TAT: Thailand needs high earning, high quality tourists - "value over volume" to get 80% back by 2023

[Seeall]

7 hours ago, RandiRona said:

Yes because you are staying here. They want you to spend and leave!

Lol.... like my fav thing is chat girls online and when they talk cash I say ohhh just give me your account and we dont even need meet!!!!  then they send it and ask every day why you not send...... wow.... serious?

[Seeall]

Just now, Seeall said:

Lol.... like my fav thing is chat girls online and when they talk cash I say ohhh just give me your account and we dont even need meet!!!!  then they send it and ask every day why you not send...... wow.... serious?

one said ahhh you are such a good man.....

[GinBoy2]

Oh Dear God. I think I may slash my wrists if I have to endure reading one more story about 'Quality' tourists.

 

For those of us who have been around for a while, can you even keep count?

 

My constant thought is that if you want 'quality' tourists Thailand needs to be a 'quality' destination, which given the fact the most beautiful picture you will ever take in Thailand, will probably have a pile of garbage somewhere in the frame, doesn't quite jive!

 

That is of course the superficial stuff. Add in pollution, scams, infrastructure the list goes on and on.

 

Maybe those Chinese tourists when the emerge from CCP lockdown might be the more realistic option

Edited December 15, 2021 by GinBoy2

[rudi49jr]

I have a question for you, TAT. What would you rather have: 10 ‘high quality’ tourists who spend 100,000 baht each, or 1000 ‘ordinary’ tourists who spend 10,000 baht each? Can you please stop dreaming about attracting huge numbers of big spending high quality tourists and just focus on the regular tourist? Because that will bring in (a lot) more money in the long run. 

[Tony125]

50 minutes ago, Cake Monster said:

Thailand is never going to attract  ( or Lure ) the kind of Tourists that are both Wealthy and Quality.

This kind of Tourist spends his Summer Family Holiday in Countries such as France, or Italy, or even the Caribbean, and in the Winter enjoys the slopes of Austria or Switzerland   for a Skiing Holiday.

Despite trying to attract these Tourists by flouting themselves as a Premier destination, Thailand will always, and forever, remain a cheap, sleazy and dirty place in the eyes of these kind of people.

Sad, regrettable, but true.

 

Don't think Thailand (Pattaya ) is anywhere near as sleazy as it used to be. Started coming here 21 years ago and live in Pattaya/Banglok since 2013.  Both in Bangkok and Pattaya club used to have girls dancing much more energetically and totally naked not wearing bikini's.  If they wore bikini's paid $ baht, topless $$ baht,   naked $$$.  Seen guy'. s Pinay wife = former BG  making out with a Thai BG on a bar. Now they want to clean up everything and not even serve drinks or  alow bars to open.

[BE88]

2 hours ago, AussieBob9999 said:

Hua Hin?  Lots of Scandinavian Expats have left there since 2015.  When we were there looking at Golf Courses, one of the the Course Managers tried to sell me his house, as did a few others while we were there (2 weeks). 

Even 6/7 years ago driving around the center of Hua Hin by car there was always the danger of running over some Scandinavian tourists happy to be in Hua Hin on the main road.

 

Before Covid ago when I was in the center of Hua Hin I saw few tourists and which were perhaps more expats than tourists because they knew that you had to be careful not to cross the road on the white stripes, which have partly disappeared in the meantime.

 

 

[Roel]

A bit like saying I do not want guests in my restaurant who order the day's special with a bottle of water, but only the ones who order two appetizers with wine, a main course again with wine, dessert and coffee with cognac and leave a 500 Baht tip. Of course you do.

Main point is that millionaire tourists give their money to Thai millionaires and poor tourist give it to poor Thais. Think a 5-star hotel vs a Thai family guest house, spending a day at the golf course vs driving around on a rented motor bike, a limousine airport taxi vs a shared mini-bus, and heavily taxed imported wines and spirits vs. beers from the 7eleven when it is not buy-1-get-1-free-time. And the Thai elite couldn't care less that you use your mediocre pension to support Nok and her entire family in Surin. Well actually they do, they prefer you wouldn't.

[ChC1]

Then they failed in Thailand Pass. First class tourists do not want the Chana app. They value their privacy and freedom.

[garyk]

fleece them and send them home.. Great business model. But, short lived.

[FunkyDunky58]

Once again TAT pull projections out of their ass.

[wwest5829]

Yes, and I want to win the lottery. 52 million tourists over the next two years and all of them, well at least the overwhelming majority high value, high spenders. Good luck … meanwhile the sorry likes of myself retired to a Thailand a decade ago and have steadily spent approximately one million baht a year. Sad excuse for a high value “tourist”.

[itsari]

8 hours ago, The Cipher said:

I'm in the bucket that TAT would probably classify as the high earning desirable foreigner.

 

And although I'm sad that there aren't more people like me in Thailand, I do have to admit that the put-down-roots type of foreigner (frequently found on this board) are, in some ways, better for the country than I am.

 

People like you guys are committed and invested in your communities for the long haul. Whereas I think that a lot of the people in my bucket remain flexible by design and are a lot more mercenary with capital allocation.

 

I'm in Thailand because it meets my needs at the current time. But if it ever stopped, I'd be gone tomorrow.

 

And I can understand why TAT targets wants to move upmarket, because honestly, there really is a lot of riffraff from Western countries that pools here (I don't mean anyone in particular here but also am not sorry if I trigger anyone with that statement). But I do wonder if TAT's aims are too upmarket. I think the country's ideal market to target would be nice middle class tourists and retirees.

Sensible suggestion for only nice people to holiday in Thailand . Surprised you haver not been offered a job with TAT.

Hard to find as the more wealth people have the less nice they are in the majority.

[arick]

Why not give back the billions that has been stolen and fraudulent taking from thousands and thousandsof wealthy Foriegners in the past 5 years. Or is Thailand just looking for more victims. Shame in you. 

[arick]

Tat is a bucket with a huge hole in it 

 

[Brian Hull]

So many Thai politicians seem to have graduated from the University of Lalaland. Every country would prefer high income, high spending tourists. In the meantime, while they are waiting for this miracle to happen, I suggest that TAT and other agencies should focus on attractiing as many tourists and retirees as possible and on simplifying the red tape. Thailand has dozens of countries competing for the interntional tourist business

[zzaa09]

Well healed doesn't ensure quality. 

[Kerryd]

They had high spending "value" tourists arriving by the planeloads - from Europe and North America - and then the gov't decided there were too many "white faces" around and shifted their tourism focus to India and China.

That resulted in years of low (or "no") spending tourists arriving, which made the "arrivals" numbers look good but did squat for the economy as hotels, restaurants and bars suffered.
It wasn't hard to look around the shopping malls and other places and see who was spending and who wasn't even in the building.

But the gov't was too busy kissing up to the "big red one" and turned a blind eye to it, hoping that increased "volume" would make up for the loss of "value". 

And they've shown the same attitude with all their schemes to get tourists back after the shut down, by making visas designed for the tiny percentage of tourists that generally travel in "luxury" class, in the hopes that they will turn things around while ignoring the masses that, literally, spend money like drunken sailors every time they come here. (Giving berth to the term "2 week millionaires", something I highly doubt anyone ever calls the Chinese or Indian tourists.)

Seems the gov't would rather have 20 tourists spending less than 500/day each (10,000/day total) on hotels/food/shopping/entertainment than 5 tourists spending 5,000 a day each (25,000/day total). 

You know, like it was back in the 80s/90s/00s and early 2010s. 

We'll see what happens after the next election (assuming the junta even allows another election that is). I think the current gov't wore out their welcome a long time ago and haven't done themselves any favours recently. 
Maybe a new gov't will have better business sense.

[PB172111]

6 hours ago, Banana7 said:

Here is what sidewalks look like on Pattaya Klang, a major street in Pattaya. Pattaya is one of the major top 4 international tourist destinations in Thailand. Sidewalks, pedestrian walkways are in pathetic shape. Pattaya Tai sidewalk has been under construction for more than a year and still not finished and parts of the new sidewalk are already breaking.

 

Tourists, whether local or international, don't want to come to places with infrastructure that is falling apart.

 

Quality tourists want to come to high quality destinations, not places as shown in the below photos.

 

 

 

Forget Pattaya, there is so much more to Thailand than bars and girls.

however, it is not difficult to understand that they want a more high end tourist when you see some of the mongers that hang around the city.

It’s an embarrasing sight.

[worgeordie]

High quality tourists ......... the only ones high are TAT,

regards worgeordie

[mosan]

9 hours ago, tonray said:

Let's see ..I'm not what would be classified as a high earning, big spending foreigner...but...in the past 3 years I helped with down payment on a townhouse (where I now live and maintain), I bought 2 cars, I bought two insurance policies (one for my health and one for my extension), and of course I spend money for food, domestic travel, etc etc. But tired old expats like me...out....big spending high flyers in....5555

I sorry, but none of what you spent can be considered tourist money - just let it go. Many think that their personal living expenses is noteworthy - it's just not.

[Caldera]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

He stressed that Thailand needs high quality tourists who are high earners and big spenders

How about being grateful for those (few) who are willing to use your broken Thailand Pass process and risk the consequences of a positive test?

 

Beggars can't be choosers.

[Anant72]

9 hours ago, tonray said:

Let's see ..I'm not what would be classified as a high earning, big spending foreigner...but...in the past 3 years I helped with down payment on a townhouse (where I now live and maintain), I bought 2 cars, I bought two insurance policies (one for my health and one for my extension), and of course I spend money for food, domestic travel, etc etc. But tired old expats like me...out....big spending high flyers in....5555

What they want are cash cows to milk and they are advertising their greed so unabashedly that it is almost comical. The TAT is the pits. 

[Mr Dome]

I believe saying this is the extent of their plan.

[IamNoone88]

Judging by the fine specimens dragging their knuckles in Patong, it ain't working out that well. 

[Misterwhisper]

I wonder how these millions over millions of high-end tourists are going to react when they realize that they were sold a Porsche Cayenne but upon arrival instead received a battered, patched-up Toyota Crown.

 

Thailand has catered FOR DECADES to low-end and medium-range visitors. Its tourism infrastructure is almost entirely built around this demographic.

 

To believe that 40 million "normal-spending" visitors per year can practically out of the blue and in the short span of only 2 years be swapped for 30 million high spenders borders on the insane.

 

The comparatively small number of truly high-end establishments currently in existence don't have the capacity to even accommodate 10% of those targeted 30 million high spenders.

 

And even IF enough high-end facilities were there, Thailand would still be up against some mighty competition.

 

Another question is: What is going to happen to all theses tens of thousands of "normal" hotels, restaurants, bars/clubs and tourism attractions already in place? Simply close them down and put countless MILLIONS of locals out of work?

 

In order to shift its focus exclusively to high-end visitors, the country's existing tourism infrastructure would have to be replaced COMPLETELY. Even assuming the gigantic necessary investment going into the BILLIONS of $ were there, it would take DECADES to accomplish.

 

Mr. Yuthasak is in urgent need of psychiatric help. He has lost it completely.  

[metisdead]

Some offensive posts have been removed. 

[Usual Suspect]

What was quoted in the title?..Value over volume..?

Well today I finally returned to the LoS... On the lunchtime Emirates flight from Dubai..(a fully laden 777)

  But I was not prepared for the sheer emptiness of the place..We were the only plane hooked up to an air-gate on the arrivals-side..! We were the only folk at the Covid station, and at immigration!

 OK, I was one of the last to be there 'cos my seat was at the back of the plane, AND the young immigration officer was friendly, but very thorough, and held me at the desk for a good 10 mins checking everything paperwork-wise. 

 When I did get my passport stamped and headed off the find my bag it was not that hard.... only 1 carosel was running, and mine was the ONLY bag going round..!  The great hall was almost empty of any living soul..!

    It was only in the l;imo-taxi taking me to the AQ hotel that I sat & thought how strange the last hour had been.

[Boomer6969]

10 hours ago, webfact said:

He said that from now on Thailand has to stress "Value over Volume" noting that the country is wonderful for culture and health tourism in particular.  

 

Health tourism seriously. Any treatment or procedure on offer here I can get better cheaper and better back home, in France. And there are also many others that are still science fiction in LOS.

[BritManToo]

Presumably if they want 'Value over volume' they won't be inviting the Chinese back.

[BritManToo]

44 minutes ago, PB172111 said:

Forget Pattaya, there is so much more to Thailand than bars and girls.

Like what?