15 hours ago, GinBoy2 said:

But I fear Thailand doesn't have the self awareness to understand the fundamental problems

Spot on

My Thai neighbours who were all employed in the tourist industry use to ask me why I did not wear designer cloths/watches/latest phones, or have a big car, when they were buying and using all the expensive latest gear themselves as I am a rich farang!

 

Now they are all suffering very badly and moved to Udon to sell vegetables, because no money in Pattaya any more.

For some reason the local people spend there money as soon as they get it and never plan for a rainy day.

Have to agree with most on here until the Quarantine restrictions are lifted or a vaccine found no international tourists will come 

The Thai Tourist board need to depend on the Domestic tourists

So more holidays  and promotional events and deals needed

To entice people to spend their money

 

8 hours ago, Miami007 said:

If you live in Thailand on an Expat salary making 10-15 times more than the average Thai plus housing and trips home every year, you are right... Great to be the rich one in a poor country.

Not so good for the millions of Thais who will no longer have jobs and income because 35 million tourists are no longer visiting.  

 

It is great but if there is to be winners there also has to be losers. 

 

As a wise man once said, "the World needs ditch diggers too."

Mass tourism is a disease and is destroying landscape and natural habitat, have negative impact on local economies that become junkies and feed on it like it was their last chance for air

 

in some ways, COVID is putting a new perspective on things, so it's not all negative

 

the reactions of world governments is ridiculous though, even more so in third world countries and dictatorships

2 hours ago, flightcrew said:

My Thai neighbours who were all employed in the tourist industry use to ask me why I did not wear designer cloths/watches/latest phones, or have a big car, when they were buying and using all the expensive latest gear themselves as I am a rich farang!

 

Now they are all suffering very badly and moved to Udon to sell vegetables, because no money in Pattaya any more.

For some reason the local people spend there money as soon as they get it and never plan for a rainy day.

it's not only local people, most people in the west are the same, don't save for the future, and blow it all on stupid things

On 12/5/2020 at 1:38 AM, dbrenn said:

I can remember when Thailand had 4 million tourists per year. That figure became 39 million in 2019.

 

The place was much nicer and more beautiful back then. Thailand has been spoilt by the scourge of mass tourism. I hope that they never return. 

Yes. Starting with you. 

Here is an extract from Forbes Travel.

The test must be done three days in advance, but you need to have the results back 24 hours before travel as the immigration form must be submitted by this point. That means a 48-hour turnaround on your PCR test, which many clinics have struggled with. Those that were offering it could be charging£450 per person for a quick turnaround. This means testing could cost almost as much as the flight itself! At some points, labs have had backlogs of tests meaning that results were not delivered on time, and passengers missed their flights.

The problem with Thailand is that they are way to dependent on tourism. They should diversify much more. And as we seen over the last past decades, most of the Thai dont have the skills or ability to innovate. A solution would be to open up the country a bit more for foreign entrepreneurs that could bring some innovation. It will create new jobs and opportunities for the locals.

 I've read numerous complaints about the garbage strewn on some popular beaches. The government should institute a program for people out of work in the tourist industry to clean 'em up.Gives them an income to tide them over until tourism opens up again and gets the beaches in an astatically pleasing condition.  

theres not enough sex tourists to fill an obsolete and written off A380 which has been parked up in arizona because theres no buyers of this gas guzzler

18 hours ago, philosphrstone said:

No, covid is just a bad flu...  here in Canada, the health Canada website says there were 4 confirmed cases of influenza last week in a country of 35 million.  Covid has replaced the usual flu season and is killing about the same number of sick and elderly people as influenza usually does.  I say that as someone who just recovered from a bout of it.  Covid is not a big deal, but the reactions of all these idiotic governments all over the planet is going to take years to recover from, if we ever do.  The only country that seems to be doing just fine is China, in case nobody has noticed.  They set the spook loose last winter and are sitting back laughing at the economic destruction it is wreaking abroad while their factories are working overtime...  and sadly, the western nations are all becoming full-on communist with every little bureaucrat having big power.  

 

Anyway, how do you know that the death rate would have been HORRIFIC?  Been reading mainstream media again?  lol  

I think covid is a small matter, but the reaction to it will have long term and horrific effects for many years to come...

Glad to hear you recovered. I have several friends in their early 50's that have died of COVID. Have you seen the hospitals in the USA, Spain, Italy etc  are overloaded?  Allot of Chinese companies have missed loan payments and are in default, China is not doing good, no country is doing good and this is not the same as the Flu! 

7 hours ago, Redvic said:

Yes. Starting with you. 

i can remember when tourism was 800,000 per annum and all landing at don muang

inseminating buffalos is a growth markt so thats where to start

On 12/5/2020 at 8:02 AM, RichardColeman said:

'allowed to be confirmed'  or 'stated' should be added in that statement

Wonder what the death rate for "pneumonia" is this year...

On 12/5/2020 at 8:38 AM, dbrenn said:

I can remember when Thailand had 4 million tourists per year. That figure became 39 million in 2019.

 

The place was much nicer and more beautiful back then. Thailand has been spoilt by the scourge of mass tourism. I hope that they never return. 

i have to think back 20 years to remember when Thailand was much nicer and more beautiful .

I would guess that many of those here who gave a like or thanks  have also been around a long time.

 

I have nothing against "tourism"......  but i doubt there is any place on earth where it was managed in

a way to maintain what was special about the place.    It all just becomes  hot dog stands  luke chin vendors,  T shirts,  and people bugging you every step of the way.   And of course the 2% of the tourists that look and act like idiots become the stereotype for us Farangs.

 

So, in a selfish way,  i have to agree with dbrenn .    We rent to Farangs, so are hurt a bit.  And of course those here involved in tourist type businesses will get hurt.   Ahhhh,  but life did seem so much easier back in the days..........

1 hour ago, rumak said:

i have to think back 20 years to remember when Thailand was much nicer and more beautiful .

I would guess that many of those here who gave a like or thanks  have also been around a long time.

 

I have nothing against "tourism"......  but i doubt there is any place on earth where it was managed in

a way to maintain what was special about the place.    It all just becomes  hot dog stands  luke chin vendors,  T shirts,  and people bugging you every step of the way.   And of course the 2% of the tourists that look and act like idiots become the stereotype for us Farangs.

 

So, in a selfish way,  i have to agree with dbrenn .    We rent to Farangs, so are hurt a bit.  And of course those here involved in tourist type businesses will get hurt.   Ahhhh,  but life did seem so much easier back in the days..........

 

Well said. I think that Bhutan's got the right idea - there are limits to the number of visitors per year. I live in hope when Thailand talks about attracting higher quality tourists.

 

The problem with mass tourism is that naked greed and crime take over, and utterly ruin what were one beautiful places. Take Samui for example - what once was a delightful place with dirt roads and charming little resorts has been concreted over - roads lined with tacky souvenir shops, so you can't even see the beach anymore. It's ghastly. Samet was once a calm and serene place - now there are hordes of package tourists that just pack the place out, with all the trash and hassle that goes with that.

 

I blame budget airlines - when I first went to Thailand, it was quite difficult to get there and required some self discipline to get the money together to do it. that was when only 4 million people per year made the trip. Now any lager lout or package tourist can get on a plane and spoil any formerly exotic destination. It's a shame, but at least I have nice memories of idyllic places that felt adventurous to travel to.

 

To the people who accuse me of saying "I'm alright Jack", I have nothing but pity, really. All they've seen is another tacky and spoilt beach resort, just like the ones at home but with hotter weather, full of people who are mainly trying to rip them off.

 

For Australians it make no difference if Thailand opens its borders or not. Our borders are firmly closed to all outbound travellers except for a very few critical exceptions. I have no idea when the Australian government will allow international travel again, but hopefully once vaccines are readily administered to most of our population we might be allowed out again.

In the meantime, Thailand can inundate itself with the Chinese plague-spreaders again. Good luck. ????

11 hours ago, dbrenn said:

 

Well said. I think that Bhutan's got the right idea - there are limits to the number of visitors per year. I live in hope when Thailand talks about attracting higher quality tourists.

 

The problem with mass tourism is that naked greed and crime take over, and utterly ruin what were one beautiful places. Take Samui for example - what once was a delightful place with dirt roads and charming little resorts has been concreted over - roads lined with tacky souvenir shops, so you can't even see the beach anymore. It's ghastly. Samet was once a calm and serene place - now there are hordes of package tourists that just pack the place out, with all the trash and hassle that goes with that.

 

I blame budget airlines - when I first went to Thailand, it was quite difficult to get there and required some self discipline to get the money together to do it. that was when only 4 million people per year made the trip. Now any lager lout or package tourist can get on a plane and spoil any formerly exotic destination. It's a shame, but at least I have nice memories of idyllic places that felt adventurous to travel to.

 

To the people who accuse me of saying "I'm alright Jack", I have nothing but pity, really. All they've seen is another tacky and spoilt beach resort, just like the ones at home but with hotter weather, full of people who are mainly trying to rip them off.

 

 

I think most of the world's most beautiful tourist destinations have fallen into the same disaster.  Mass tourism is just another form of pollution. Even some of the most difficult places to reach are overcrowded and full of rubbish. Look at Mt Everest as an example.

Edited December 7, 20205 yr by Dexxter

16 hours ago, scunner said:

Wonder what the death rate for "pneumonia" is this year...

Zero. Same as for heart attacks, cancer, and every other disease. They are all covid deaths now. Having said that, my step-mother died of covid week ago. Or was it the flu? Who knows. She was 85 years old so just about anything could have knocked her down. RIP mum. You will be missed. ????

I remember taking the dog to the vet, and passing through Soi Buakhow one  morning

and seeing fatted farangs resembling sacks of potatoes wearing grubby vests, lined up at the bars,

with their beer mugs.  Not the prettiest of sights, I pity the gals that have to work there.

Covid, I suspect, may be a blessing in disguise for Thailand.

13 hours ago, Dexxter said:

“... it make no difference if Thailand opens its borders or not. Our borders are firmly closed to all outbound travellers except for a very few critical exceptions.”

And that is the crux of the matter. Thailand can do whatever it wants to encourage international tourists (& quote fantastic numbers of expected tourists), but while ever these (potential) tourists have to face restrictions in their own countries, and the airlines transporting them, the tourism industry is kaput.

On 12/5/2020 at 9:42 AM, mtls2005 said:

It's dead. Get used to it. Innovated don't rennovate.

Spoken for someone who's income is not reliant on tourism...easy then to much such of the cuff remarks, isn't it?

 

Tourism will be back, world wide and in the same numbers it was before. People are getting tired of running around scared of what amounts to a cold with the vast majority suffering from little or no symptoms and even more having already had the virus and who have no idea they were previously infected. The world will look back on this as possibly the biggest knee jerk manoeuvre on man-kinds behalf and by far the biggest over reaction the world has or will ever see. All thanks, as far as I am concerned, to social media. If covid-19 had reared its little head 50 years ago none of this nonsense would have taken place.