Thailand to “focus on quality tourists who can spend more”

[stigar]

Every other countries welcomes every tourist.Thailand will be the last choice anyway.

[Bassosa]

It's going to be the other way around. Extract as much cash from whomever wants to come to Thailand, by whatever means. Gotta make up for all the lost income somehow?

 

Unfortunate, because the idea of attracting "quality tourists" is a good one.

[NorthernRyland]

1 hour ago, LomSak27 said:

"Digital nomads"  What the heck? I have met a wealthy digital nomad, BTW, one.

The reason you're a digital nomad in Thailand is because you don't have lots of money. If you had lots of money you wouldn't be in Thailand in the first place because you'd be at your job back home making lots of money. Someone needs to tell the Thai government this.

[Tarteso]

I thought that the TOURIST chooses the Country, not the other way around

[ed strong]

What a backward country this is, those in charge have no idea what they are doing.

 

Draconian laws, water shortages, electrical outages, total mismanagement of any scheme they attempt to introduce.

 

Thank god or anyone that i did not move to Thailand, the place is literally a car crash (no pun intended)

[EricTh]

Thailand doesn't seem to realize that most foreigners who come to Thailand are backpackers or poor retirees because the cost of living is lower.

 

If they are rich, there are better places to go to where the culture & language are more similar and the visa extensions easier to do (instead of endless copying of documents) and also NO 90 day reporting.

[Bassosa]

23 minutes ago, NorthernRyland said:

The reason you're a digital nomad in Thailand is because you don't have lots of money. If you had lots of money you wouldn't be in Thailand in the first place because you'd be at your job back home making lots of money. Someone needs to tell the Thai government this.

I guarantee you that the average digital nomad in Thailand spends more per month than the average foreign pensioner, and that's taking into account that they don't build houses in Isaan.

 

In fact, the TAT should focus on digital nomads. They're definitely ready to come to Thailand once this covid thing blows over. They're generally good people too. Infinitely better guests than backpackers and zero-baht Chinese.

[wwest5829]

I certainly is Thailand well but … same mindset of have seen in housing prices. Nice if you can get it and there certainly are people out there with the big bucks as we have recently seen in the report of who is buying up condos. Just how many are there … how many can Thailand attract in completion with other luxury destinations? My vote would be to aim at, no not the beg packers, rather the vast majority wishing the working middle class who are looking for a unique, exotic vacation … or in my case, retirement destination. Or, of course you can keep building and leaving constructed places all but empty … I believe China is also seeing some of this.

[ALLSEEINGEYE]

Vietnam and other destinations in the region look better and better every time the Thai govt. releases any kind of statement.

[NorthernRyland]

10 minutes ago, Bassosa said:

I guarantee you that the average digital nomad in Thailand spends more per month than the average foreign pensioner, and that's taking into account that they don't build houses in Isaan.

Yet there is still no visa available. Last I heard if you were employed by a foreign company making 80k USD/year they were proposing a new visa or something. Most digital nomads wouldn't qualify for that anyways I think. It's amazing how stingy they are with visas.

[wwest5829]

15 minutes ago, EricTh said:

Thailand doesn't seem to realize that most foreigners who come to Thailand are backpackers or poor retirees because the cost of living is lower.

 

If they are rich, there are better places to go to where the culture & language are more similar and the visa extensions easier to do (instead of endless copying of documents) and also NO 90 day reporting.

I do agree that a major consideration for my retiring to Thailand in 2011 was a lower cost of living and thus being able to maintain a working middle class comfortable retirement. Still, with maintaining a 1 million baht brought into the country each year, I do not that I am a poor retiree. Yes, I note you said most not all. I really am curious to know, if fact, what the average western retiree in Thailand spends per year and an estimated net worth.

[Caldera]

They can say this all day long, but there's a finite number of high rollers and they have many options.

 

Sure, some of them might visit Thailand, but Thailand cannot attract significantly more of them by focusing on them - if that would work, they would have sold the envisioned 1 million Elite visas under Thaksin already. If anything, the current lot is even more hapless.

[473geo]

Gotta understand really really rich people fly their entertainment to a destination of their choice ????

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

The post pandemic recovery of Thailand’s tourism sector will focus on quality rather than quantity, Deputy Prime Minister and Energy Minister Supattanapong Punmeechaow said earlier this week.

BS Thailand will take whoever will come... end of.

[hotchilli]

1 hour ago, wensiensheng said:

They’ve been saying this for years. But reality is that TAT focuses on numbers of bums on airplane seats and that drives everything down market.

 

start targeting FEWER visitors and I might start to believe the hype.

More like bums in locations like Walking street, Bangla road, Nana, Soi Cowboy..

that's all Thailand has to offer.

[Destiny1990]

These Indians will feel flattered.

[Anant72]

4 hours ago, worgeordie said:

"Thailand to “focus on quality tourists who can spend more”

Like those that can spend more than a 1000 Thb a day....????

they should just be happy with any tourists they get , and

stop this thing about multi millionaire tourists ,you may get

a few, but its ordinary tourists that benefit Thais engaged

in the tourist industry.

regards worgeordie  

Agreed! This is a poorly thought out strategy. By the way, what is the definition of a “quality tourist”? I want to know whether I am a quality expat. Let's not forget that the backpackers are the ones who contribute to the “little people”'s livelihood. Well-heeled tourists go to expensive places and do not venture outside their “comfort” zone too much. This obsession with money and wealth is sickening. Tourists are only written about as milk cows who will bring billions, even trillions of baht. It is like saying: we tolerate you only because of the money you bring: you are just a bunch of cash cows. Appalling!

[pacovl46]

Every time I read a headline like that I have to shake my head! It’s not the super rich that bring in the real cash, it’s the millions of regular tourists that do. The amount they spend in Thailand supersedes the money spent by the rich by a multitude and you can “focus” on whatever you want, you’re not going to make a difference with it. People who want to come to Thailand will come either way! Time to wake up!

[Cake Monster]

4 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Thailand wants quality tourists, but Thailand isn't a quality destination.

Very true.

Thailand needs to have a Bloody good spring clean all over the Country.

Quality Tourists do not want to see mountains of Trash dumped in the streets, or inhale burning Plastic for the entire duration of their stay.

There are so many other things that make Thailand a poor Destination now.

The jewel of Asia does not sparkle any more for many.

[Mavideol]

2 minutes ago, Cake Monster said:

Very true.

Thailand needs to have a Bloody good spring clean all over the Country.

Quality Tourists do not want to see mountains of Trash dumped in the streets, or inhale burning Plastic for the entire duration of their stay.

There are so many other things that make Thailand a poor Destination now.

The jewel of Asia does not sparkle any more for many.

and you forgot to mention the garbage left arounbd after they cut the weeds/grass/tree branches.... it's a real pleasure seeing  them clean up after the job..... 555  (sarcasm intended) 

[crazykopite]

What is the Thai definition of a quality tourist I dress like a rag and bone man yet I’m far from being poor 

[khunPer]

So if I understand the article's clue correctly, then one million wealthy expats - called quality tourists" - shall make it financially up for what 39 million "normal" tourists are spending.

 

Wealthy quality tourists might not spend much money in street kitchens and small local restaurants, or hang out in the same pubs where Cheap Charlie used to sit, so the small local vendors might probably not gain much from that move.

 

Wealthy tourists often stay inside the hotel-walls - preferably behind the walls of their serviced pool house - and do not mingle to much with anybody; it's called "privacy", and that's what many wealthy people pays extra for. When heading outside the resort, it's preferably in a limousine with private driver, or in a private boat.

 

Thailand already get a number of these better off visitors - I've seen them - but apart from the Chinese, which are difficult to predict the behavior from, I'm not sure there will be enough of them to save the tourism. From what I've noticed, then wealthy Westerners might visit Thailand for a couple of weeks, fully enjoy their luxury stay, and next time head for another luxury resort somewhere else in the World - there are so many great options available when you have enough funds - but I might be wrong, there might me a million wealthy people just waiting for getting a 10-year visa to Thailand, and come and spend lots of money here...????

 

I presume that those wealthy expats already living here, or visting regularly - in numbers unknown, but if they use Elite Card, they are about 13,000 - are not included in the future plans, because then they would not be a replacement...????

[ikke1959]

Quality tourists not quantity.... So TAT can go home.... they always predict large groups of tourists that will spend billions...

[steven100]

     best you just try for backpacker tourists first na

[steven100]

bla .....  bla ....  bla ....

[steven100]

40 minutes ago, crazykopite said:

What is the Thai definition of a quality tourist I dress like a rag and bone man yet I’m far from being poor 

do you have 1 million baht to leave  .....   then your a real quality tourist   !!  they will LOVE you

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BangkokReady]

3 hours ago, HiSoLowSoNoSo said:

They could have cleaned up the dirty and broken tourist towns during the last year when nobody visited the place, made proper beach promenades, resurfaced all the broken roads, hidden all the ugly over head wires etc. etc. Did this happen, no they just left the ghost towns to further fall apart. 

Thais are more about passive income.

[BangkokReady]

42 minutes ago, crazykopite said:

What is the Thai definition of a quality tourist I dress like a rag and bone man yet I’m far from being poor 

Visit Thailand, spend a lot of money, like overpriced hotels, overpriced food, dual priced activities, allow themselves to be scammed and exploited, don't make a fuss, leave.

[CartagenaWarlock]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

The arrival foreign tourists will be helped by the easing of restrictions, including the removal of the mandatory quarantine requirement for all visitors to Thailand from November 1.

Decades of data and still they cannot do market segment analysis. From my two years of observations, let me spell out. 1. Back packrs, 2. Family holidays, 3. Bride seekers, 4. Orgy seekers. Back pckeers want cheap holiday destinations, family holidays are mostly frugal. The only people who are going to spend money running drunk from bars to bars are bride seekers and orgy seekers. You can restore to its prior glories only when you open up places where people go for seeking brides or finding orgies. 

[Chad3000]

r/chooseybeggars

 

Lol