Tourism minister admits his targets won't be met - blames surge in Covid cases

[Greenwich Boy]

1 hour ago, ChipButty said:

Some people are enjoying their stay in the sandbox 

I have a mate there, although he is more ex pat than tourist. Has a moped hired and has found places for a beer. Reckons it is hugely better than ASQ in Bangkok so it does work for some.

Reading the news is not his strong point so no need to break it to him that he has to get a cab or drive back to Chiang Mai just yet. ????

[big dendrobenaes]

2 hours ago, JoePai said:

One has to wonder how a thicko like him made so much money

CORRUPTION !!!

[herfiehandbag]

12 minutes ago, Rampant Rabbit said:

Just  look at the bulk of  the govt, all similar.

"The bulk of the government" ( you know, the one who looks like he fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch going down) made his money from exchanging arms for antique Khmer artifacts, along with some very valuable special timber concessions, when the Khmer Rouge had been pushed back against the Thai/Cambodian border

[club]

What a shame, you cant make money while people in Thailand are dying. Why did you wait until Covid was this bad to start a sandbox? You represent the government and you choose making money over People dying.  Sad

[spidermike007]

You failed miserable, and now the nation knows the benefits of appointments based on merit, and the hazards of appointing someone inexperience, not clever, and not creative, such as you, based on cronyism. You will all use Covid as a convenient excuse. But, we know that is alot of nonsense. Sure, Covid is a factor. But the way you guys approached it, the severe incompetence you brought to the table, the astonishing failure of your vaccination program, and the extreme timidity you guys are showing with regard to re-opening to tourism, are far larger factors. You have failed miserably. Just admit it, and be a man. Resign now. 

 

And talk to us about the sacrifices you fools are willing to make, to get tourism back. It is not magic. You will not open your doors and have millions pouring in again. Get that? When you kick an animal that is already ill enough times, it eventually dies. Your industry is dying. You have sabotaged it to no end. And this started long before Covid, so stop with the excuses. Real men take responsibility for their mistakes. Punks, juveniles, and men with undeveloped emotional natures refuse to take responsibility for anything, and it makes them look like more of a fool.

 

The very first thing would be to repeal the anti foreign wine bill, that was passed by a few very corrupt senators way back when, to protect an anemic local wine industry. They are losing billions of dollars a year in revenue, that would be had from an 80% or 100% wine duty, instead of 365%. The five star hotels would have major wine events, and the entire industry would flourish here. Billions earned, and alot of jobs, you fool.

Thailand keeps droning on and on and on, about how they want wealthy tourists. Again, what sacrifices are you willing to make? Rich tourists like to spend money when they travel. And they cannot do that here, as they do not like getting taken for a ride. Most wealthy people are smart with their money. Thailand could be making a fortune on a 25% luxury tax, instead of the 100% of more, which discourages most people from buying. How many people do you see in the luxury stores here? They are almost always completely empty. Inane. Beyond inane.

 

The most common complaints I have heard from wealthy friends who visit, is that we will never return to Thailand, because the wife cannot shop. She refuses to get taken for a ride, and will not spend $12,500 on the new handbag she has her eyes on, as it is $4,500 at home, and elsewhere. Rich people tend to be savvy and smart. The Thai authorities continue to insist, based on their policies, that these people are dumb. Go ahead. Continue with your nonsense. You might see 3-5 million tourists a year, five years from now. Maybe. Basically, the tourism industry here has died. Not for now, but long term.

[lazygourmet]

1 hour ago, Sticky Rice Balls said:

Maybe if they only open the cop owned karaoke bars....

They are not closed.

[ThailandRyan]

44 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

Zanzibar is thriving couple of my friends went there and said it's full of Russians I dont mind a few Russians birds walking up and down the beach

Is this what your waiting for Chip, a babushka wearing granny

Edited August 3, 2021 by ThailandRyan

[bermondburi]

52 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

Zanzibar is thriving couple of my friends went there and said it's full of Russians I dont mind a few Russians birds walking up and down the beach

Once you get out the resort Zanzibar is a hole 

[Sundown]

2 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Why don't you just admit that your buddies in the main cabinet, Prayut and Anutin, caused this debacle with a failed covid response which would include vaccination and then a lack of true lockdowns and travel which allowed interprovincial travel unfettered. It's okay to blame them.

The covid system and testing guidelines are well studied to be a never-ending charade.. lockdowns do absolutely nothing. 

[smedly]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

He has had to admit that the raging pandemic in Thailand has dealt a hammer blow to his plans and that of the government to welcome millions of foreign tourists. 

and delta now in China - I wonder what vaccine they are using 

[smedly]

2 hours ago, djayz said:

I have come to hate all these new phrases being thrown around these past new months. Sandbox, Sky Blue Zones, the new normal, etc. 

agree and there is no such a thing as "new normal" you either have normal or a cluster

[poskat]

39 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

 

Rich people tend to be savvy and smart. The Thai authorities continue to insist, based on their policies, that these people are dumb.

that is because in thailand the requirements for becoming wealthy are typically corruption or connections.

 

So naturally, the idea that most wealthy westerners got rich through innovative ideas, entrepreneurship, and hard work doesnt enter their minds, or influence how they try to attract the unicorn-like high quality tourists.

[klauskunkel]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

"100,000 tourists in Phuket in three months will not be met," he admitted. "July went as we hoped but targets for August of 40,000 will not be happening. There will be about 15,000 - about the same as July".

"We now have a plan to not let them leave at all, so we will have at least 15,000 every months!"

[tomacht8]

It seems as if the different ministries live in parallel worlds. Some paralyze all domestic public transport (plane, bus, train) and others expect income from  domestic tourists. Bad management if there are no meaningful agreements between each other and these are then communicated uniformly. Ministers are making public announcements that are very close to "fake news".

Edited August 3, 2021 by tomacht8

[steven100]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

 

"100,000 tourists in Phuket in three months will not be met," he admitted

thank you grasshopper .....  such a wise man ....   ????

[RichardColeman]

Funny that some of us are called doom mongers when we have been saying that the TAT's predictions will be highly over inflated and less accurate than a cheap carnival fortune teller.

 

We don't relish in being right, we'd love to be wrong and life return to normal. 

[redwood1]

3 hours ago, djayz said:

I have come to hate all these new phrases being thrown around these past new months. Sandbox, Sky Blue Zones, the new normal, etc. 

How about shelter-in-place, 2 weeks to flatten the curve, partial lockdown, green,yellow,orange,red, deep red zone......double masking, Dr Fachi said bla bla bla...

Edited August 3, 2021 by redwood1

[mtls2005]

53 minutes ago, Sundown said:

The covid system and testing guidelines are well studied to be a never-ending charade.. lockdowns do absolutely nothing. 

 

Exactement.

 

Just like fires. Let them burn, eventually they'll go out. 

 

Why do we even have fire departments. What a charade.

 

And don't get me started on the evil smoke alarm lobby. AKA, Big Alarma.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mr Meeseeks]

3 hours ago, JoePai said:

One has to wonder how a thicko like him made so much money

Or any of them for that matter.

 

They are far more intelligent than the average Somchai though, or far more ruthless, cunning or manipulative, as the case may be.

[Mr Meeseeks]

3 hours ago, ChipButty said:

If only he was a member on TVF We could have given him good advise months ago

My predictions of almost zero tourists since March 2020 have been unsurprisingly accurate so far. I think we have another six months of similar number to come.

 

It won't be like flicking on a light switch either, it will take years to return to previous levels, if ever.

[Mr Meeseeks]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

A big event planned by the TAT to mark the 17th anniversary of the Asian Tsunami planned for Boxing Day December 26th will also have to be reassessed.

Not really the appropriate thing to be planning big events for imho.

 

Better to have a quiet ceremony to commemorate and remember those that died. 

[ThailandRyan]

53 minutes ago, smedly said:

agree and there is no such a thing as "new normal" you either have normal or a cluster

Lets put then together and we end up with a New Normal Cluster with that other word

[ThailandRyan]

27 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

Funny that some of us are called doom mongers when we have been saying that the TAT's predictions will be highly over inflated and less accurate than a cheap carnival fortune teller.

 

We don't relish in being right, we'd love to be wrong and life return to normal. 

Many of us never used the words that some of the people claimed we did and thus had them calling us doomsayers and doom mongers who hoped the sandbox would fail.  What many of us said was exactly as you put it.  We saw the reality based upon what was occurring, and then even after Phuket went into a 2 week reassessment of the Sandbox many of us were only concerned with the amount of money they claimed to be making.  We also pointed out that the startup costs people had been burdened with and utilized as well as the government with it's hurried vaccination plan and grandiose opening days events still have not been recouped.  However, we will never know the truth of just how much money was spent to get the Sandbox up and running, yet they will regale us weekly with how many millions or billions that has been made.  Yes tourism is important, but to myself and others the Sandbox was an alternative to the 14 day ASQ the returnees to Thailand would have normally done to return to their families here.  As far as Tourists go, I know that there were a few, but then their were also those that were disenfranchised by someone close to them testing positive and destroying the plan they had made.  To each their own when it comes to views, and we can all agree to disagree.  I do wish Thailand much luck in wading through the down times we have had here and one day hope to see it flourish again, after all Thailand is my home. 

[djayz]

39 minutes ago, redwood1 said:

How about shelter-in-place, 2 weeks to flatten the curve, partial lockdown, green,yellow,orange,red, deep red zone......double masking, Dr Fachi said bla bla bla...

Yeah, those too. 

[Katipo]

They never met their targets, and they always shift blame. Nothing new her.

 

Now, if the headline read "Tourism Minister admits miscalculating affects of Covid....", that would be special.

[mtls2005]

14 minutes ago, Katipo said:

They never met their targets, and they always shift blame. Nothing new her.

 

Now, if the headline read "Tourism Minister admits miscalculating affects of Covid....", that would be special.

 

It's the Land of Smiles.

 

Not the Land of Personal Responsibility.

 

 

[ChipButty]

Now they have banned alcohol being served in restaurants again how will that effect bookings?

[spidermike007]

How about just admitting that expectations for your performance as tourism minister were not met. You failed. You failed so spectacularly, that there are few comparisons to make. He is to tourism, what Tim Tebow and Ryan Leaf was to the NFL, Chris Washburn was to the NBA, Paulinho was to Tottenham, what Johnny Depp was to the Lone Ranger, and Prayuth is to the office of PM. All dismal failures. All huge disappointments. All very bad investments. All incapable of fulfilling hopes or expectations.

 

Phiphat you have made history. 100 years from now, in the hospitality industry classes at the university level, they will still be teaching about you, as the man who presided over the once great industry of tourism, the man who helped destroy the industry millions depended upon. And the man who helped precipitate the demise and decline of Thailand, from the tiger of SE Asia (and at one time the 21st largest economy in the world) to a whiny, sickly, skinny, disease infested alley cat, on it's last legs. A nation on par with Burundi, Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Yemen, and Sierra Leone. 

Edited August 3, 2021 by spidermike007

[Lemonltr]

Ah covid is the culprit. So nothing to do with all the hurdles of booking 14 day hotels, arranging tests. Covid insurance, plane flights, all paid in advance and on top of this apply to an embassy with proof hoping a COE is granted so that trying to get refunds isn't necessary. How many countries insist to apply via their embassy. Many now. Visa, 2 jabs and you're in? 

 

[Cake Monster]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

"About 500,000 to 700,000 is the best we can hope for now". 

 

The World must have fallen out of his Bottom when he heard of the new Major Outbreak of Covid in China.

50 -70K is about going to be the amount of Tourists putting foot on Thai soil, and with this Delta outbreak in China, it will surely not be any of them coming.