Thailand loses 1.45 million tourism jobs from pandemic: tourism group

[kentrot]

For the love of God, what did Thailand do before it became a tourist destination ?

The loss of 12.9 % of the jobs means that 87% of Thai's earn a living in other fields, like farming and manufacturing.

Can we please stop the news sources' obsession with reports about TOURISM ?

 

12.91 percent

Share of tourism to Gross Domestic Product Thailand 2017-Q1 2020. In the first quarter of 2020, the tourism industry contributed around 12.91 percent to Thailand's GDP.Aug 19, 2563 BE Thailand: share of tourism to GDP 2020 | Statista

https://www.statista.com › statistics › thailand-share-of-tou

 

[Ziobobbo]

The trouble is that currently the Chinese have to quarantine when they return home so this is a major disincentive to travel anywhere - Phuket included. 

[Bradmeister]

Press releases?  A PRIVATE TOURISM GROUP? 

 

Where are these figures coming from? 

 

"from a workforce of about 38 million people."

 

38 million people? MORE THEN HALF the countries population is the Hospitality and tourism industry ?

 

What?  Who prints this <deleted>? Reuters?

 

THE CENTER OF THE MOON MUST BE MADE OUT OF CHEESE!

 

[khunPer]

17 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Thailand has lost about 1.45 million tourism jobs during the coronavirus pandemic, including 400,000 in the first quarter, a private tourism group said on Monday, as the country gets ready to reopen to visitors to try to rescue the struggling sector.

Earlier it has been told in the news that a lot of the tourism jobs were performed by migrant workers, especially from Myanmar, and many of the workers had returned home, so it might not be 1.45 million Thais that lost their job.

[chrisinth]

17 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The country could see 3 million foreign tourist arrivals this year under plans to waive quarantine for visitors vaccinated against COVID-19 in some parts of the country later this year, Vichit Prakobgoson, vice president of the Tourism Council of Thailand, told a briefing.

 

From July, inoculated tourists will be allowed to visit Phuket without the mandatory two-week quarantine, and from October Pattaya, Koh Samui, Chiang Mai, Phang Nga and Krabi.

Got my pessimistic head on today...................

 

Assuming their figures are correct, 3 million tourists arriving before the year's end, the government's plan to get the tourist destinations vaccinated first to accommodate this influx, all looks good.

 

But what happens after they begin to arrive? The people previously attached to the tourism trade who are now out of work will come flooding back into the tourist areas from non-vaccinated areas to seek re-employment.

 

I'm just wondering how the government is going to control this and avoid a potential surge in Covid cases in these areas. Vaccinations don't necessarily stop people getting infected, they build immunity. The last thing Thailand would need is for tourists getting infected because simply precautions were not observed.

 

Maybe far-fetched, but who knows what will happen between now and then? One thing is for certain IMO, not enough Thais will be vaccinated in this time period for Thailand to be a safe destination. And for clarification I'm all for opening up, as soon as it is safe to do so.

[smew]

Open this open that ... expects this many  tourists.

Ludicrous estimates... new ideas and always new estimates..... and nothing materializes... and then new ideas and new estimates with the old errors forgotten.

 

Job losses are probably 10 time more....

    

[Bkktodd]

4 hours ago, johnhender said:

Well if I can’t go to bangkok why even bother coming all my friends are in BKK and I have had enough of Pattaya and Phuket to last me the rest of my life - I am 3 hours from all the beach I will ever need at home in the USA and I can take my boat or jets skis with me 

Get vaccinated and do 7 days in quarantine in bkk.  Your bkk friends will be happy.  Im 3 mins from all of Miami Beach on biscayn bay.  Doesnt stop me from loving thais , Pattaya and surrounding areas.  Ive had enough of grumpy types like you

[newnative]

44 minutes ago, chrisinth said:

Got my pessimistic head on today...................

 

Assuming their figures are correct, 3 million tourists arriving before the year's end, the government's plan to get the tourist destinations vaccinated first to accommodate this influx, all looks good.

 

But what happens after they begin to arrive? The people previously attached to the tourism trade who are now out of work will come flooding back into the tourist areas from non-vaccinated areas to seek re-employment.

 

I'm just wondering how the government is going to control this and avoid a potential surge in Covid cases in these areas. Vaccinations don't necessarily stop people getting infected, they build immunity. The last thing Thailand would need is for tourists getting infected because simply precautions were not observed.

 

Maybe far-fetched, but who knows what will happen between now and then? One thing is for certain IMO, not enough Thais will be vaccinated in this time period for Thailand to be a safe destination. And for clarification I'm all for opening up, as soon as it is safe to do so.

Agree.  This is why Thailand should have been much faster off the mark in getting its vaccination program up and running.  

[RichardColeman]

3 hours ago, sandyf said:

The usual unsubstantiated speculation.

The tourism industry may well have lost 1.45 million jobs but only those that want to believe it would think that none of the 1.45 million have found other forms of employment.

It will have been the more senior positions with money in the bank that will have invested in a different future and the tourism industry may well be in for a shock when it comes to restaffing.

I'll stick with my estimates, thanks. I feel pretty sure that there are maybe 50 stories of jobs lost (outside of tourism) for every one about new real jobs in Thailand being created (not using Myanmar labour).

Until Thailand has a decent welfare system, i guess we'll both never know anyway

[Surasak]

17 hours ago, anchadian said:

And so it continues....more of the same.

 

Vichit projected spending by foreign tourists would be 156 billion baht ($5 billion) this year.

I wish I knew how they arrive at these figures.

Its not the sorting hat from Hogwarts, that's for sure.

[Chiang Mai Bill]

5 hours ago, Moonlover said:

Covid cases are on the rise! Where?

France, Germany, Italy, Spain -- they are currently experiencing their third wave. 

[sandyf]

58 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

I'll stick with my estimates, thanks. I feel pretty sure that there are maybe 50 stories of jobs lost (outside of tourism) for every one about new real jobs in Thailand being created (not using Myanmar labour).

Until Thailand has a decent welfare system, i guess we'll both never know anyway

You are free to stick with what you want.

All I can see around here is that the number of people, new developments and new businesses has mushroomed since the pandemic started.

[Fex Bluse]

4 hours ago, kentrot said:

For the love of God, what did Thailand do before it became a tourist destination ?

The loss of 12.9 % of the jobs means that 87% of Thai's earn a living in other fields, like farming and manufacturing.

Can we please stop the news sources' obsession with reports about TOURISM ?

 

12.91 percent

Share of tourism to Gross Domestic Product Thailand 2017-Q1 2020. In the first quarter of 2020, the tourism industry contributed around 12.91 percent to Thailand's GDP.Aug 19, 2563 BE Thailand: share of tourism to GDP 2020 | Statista

https://www.statista.com › statistics › thailand-share-of-tou

 

 

Thailand has been lying for decades about its reliance on foreign tourism. I know, it's not good, but people lie, especially when they are embarrassed about how undeveloped their economy is after decades of saying they were moving into the middle income bracket and modernising.

 

Foreign tourism is at least 20% of Thailand GDP (see attached analysis), not including grey and black market activities like the sex trade.

 

Sex trade is likely to be very significant, and it would not surprise anyone if it was 5-10% of GDP? This is the country that is world famous for sex tourism - perhaps the most famous country in the world for it.

ditcinf2020d3_en.pdf

[rioD]

Tourism is a key driver of Thailand’s growth, typically accounting for 11-12% of gross domestic product.  This comment seems to vastly understate Thailand's dependency on tourist and foreign dollars. Besides tourism the really have nothing to drive their economy.  They don't really produce anything for global consumption besides rice.  They have no natural resources or major industry (besides tourism).  It seems they're in denial, denying the obvious.  Tourism is their bread and butter, without tourist and foreigners Thailand struggles. This is not an insult but reality.

[sambum]

"The projection is in line with the central bank’s estimate but far below the 6.5 million tourists projected by the government’s Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT)."

 

Does ANYBODY believe the ridiculous forecasts by TAT any more? They might as well employ Anutin to read out their "guesstimates", because they both seem to be in the habit of making "U Turns"! 

[Fex Bluse]

7 minutes ago, rioD said:

Tourism is a key driver of Thailand’s growth, typically accounting for 11-12% of gross domestic product.  This comment seems to vastly understate Thailand's dependency on tourist and foreign dollars. Besides tourism the really have nothing to drive their economy.  They don't really produce anything for global consumption besides rice.  They have no natural resources or major industry (besides tourism).  It seems they're in denial, denying the obvious.  Tourism is their bread and butter, without tourist and foreigners Thailand struggles. This is not an insult but reality.

 

Spot on - they have been in denial for decades. No surprise in the land of the Face Saving culture. They are embarassed by their lack of development after so many decades farting around accomplishing minimal modernization.

 

 

[HK MacPhooey]

5 hours ago, eyup said:

Just stay where you are pal! Thailand doesn't need people like you!

The good people of Thailand need anyone that can bring in any foreign currency at this dire time of government imposed self destruction... even people like 'him', whoever people like him might be!

[Andrew65]

15 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Assuming this is true - and I can well believe it is - with the possible working age population roughly about 48,000,000,  this means that the loss of tourism has increased unemployment for these people alone to 3%.

 

Thailand has historically over the past few qtr's only stated 2%. But these jobs mean that the real figure is somewhere between 4.5-5% minimum (based on continual 1.5% ish of previous years).

 

Would the real un-edited figures please stand up please ? 

For a very long time Thailand reckoned that they have an unemployment rate of around 1%. Whenever I read about such things in Western countries, it's said that realistically, the lowest that unemployment will ever be is 4-5%.

Do people in Thailand actually register as being unemployed to receive benefits?

 

Also, I reckon that their 1.45 million estimate is a very low one, probably a best case scenario.

[lavender19]

19 hours ago, anchadian said:

And so it continues....more of the same.

 

Vichit projected spending by foreign tourists would be 156 billion baht ($5 billion) this year.

I wish I knew how they arrive at these figures.

It's an office lucky dip. They have a bag full of bits of paper with ludicrous numbers on them. First one in gets to pick todays stupid number 

[metisdead]

A post with a trolling video has been removed. 

[Thomas J]

The other factor is that the 11% to 12% is merely its direct impact on GDP.  That understates it effect since those people do not have the money to buy product and services from the other areas of the economy so those activities like home purchases, vehicle purchases, retail goods etc are negatively impacted as that money otherwise earned from tourism activities is not longer being circulated through the economy. 

[Mavideol]

20 hours ago, Susco said:

 

Divided by 3 million tourists, that's only 52000 Baht each, which I think is quite low

some of us living here with family spend much more then that on a monthly basis and yet we don't fit their estimates  of good expats/tourists spenders  555

[Mavideol]

3 hours ago, Chiang Mai Bill said:

France, Germany, Italy, Spain -- they are currently experiencing their third wave. 

Sweden, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, China.....

 

https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/china/

 

New international coronavirus cases: Latest places affected, including UK, Philippines, US and Sweden

https://au.news.yahoo.com/international-coronavirus-cases-latest-places-100716008.html

 

[Moonlover]

3 hours ago, Chiang Mai Bill said:

9 hours ago, Moonlover said:

Covid cases are on the rise! Where?

 

3 hours ago, Chiang Mai Bill said:

France, Germany, Italy, Spain -- they are currently experiencing their third wave. 

Yes, I'm sure we're all aware of that, but I was referring to a post that was specifically about Thailand.

[Paradise Pete]

9 hours ago, johnhender said:

Well if I can’t go to bangkok why even bother coming all my friends are in BKK and I have had enough of Pattaya and Phuket to last me the rest of my life - I am 3 hours from all the beach I will ever need at home in the USA and I can take my boat or jets skis with me 

 

Same here. I read Playboy for the articles and I go to Pattaya for the jet skis.

[Dexxter]

On 3/30/2021 at 12:02 AM, YetAnother said:

there will be an absolute horde of hospitality vendors , in the thai fashion, jacking up prices way over the top , to make up for their lost revenue

 

No different to my hairdresser here in Australia who charged $29 before the pandemic and $39 about 6 months later after our first release after a lockdown. Also making up for lost revenue, but I was not upset. They lost way more than I did over that period.

[KhaoYai]

On 3/29/2021 at 1:47 PM, snoop1130 said:

Thailand has lost about 1.45 million tourism jobs during the coronavirus pandemic,

I'd be surprised if the figure is that low, what about the businesses that support tourism? What about the 'unregistered' workers - all those outside the tax system?

 

Maybe they put the decimal point in the wrong place?

[Stargeezr]

It is a good thing that Thailand has a domestic tourist market, as a few of the smaller hotels and guest houses have

enough business, that they are so far avoiding complete bankruptcy.  The international hotels and all their support

businesses are the ones taking the big hit, and many may well be bankrupt,  before the pandemic is over.   Since this is a global

pandemic, the rest of the world is basically in the same boat. It will take decades for all countries to even recover to a new

normal.    I do not see a quick return to the old days and old ways in the rest of my lifetime.  Most countries have spent

a lot of money just fighting this pandemic, and I think that a lot of the big projects and projections are just a dream.

  Geezer

[newnative]

4 hours ago, Stargrazer9889 said:

It is a good thing that Thailand has a domestic tourist market, as a few of the smaller hotels and guest houses have

enough business, that they are so far avoiding complete bankruptcy.  The international hotels and all their support

businesses are the ones taking the big hit, and many may well be bankrupt,  before the pandemic is over.   Since this is a global

pandemic, the rest of the world is basically in the same boat. It will take decades for all countries to even recover to a new

normal.    I do not see a quick return to the old days and old ways in the rest of my lifetime.  Most countries have spent

a lot of money just fighting this pandemic, and I think that a lot of the big projects and projections are just a dream.

  Geezer

     Actually, for my part of Pattaya, it's more the opposite of what you describe in regard to the hotel situation.  The very big hotels in north Pattaya are all open:  Dusit, Holiday Inn, Amari, Ozo, Mytt, Siam@Siam, Grand Centre Point, Cape Dara, Hilton, Mercure, A-01, and others.  They are getting quite a few Thai visitors on weekends and enough during the week to stay open.  A few of the smaller boutique hotels have opened but most are still  closed.  Several very big hotel projects remain on track--including the big hotel going up across from Central Festival, the D' Beach third wing, the massive Grand Centre Point 2, and another hotel highrise near it.

[Pravda]

I posted in another thread that mutating virus will basically kill Thai tourism economy forever.

 

However, losing a tourism related job does not mean you can't get another one.