Sounds like face saving to me. They know the tourists aren't coming back any time soon so they're spinning it to sound like they are rejecting the tourists as opposed to the other way around.

How would you like to be a Thai graduate from one of these Tourism and Hospitality Management programs that are highlighted at Thai universities?  You've just been torpedoed. 

so just leaving tourism as it is while building up other aspects of the economy isnt an option?

25 minutes ago, SCOTT FITZGERSLD said:

He is right. EV is the industry of the future. look at tesla - 16000% return over 10 years.

Thailand should invite Elon Musk, Tesla's founder, to start a new electric space ship company

in thailand, and to make it easier on him, to give him and his family

free I-SMART  visa with  work permits...

Forget Tesla, Thanathorn's Summit Group is a major supplier to Tesla and future plans can't accommodate him.

 

Think "Chinese".

33 minutes ago, SCOTT FITZGERSLD said:

But i really do appriciate the sincere will to improve Thailand, and the visions and ideals. Unfortunately

it is a bit more complicated than few announcements to the media.

Sincere will to improve Thailand via more domestic tourism and consumption requires a robust middle class. 

 

The foundation for that is a robust public education system available to all Thais in all provinces. 

 

There is nothing sincere about these media statements until Thailand’s crappy educational system is addressed. 

3 hours ago, ezzra said:

Lots of rubbish talks from people who desperate to be noticed, i will give a million baht to any one who will predict Accurately  what is going to be this time next week, let alone a month from now...

Nothing in the article indicates that "the tourism will never be allowed to recover to pre-Covid levels".  It outlines other possible strategies for growth, not that the tourism will be intentionally crippled.

Rubbish journalism.

Another fallout from this will be with international programs at Thai universities. The reduction of tourism will also mean less need for English. Another way to reroute interest in connection from the West to China.

26 minutes ago, ftpjtm said:

Forget Tesla, Thanathorn's Summit Group is a major supplier to Tesla and future plans can't accommodate him.

 

Think "Chinese".

well, mister, you are jai dee mak mak, but you did not get the irony.

34 minutes ago, John Drake said:

Another fallout from this will be with international programs at Thai universities. The reduction of tourism will also mean less need for English. Another way to reroute interest in connection from the West to China.

 

Interesting and probably a very valid point.

 

 

2 minutes ago, 4reaL said:

 

Interesting and probably a very valid point.

 

 

 

What is stunning is the breezy manner in which so many of these officials are simply writing off the businesses, careers, and investments that a huge percentage of their country has made in trying to get ahead. 

Thailand has had too much tourism for years. It destroys the environment and the country in general and prevents innovation by keeping people and 20% of the GDP as servants to wealthier (?) foreigners.

 

To everyone whining about the end of the tourism industry - would you like your HOME COUNTRY to be dependent on 20%+ of GDP?

Yeah I didn't' think so.

 

What might be the best for you is not the best for Thailand in the long term, so stop pretending that you know what is best for the country just because it suits your personal views or lifestyle.

 

This is a fantastic opportunity to start moving away from tourism, and it doesn't mean they will stop tourists from coming or even reduce it massively, but should slowly start moving away from it.

6 hours ago, webfact said:

“The Covid-19 outbreak that hit Thailand since April has exposed the fragility of the economy and shed light on the fact that we rely too much on export and tourism,” the Minister said. 

So, just exactly how will he stop Thailand going back to the middle ages or not going stagnant without exports and tourism ? Guys a complete fool not an intellectual, and seems hell bent on a North Korea style model !

5 hours ago, mr mr said:

 

so domestic tourism is up 25 % since april ? ahhhhhhhhh we really sure about that one ? 

@sandyf can you confirm the above? I know you advised us the Thai domestic tourism would replace the international tourism. 

1 hour ago, JonnyF said:

Sounds like face saving to me. They know the tourists aren't coming back any time soon so they're spinning it to sound like they are rejecting the tourists as opposed to the other way around.

Exactly. Very common national characteristic. 

27 minutes ago, Barnabe said:

Thailand has had too much tourism for years. It destroys the environment and the country in general and prevents innovation by keeping people and 20% of the GDP as servants to wealthier (?) foreigners.

 

And so your answer is to send people back to huts and shacks (or, rather, even more huts and shacks), let'em eat rice, pick a few mangoes off their trees, and enjoy the "sustainability." Exactly how and where do you intend to live while this is going on?

2 minutes ago, John Drake said:

 

And so your answer is to send people back to huts and shacks (or, rather, even more huts and shacks), let'em eat rice, pick a few mangoes off their trees, and enjoy the "sustainability." Exactly how and where do you intend to live while this is going on?

 

No, the answer is to take this opportunity and start moving away from tourism. Not overnight, but slowly and steadily.

 

Again, how you like your home country to be 20% dependant on tourism, with all the "benefits" it brings, such as destroying coastlines, transforming former paradises like Koh Samui and Phuket into the overbuilt <deleted> holes they are now, etc. If the answer is no, why should it be different for Thailand?

2 minutes ago, Barnabe said:

 

No, the answer is to take this opportunity and start moving away from tourism. Not overnight, but slowly and steadily.

 

Again, how you like your home country to be 20% dependant on tourism, with all the "benefits" it brings, such as destroying coastlines, transforming former paradises like Koh Samui and Phuket into the overbuilt <deleted> holes they are now, etc. If the answer is no, why should it be different for Thailand?

 

Maybe they can use China again as a model. There's a country that doesn't rely on tourism. And look how pristine and pure their environment is, as they've invested in alternative industries. 

3 minutes ago, John Drake said:

 

Maybe they can use China again as a model. There's a country that doesn't rely on tourism. And look how pristine and pure their environment is, as they've invested in alternative industries. 

 

Or maybe they can look at Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Australia, etc - your point being?

Just now, Barnabe said:

 

Or maybe they can look at Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Australia, etc - your point being?

 

The same can be said for tourism. Tourism is not inherently destructive and probably much less so than creation of massive industrial estates that pour pollution and poisonous products directly into rivers and landfills. Hawaii has a lot of tourism and is probably more dependent on it than Thailand, and Hawaii protects its environment. It all has to do with governmental regulations and management. It could be done here, but Thai tourism agencies have failed to do so. And if you think that industrial giants are going to invest in Thailand because they see another SKorea, Taiwan, or Japan, you will be severely disappointed. They're coming here for two reasons: cheap labor (which the government's insistence on a strong baht is doing much to destroy) and a way around US sanctions on Chinese made products. Another Japan?  555

Another coup will sort it all out. Nothing is written in stone. 

BEFORE we start to cook the goose that lays gold bullion on the floor of the vault in the bank.  

 

To late burnt to a cinder already under a sea of obstacles minister ????

3 hours ago, ftpjtm said:

 

So no more auto exports?

 

Great plan. End tourism and exports. What could possibly go wrong?

Reading comprehension not your strong point then.

Of course he did not say they would end tourism and exports, don't be ridiculous.  Instead they want to decrease the reliance on them by strengthening in other sectors.

3 hours ago, vinny41 said:

I would suggest you pay a visit to your local train station or bus station where you will find the majority of buses are full going to destinations all over the country so you are incorrect with the statement that most thai's don't travel

I agree, my Thai family are always travelling. They are split between Chiang Rai, Suratthani, Bangkok and Krabi. But to be fair to Internationalism  s/he did use 'probably' and 'except' in the same sentence.

2 hours ago, John Drake said:

How would you like to be a Thai graduate from one of these Tourism and Hospitality Management programs that are highlighted at Thai universities?  You've just been torpedoed. 

Maybe they will now have only a 1 in 2 chance of obtaining a position with their qualifications.  As opposed to a media studies degree in the UK where they only have a 1 in 5 chance of a position.  

 

I've attended university twice in my life and what I witnessed on the last occasion made me highly suspicious of many aspects of the   'FE' system.

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Last week the Thai government Minister’s speech shows me that tourism will never be allowed to recover to previous levels.

Of course it will recover to those levels and more. The power of easy money overrules everything. The government will want more submarines in the future,... and a flight to the moon.

1 hour ago, Barnabe said:

How you like your home country to be 20% dependant on tourism, with all the "benefits" it brings, such as destroying coastlines, transforming former paradises like Koh Samui and Phuket into the overbuilt <deleted> holes they are now, etc.

Everyone of the top 10 has protected the environment far better than Thailand. It's about effective governance, not percentage of tourism related GDP.

 

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/countries-reliant-tourism/

 

 

I wonder if this signals a loss of interest in "the tourist industry" on the part of those who habitually sit in the front cabin of airplanes?

Maybe, those who have invested heavily in the infrastructure to support the STV scheme have had their fingers burnt by it's less than stellar "take up rate". The trouble is that apart from the package tour sector (currently dormant) tourists show a disconcerting habit of going where they want and spending the money on what they want. A bit like herding cats, and difficult if not impossible to establish a lucrative monopoly ( the Chinese tour market is already spoken for - and we can't upset that monopoly)! 

 

Best left to wither on the vine, shunt that coach from the gravy train into the sidings, and concentrate on more reliable and controllable enterprises.

I think the major problem is that whereas most First World nations are planning 4 years ahead, Thailand seems to be planning 4 days ahead - and changing their minds every week. Bearing in mind that the definition of 'average intelligence' is that 50% of the world are below this marker, the current Thai government seem to be in a class all of their own.

The government expressed it's will, for open only the wealthiest tourists. It seemes they are representing only, the luxury hotels, and services. About hundred thousand workers, and owners. What happening with the millions, whose have got their livelihoods, from to serve the mass tourist industry? Who will like, to represents their interests?

7 hours ago, Liverpoolfan said:

Thailand will never be the same again.

I truly believe that it is safe to say that the world will never be the same again in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Big business and the mega rich will survive. But medium sized and small businesses, which account for most of the employment in the world, will shrivel to something less than 60% of their pre-COVID levels. As a result; the number of poor and homeless will greatly increase; as will drug abuse, crime, and suicide. At least the next several decades will be as dark a period as humanity has seen in centuries.