Thailand records 3,000 foreign tourists in Nov as ban eases

[webfact]

Thailand records 3,000 foreign tourists in Nov as ban eases

 

FILE PHOTO: A tourist reacts among flowers in Phu Hin Rong Kla National Park, Phitsanulok province, Thailand, December 12, 2020. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand recorded 3,065 foreign tourists in November, official data showed on Monday, in its second month of receiving long-stay visitors after a ban was imposed in April to keep coronavirus infections under control.

 

The 3,065 foreign tourists in November is just a fraction of the 3.39 million arrivals in the same period last year. In October, there were 1,201 foreign visitors.

 

Though the country is gradually opening up to foreign visitors and offering incentives to boost domestic travel, efforts to revive its tourism-driven economy are being hampered by an outbreak found 10 days ago that has since infected more than 1,600 people in 43 provinces.

 

In the January-November period, the number of foreign visitors slumped by 81% from a year earlier to about 6.7 million of that 6.69 million were recorded in the first quarter.

 

That compares with last year's nearly 40 million tourists who spent 1.91 trillion baht ($63 billion), or about 11.3% of gross domestic product.

The state planning agency predicts only 5 million foreign visitors in 2021.

 

Foreign visitors at present are required to obtain special visas and undergo two weeks of quarantine.

 

($1 = 30.15 baht)

 

(Reporting by Orathai Sriring; Editing by Martin Petty)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-12-28

 

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[ourmanflint]

Better to say  Tourist numbers drop by 99.9%

[spidermike007]

Safe to say that as long as quarantine remains in place, 3,000 tourists a month is a reasonable amount to expect. 

[Tropicalevo]

3,000 tourists or a large number of returning expats?

[ThailandRyan]

So a long stay visitor, such as a returning expat who returned to be with family, a snowbird returning to the home/Condo they own, or the worker returning for their job is considered just a tourist in the eyes of immigration and the government.  We will never be looked at as immigrants who have moved to this country and as we all know we are but one day away from an immigration change necessitating our Plan B's.  As many have said, the amount we spend here, although it may be considerable, is just a pittance compared to the Millions upon Millions of what they believe the true 2 week millionaires spend.  At least I can say I am good for another 11 months.....lol

[NCC1701A]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand records 3,000 foreign tourists in Nov as ban eases

As covid numbers rise in December. 

[pokerface1]

13 hours ago, webfact said:

The state planning agency predicts only 5 million foreign visitors in 2021.

Seems like you are all dreaming, the TAT just stated there will be 10 million visitors during the 3rd quarter of 2021

[Somtamnication]

Article is about 3000 aliens visiting Earth Thailand but the pic is of a Thai tourist. Okey dokey!

[cyril sneer]

is that 3000 on tourist visas or 3000 entering the country?

[mikebell]

3000 returnees do not suggest a tide of tourists.  They've arrived just as the 2nd wave is about to decimate Thailand.

[Fex Bluse]

17 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand records 3,000 foreign tourists in Nov as ban eases

Not long to that 10 million TAT is expecting in Q3! ????

[JimHuaHin]

Where are these tourists from?  What visas did they enter Thailand under?

[ChakaKhan]

20 baht bet that the girl in the pic was getting her pic taken to post online-FB

 

*dont forget to like and subscribe to my comment* ????

[mtls2005]

1 minute ago, JimHuaHin said:

What visas did they enter Thailand under?

 

One assumes this is the total number of foreginers who entered on an STV or TR60 in November.

 

How many are "tourists"? ~ 250-ish?

[jackdd]

Immigration has statistics on their website: https://division2.immigration.go.th/immigration_stats (The headline there says statistics for Suvarnabhumi, but considering that it includes people arriving by sea and I've never seen a ship arriving at Suvarnabhumi, i assume that's for all of Thailand)

Looking at the numbers for November, we see:

Tourist type visas: 1162

Visa exempt: 16 (How were people able to enter visa exempt last month? I thought this was made available just very recently)

Thailand Elite+PE: 21+276 = 297

Total: 1475

 

But there were also 9291 non-immigrant visa arrivals, that's higher than i would have expected.

 

[PatOngo]

4 hours ago, pokerface1 said:

Seems like you are all dreaming, the TAT just stated there will be 10 million visitors during the 3rd quarter of 2021

I think they confused that with 10 Brazillion visitors!

[hotchilli]

14 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

As covid numbers rise in December. 

January, February, March, April...

[ronaldo0]

Wow ! Soaring towards that 10 million for the third quarter of next year ! ????

[Percy P]

On 12/28/2020 at 3:57 PM, ThailandRyan said:

So a long stay visitor, such as a returning expat who returned to be with family, a snowbird returning to the home/Condo they own, or the worker returning for their job is considered just a tourist in the eyes of immigration and the government.  We will never be looked at as immigrants who have moved to this country and as we all know we are but one day away from an immigration change necessitating our Plan B's.  As many have said, the amount we spend here, although it may be considerable, is just a pittance compared to the Millions upon Millions of what they believe the true 2 week millionaires spend.  At least I can say I am good for another 11 months.....lol

But where is the money they spend ,spent. In many cases it's spent before they arrive here.

[dcnx]

Yes, let’s brag about 3000 who came back to Thailand last month, many who actually live here, and ignore those who won’t be coming anytime in the near future due to outbreaks, things being shut down, and quarantine.

[Soikhaonoiken]

As previous post say, probably 80-90% 

Of the 3,000 are returnees who were locked out of Thailand when the shut the borders, and should not be classed as tourist.. 

[khunkarl]

On 12/28/2020 at 8:42 AM, Tropicalevo said:

3,000 tourists or a large number of returning expats?

They wouldn't know the difference. We all counts as tourists to them even if having Thai wife and children.