Thailand again signals move away from mass-market foreign tourism with falling numbers

[elgenon]

5 hours ago, redwood1 said:

Guys if you had a business that was a ROARING success for the last 50 years solid......What would you want to change about your business?

 

My guess is about 99.9% of you would want to change absolutely nothing...

 

So why this fanatical focus on changing tourism?

 

Really why? 

 

It seems since 2014 the goal has been to kill success stories,where ever they are found in Thailand...

 

 

 

As someone who has seen Thailand since 1983, I would say it has been in decline for a number of years. IMHO

[BritManToo]

2 hours ago, KhaoYai said:

Even if they could do all that, how long would it take to achieve a market value anywhere near the one they think they can replace. Can they accept another 5 , 10,, 15 years like the last 2? These people must get paid on the amount of ridiculous ideas they come up with.

Brit Airways just cancelled all flights to Thailand until Oct 2022, so they've taken TaT at their word, only the rich with private planes can come. 

[Millcx]

6 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Problem with aiming for high class tourists and the dismantling of the sex industry is that that is probably 6-8 million jobs out the window and no new industry to employ them on the horizon.

 

The aim for high class tourists and no more sex industry is a fine aim, but they should not even attempt anything like that until tourism is back to 32-40 million a year and they have something in place to support their goals and start the transferring the sex industry workers and soon to be 'poor' tourism support workers to better jobs 

They haven’t got a clue have they … And replace with what? …. Coconut Juice 555555

[SymS]

If tourism was really about 20% of GDP before the pandemic, maybe they have to focus on growing other sectors of the economy.

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, rct99q said:

Also the new rail link from southern China to Vientiane could prove to be a huge boost to this region's tourism sector. Projections are that there could be up to three passenger trains and one, possibly two cargo  trains, per day. A recent  news article  showed there  Will be upwards of a million Chinese visitors using the rail service (up to the Laos border) for the Chinese new year in February. 

I thought Thailand only wanted the wealthy?

Also, if they no longer want the 'mass market', how many immigration jobs will get cut.

No point staffing for 40M if only 1M are coming.

[Pedrogaz]

3 hours ago, peter zwart said:

I think a transition can work. But then you have to come up with a roadmap that is clear and that is supported and communicated by the entire cabinet. The sex workers will always be there, just not as in your face as it is now.

Two days ago the same chap was making his predictions for tourist numbers.....he said we would be back to 40 million arrivals in 2024.....that is mass market. One of the huge problems Thailand has is the inability to communicate the same thing two days running.

[tonray]

2 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

2. Improve the nation. Stop the backwards trajectory. 

Seriously, you don't think the current advice for every family to raise two chickens is a positive step in that direction ? (????????????)

[BangkokReady]

1 hour ago, IAMHERE said:

I'm saying it is because people with power are tired of having Thailand's reputation as a playland for sexpats being thrown in their faces at cocktail time while visiting in the west.

It's quite a dichotomy between the very conservative hi-so and the very un-conservative low-so.

[webcrawler00]

Just his excuse to save face and save his own job because he knows Thailand won’t any time soon get back to 40 million. Not any time soon because the sex industry will never be the same as it mostly moved online where it’s a much easier job that pays a lot more! 

[XJPSX]

5 hours ago, redwood1 said:

Guys if you had a business that was a ROARING success for the last 50 years solid......What would you want to change about your business?

 

My guess is about 99.9% of you would want to change absolutely nothing...

 

So why this fanatical focus on changing tourism?

 

Really why? 

 

It seems since 2014 the goal has been to kill success stories,where ever they are found in Thailand...

 

 

 

Most Thais apart from those who don’t rely on them for income don’t want foreigners here. That rings particularly true with middle to upper Thais.

 

[BangkokReady]

Shouldn't they change the country to make it more attractive to the fewer but wealthier tourists first?

[smew]

Gents, without writing an essay here, Thailand introduce new rules, regulations guidelines on an effort to make it simpler without realizing that maybe people are tired of Thailand for any its confusions for now. 
Immigration departments

love it as every new rule is an opportunity to make more under the table 

[Guderian]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

what used to be called the Land of Smiles

It's difficult now, of course, to tell if anyone is smiling when they're all wearing face masks, but even before the pandemic started a genuine Thai smile was getting pretty rare in Pattaya. I can't honestly say that I've seen one since March 2020, and when you do actually see a face these days it often seems more like it's the Land of Scowls we're living in. Quite sad, really, as an honest Thai smile really was something special 20 or 30 years ago. Nowadays, the smiles often seem more like the toothy grimaces you see on sharks as they circle you when you're diving.

[Pedrogaz]

1 hour ago, maddermax said:

Many expats came here and purchased condos for rent to tourists to supplement their pensions and provide some financial assistance whilst living in Thailand. This new policy could see our condo units remaining empty for some time. As some expats choose to sell off property values will reduce. This is possibly a good thing for the richer Thais who will buy them up, but who are they going to rent to? It will also make Thailand less attractive as a property investment destination. Clearly, the status quo would be the best financial option for everybody concerned. Leave the snobby 'high-end' market where it belongs as there are a lot fewer of them!

Good observation, I might snap up a couple of condos if they get cheap.

[BangkokReady]

1 minute ago, XJPSX said:

Most Thais apart from those who don’t rely on them for income don’t want foreigners here. That rings particularly true with middle to upper Thais.

 

The way economies work, there aren't really any Thais that don't rely on foreigners for income at least partially.  Even if most Thais do not want foreigners here, they certainly all want foreigners money to be in Thailand.

[koele2]

They want the tourists, but not the ones that come for bang bang.  Yet, this is the image they have sent out to the world for the last 40 years.  This is what they are known for.  And they willingly provide it with a wink and a nod.  They complain about the image but really don’t do anything about it, so the sex tourists keep coming.  It’s like the Catholic Church telling the world they don’t have a problem with priests and young boys, but everyone knows the what the deal is.  

[VocalNeal]

8 minutes ago, XJPSX said:

Most Thais apart from those who don’t rely on them for income don’t want foreigners here. That rings particularly true with middle to upper Thais.

 

They don't want lower than middle to upper tourists?

[mran66]

3 hours ago, peter zwart said:

I think a transition can work. But then you have to come up with a roadmap that is clear and that is supported and communicated by the entire cabinet. The sex workers will always be there, just not as in your face as it is now.

...your second sentence voids the first one in the context of Thailand...I see no chance unless they simply decide to get rid of 90% of tourist forex revenue - which is very very unlikely as it is so easy money for lazy Thais.

 

[Silencer]

As the boxing saying goes, "everyone has a plan until punched in the face." So it is with Thailand and the endless new tourist plans and schemes. Once China opens up again and TAT wants bookings from millions of Chinese tourists (whatever quality), everything will change again. 

[Walker88]

36 minutes ago, shackleton said:

Yes it's about time Thailand went  more for the family type tourist plenty of scenery Temples beaches plus good food to enjoy

The days of the cheap Charlie's and Sex tourists is on the way out

As most people here will know 

Pattaya has been on the downward slope a while now ???? 

The Thai Government want to get rid of the Sex and Sleaze.   image Pattaya has around the world and is slowly getting what it wants 

First, I would guess 95% of males who came to Thailand for the first time had more than a passing interest in viewing the nightlife industry...and the other 5% are liars.

 

Second, I'm not sure if Cheap Charlies and Sex Tourists belong in the same sentence, as the latter are often termed the "Two Week Millionaire". That guy drops some dosh during his stay.

 

Third, I have long been of the view that to a much greater extent than anyone is willing to admit, the "bargirl" had more to do with Thailand's robust growth than any clueless bureaucrat. Location managers who came scouting out a spot for a new factory probably had a good time on Thaniya Street or Nana, and that impacted their write-up for the boss back home. Similarly, as a former tiny 'emerging market', to which investment banks would send only junior analysts, the recommendations of equity weighting in an EM portfolio were likely influenced by what said analyst did at night. As for tourists in general, I refer to my first point: the bargirl impacted travel destination decisions. There ought to be a statue, or at least a postage stamp.

 

While Thailand does have some nice beaches, good food, and a temple or two, so do many other nearby nations. Myanmar was growing its tourist trade exponentially until this year's coup, now just making it a fellow junta-led country. Myanmar has Bagan, which dwarfs anything Thailand has. Its beaches are generally pristine, not yet sullied by industry and effluent, though they are screaming for development. Angkor Wat in Cambodia also beats anything Thailand has. Malaysia has some lovely beaches (Penang in particular) and delightful varied cuisine. Then there's Bali, and newly emerging Vietnam.

 

Like it or not Thailand differentiated itself in a certain way and benefited greatly from that. Pride and national self-respect might have many wishing to move away from its past, but as yet nobody has a good alternative that can not only draw 'quality' tourists but absorb the redundant workers. Cheap labor and market access is not solely owned by Thailand; Vietnam is now drawing investment from firms that either previously located in Thailand or would have been prime candidates in years' past. A number of Japanese corps are shifting their base, as old Thai factories become obsolete or fully depreciated.

 

The bureaucrats and dreamers had best be careful, because the masses, especially the youth, are already in the streets. In speaking with young Thai people, both men and women (some my staff), the nightlife industry doesn't hurt their pride in the least. They tell me tales of their university colleagues who 'chose' to become a paramour of a politician or military type, and they do not put any value judgement on that, so it's mostly the old and elite Thais who feel shame of what they likely helped create. Mess up the economy even more, all while being obviously driven by the wishes of the 1% who control 75% of Thailand's wealth, does not bode well for societal bliss.

[tonysilly]

5 hours ago, Willy Wombat said:

Just pissing into the wind is TAT.

 

They’re in absolutely no position to be picky with who comes to their country.

 

And if Omicron gets a grip in Thailand and it will, they will be begging anyone with a heartbeat to visit

Can't wait until this idea blows up in their faces.  Then it will be back to the old ways.  Plus we all use Thai Friendly and Badoo! Easy and most of the time Free!!!

[mran66]

13 minutes ago, XJPSX said:

Most Thais apart from those who don’t rely on them for income don’t want foreigners here. That rings particularly true with middle to upper Thais.

 

 

Well, not as simple as that. In short term maybe true for many, however if the tourism generated forex revenues would remain at current levels, actually almost everybody would be affected UNLESS they would find some totally new forex generating activity with same levels as tourism. something in magnitude of $100Bn a year maybe. With the skills of Thai, very diffucult to find such, esp compared to ease of generating it by monetizing sun and pussy for masses at affordable rates. Just imagine where baht would be without tourism generated forex, and implications of that.

[Isaan sailor]

TAT needs to consider the Goldilocks tale—just like us expats, not too rich, but not too poor either.  We spend freely, but not wildly.  And we do it again and again.

[BananaGuy]

Metaverse? Crypto??

 

I wonder if this boomer even knows what the terms mean?

Put Thailand into a virtual universe and pay for your  experience using a virtual currency and actual meat-based tourist numbers drop off to … errr … let’s see … about zero. 

 

 

[Chris.B]

6 hours ago, redwood1 said:

So why this fanatical focus on changing tourism?

 

Really why? 

 

It seems since 2014 the goal has been to kill success stories,where ever they are found in Thailand...

 

 

 

Smoke screen.

 

[Eric Loh]

23 minutes ago, koele2 said:

They want the tourists, but not the ones that come for bang bang.  Yet, this is the image they have sent out to the world for the last 40 years.  This is what they are known for.  And they willingly provide it with a wink and a nod.  They complain about the image but really don’t do anything about it, so the sex tourists keep coming.  It’s like the Catholic Church telling the world they don’t have a problem with priests and young boys, but everyone knows the what the deal is.  

It’s unfortunate that the image of Thailand oversea is poorly portrayed as a sex haven destination. The Thailand government recognized that and has embarked on re-branding as far back as 2002. In their series of surveys, they found that foreigners are actually put off coming to Thailand because of the sex reputation. Here samples of foreigners comments:-

 

‘Control prostitution which gives a biased image of the country which is so beautiful otherwise’ (China, Male)
‘Get rid of industrial sex’ (Belgium, Male) ‘Thailand’s reputation as a holiday destination has been sullied by the many articles and television
reports of Thailand’s sex trade, the growing AIDs epidemic and the treatment of orphans, especially girls’ (USA, Female).

The findings of the Branding Thailand research are being integrated in their re-branding strategy to improve their image.  

 

[portlandtree]

5 hours ago, Gold Star said:

TAT is like a headless chicken, flailing around and bleeding to death in different directions:

 

- Let's get rid of the Chinese (Zero dollar tours)

- Let's bring in Pokemon Go' to save us

- Let's bring back the Chinese

- Let's make visas unnecessarily difficult

- Let's bring in the Indians to save us

- Let's close our Island parks

- Let's bring in high dollar tourists

- Let's charge tourists 10x more in parks

- Let's shut down Pattaya and make it all a family resort

- Let's have New Years entertainment

- Let's shut down any entertainment

- Let's make it nearly impossible to buy alcohol

- Let's create a tough list of restrictions and conditions for entry, insurance, and testing, make people pay for it all in advance, then change it every week

 

Enough!  Just quit squirming around with all the useless hype, remove the hurdles, and truly open the country.

 

Tourists will come, but it has to be easy. 

Don’t need any of those just have the world stop doing business with China as they are responsible for the worlds mess

[Road Warrior]

ah change of mind again !!! government should be grateful to  ex pats here should make  visa easier instead of ridiculous  requirements 

[D M G]

If that is the goal, an ambitious goal, then you need to meet the needs of your target customers, which will require a major investment, and public awareness.

 

This is a long term strategy, not short term.  My guess 3-5 years just to start.

 

And don't forget your established competition.

 

 

[DGS1244]

Never going to happen. They should take what they already have and accept it.