Help coming for Thailand’s decimated tourism industry: Minister

[webfact]

Help coming for Thailand’s decimated tourism industry: Minister

 

Pipat Ratchakitprakarn (File photo for reference only)

 

Thailand's minister for tourism and sports said yesterday that he would be working with tourism operators and hotels on measures to help the devastated tourism sector as the Covid-19 second wave bites. 

 

Many businesses were just starting to show a semblance of recovery from the first wave of the pandemic, reported PPTV36.

 

Then came the second wave and businesses have once again found themselves on the brink of permanent closure as the domestic tourism market has been obliterated. 

 

Pipat Ratchakitprakarn is concentrating his efforts on a "Co-Pay" scheme in which the government will  pay up to 7,500 baht of employees wages with the employer paying the rest.

 

There is also the possibility of help for hotel electric bills of 15%, soft loans and the establishment of a fund to help struggling businesses. 

 

Proposals are set to be forwarded to the cabinet at a meeting tomorrow, Tuesday. 

 

Source: PPTV

 

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[WineOh]

2 minutes ago, webfact said:

Pipat Ratchakitprakarn is concentrating his efforts on a "Co-Pay" scheme in which the government will  pay up to 7,500 baht of employees wages with the employer paying the rest

They're all heart, aren't they ???? 

[Dagfinnur Traustason]

It´s all about domestic tourism. That´s just because we do not want to talk about the real problem, with the real tourism. By raising domestic tourism with 50%, it will still be impossible to tackle the problem of missing out on 40 million foreign tourists per year.

But, I guess, focusing on the real problem is to hard. Then you have to look at the truth. Not really Thai custom to do such thing.

Edited January 11, 2021 by Dagfinnur Traustason

[Tropicalevo]

16 minutes ago, webfact said:

Help coming for Thailand’s decimated tourism industry: Minister

 

Help from someone who does not HAFC?

We are all doomed.

[patman30]

Legalize weed (completely)
open the airports and borders

Tourism fixed.

[DLock]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

There is also the possibility of help for hotel electric bills of 15%

 

When all the lights are off, 15% of nothing...is nothing.

 

Fail.

[Don Chance]

Start by streamlining the visa system, cheaper and easier.

Then lower the price of quarantine hotels.

[djayz]

This only scratches the tip of the iceberg. 

[GrandPapillon]

they are hopeless !!!

[lujanit]

15 hours ago, Dagfinnur Traustason said:

By raising domestic tourism with 50%, it will still be impossible to tackle the problem of missing out on 40 million foreign tourists per year.

There were never 40 million tourists.  This count was for all arrivals.  Included were transit passengers, people (Thai and foreigner) who lived here and people on business trips.

 

TAT counts all people who land in Thailand as tourists.  A very dishonest way of doing business.  But the numbers sound good so it makes TAT sound like they are doing a good job.  Lies, damn lies and statistics comes to mind.

[madmen]

11 minutes ago, lujanit said:

There were never 40 million tourists.  This count was for all arrivals.  Included were transit passengers, people (Thai and foreigner) who lived here and people on business trips.

 

TAT counts all people who land in Thailand as tourists.  A very dishonest way of count business.  But the numbers sound good so it makes TAT sound like they are doing a good job.  Lies, damn lies and statistics comes to mind.

TAT does not count transit passengers in between flights at the airport. They do count short layovers of a few days since most head downtown. Business arrivals are a small percentage. Is 40 million real that's the question. We have no way of knowing 

[pokerface1]

17 hours ago, patman30 said:

Legalize weed (completely)
open the airports and borders

Tourism fixed.

Oh yes!!  what about a casino or legalized gambling dens?

[Dagfinnur Traustason]

8 hours ago, lujanit said:

There were never 40 million tourists.  This count was for all arrivals.  Included were transit passengers, people (Thai and foreigner) who lived here and people on business trips.

 

TAT counts all people who land in Thailand as tourists.  A very dishonest way of doing business.  But the numbers sound good so it makes TAT sound like they are doing a good job.  Lies, damn lies and statistics comes to mind.

And, I suppose you know this for a fact and have proof for it? Even if so, let´s say 30 million and that 8 million is domestic as well. Still a large number and actually quite irrelevant about the information in my post and the meaning it contains.

[starky]

13 hours ago, Don Chance said:

Start by streamlining the visa system, cheaper and easier.

Then lower the price of quarantine hotels.

Lower the price of ASQ hotels? So you get a 15 night stay in a hotel of your choosing with all meals inclusive airport transfer and a minimum of 2 covid tests for as little as 35000 baht. Would hate to see where you normally stay if you consider that expensive.

  State quarantine in Australia for 1 person is over 80k baht you dont get to choose your herded on a bus with all the other people from the plane and the food is rubbish. 

  And cheaper visas? You got to be joking lol. 

[rabang]

16 minutes ago, starky said:

Lower the price of ASQ hotels? So you get a 15 night stay in a hotel of your choosing with all meals inclusive airport transfer and a minimum of 2 covid tests for as little as 35000 baht. Would hate to see where you normally stay if you consider that expensive.

  State quarantine in Australia for 1 person is over 80k baht you dont get to choose your herded on a bus with all the other people from the plane and the food is rubbish. 

  And cheaper visas? You got to be joking lol. 

 

It doesn't really matter. Tourists won't come anyway with a quarantine in place as nice a hotel they can get for a 'great value price'. Start the vaccination as soon as possible because it is the only viable exit strategy. The endless restrictions might cure the disease but eventually kill the patient. Also have to stop fantasizing of a covid free world cause it aint going to happen, not soon anyway.

[starky]

1 minute ago, rabang said:

 

It doesn't really matter. Tourists won't come anyway with a quarantine in place as nice a hotel they can get for a 'great value price'. Start the vaccination as soon as possible because it is the only viable exit strategy. The endless restrictions might cure the disease but eventually kill the patient. Also have to stop fantasizing of a covid free world cause it aint going to happen, not soon anyway.

100% agree except I don't believe the vaccine as important as it is will be any sort of magic bullet. Covid is here and it's here to stay. There is no exit strategy. Time to get on with it. We have gotten to a point know where it's almost like they don't want anybody to get sick and any number of people with it is unacceptable. Not only is that ridiculous it's unachievable. 

[KhunKenAP]

TAT back on the Job? Did they all attend a remedial math class?

[rabang]

12 minutes ago, starky said:

100% agree except I don't believe the vaccine as important as it is will be any sort of magic bullet. Covid is here and it's here to stay. There is no exit strategy. Time to get on with it. We have gotten to a point know where it's almost like they don't want anybody to get sick and any number of people with it is unacceptable. Not only is that ridiculous it's unachievable. 

I think it is an exit strategy at least in terms of governments and officials being able to say, 'we did all we could', and then live with it. Whether or not the vaccines help as much as expected is not so relevant, although I would expect them to suppress covid at least to an endemic disease like many others so it would not be overburdening health care systems.

[Iron Tongue]

On 1/10/2021 at 7:32 PM, patman30 said:

Legalize weed (completely)
open the airports and borders

Tourism fixed.

 

Rubbish.

 

When Colorado legalized marijuana, it turned out that only 6% of vacationers visited for the weed.  The majority of marijuana revenue came from locals.  However, it turned-out that 1/3 of the homeless moving to Colorado did so for easy access to weed.

 

So if Thailand legalized weed, I think all that will happen is more Thais will smoke and become even more unmotivated.

[natway09]

A first step would be allowing bars & massage to open & at least serve their local people so

employing thousands of people & small business owners that are on the bread line.

Limiting inter provincial travel is the best way to isolate, treat & remedy

I see in Malaysia a 10 kilometre radius but not across provinces is being implemented

I think a good idea

[lujanit]

9 hours ago, Dagfinnur Traustason said:

And, I suppose you know this for a fact and have proof for it? Even if so, let´s say 30 million and that 8 million is domestic as well. Still a large number and actually quite irrelevant about the information in my post and the meaning it contains.

Actually if you go back about a year TAT started reporting arrivals instead of tourists.

[Dagfinnur Traustason]

3 hours ago, lujanit said:

Actually if you go back about a year TAT started reporting arrivals instead of tourists.

The question is if it´s arrivals to the country, or arrivals to the airport. Do you know what it is for sure?

[Soikhaonoiken]

21 hours ago, madmen said:

TAT does not count transit passengers in between flights at the airport. They do count short layovers of a few days since most head downtown. Business arrivals are a small percentage. Is 40 million real that's the question. We have no way of knowing 

I was told by the wifes relative who works in government immigration, that anyone, (other than Thai passsport holders) whom pass through an immigration post, Air, Land, or Sea are counted as a Tourist,  despite the fact thay might  live in Thailand and just doing a visa run. 

[Mr Meeseeks]

On 1/11/2021 at 8:40 PM, Don Chance said:

Start by streamlining the visa system, cheaper and easier.

Then lower the price of quarantine hotels.

How much easier could the 30-day stamp or visa on arrival be? 

[patman30]

On 1/12/2021 at 3:54 AM, pokerface1 said:

Oh yes!!  what about a casino or legalized gambling dens?

how would that boost international tourism ?
in regards to everyday tourists
gamblers would mainly spend at the casinos, doesnt really help the economy much
 

[patman30]

22 hours ago, Iron Tongue said:

 

Rubbish.

 

When Colorado legalized marijuana, it turned out that only 6% of vacationers visited for the weed.  The majority of marijuana revenue came from locals.  However, it turned-out that 1/3 of the homeless moving to Colorado did so for easy access to weed.

 

So if Thailand legalized weed, I think all that will happen is more Thais will smoke and become even more unmotivated.

maybe because weed was easily available elsewhere in US and was a nothing crime and other states quickly followed suit

many backpackers i have met over the years, prefer to extend their time in Cambodia and Laos as they are less likely to have any issues smoking weed there,
and shorten their time in Thailand, the weed plays a big part of their decision more than living costs.