TAT forced to face reality: more than a third of the Thai tourist industry has gone bust

[Henryford]

1 hour ago, mberbae said:

The Tourism industry is bust, the Economy is in tatters, and yet the

baht  suspiciously remains stronger than ever.

 

Because the baht is not printing trillions of monopoly money.

[hotchilli]

21 hours ago, redwood1 said:

When 7-11s, Burger Kings, and Starbucks are closing down all over the place, the situation is not just bad its desperate and getting worse all the time.....Only removing all restrictions for tourist 100% could turn things around....

That only applies to certain tourist resorts.. which have over saturated the place for years.

7-11 has just opened another large shop near me.. that makes 3 in less than one kilometre from my home, but then I don't live in a tourist resort... the new strategy for outlets is to focus on local trade and forget the cash-cow mentality.

[metisdead]

A post containing unattributed content that was copy and pasted from some site without a supporting link has been removed:

 

14) You will not post any copyrighted material except as fair use laws apply (as in the case of news articles). Please only post a link, the headline and the first three sentences.

[farangroby]

22 hours ago, YetAnother said:

quindi su cosa si basava quella visione ottimistica? nessun fatto, solo una speranza infondata?

He had let a fortune teller predict the future

[Rmac442]

Open up that part of GDP  (20/22%) and it will potentially 'kill' the other 80%± like it has in the Europe ..simple there is NO option to letting in any individuals without making sure they are 'clean' (strict quarantine)

 

[dallen52]

23 hours ago, soi3eddie said:

 

If a business had shut and gone out of business how were TAT able to contact them? What about all the other businesses that had dissapeared completely and weren't contactable? What about all the small bars, street vendors and massage shops? The TAT stated percentage of 34.66% must be way, way under the real figure.

 

More like 66% closed...

Perhaps 33% hanging on and hopefully of government help.

 

Let's face it. 

100,000 baht admission price. 

15 nights quarantine. 

Different visas. 

And then the 2nd wave of virus hit.

Locked down and many places on restrictions. 

 

Hardly appealing is it?

Unless you have family and a home here.

But we are still all tourists...

[Pattaya Spotter]

Probably 1/3rd over built to begin with so the more marginal players are being weeded out. Except for the employees, I don't necessarily see this as a bad thing.

[4MyEgo]

On 1/23/2021 at 2:46 PM, Thaiwrath said:

Unfortunately, it looks like a lot more will be going bust.

There is no immediate help coming from T.A.T. or the "government" to help the smaller businesses within the tourist industry.

 

Agree, we have gone on holidays to support the economy last year, we are now also looking at going again, fortunately for me, I am married to a Thai and she will get the 40% discount of which she has 6 nights remaining out of the 14 nights she had credited, which expires end April, it was extended at the end of December.

 

I note that they did start a campaign for foreigners living in Thailand, i.e. 1,000 baht per night off approved hotels, however that ran out end December, now if you have a big family like me, you could book two rooms, one with the 40% discount through the wife, and one room through me the foreigner getting the 1,000 baht discount off per night, i.e. if they extended it, that said, looks like we are going to have to split the 6 nights left into 3 nights x 2 rooms, so in actual fact the industry misses out on 6 additional nights, i.e. 2 of the kids could have had a room to themselves for 6 nights with the 1,000 baht discount per night, while we could have had a room to ourselves for 6 nights with the other 2 kids with the 40% discount per night.

 

A loss is a loss they way I see it, but who knows, maybe they will wake up to the fact and see that foreigners did also contribute to the economy with the 1,000 baht discount, so might fire it up again, but won't be holding my breath.

 

As they saying goes, you don't have to be a rocket scientist.

Edited January 24, 2021 by 4MyEgo

[NoshowJones]

23 hours ago, GeorgeCross said:

 

i assume he'll be doing the decent thing and stepping down?

 

lol

If the unelected "PM" won't step down, what is the chance of anyone in any "government" dept stepping down after spouting untruths?

[joebrown]

2 hours ago, Henryford said:

 

You mean just like the UK. Is anyone allowed to give a different view on Covid? It's their way or the highway.

Your post comparing what happens in the UK is pointless. Do you really think the Thai government even considers what happens in the UK as being relevant? If you do you don't understand Thai culture.

[simon43]

[quote]

... they are discussing spending billions on a bridge between Hua-hin and Pattaya and submarines, neither things Thailand needs. 

[/quote]

 

 

Hey, don't forget the rocket to the moon project! ????

[dlclark97]

In past postings I have read about all the thousands of tourists clamoring to get back to Pattaya.  I would bet (if gambling were allowed in Thailand) that way more than half would like to come back to the Pattaya of 10, 20 or 30 years ago.  Not the glitzy new shopping district planned for the Walking Street area.  There are already more than enough malls for tourists to shop in, they are looking for entertainment. 

[metisdead]

An off topic post about US politics has been removed as well as the replies.

 

Some troll posts have been removed. 

[spidermike007]

The most fascinating part of all of this, is that when the Thai and foreign investors, both large and small, decided to put trillions of dollars into the tourism infrastructure here, some it it representing their life savings, they must have been thinking, or at least presuming that if something catastrophic ever happened, the government would be there for them, on some level, to provide some assistance and support of some sort.

 

Wow. How wrong they were! Could this administration possibly be more absent, if they even tried? Oh, am I going to prison now?

[spidermike007]

5 hours ago, soi3eddie said:

 

What many business organisations (hotels, restaurants, shops and tour companies etc.) really need to know is an accurate count of real tourists coming to Thailand. Any people entering on non-immigrant, elite or business visas should not be counted as tourists. Only those on visa exempt, visa on arrival or tourist visas should be counted as tourists. But maybe this would not serve the government's numbers very well.

 

About 90 so far this year. And around 2,200 last year, between late March and the end of the year. Make your future investment plans based on those numbers. Just a guess, by the way.

Edited January 24, 2021 by spidermike007

[vinny41]

5 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

About 90 so far this year. And around 2,200 last year, between late March and the end of the year. Make your future investment plans based on those numbers. Just a guess, by the way.

When the 1st visa amnesty was announced last April the numbers quoted was 150,000

[paulikens]

On 1/23/2021 at 3:53 AM, ezzra said:

Well. allow tourists to come in following a proper PCR test, and if some have got the vaccine go easy on them and not this draconian 14 days incarceration costing lot of money, show flexibility and willingness to accommodate the above mentioned and oh yeah, stop silly tax on non existing tourist and things will get better...

i agree but its not just the government that wants the 14 days quarantine, the thais demand it as well, people forget that.    the thais as a nation are petrified of covid, so unfortunately they cant have their cake and eat it.

[herfiehandbag]

6 hours ago, soi3eddie said:

 

What many business organisations (hotels, restaurants, shops and tour companies etc.) really need to know is an accurate count of real tourists coming to Thailand. Any people entering on non-immigrant, elite or business visas should not be counted as tourists. Only those on visa exempt, visa on arrival or tourist visas should be counted as tourists. But maybe this would not serve the government's numbers very well.

 

I should imagine, if you looked at the average wide bodied jet arriving on a long haul flight (back in the pre Covid day of course) 90%+ of the economy class passengers would be on some form of tourist entry arrangement. A very small number of those who rode in the pointy bit of the airplane would have been - pause for effect, drumroll and orgasmic cries from TAT - well heeled, high spending, quality tourists!

[vinny41]

14 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

The most fascinating part of all of this, is that when the Thai and foreign investors, both large and small, decided to put trillions of dollars into the tourism infrastructure here, some it it representing their life savings, they must have been thinking, or at least presuming that if something catastrophic ever happened, the government would be there for them, on some level, to provide some assistance and support of some sort.

 

Wow. How wrong they were! Could this administration possibly be more absent, if they even tried? Oh, am I going to prison now?

From reading these forums the golden rule is never invest more than you can afford to walk away from

I am not aware of any government worldwide  that offers a guarantee  to foreign investors

Some countries have put in place measures to  protect domestic industry from the perceived predatory attentions of foreign acquirers seeking to buy assets at crisis prices

There is already a thread on this forum where the predators are hoping to pick up some property at fire sale prices

[Stargeezr]

Wow, TAT finally peeks at reality, really?  I guess with the 1 more year or maybe 2 before 

many people actually travel to Thailand, TAT could retire and lay off many of its staff as,

who really needs all of them.  I have some friends who are in Thailand now and they are

enjoying empty beaches, empty malls, and the tropical experience.  They did not enjoy the 2 weeks

quarantine, but at least they are there for the heat, and not experiencing the snowy

Winter that exists in Canada.  They tell me that they stay active, and still have some places

to eat at. They see the many many places that have shut down, and the major hotels

that are shut down, and say it is a bit boring as compared with their last visit, but are happy to

be there and not in Canada.    I will expect to see a very different Thailand when I return, but hope

that at least some guest houses are survivors, and some of the restaurants have

survived as well.   I still have a few places that I want to see, such as the White Marble

Temple in the north. Some of the Museums, such as the golden teak museum in

Bangkok, and some malls, that may still exist 2 years from now.

Geezer

[soi3eddie]

 

Just back from a Sunday morning walk around Chatuchak Market (I live about 5 minutes away by motorbike). A cool and pleasant morning. Arrived about 10:45am and grabbed a quick bite to eat in the food court area. It soon became apparent that there were more staff than customers at the market. Outnumbered I'd reckon by about 5 staff to every 1 customer. On walking around the market I'd say there were probably only 30% of stalls open at 11:15am which is normally jam packed at that time. There were whole sois of closed shops and at most of the open stalls, the staff/owners were sitting playing with their phones. No hustle or bustle as usual. Only saw maybe 6-8 foreigners in the hour we spent there and they seemed to be expats shopping for homewares or decorations. Normally it's packed with tourists.

 

I don't know what the stall holders are having to pay by way of rent but many of these places will be lucky if they see a single customer today. How long can this be sustained?

 

Pictures about 11:30am:

[jomtienisgood]

On 1/23/2021 at 10:38 AM, rooster59 said:

TAT forced to face reality: more than a third of the Thai tourist industry has gone bust

 

Image: Reuters

 

The Tourism Authority of Thailand are having to face reality after one of their own surveys showed them their rose tinted view was a complete sham.

 

Earlier in the week TAT governor Yutthasak Suphasorn - author of the failed STV scheme - claimed that 10 million foreign tourists would be arriving from midyear and, along with Thais, would be spending 1.2 TRILLION baht on the tourist industry this year.

 

This was greeted with incredulity in many areas.

 

Now the starry eyed governor has had to admit that little might be left of the tourist industry even if people worldwide start to travel again. A highly debatable question.

 

A TAT survey between January 10 and 12 asked 1,884 businesses how they were getting along. 

 

34.66% said they had already shut down and gone out of business.

 

Those that were left begged him to provide emergency assistance on utility bills and for staff wages.

 

Without this help they feared that they too would go under.

 

The TAT surveyed businesses in the areas of accommodation, travel firms, restaurants, vehicle rental companies and public transport businesses, reported Thai media.

 

The message came back loud and clear.

 

We've either gone bust or will do without immediate help.

 

A far cry from the governor's optimistic outlook just a few days before.

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2021-01-23

 

- Whatever you're going through, the Samaritans are here for you

- Follow Thaivisa on LINE for breaking COVID-19 updates

Where do they get all the zero's to manufacture all these TRILLIONS?????? 0/0+0 -0=0X0= still ZERO 555555

[NoshowJones]

16 hours ago, bwpage3 said:

In someone's pocket to buy houses in America, UK or Australia.

 

When Thailand completely hits the skids, none of these corrupt politicians will be around to live through their self created destruction. 

Politicians??????????????????????? You don't mean the unelected "PM" and his lot surely?

[Muzzique]

6 hours ago, Wildliferescue said:

While the government says there is NO money at all to help these businesses, they are discussing spending billions on a bridge between Hua-hin and Pattaya and submarines, neither things Thailand needs. 

 

Yes. but one could imagine the last 2 are riddled with kickbacks (as is the moon rocket probably). Got to keep those affluent lifestyles going somehow when the other kickbacks are drying up. 

 

There is no money left for the people and businesses because it's most likely in Panama being invested in Rolex's and overseas condo's. 

 

 

[Sydebolle]

You must be kidding, if you're lucky you will have one third of them still around but on the way out and dying as well ......

 

 

[spidermike007]

4 hours ago, vinny41 said:

When the 1st visa amnesty was announced last April the numbers quoted was 150,000

I believe you are referring to the tourists who were already in Thailand, when the lockdown occurred. We are discussing two completely different things. 

[vinny41]

11 hours ago, soi3eddie said:

 

What many business organisations (hotels, restaurants, shops and tour companies etc.) really need to know is an accurate count of real tourists coming to Thailand. Any people entering on non-immigrant, elite or business visas should not be counted as tourists. Only those on visa exempt, visa on arrival or tourist visas should be counted as tourists. But maybe this would not serve the government's numbers very well.

 

 

9 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

I believe you are referring to the tourists who were already in Thailand, when the lockdown occurred. We are discussing two completely different things. 

I was  referring to the number of people that  Immigration  said that were staying in Thailand under the visa amnesty.

as of the end of September 2021 that number was 150,000

Last week, Immigration said that 150,000 foreigners were staying in Thailand under the visa amnesty.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1341452/thailands-visa-amnesty-extended-until-oct-31#:~:text=31,-The Nation%2FAsia&text=Last week%2C Immigration said that,Immigration office by October 3.

[spidermike007]

39 minutes ago, vinny41 said:

 

I was  referring to the number of people that  Immigration  said that were staying in Thailand under the visa amnesty.

as of the end of September 2021 that number was 150,000

Last week, Immigration said that 150,000 foreigners were staying in Thailand under the visa amnesty.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1341452/thailands-visa-amnesty-extended-until-oct-31#:~:text=31,-The Nation%2FAsia&text=Last week%2C Immigration said that,Immigration office by October 3.

 But, that is not part of the argument. We are discussing how many tourists have arrived here, since the outbreak, not prior to the outbreak. 

[yoksot]

Things will only get WORSE.as the governments make it more difficult to visit Thailand. I have spent most of the past 30 years living in Thailand Using a non Immigrant Visa, I was one of the last people to be issued at the Birmingham consulate before it closed down.

 I then did the 400 mile round trip to the Consulate in HULL. only to have my application to renew my Non Immigrant Visa refused. I was also refused a Double entry tourist Visa, being issued with Single entry ONLY.

  I explained that I had a daughter and Bank accounts in Thailand for OVER 28 years. My daughter is now 18 years old and I am paying for her to attend Medical School. yet I am being restricted to the amount of time I can visit my daughter.

  Now they are insisting on OVERPRICED health insurance, During my time in Thailand I have covered all my medical costs and on the 2 rare ocassions that that spent time in hospital I have covered all the Costs. I live in a remote village in North East Thailand where Medical costs are only pennies.

  If Thailand wants to bring back visitors and tourists it must start by making it easier to get the necessary Visa applied for, and offer reasonably priced insurance if it is to remain compulsory.

   Welcome to Thailand, IF YOU ARE ALLOWED IN.

                                                                      Food for Thought

                                                                      The Eye of Lamai  

[SupermarineS6B]

1 minute ago, yoksot said:

Things will only get WORSE.as the governments make it more difficult to visit Thailand. I have spent most of the past 30 years living in Thailand Using a non Immigrant Visa, I was one of the last people to be issued at the Birmingham consulate before it closed down.

 I then did the 400 mile round trip to the Consulate in HULL. only to have my application to renew my Non Immigrant Visa refused. I was also refused a Double entry tourist Visa, being issued with Single entry ONLY.

  I explained that I had a daughter and Bank accounts in Thailand for OVER 28 years. My daughter is now 18 years old and I am paying for her to attend Medical School. yet I am being restricted to the amount of time I can visit my daughter.

  Now they are insisting on OVERPRICED health insurance, During my time in Thailand I have covered all my medical costs and on the 2 rare ocassions that that spent time in hospital I have covered all the Costs. I live in a remote village in North East Thailand where Medical costs are only pennies.

  If Thailand wants to bring back visitors and tourists it must start by making it easier to get the necessary Visa applied for, and offer reasonably priced insurance if it is to remain compulsory.

   Welcome to Thailand, IF YOU ARE ALLOWED IN.

                                                                      Food for Thought

                                                                      The Eye of Lamai  

Exactly the same.... Thirty odd years in Thailand mostly on back to back three month tourist visas like we all used to do, and now because of greed and short sighted xenophobic immigration, people are now jumping through hoops like seals..... I've come to the sad conclusion that i'm not returning until something big has happened to the management and someone regains the helm before we hit the rocks ........  It's all been caused by pure greed.........  This pandemic like every cloud has its silver lining...... It might just get rid of the cancer that's been eating the country and might just take us back to common sense..... and fun..... I can still just remember when it was fun to live in Thailand..... It certainly hasn't been for the last few years....