Thailand lures the rich as tourism revival hope fades

[webfact]

Traditional Thai dancers wearing protective face shields perform at the Erawan Shrine, which was reopened after the Thai government relaxed measures to combat the spread of the coronavirus in Bangkok, May 4, 2020. Photo: AFP/Mladen Antonov

 

New long-stay visa scheme will aim at the same high-net-worth individuals targeted by investment banks and wealth managers

 

By PETER JANSSEN

 

BANGKOK – With a third wave of Covid-19 undermining the likelihood of hordes of foreign tourists and investors returning to Thailand any time soon, there are government moves afoot to make the kingdom more appealing for long-term, high-net-worth visitors in the near future.

 

Tourism accounted for 18-20% of Thailand’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019, when nearly 40 million foreign tourists visited the kingdom and generated around 2 trillion baht ($64.1 billion) in local revenues. But the foreign tourist money tree has stopped giving in the time of Covid. Last year, Thailand’s GDP shrank 6.1%, with only 6.7 million tourist arrivals and 330 billion baht in revenues before a Covid lockdown and travel banned kicked off in late March 2020.

 

This year will be worse for the tourism industry, as the Thai government stumbles to roll out vaccines and contain a worst yet wave of Covid-19 that has resulted in record daily new infections and fast-rising fatalities. Although exports have shown signs of recovery, the Finance Ministry now predicts the economy will grow just 2.3% in 2021, with tourism revenue expected to reach a mere 170 billion baht.

 

Full story: https://asiatimes.com/2021/05/thailand-lures-the-rich-as-tourism-revival-hope-fades/

 

-- © Copyright ASIA TIMES 2021-05-05

 

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[Airalee]

From the article

 

”His task force is aiming to attract high-net-worth individuals – the same kind that wealth managers and investment bankers target – including an estimated 200 million retirees worldwide living off their pensions or savings.”

 

But....

 

”As of December 2020, there were estimated to be 46.8 million millionaires or high-net-worth individual (HNWIs) in the world.”

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millionaire

 

 

 

 

 

[Thujone]

Is it old chestnut season again?

Time flies.

[impulse]

Thailand lures the rich with yet another big, juicy nuthin' burger.

 

If they wanna attract anybody, they need to get their population vaccinated so they can do away with the quarantine.  Until the quarantine requirement goes away, nothing will work.

 

Edited May 4, 2021 by impulse

[Thailand]

Might be a good idea to look to those long termers already here putting billions in to the economy.

That is something that is tangible not pie in the sky.

 

[sirineou]

"The new visa package, which if all goes to plan will be announced in June, "

Well ,let's  see if anything comes out of this. At the very least eliminating the 90 day reporting would be a step in the right direction. 

[bkk6060]

This guy worked for JP Morgan so is no dummy.

Unfortunately, his superiors mostly seem to be when it comes to economic matters.

I like his ideas but do not generally see much being changed.

If anything, the retirement type Visa may be adjusted but i bet he will suggest it is only for high dollar retirees.  Probably need a much larger lump sum in the bank or much higher monthly income to qualify.

The low monthly pensioners I doubt will see any changes as that is not the group he appears to be focusing on.

I never see typical foreigners being able to buy land.  Possibly,  at some price point like minimum 30 million b and up.

 

Edited May 4, 2021 by bkk6060

[Freeduhdum]

It seems Thailand didn't receive or somehow didn't understand their orders from on high? If you're going to truly "Build Back Better," as most politicians have proclaimed, you might want to consider building collaborative relationships and strengthening internal infrastructure. That means courting your own people with collaborative projects rather than constantly relying on outsiders to solve your financial problems. Just a thought. 

Edited May 4, 2021 by Freeduhdum
grammer

[ukrules]

Nobody's coming, give it up already.

 

 

[bristolgeoff]

Good luck in that,you tried the same with the elite card and certain privliges.you got some  but it seems not enough of them.Like a previous comment drop the 14 day  hotel stay and  the covid jabs are going strong many will return you have no problem with that.many are waiting to return you can be sure of that

[rasmus5150]

Too little, too late......

It's already gone.........

 

 

[Straight8]

bit like believing that the tooth fairy exists.

[Crash999]

Lacking in specifics. What net worth or income? What are the benefits? Thailand Elite already provides access to the country if you have money to spare. 
 

The only angle for Thailand that I can see would be citizenship via investment as some countries do. But I doubt that would happen as PR and citizenship has been so restrictive in the past and even though they mention a global reset there hasn’t been a reset in mindset. 

[dg1980]

rich guys in, riff raff out.

 

seen this a dozen times before. probably wont happen but one can hope I guess.

[riverhigh]

From  orignal article:

 

“We are trying to see if we can become more customer-centric, looking at each pool of customers for long-term tourists,” Chayotid said. Thailand already offers year-long visas to retirees with various financial and other requirements, but the new scheme promises to be more enticing and focused, he said."

 

More enticing to who? Thailand or the long-term tourist. I see another worthless visa in the works just like before. An expensive visa that can be revoked by the governement at any time. Until they start talking about permanent residency for long-term tourists I am not interested.  I'm tired of the one-year <deleted> visa.

[colinneil]

Dont they ever get tired of spouting that silly bloody nonsense?

Rich tourists/ poor tourists will not be coming for a long time yet, time to get that fact out in the open.

[rumak]

WOW.... hot early morning topic.   Old guys get up early   555

 

"thailand lures the rich "    also   555        "hey hansum   rich man,   come live in amaaaaazing  thai  land "

[ThailandRyan]

Do you hear it, I mean listen closely and you'll hear the song "Bring in the clowns" playing. These guys are just screaming for money.....

[Skeptic7]

Lure them with what??? 

Schemes, scams, stupidity and snarls? Lies, greed, baditude and bigotry? Duel pricing, flaming hoop jumping policies, inept government, unfounded superior attitude, most dangerous roads and 3rd World ways? 

 

Good luck with all that. Already dumped all over the loyal ones of us who've been here for years/decades. Nobody is coming and it couldn't happen to a more deserving place. 

Edited May 4, 2021 by Skeptic7

[Damrongsak]

So, getting in, what, 30 million cheap Chinese visitors didn't work.  So go after the rich foreigners.  Only problem is they need to clean up after all those other people.  It's a sad state of affairs. 

[ThailandRyan]

Next up, Cruise line vacations to be allowed into Thailand.  Wait nothings open except malls....hmmm. we have a problem TAT.

Edited May 4, 2021 by ThailandRyan

[Nickelbeer]

What POSSIBLE attraction would Thailand hold as a retirement destination for the rich? If you're wealthy, endless variety and interesting locations are just a booking away, then you can go back home without  Byzantine visa rules and tons of paperwork? No privileged person would put up with this kind of treatment, merely to live in an exotic locale. Places like Thailand are the way that the low income people have been able to have a little interest and dignity in their old age.

[Poet]

Thailand actually HAD a visa system that was attracting a growing number of solvent foreigners to spend lots of time in the country. Not necessarily millionaires, but millions of them.

Chiang Mai, a nice but not particularly interesting city, had already established itself as the undisputed world leading destination for remote and online workers (a category that will rocket post-Covid). The secret of their success was that Thailand was easy, relaxed, and welcoming. It did not even matter that Thailand was no longer particularly cheap.

And then the army took over, bringing with them a nasty xenophobic tone that every Immigration Officer in every Thai airport picked up on.

A textbook example of a government calmy and methodically shooting off, one-by-one, its own toes.

 

[mikebell]

32 minutes ago, Skeptic7 said:

Lure them with what??? 

Schemes, scams, stupidity and snarls? Lies, greed, baditude and bigotry? Duel pricing, flaming hoop jumping policies, inept government, unfounded superior attitude, most dangerous roads and 3rd World ways? 

 

Good luck with all that. Already dumped all over the loyal ones of us who've been here for years/decades. Nobody is coming and it couldn't happen to a more deserving place. 

You forgot dogs and crooked police, both hunting in packs; house-owning scams; predatory females; over-abundance of inept lawyers; lazy work force; injustice.

[mrfill]

Looks like next weeks lottery numbers have been published..

[inThailand]

What resulted to the too many times to count of them saying we want rich falangs? 

Na da. 

 

Why doesn't the country start a GoFundMe account? Dirty falangs just give us your money and don't come here. 

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

1 hour ago, Airalee said:

”As of December 2020, there were estimated to be 46.8 million millionaires or high-net-worth individual (HNWIs) in the world.”

This is an inherent flaw in advertising, chasing the most lucrative customers, though they're in the shortest supply.

 

Strolling here through the moo ban most of the children have phones their families can barely afford, upon which YouTube is a constant fixture. You've prob noticed on YT lately the number of ads have been increasing dramatically. I can't help but hear the beginnings of the same ones over and over, that the kids keep waiting about five seconds to skip. Cars, luxury condos, designer clothing, and the latest Samsung folding phones. Gee, I sure am glad the kids are now well aware they can book the new electric Volvos for just 5 million baht, and the new 60k Samsung can be folded up on a table to take selfies.

 

These ads are continuously blasted in search of well heeled customers, yet the eyes and ears they fall upon most are anything but. One can't help but wonder what psychological effect this has. This is who we care about, but it's not for you. Perhaps one day you'll be one of them, but likely not.

[Peterw42]

"His task force is aiming to attract high-net-worth individuals – the same kind that wealth managers and investment bankers target – including an estimated 200 million retirees worldwide living off their pensions or savings.

 

 

Oh how we laughed .

 

 

 

 

 

[ftpjtm]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand Lures the Rich as Tourism Revival Hopes Fade

 

Because the number of rich folks clamoring to spend 2 weeks collecting the documents required to spend 14 days in quarantine before being locked down in an country that forgot to order vaccines, is endless. 

[RR2020]

Do they not understand..........headlines like this read :

 

WE WANT YOUR MONEY ONLY !!!!!!!! 

 

Which kind of tells all the "rich" people they are going to get ripped off when they get here.