Russians and Indian high spenders in the plans as Thai tourism minister HALVES 2021 assessment

[sead]

What's all this talk about highspenders all the time. Its incredible about the focus on highspenders blabla

[Ty Hareways]

This emoji will suffice for this story.....????

[herfiehandbag]

9 hours ago, nausea said:

Thailand's attraction for me, when I lived in the UK, was always the visa exempt entry. Like you just got on the plane, arrived, and enjoyed. No planning needed, often it was a spur of the moment decision. I don't know about other nationalities, but all these barriers to entry would definitely have been a turn off for me. I wouldn't be here now under current entry conditions. Now you might say "so what", a few UK guys not coming makes little difference; but that easy introduction to Thailand made me want to live here, and spend millions of baht here. Small pennies, I suppose, in the general scheme of things.

Absolutely right. Should vaccination become more common throughout the country, and mandatory for those wishing to visit, something close to that could be realised over the next few years, albeit in smaller numbers.

 

The problem is that the people and businesses who have latched on to tourism as a business (and they are the people who have influence with this government, lots of influence) need ASQ and the other restrictions on where and how you can go to feed the businesses which they have created.

 

As they say in Somerset; " Tis b*gg*r*d you!"

[adammike]

1 hour ago, sead said:

What's all this talk about highspenders all the time. Its incredible about the focus on highspenders blabla

It's not just Thailand, worldwide every city that is overrun with mass tourism is singing the "quality over quantity" song with the "hey big spender" chorus.

[eastlight]

9 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Not gonna happen. Why? Most wealthy people tend to be smart with their money. They simply will not pay stupid money for stuff. The ultra rich are different. But, no ultra rich people would even consider Thailand as a destination, unless they had work here. The luxury taxes have been discouraging high end tourism here for decades. It is policy that is so dumb, so shortsighted, so non-visionary, and it badly hurts the economy. If wine duty was 70%, you would have a thriving wine industry here, five to ten times the size of the current industry. So the state income would be made up on volume, and hundreds of thousands of jobs would be generated. Instead the protection of a few local wineries continues, due to some politicians passing the anti foreign wine bill years ago, and accepting the payoffs that came with that braindead decision.

I have alot of major wine collectors as friends, and the first thing they look at is the wine scene, when planning a trip. A wealthy couple typically drink a very good bottle of wine daily, or several times a week, at dinner. If they are used to drinking a good vintage Bordeaux, and they pay $100 for it at home, it is very unlikely they will be happy about paying $550 - $800 for it, at their hotel. And if they do, they will not be returning. I cannot even tell you the number of wealthy friends who have visited Thailand once, and never came back. What were their chief complaints?
 
Also, the poor english skills. Mediocre concierge services. A stunning lack of wine knowledge at the fine dining, restaurant level. Unreasonable luxury taxes. Very unsafe driving conditions. Very limited, high speed transportation options. Wealthy people are very particular, and Thailand simply has to be prepared to cater to them, and they are not on any level. These are simply more examples of brain dead leaders, who have no vision, and are NOT leading the nation forward, are not helping the nation to progress, and are not benefitting the people of Thailand.

Major changes need to be made, if Thailand wants to continue to enjoy the cash cow of tourism. Travelers these days simply have too many choices. Creativity is required. Progress needs to be made. Thailand cannot continue to be one of the least progressive nations on earth, and expect foreigners to tolerate that degree of ignorance. These seeds were planted over a decade ago. The hapless army has accelerated the process dramatically.

Up until around 2010 a small number of rich tourists used to come here. I had two groups of rich friends who came, stayed in beachfront villas, or villas at top five star resorts, and spent ALOT of money. One couple who came with their two kids, I asked him how much he spent on his trip, after seeing his wife drop 68,000 baht at the hotel spa, and seeing him drop 22,000 baht on the lunch I was invited to. He said they average $75,000 per vacation, twice or three times a year. Usually 10 days. All first class. He made 12 million pounds a year in London, representing Russian oligarchs primarily, at his law firm. He said his chief complaint about Thailand, was that other than spas, there was nothing for his wife to spend money on. He said she usually likes to spend $10-15k on purses, jewelery, or designer clothing, but the prices were so outrageous, even she refused to buy anything.

Neither he, nor my other friends ever returned to Thailand, and that was over 10 years ago. They simply have too many great options, with outstanding service, expertise, and reasonable taxes. That is one of the chief reasons they do not come, but there are at least a dozen other good reasons. 

I always look for and enjoy your posts SpiderMike.

[daejung]

11 hours ago, webfact said:

Under AQ tourists would still quarantine for 14 days but they would only be under lockdown in their rooms for three days. Then they would be free to use the grounds of participtaing hotels for the remaining 11. 

A joke ?

[D M G]

Vodka Vindaloo

[Mai mee]

10 hours ago, Surelynot said:

I think it would be a good idea to offer all the Russians free Kawasaki 1300's on arrival.

And the Indians get their usual 2 blokes for the price of one special on ladyboy short-times.

[DBath]

“...He claimed that as soon as AQ gets the nod from the CCSA Covid-19 authorities the tourists would flood in as this is just what they have been waiting for...Russians who would be leading the way...Apart from this...high spending Indians...”.
 

OMG, the daily non-flying clown circus was pathetic, but it now appears we’ve digressed into full-blown desperation. 

[bangon04]

"Apart from this Pipat said that high spending Indians who wanted to get married in Thailand would be the other group. "

 

these are the same high spenders who regularly hold up the queue in 7-11 in Silom while they try to haggle down the price of a bread roll with the bemused cashier...

[GrandPapillon]

12 hours ago, petermik said:

Another day and another fancyfull statement coming from someone who hasn`t the slightest idea about what they are talking about...

they really live in their own little bubble ????

[Fex Bluse]

It's very difficult not to ridicule these people. Their cousins to the north and east are quite clever, so I'm not sure what happened 

 

Sad

[cncltd1973]

A desperate government engaging in ridiculous rhetoric.  It's more about giving hope to the people than making a benchmark number. The Tourism Minister functioning as the Minister of Propaganda. If he actually spoke the truth of the current and future outlook, then he would be giving fodder to the protests, which are well timed (incidentally) with the bleak economic forecast to actually bring about some of reforms they've been waiting too long for.

[terryofcrete]

5 hours ago, Blumpie said:

Some of them had to wait hours to get through immigration.

And do the powers that be not realise that most Thai girls don’t want anything to do with them ...now I wonder why.... But there’s no prostitution in Thailand of course ! 

[Stargeezr]

I have talked  with a few wealthy people from India while in the Terminal 21 mall in Pattaya, the fellow was like me

bored, while his wife and daughters were in a fancy store.  They had never been to Thailand and were enjoying the 

tours and some areas in Thailand. He had relatives that lived in the Pattaya area, and was visiting more in Bangkok and

Chiang Mai.  He paid for his cousins house ion Chiang Mai, and would be staying in the house, as hotel stays also got 

boring.  I do doubt that there are millions of wealthy people who just travel to one country a bunch of times, as they have

the means to travel all over the world and enjoy different places.  TAT is just hoping that some will visit Thailand.  We all

have to have a bit of hope in our hearts.

Geezer

[PomPolo]

13 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand's minister for tourism and sports Pipat Ratchakitprakan said that he expects no less than five million foreign tourists to visit the country this year.

Very confused with this change of estimate as they expected 6 million British tourists alone to visit in 2021 in a report last week, can anyone give me the real low down? I want to come back there for a holiday but so many conflicting reports also around vaccine and testing

[Harveyboy]

12 hours ago, VYCM said:

Never seen this before in the same sentence.

 

"Indians" and "High Spenders"

with you on this one ..never seen one spend a baht  ..even the girls are shared to save money as for the Russian !!!!!!!!!! well wont  go there eh .....yep they spend just look at the lines in 7/11 all C...p.

[dannyshin]

The Russians are cumming. The Russians are CUMMING 

[geisha]

2 hours ago, eastlight said:

I always look for and enjoy your posts SpiderMike.

Spidermike007 post is spot on. I know many people with money who won’t come back to Thailand. I was actually quite embarrassed after having given some ideas of Thailand to the editor of a newspaper . Saw the man with his wife a good while after , I asked how it went and they replied *awful place* !

[dannyshin]

There are lots of gold diggers in Russia. May there would be some who are sponsered by their boyfriends or husbands Хорошо отдохнуть в море. mean well rest near sea. haha

[dannyshin]

11 hours ago, mr mr said:

the russians are coming the russians are coming. 

Cumming not coming 

[dannyshin]

I'm Russian myself. Also know many of them. Here minimum wages is  12800 rubles months. Average people make monthly 20,000 rubles. Now a days many are suffering without job and loss of income. Are you joking "Russians are High spenders". In spite having my own shop and saving accumulated while I was working overseas, I would still opt for cheap online booking site hotels. Most Russians never eat at fancy restaurants, but street foods. Yes there are many Russian gold digger girls who tour is sponsered by their foreign or rich boyfriends/husbands.  We are too busy and not have pateince for quarentine <deleted>s 

[Satyrman]

Indian and “high spender” just don’t fit together! The Indian’s are the cheapest sub-group that visits Thailand often seeking out huge discounts without spending a cent. Just ask the working girls who go back to the India mans hotel room and find 4 men looking to be serviced for the price of one! 

[SupermarineS6B]

I've just received a letter from the Thai consulate in Istanbul. The cost of getting into Thailand on a single entry tourist visa is around 2000 pounds sterling all in.....   Who in their right mind is going to pay this kind of money just to come into Thailand ?  

Someone should ring up the department with the bouncy rooms and get these lot booked in for a while.......    Insanity........  

[SupermarineS6B]

7 hours ago, Millcx said:

Along with prices that match shopping in Regent St London and no help with Visa deployment .. Why would you come ... Only simple bonus was 30 day visa that allowed you a few weeks partying in Cowboy and then back to work .. These people think 2 weeks give them money for Daily Kow pat guy and after that 2 days sight seeing then home to work 555555 .. Portugal with the better golf and Brazilian Burds will do me .. “;0) Less hassle

Yep, just come from Portugal ( Faro ) and you're right..... lovely place, lovely people, and cracking Brazilian and Portuguese birds.....  They even know how to treat tourists.......  Thailand's going down in flames quickly with these loons at the controls.......  

[Sean60]

Dreamers.

Time to wake up

[kiwikeith]

15 hours ago, internationalism said:

but their statements are not conradictory. "No fewer than 5mln" well might be 10 or 20 mln.

Besides, yutthasak also said, that is case of further problems (new waves cased by mutations) he estimates 5mln.

 

All those estimates are nothing, based on imagination, not any calculation. That's why they are all over, taking figures from a hat, like a lottery.

 

I do estimate, that this year only some 100k tourists will come. And that is based on data from october last year. So far it's only  a few hundred per month on golf cources.

Even, if they vaccinate all phuket and pattaya, it would stretch into late summer. They would have to vaccinate all local population, not just working in hospitality.

High spenders are coming from all over different countries, but they are holidaying in one place, staying in a serviced villa on a golf course for a month or two. It's more sport holidays than tourism

Russian and Indian high spenders are as scarce as rocking horse sheet 

[daveAustin]

15 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Not gonna happen. Why? Most wealthy people tend to be smart with their money. They simply will not pay stupid money for stuff. The ultra rich are different. But, no ultra rich people would even consider Thailand as a destination, unless they had work here. The luxury taxes have been discouraging high end tourism here for decades. It is policy that is so dumb, so shortsighted, so non-visionary, and it badly hurts the economy. If wine duty was 70%, you would have a thriving wine industry here, five to ten times the size of the current industry. So the state income would be made up on volume, and hundreds of thousands of jobs would be generated. Instead the protection of a few local wineries continues, due to some politicians passing the anti foreign wine bill years ago, and accepting the payoffs that came with that braindead decision.

I have alot of major wine collectors as friends, and the first thing they look at is the wine scene, when planning a trip. A wealthy couple typically drink a very good bottle of wine daily, or several times a week, at dinner. If they are used to drinking a good vintage Bordeaux, and they pay $100 for it at home, it is very unlikely they will be happy about paying $550 - $800 for it, at their hotel. And if they do, they will not be returning. I cannot even tell you the number of wealthy friends who have visited Thailand once, and never came back. What were their chief complaints?
 
Also, the poor english skills. Mediocre concierge services. A stunning lack of wine knowledge at the fine dining, restaurant level. Unreasonable luxury taxes. Very unsafe driving conditions. Very limited, high speed transportation options. Wealthy people are very particular, and Thailand simply has to be prepared to cater to them, and they are not on any level. These are simply more examples of brain dead leaders, who have no vision, and are NOT leading the nation forward, are not helping the nation to progress, and are not benefitting the people of Thailand.

Major changes need to be made, if Thailand wants to continue to enjoy the cash cow of tourism. Travelers these days simply have too many choices. Creativity is required. Progress needs to be made. Thailand cannot continue to be one of the least progressive nations on earth, and expect foreigners to tolerate that degree of ignorance. These seeds were planted over a decade ago. The hapless army has accelerated the process dramatically.

Up until around 2010 a small number of rich tourists used to come here. I had two groups of rich friends who came, stayed in beachfront villas, or villas at top five star resorts, and spent ALOT of money. One couple who came with their two kids, I asked him how much he spent on his trip, after seeing his wife drop 68,000 baht at the hotel spa, and seeing him drop 22,000 baht on the lunch I was invited to. He said they average $75,000 per vacation, twice or three times a year. Usually 10 days. All first class. He made 12 million pounds a year in London, representing Russian oligarchs primarily, at his law firm. He said his chief complaint about Thailand, was that other than spas, there was nothing for his wife to spend money on. He said she usually likes to spend $10-15k on purses, jewelery, or designer clothing, but the prices were so outrageous, even she refused to buy anything.

Neither he, nor my other friends ever returned to Thailand, and that was over 10 years ago. They simply have too many great options, with outstanding service, expertise, and reasonable taxes. That is one of the chief reasons they do not come, but there are at least a dozen other good reasons. 

 

Indeed, Mike, though, incomprehensible as the article is, it is likely his high rollers are midrange. Plenty of moneyed up Indian and Ruskie folk in that bracket, but of course they would not go all that way to be hemmed in to one specific spot.

 

[daveAustin]

These types of articles, while supercilious, just serve to make the author seen to be doing something. It would not be a thing if tarty adjectives like 'high spenders' or 'millions' were not included. He is clearly off his rocker, however, since people are only desperate enough to visit at this time if they get the all-in Thailand experience... which they won't since a, they can't go anywhere and b, the place is closed for business!

[rioD]

Since when did Indians and Russian become big spenders.  Do they know the average wages in those countries are on par with their own in Thailand.  I've dated several Russian girls over there on vacay or 2 who worked there as RE agents. All were very low income. As for Indians ba ha ha ha !! get real !