mercy being lifted off the worry chart. 

[Artisi]

9 hours ago, holy cow cm said:

Because if you look at the Elite card visa, they obviously think nothing is free. $1000, $2000, $5000 still all good for me to have solid security here. Even $10k is worth the burden of being at their will or mercy being lifted off the worry chart. 

Nothing is secure in LOS and besides, if you are here legally what is the drama with a yearly visa extension - an hour or so of inconvenience - that's no big deal. 

[MadMac]

11 hours ago, Artisi said:

You're way out of touch. 

It's of course up to you how you burn your money. Chaeng Wattana just charged 800B, Chiang Mai 1600B for missing TM30. Good luck ????

[holy cow cm]

4 hours ago, Artisi said:

Nothing is secure in LOS and besides, if you are here legally what is the drama with a yearly visa extension - an hour or so of inconvenience - that's no big deal. 

If you have to ask as is in a rebuttal reply then there is no need for me to explain. It is a big deal!