"Soft power"? ????

 

Could only be the brainchild of TAT or possibly Anutin! 

2 hours ago, yang123 said:

I can feel another hub coming on ....

no hub without a committee first

1 hour ago, IamNoone88 said:

160 million total travelers in 2022? where did that extraordinary number come from?  

 

Most they ever got was 39 million in 2019.

 

More insane numbers or poor reporting.

What do you expect with TAT as the source?

 

Every statement from TAT should have a mandatory "pinch of salt" included! 

Do these guys actually listen to the news outside of Thailand, I dare say there might be a language barrier.

 

All I hear is petrol prices are up, electricity prices are up, gas is up, food and other living expenses are up, and the latest today from my home country, i.e. an interest rate rise of 0.25% and is expected to continue in the upward trend every month till December, i.e. a total rate rise of 1.5% by years end.

 

Now for someone with an average mortgage in my home country which means an extra 25,628 baht per month or 307,539 baht per year, just to put things into perspective, and that doesn't include any of the above items that I mentioned.

 

These guys think everyone's going to come for sticky rice mango, not to mention the extra 300 baht they intent on slugging them to enter Thailand, won't even mention the 1% City tax that, that wannabe whoever he is wanted to charge in Bangkok.

 

The tourists won't be back in big numbers for a long while, after the pandemic, lockdowns, job loses, property and business losses and now while the pandemic is ending, everything is going up, up and up, I can see property values also taking a dive in time, and if they can hold onto those properties for the duration of those rate rises, maybe a holiday in a decade or so.

 

Yep, sticky rice and mango going off.

 

Edited May 3, 20224 yr by 4MyEgo

Ah! So that's what they are going to call the new 300THB tax;  Soft Power.

3 hours ago, webfact said:

the TAT is looking to attract at least 300,000 quality tourists each month,

Pretty sure that any 300,000 high rollers would be more interested in high class hookers than mangos and sticky rice !

 

 

 

Easy to get to and relatively cheap. 

 

That was the formula and it remains the only way to successfully revive the golden goose.  To think mango and rice or a thai movie is why a person will subject themselves to the misery of airports and a plane travel for a day or longer is really insane.

Don’t think about what customers need give them what they if they want cheap give them cheap..!!!!!  if they want expensive pamper to their expectations..  People worldwide have less disposable income Value is in the eyes of the customers you need to supply that market …

1 hour ago, Willy Wombat said:

Thailands new buzz words .

‘Soft Power’

Are limp and soft synonyms?

2 hours ago, IamNoone88 said:

160 million total travelers in 2022? where did that extraordinary number come from?  

 

Most they ever got was 39 million in 2019.

 

More insane numbers or poor reporting.

Dianne Abbott is assisting with the math, I believe?

They've been leveraging soft power since the beginning of time

- they just don't get a pension...chewed up spat out..underclass.

Edited May 3, 20224 yr by freedomnow

*yawwwn* NOoOoOoOope. It’s unfettered access to women in a culture that is extremely lackadaisical about sex and p4p. The cope of the TAT is off the charts as usually. Just except it, monetize it, and prosper. <deleted>…

4 hours ago, webfact said:

The plan includes the promotion of Thai cultural experiences, or soft power, featuring culinary favorites such as mango sticky rice, along with Thai films and series, fashion and Muay Thai martial arts.

Oh almighty God, please have mercy and forgiveness upon them as they are lost souls running out of ideas

I don't see why they expect more tourists to come here for sticky rice and mango when there are Thai restaurants all over the world. Thailand is not the only place that sells it. If they continue on the topic of food, most western orientated areas make the food to western taste, rather than local taste anyway. So what's the point of coming here for that?

What tourists want is to feel wanted, respected, and free. Officialdom and uniforms everywhere doesn't really help with this. 

And just what is a quality international tourist...  TAT must be oblivious to the global economic crisis food costs  fuel costs etc etc. They are so short sighted and ignore reality. If I chose to visit the land of smiles and spend my money there whether it be 100 baht or 10 million bhat then I am a quality tourist, and should be welcomed as such. Thailand is no better than any other tourist destination, just different. When all the ( NON QUALITY ) tourists have stopped visiting maybe then TAT if it still exists, will look back and realise what a set of fools they had been. By the way ,high spending tourists would not be seen dead eating mango and sticky rice from a street vendor.  Think on !

 

"quality international tourist"

 

"You're all scum so far, and we need a new breed of visitor."

 

Cue the mainland Chinese who will mask the transition fact that quality tourists are going anywhere but Thailand now..big world..lots of beaches and mountains and different cultures.

 

If Vietnam was just that bit more culturally open to foreigners they would hose Thailand...they do have a tad of that standoff-ish xenophobia that Koreans and Japanese have. You can be in the country but still feel like you are in a bubble vs Thailand where there is lots of interaction with the locals (cough cough).

Edited May 3, 20224 yr by freedomnow

160 million tourists a year? Do they even look at previous numbers? Can the current infrastructure handle this amount of people visiting Thailand? Who works at TAT?

As the soft power bandwagon rumbles past - various TAT executives clinging onto the back or running behind desperate to leap aboard!

I’m wondering if the term high quality tourists means they buy more expensive booze at the bars 

TAT must've taken their cue from Miili at Coachella.

4 hours ago, PingRoundTheWorld said:

Ohh <deleted>. Nobody cares about mango and sticky rice. Tourists want nightlife that goes on until morning and doesn't get shut down by the fun police at midnight. They want no face masks, no restrictions, and definitely no Thai Pass or insurance requirement.

They're doing the best they can to make tourists' experience bad, and then wonder why they're not coming. I mean come on - it's not rocket science - nightlife has been shut down for over a year - Thailand is a really poor experience now compared to what it was pre-Covid. I think they're still under the illusion that people actually come for the beaches and temples - some do, but many many come for the nightlife and craziness that used to be Thailand - take that away and there's really no reason to come for many.

Thailand's real "soft power" that brings tourists is not mango and sticky rice - it's women and nightlife.

 

 

The women are an incentive but not the main draw as they were 20 years ago. As you stated, it is the crazy fun atmosphere.   Many better beaches and pristine natural wonders in other countries nearby that IMO are superior to Thailand.

4 hours ago, IamNoone88 said:

160 million total travelers in 2022? where did that extraordinary number come from?  

 

Most they ever got was 39 million in 2019.

 

More insane numbers or poor reporting.

That's why he said "travellers". That way when Mr. and Mrs. Watsitporn and their 2 kids go to Buriram by train for a few days he can count them as "travellers" both going and returning. Or maybe he's referring to how many journeys  were made on Thai roads where someone DIDN'T die. Either way, the 160 million figure has <deleted> all to do with tourists.

FYI: Soft Power (courtesy of Joseph Nye) 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soft_power

This fashionable catch-all terminology of soft power appears to be the current rage. 

 

.....and repeated over and again before it looses it's defined luster and value. 

Really lame.

 

 

What is a quality tourist?

Not the one paying double to see parks and old ruins of ancient temples, not the ones who will pay tripple price for handbags they can get for one third in Rome

Stop calling them quality tourists, if we visit a foreign country we are all tourists

35 minutes ago, Flink said:

That's why he said "travellers". That way when Mr. and Mrs. Watsitporn and their 2 kids go to Buriram by train for a few days he can count them as "travellers" both going and returning. Or maybe he's referring to how many journeys  were made on Thai roads where someone DIDN'T die. Either way, the 160 million figure has <deleted> all to do with tourists.

If it's a TAT statistic it probably has <deleted> all to do with reality as well!

Edited May 3, 20224 yr by herfiehandbag

Unbelievable, Soft Power, Mango & sticky rice!!! What on earth next will they dream up? What happened to the Chinese & Indians??? or are they not into sticky rice & mango? 

6 hours ago, webfact said:

The plan includes the promotion of Thai cultural experiences, or soft power, featuring culinary favorites such as mango sticky rice, along with Thai films and series, fashion and Muay Thai martial arts.

Besides Mango Sticky, which is seasonal, the rest suck.

6 hours ago, Chris.B said:

Most come for the Sun, Sand and Sangria!  ????????

You forget the fourth and most powerful attraction beginning with 'S'