Thailand needs to look at India and now the Philippines and increase the ability of people to speak English and then get into the Call Center business.

Transformation needs to start at the top Sir, Red Bull, Ferrari Joe, it is little point asking the minions to conform without role models to follow.

Amazing Thailand is absolutely correct, Grandmaster Prayut and his bagmen have completely lost the plot, if you change nothing, nothing changes,Thailand the HUB of farcical numbers, impossible far fetched ideas and Stupidity, its like everyday they see if they can come up with a more ridiculous idea than they did the day before and surprise surprise they can

 

3 hours ago, JayClay said:

I've said it before and I'll say it again; Thailand will get the tourists that *want* to be here, not the tourists *it* wants here.

Thank you that is an excellent response.  Using a car company as an example, Lincoln in the USA has the image of an Old Persons car.  The average age of a Lincoln owner is 61.  They tried to "rebrand" themselves hiring spokespersons to have a more sporty youthful image.  The result.  The same old people who bought the Lincolns before continued to purchase them. 

The PM is deluded into thinking that Thailand somehow is the "fairest of them all" and as such can limit who wants to visit to only a select group.  Nope

Even assuming that Thailand could attract fewer but a more selective elite tourist, what are you going to do with all of the employees displaced by having fewer tourists to service.  The taxi drivers, food markets vendors, elephant show attraction personnel, scuba diving operators, restaurant workers, hotel service workers etc.  

Tourism is based on volume,  You do not construct a high rise beach front hotel to accommodate only a few select. 

 

Mr. Insincerity is becoming famous for calling on all parties to act, and doing absolutely nothing himself. He is the very definition of an empty suit.

 

He was and is a true bottom of the barrel selection. Woe is Thailand. 

5 hours ago, JCP108 said:

"...tourism businesses will need to change their business models to better focus on quality, rather than the number of tourists..."

 

What the <deleted> does that mean?

No Chinese?

9 hours ago, webfact said:

“Amazing Thailand, Amazing New Chapters” to promote Thai tourism next year, with a focus on the New Normal, health, and safety.

Health and Safety................In Thailand................Now THAT is funny........................

13 minutes ago, Longwood50 said:

Thank you that is an excellent response.  Using a car company as an example, Lincoln in the USA has the image of an Old Persons car.  The average age of a Lincoln owner is 61.  They tried to "rebrand" themselves hiring spokespersons to have a more sporty youthful image.  The result.  The same old people who bought the Lincolns before continued to purchase them. 

The PM is deluded into thinking that Thailand somehow is the "fairest of them all" and as such can limit who wants to visit to only a select group.  Nope

Even assuming that Thailand could attract fewer but a more selective elite tourist, what are you going to do with all of the employees displaced by having fewer tourists to service.  The taxi drivers, food markets vendors, elephant show attraction personnel, scuba diving operators, restaurant workers, hotel service workers etc.  

Tourism is based on volume,  You do not construct a high rise beach front hotel to accommodate only a few select. 

 

They are lost in space and floundering, after the great sabotage. They do not know what they are doing and what the goals are, from one day to the next. 

 

Tourism is lost permanently. They shot and maimed the Golden Goose. 

1 hour ago, tomazbodner said:

How much clearer can they make it for you? Or are you of the opinion that this is the kind of tourist that Thailand is after?

 

Britain's finest.

I'm not a Greenie and I don't buy 'man-made' CO2 leading to 'global warming.' 

However!
I'm pro anti-deforestation, pro anti-pollution, pro anti-single-use-plastic (restrictions need to be placed on manufacturers), pro-hybrid energy production (green energy adds to the supply but can never replace it), and pro anti-consumerism (people want more than they need - this includes the rich).

The fact that Thailand "refused" to sign on to stop deforestation speaks volumes as it signals that the government will continue to turn a blind eye to the rape and destruction of the forests.  They'll assuage their cognitive dissonance by planting a few sampling amid photo-ops and fanfare only to allow most of the planted trees to simply be choked off by weeds and die (I've see it first hand locally).  This is a tribute to the power of Big Agriculture which pays minuscule sums of money to poor farmers to plant crops like corn on completely denuded mountains (as in Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Song provinces) and then ruin the air quality yearly when the corn stubble is burned off in the Hot Season creating some of the worst air quality in the world.  And the government does?  Nothing.
So Prayut showing up a COP26 was nothing but a junket and opportunity to spew hot-air.  Incredibly sad.

The PC statement could just be the thin end of the wedge . I choose my words carefully , why ? Do you think that long stay expats will be exempt from Thailand's renaissance ?

6 hours ago, nikmar said:

it means - "If you own a gogo / hostess bar in a red light district then you may want to think about a career change."

Police and immigration wont be happy if the red light areas start to disappear, they'll have to give their cars back and move into smaller accommodation. Ha!

 

9 hours ago, webfact said:

he TAT anticipates that tourism businesses will need to change their business models to better focus on quality, rather than the number of tourists, as well as diversifying

The changes start at the very top.

if this Government will not change / cannot  change / are incapable of changing, then there is Zero hope for the entire Nation and its people.

Many people are already saying that the Junta has retarded the growth of the Nation by over 20 years, and the changes need to happen right now or there will be further regress into the Dark Ages, and not just for the Tourism Sector

2 hours ago, khunpa said:

Thailand has talked about high-end tourism for years. It never happens for a good reason.

I once thought, "Why am I teaching these poor farmers? I could be in BKK teaching the 'high-end' students at a private or intl school." So I tried it, then found that despite the higher salary it's fraught with many issues, which really make the endeavor really not worth it.

 

Terrible attitudes. Ridiculous procedures with no purpose other than creating stress. Increased cost of living, and terrible commuting. Now I'm back teaching in Issan. Sometimes less is more.

4 hours ago, newnative said:

    It means nothing.  It's just hot air.  To go along with all the other hot air.  Like all the PM's pronouncements are just hot air.  Just babbling.  Just throwing out the 'it' words of the moment, trying to look busy.   Never any details, never any concrete follow-up.  No 'there there' on how the country will actually be 'transformed'.  

I wonder what he actually does in his office all day, when he's not on foto-opps. Seriously.

4 hours ago, Crossy said:

 

Restaurants surely

New Amazing: dinner with a happy ending ...

1 hour ago, ArcticFox said:

This is a tribute to the power of Big Agriculture which pays minuscule sums of money

Harvest time here in Issan. Wife just sent me this pic. The family members all come in to help. Can't hire extra help given the thin margins. She says they could many years ago, when margins weren't so thin. What Big Ag keeps for itself has increased since. This goes along with my orig post, about why the bar girls can't simply all go work on the farms.

7 hours ago, smedly said:

what a complete pile of delusional nonsense 

what does his so called "NEW NORMAL" actually means

Please add a little water to whatever you are drinking!

"New normal" means the changes in how we live due to the virus, that look like becoming permanent. For example, most people in public enclosed spaces will continue to wear a mask. Another example: we replumbed the Internet so people could work from home (WFH) and where that's been an improvement (less journey time, less costly office space, for an improved productivity), it's likely to stay (some jokingly call it "living at work").

For the travel and tourism business, looks like passengers will expect temperarure-checking, infection testing, more safety and hygiene on flights, no meals....

Not all changes will stick because success of vaccine programs will mean we can return to the old normal, how things used to be. E.g. planes won't be flying half empty anymore.

And there are other motors for change going on at the same time - climate-change, Wokism - that mix in with changes in our behaviour introduced by covid - eg people will holiday nearer home, more interference from governments in citizens' freedoms, higher taxes to pay for the fight against the virus.

Change is constant, but covid, climate change and the woke are fast changing how we do things...and these changes look like being here to stay. These new ways of daily living are called "The New Normal".

The TAT is trying to understand these changes so as to adapt Thai tourism. 

One big big change is to recognise that visitor numbers are likely to be permanently down. If tourism's contribution to GDP is to return to the old normal, each tourist must spend more. Hence a move from mass tourism to millionaire tourism.

Will plans for millionaire tourism work out? Or are they, as you suggest,  "delusional"? That's a good question!

 

7 hours ago, nikmar said:

it means - "If you own a gogo / hostess bar in a red light district then you may want to think about a career change."

The french did it in Pigalle some 30 years ago, where u had around 100 gogo/hostess bar in a single stretch of street.  The change did work well, as mentalities also changed. They did keep the Lido, moulin rouge etc.. renown internstionnally and still attracting (wealthy) tourists from all around the world (even Thais..oui oui! ..). The "old timers" gogo  scene was already getting old/worned down and rather boring since quite a few years already in Thailand. Times change , and that is ok. No need to hang tight on half dead corpses.

6 hours ago, nobodysfriend said:

The new normal ... does not sound good to me ...

I would prefer to have the ' old normal ' of the 80's and 90's back ...

 

55 , what kind of ' wonderful stories ' are they planning to invent ...?

 

It means higher prices .

If you have half the number of customers, then the new normal is to charge double, I just worked it out on my wifes uncles Chinese abacus

8 hours ago, Jerno said:

How about transforming yourself, Pray...oot, right out of Govt.  New Normal needs to be genuine democracy!

New Normal is not an idea from the people but from the globalists. You think those have democracy in mind? Democracy is DONE.

"with a focus on the New Normal, health, and safety"

Wow where do you start? So the death trap buses and coaches and ALL other forms of public transport are all going to be refurbished and receive regular maintenance? 

The overhead hanging cables are going to be secured at a safe hight?

Footpaths are going to be levelled off and cracks filled?

All marine activities including jetskis, ferries etc are going to be maintained?

All activities such as rafting, elephant rides zip lines etc are going to receive a health and safety certificate and of course everything that the public has access to will have sufficient correct insurance?

These clowns obviously do not engage brain before opening that hole they have between their mouth and nose!

Of course that could be that they are talking out of their behinds.

 

 

27 minutes ago, cape said:

Please add a little water to whatever you are drinking!

"New normal" means the changes in how we live due to the virus, that look like becoming permanent. For example, most people in public enclosed spaces will continue to wear a mask. Another example: we replumbed the Internet so people could work from home (WFH) and where that's been an improvement (less journey time, less costly office space, for an improved productivity), it's likely to stay (some jokingly call it "living at work").

For the travel and tourism business, looks like passengers will expect temperarure-checking, infection testing, more safety and hygiene on flights, no meals....

Not all changes will stick because success of vaccine programs will mean we can return to the old normal, how things used to be. E.g. planes won't be flying half empty anymore.

And there are other motors for change going on at the same time - climate-change, Wokism - that mix in with changes in our behaviour introduced by covid - eg people will holiday nearer home, more interference from governments in citizens' freedoms, higher taxes to pay for the fight against the virus.

Change is constant, but covid, climate change and the woke are fast changing how we do things...and these changes look like being here to stay. These new ways of daily living are called "The New Normal".

The TAT is trying to understand these changes so as to adapt Thai tourism. 

One big big change is to recognise that visitor numbers are likely to be permanently down. If tourism's contribution to GDP is to return to the old normal, each tourist must spend more. Hence a move from mass tourism to millionaire tourism.

Will plans for millionaire tourism work out? Or are they, as you suggest,  "delusional"? That's a good question!

 

Delusional , planes will not fly full again until the madness stops, everywhere, not just LOS, no more.

By the way I thought the bars were going to be shut, but from the photo on the news of Phuket , the bar girls looked to be dressed very nice in  gold dresses. maybe the new norm all bar hostesses will require a vaccine passport and a gold dress must be worn.

6 hours ago, mjakob007 said:

How would Thailand be transforming the smoky season, which should be one of the largest seasonal contributors for emissions!

 

 

 

 

 

 

That is a major S E Asia problem. The health of the people. The smoky season overlaps with high season.

This should have been on the Cop26 agenda.

Over the years snotty elite Thai killjoys have tried to change the character of Thai nightlife/entertainment. They have always failed, and I suspect they will fail again even with the dictatorial powers that they have adopted as a result of covid. 

 

 

9 minutes ago, cape said:

That is a major S E Asia problem. The health of the people. The smoky season overlaps with high season.

This should have been on the Cop26 agenda.

We have dedicated 5 billion to address this, please supply address

So when did it become the job of the government to tell all business owners what to do?  When did it become the job of the government to determine who should holiday in their country?  When did it be some some government clown with maybe a IQ of 100 to determine the “new normal”? Sorry but the free market will decide where people will travel, what they will do when they travel and what businesses they will visit when there. The free market has the ability to adjust and transform the economy into ways no government worker can even imagine. I trust some street food vendor selling chicken and rice to know what customers want more than some guy in an office any day. 

59 minutes ago, Thingamabob said:

Over the years snotty elite Thai killjoys have tried to change the character of Thai nightlife/entertainment. They have always failed, and I suspect they will fail again even with the dictatorial powers that they have adopted as a result of covid. 

 

 

Of course they will fail, because they don’t really have anything else to offer.

 

Thailand is for middle-class families, common sex tourists and backpackers. It will always be like that.

 

Dubai, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia etc… is where rich people go to enjoy their holiday around here. Much better shopping options, much safer and a much more “high-end” infrastructure.

 

Thailand on the other hand is optimal for those who want to “feel” rich for a short time, until they go head back their regular job. 
 

Aiming for “high-end” tourists is like a normal bargirl wanting to be a luxury escort. It’s just never going to happen.

 

 

 

1 hour ago, rumeaug said:

The french did it in Pigalle some 30 years ago, where u had around 100 gogo/hostess bar in a single stretch of street.  The change did work well, as mentalities also changed. They did keep the Lido, moulin rouge etc.. renown internstionnally and still attracting (wealthy) tourists from all around the world (even Thais..oui oui! ..). The "old timers" gogo  scene was already getting old/worned down and rather boring since quite a few years already in Thailand. Times change , and that is ok. No need to hang tight on half dead corpses.

Uhhhh no, the french took no part in that, they simply got replaced by mass uncontrolled immigration from nothern africa, that's literally it. I could carry on this topic and tell you this isn't limited to the Pigalle area but it's a nationwide problem if not an European one (Saint-Denis, 93, Marseille, Molenbeek, Bruxelles, Malmö, Luton, Barking, Birmingham, Amsterdam, Anvers, Berlin, the list goes on) but that would be politically incorrect and would very likely get me banned from these forums, so I'll leave it at that and let you read between the lines.

 

Anyhow, 2022? #Z0ZZ.

 

3 hours ago, cape said:

Please add a little water to whatever you are drinking!

"New normal" means the changes in how we live due to the virus, that look like becoming permanent. For example, most people in public enclosed spaces will continue to wear a mask.

I stopped reading right there 

 

nonsense