Pandemic is a "golden opportunity" to reintroduce "premium" tourists to the wonders of Thai culture

[curlylekan]

Sorry, Thai government. The pandemic is a golden opportunity to look beyond tourism and become what is considered a developed country by economic standards, but you want to keep your people as they are, it seems.

 

[Artben]

8 hours ago, Kadilo said:

 

“She claimed that everyone wants to learn about things like weaving bags and baskets and mats, fishing and painting on handicrafts and the like. “

Course they do luv. I’ll have one of whatever she’s smoking. 

 

[Artben]

These have their place.  Great for mom & the kids while dad is otherwise occupied.  

[0815]

8 hours ago, tonray said:

...don't forget a good soapy massage too

...don't forget an afternoon at an intersection with ignored traffic lights too

[0815]

In which bubble is she living ?

[sambum]

"She claimed that everyone wants to learn about things like weaving bags and baskets and mats, fishing and painting on handicrafts and the like." 

 

Everyone? Come on, some people want to enjoy the weather and have a nice meal with a couple of drinks.

 

Personally, I don't know anyone that wants to learn about weaving bags and baskets etc - that is something that prisoners do isn't it?

[sambum]

1 hour ago, Justgrazing said:

Hivesters .! Is she talking Hivi vests or investors who are high .. 

I don't know, but it is rather a good word - I'll gop for the latter!

[RocketDog]

9 hours ago, djayz said:

I can't help but feel that those horses have bolted many years ago and they're not coming back. 

 

Although the country does have some breathtaking scenery, interesting arts and crafts, delicious and exotic food, etc., to offer, the mounting rubbish, endless traffic congestion, environmental problems, conartists, etc. simply outweigh the positive side of the place. 

 

 

"breathtaking" is pushing it a bit methinks. I haven't seen every corner of Thailand and but I  have yet to see what you describe. Esan is a good example of more of the same for hundreds of miles. Nothing very special about rice paddies. 

 

What they call mountains and rivers  here are so so, and their magnificent waterfalls simply aren't. There are lots of nice beaches where they haven't despoiled them yet with commercialization and hulking drab multistory condos. 

 

There are many things I like about Thailand but the scenery isn't one of them. 

[MisguidedPangolin]

You mean after I tour a Thai prison I can learn to weave baskets, AND paint handcrafts? Wow, I can't wait to spend my million big ones on a work permit!

All they need now is to offer 2 year admission to the Thai military for US$2M and the premium tourists will never bother with any other tourist destination.

[nong38]

Must be expecting a lot of rich 6 year olds coming.

[Isaan sailor]

Drop the Baht 50% on the western currencies.  Stop quarantining tourists.. You’ll see thousands of premium tourists arriving daily.

[djayz]

29 minutes ago, RocketDog said:

"breathtaking" is pushing it a bit methinks. I haven't seen every corner of Thailand and but I  have yet to see what you describe. Esan is a good example of more of the same for hundreds of miles. Nothing very special about rice paddies. 

 

What they call mountains and rivers  here are so so, and their magnificent waterfalls simply aren't. There are lots of nice beaches where they haven't despoiled them yet with commercialization and hulking drab multistory condos. 

 

There are many things I like about Thailand but the scenery isn't one of them. 

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

[IamNoone88]

If the economy get any worse, weaving our baskets, fishing for dinner and foraging might become a necessity and not some fancy trip to a faux cultural village! 

[Peterphuket]

4 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

NOT!!!!, they 7-11 and the other small markets as well as the street vendors still hand out plastic bags. Just go to any Talad and buy your fruits and vegetables, into a plastic bag they go.

Only the big shops like BigC, Lotus etc, are the winners, they still supply plastic bags, but guess...you'll have to pay for it.

[473geo]

The problem is simply as Thailand has become more 'westernised' due to 'mass tourism' it has lost a huge amount of originality and old fashioned Thai ambience

 

Those such as I, fortunate to discover Thailand 30+ years ago know exactly what I mean, mass tourism brings changes that cannot be undone.

[Damrongsak]

40 some years ago, an old farmer showed me how to put a chicken to sleep.  They can add that to their list of must-see items. 

 

And I'm sure premium tourists will want to learn how to properly prepare a rice paddy for planting.

 

[ThailandRyan]

They can hold classes for Foreign men on how to catch the most culturally appropriate wife as well.

[Dexxter]

I have only been living in Thailand 6 years, but the most common form of Thai culture I see is ????????????????

 

 

[Dexxter]

1 minute ago, ThailandRyan said:

They can hold classes for Foreign men on how to catch the most culturally appropriate wife as well.

Does she know how to weave baskets and mats?

[IAMHERE]

"She claimed that everyone wants to learn about things like weaving bags and baskets and mats, fishing and painting on handicrafts and the like. "

No,  that stuff is YOUTUBE. Nobody goes thousands of miles and spends thousands of baht to see weaving.

[jerolamo]

and to write in red ink a part of the black history time.

[rabang]

4 hours ago, RocketDog said:

"breathtaking" is pushing it a bit methinks. I haven't seen every corner of Thailand and but I  have yet to see what you describe. Esan is a good example of more of the same for hundreds of miles. Nothing very special about rice paddies. 

 

What they call mountains and rivers  here are so so, and their magnificent waterfalls simply aren't. There are lots of nice beaches where they haven't despoiled them yet with commercialization and hulking drab multistory condos. 

 

There are many things I like about Thailand but the scenery isn't one of them. 

 

Yep. The beaches with limestone hills are nice and the north has some nice scenery but I have seen much better views in many other countries. Central Thailand is actually quite boring, even ugly, at least around the populated parts that spread surprisingly far from Bangkok.

 

[Stargeezr]

I have 4 VCR tapes and 2 CDs on Thailand culture and the historic sights and the entertainment

with the Thai traditional and country performances.  I have down loaded from the CDs to

flash drives to run in my computer so I get all the Thai culture stuff I need, without even leaving Canada

and chancing the latest newest virus or other disease that may cut my vacation short.

Thailand! Make the visit to your country hassle free and make the 270 day visa or a one year

visa the only 2 visas needed. Make them renewable as well,  with no border runs necessary,so that the visitor     who does not have to go back to their own countries can have a nice long extended visit to your country.

Get with the new programs. After all I can go to Mexico and only need my passport. Hint, Hint.

Geezer

[hezzey]

premium tourist probably go to the bahamas and not thailand.

[garyk]

Thailand is done, plain and simple.  So many better places.

[smylee52]

Like I or anybody I know gives a Fiddler's about basket weaving. Obviously this woman is an advisot to TAT.

One of the main reasons people go on holiday is to realx and get away from their normal daily stresses .

Thailand has little chance to attract Tourists until someone with common sense and the ability to make policy realizes this .

Making the current hoops to jump through unnecessarily stressful will keep people away not encourage them to book a trip.

 

Who wants to roll the dice on booking flights and ASQ hotel only to lose it when you can't get a written

confirmation of a pass on Covid test within 72 hours .  Who needs that kind of stress ? 

 

I agree Covid test prior to boarding makes sense but allow at least 5 days for written report as many

problems can arise delaying a hardcopy report .

 

Back and forth with local Thai embassy is also problematic and adds to the stress .

 

Allow people to Book Insurance, Book Flight, Book ASQ and provide Covid test  without Local  Embassy 

emails/online time wasting .

 

Verification can be done by Airline prior to boarding and on arrival  Immigration can give 90 day visa , renewable for another 90 days  . 

 

Hard to believe that the decision makers in Thailand can't understand you have to present Tourism  as a chance to reward yourself and not to punish yourself.  Hopefully they will end this clusterfuc* soon because if this goes on much longer many of us that spend 6 months in Thailand will say *uck it and

just stay home .

 

I support protecting the country from infection but I am not interested in following Hemorrhoid inducing barriers .

 

 

[Soikhaonoiken]

Ain't going to happen, keep on dreaming, I just don't know which planet these so called experts come from... 

[Andycoops]

Not to mention the wonders of Thai bureaucracy, street protests, unelected government officials, corruption etc

[Edwin Cameron]

The first time I visited Thailand was 1967,I travelled by train from Penang up to HatYai and I'll never forget seeing all the  'Food sellers' and 'Market Ladies' wearing beautiful 'Sarongs' smiling as they worked,I remember thinking how happy they seemed to be, sadly you'd  hardly see a Thai lady wearing one these days,only jeans and other B/S western clothes, it's only a small observation,however  we have a saying 'Small fish are sweet' and that would be a start, if the beautiful Thai women would go back to wearing there traditional clothing.

[Straight8]

17 hours ago, anchadian said:

She claimed that everyone wants to learn about things like weaving bags and baskets and mats, fishing and painting on handicrafts and the like. 

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Although these so called 'foreign quality tourists' would still be subject to two-tiered pricing.

So much so, they're prepared to spend a fortune on tests, insurances, and quarantine costs.

 

Makes sense