Thailand’s once mighty foreign tourism industry lastingly damaged with lower spends and numbers

[BigStar]

21 minutes ago, placeholder said:

Thanks for the possible correction.

The first link offers no independent support for that 60% claim.

The second report is based on a survey of Chinese people living in first tier cities. I don't know what percentage of Chinese tourists come from first tier cities.

So, it may well be true. I'm sure that as time goes by the percentage of independent Chinese travelers will increase sharply. Still, I do recall that the Thai govt attempted a crackdown on Zero Dollar Tours from China.

There's a lot more and much more specific, but I don't feel the need to google for you. You can sit on Beach Rd. or in a mall  or in restos and see all the independent travelers for yourself IF your perception isn't, ah, limited.

 

Yes, the zero dollar tours were banned, assets seized, and still are banned. However, TAT: ANF also refuses to believe that and repeats the same BS about "shopping only in Chinese shops." None of our ace Economists is aware of the bus loading zone at T21 where hundreds of Chinese tourists (pre-COVID) disembarked daily for shopping expeditions. Of course, none has ever seen a shopper of any nationality in a mall, so whaddya expect. It's all laughable, really. Much of it is just bigotry.

[placeholder]

5 minutes ago, BigStar said:

There's a lot more and much more specific, but I don't feel the need to google for you. You can sit on Beach Rd. or in a mall  or in restos and see all the independent travelers for yourself IF your perception isn't, ah, limited.

 

Yes, the zero dollar tours were banned, assets seized, and still are banned. However, TAT: ANF also refuses to believe that and repeats the same BS about "shopping only in Chinese shops." None of our ace Economists is aware of the bus loading zone at T21 where hundreds of Chinese tourists (pre-COVID) disembarked daily for shopping expeditions. Of course, none has ever seen a shopper of any nationality in a mall, so whaddya expect. It's all laughable, really. Much of it is just bigotry.

Anyway, I've switched from being convinced to being agnostic on the issue.

[Gweiloman]

What kind of occupations go you have in your home countries that allow you to take a vacation of more than 30 days a year? I have worked for many companies but not one of them would have approved such an extended leave.

 

I think this is why Thailand has cumbersome visa restrictions. Regular tourists come in on visa exempt in most cases, anyone wanting to stay more than 30 days may be intending to do more than normal touristic activities. Having said that, applying for a visa to most western countries is no less difficult, and that applies even when travelling with a tour group for 10 days.

[newnative]

25 minutes ago, placeholder said:

Thanks for the possible correction.

The first link offers no independent support for that 60% claim.

The second report is based on a survey of Chinese people living in first tier cities. I don't know what percentage of Chinese tourists come from first tier cities.

So, it may well be true. I'm sure that as time goes by the percentage of independent Chinese travelers will increase sharply. Still, I do recall that the Thai govt attempted a crackdown on Zero Dollar Tours from China.

     Yes, in 2016.  However, the only 'zero dollar tourist' is the one that doesn't get off the plane.  The average Chinese tourist to Thailand spent about 49,000 baht in 2019.  That's less than an American (71,000 baht) or a European tourist (69,000)--but far more than 'zero'.  Since there were 11 million of them in 2019, they made China by far the biggest contributor of tourism revenue to Thailand that year.  China was also the number one contributor to world tourism revenue in 2019, with Chinese tourists spending 254.6 billion US dollars abroad.   

 

 

[rabang]

2 hours ago, Gweiloman said:

What kind of occupations go you have in your home countries that allow you to take a vacation of more than 30 days a year? I have worked for many companies but not one of them would have approved such an extended leave.

 

I think this is why Thailand has cumbersome visa restrictions. Regular tourists come in on visa exempt in most cases, anyone wanting to stay more than 30 days may be intending to do more than normal touristic activities. Having said that, applying for a visa to most western countries is no less difficult, and that applies even when travelling with a tour group for 10 days.

I work online with my own business, so I can go pretty much where ever I want to if I have the necessary infrastructure (reliable and decent internet etc.). And no, I am not some poor ass "digital nomad". I know a few other professional people with their own businesses working at different fields who are also able to stay overseas permanently or at least for prolonged periods.

[Gweiloman]

6 hours ago, rabang said:

I work online with my own business, so I can go pretty much where ever I want to if I have the necessary infrastructure (reliable and decent internet etc.). And no, I am not some poor ass "digital nomad". I know a few other professional people with their own businesses working at different fields who are also able to stay overseas permanently or at least for prolonged periods.

So not exactly a tourist then.

[thaibeachlovers]

18 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Not sure about your 'broken infrastructure' comment.

Power supply is worse in Germany and the USA (this winter will be fun) 

Internet is way better than the UK.

No earthquakes.

 

Maybe you have it better in NZ?

??????????????

We don't have pavements that were broken for years, we actually have pavements in towns and don't have to walk in the traffic, we don't have power and telephone cables that are so low people run into them, we don't have built in hazards on pavements, we don't have passenger trains that break down all the time, or tracks so bad that trains fall off them, and if we use a local bus, it's actually safe and not polluting.

 

In Lamphun, the roads were so badly made they fell apart years ago and were never fixed.

 

I can't remember how many trips I went on where the boats or the vans were substandard junk, but many. Can't remember how many rooms I stayed in were electrical death traps, but a few.

 

While I would prefer to live in LOS for all it's faults, I can't complain about the quality of infrastructure in NZ ( when they finally get around to finishing it ).

[thaibeachlovers]

11 hours ago, BigStar said:

None of our ace Economists is aware of the bus loading zone at T21 where hundreds of Chinese tourists (pre-COVID) disembarked daily for shopping expeditions.

Before T21 there used to be loads of tourist buses parked outside Mike Shopping Mall every evening. I don't know what nationality the passengers were, but not westerners.

That mall's shopkeepers must have been hurting when the buses stopped coming.

[rabang]

3 hours ago, Gweiloman said:

So not exactly a tourist then.

No, I never claimed that to be case but explained how it is possible to do extended stays despite not being a retiree or something similar.

[StayinThailand2much]

On 9/1/2022 at 8:29 PM, BangkokReady said:

They need to admit that they made their fortune on the back of alcohol, prostitutes and cheap beach holidays, then go back to doing that.

I agree. However, they fool themselves with their fake/incorrect numbers, counting every expat who enters 6x a year as 'half a dozen tourists', not to mention the foreign labourers and people who come here for business (I met 2 the last few days who came for a few days on business, but arriving on tourist visas). And then they wonder why daily spending by tourists is lower than in other countries...

[Purdey]

On 9/1/2022 at 5:21 PM, Mac Mickmanus said:

Although its about 1000 Baht to get to the top of the Eiffel tower , which is about double what Thai dual price attractions charge  

Not really concerned with the cost as the racial discrimination behind it. The French pay the same as the Thais. 

[GinBoy2]

On 9/5/2022 at 8:50 PM, BritManToo said:

Not sure about your 'broken infrastructure' comment.

Power supply is worse in Germany and the USA (this winter will be fun) 

Internet is way better than the UK.

No earthquakes.

 

Maybe you have it better in NZ?

What are you talking about.

 

Maybe in BKK, but for much a Thailand two claps of thunder and the power is off for hours.

 

Don't even get me going on water, which can be cut off for days.

 

Sewers, well if you don't live in a city, you have the poop tank that needs to be pumped out

 

How about storm drains? Ever wondered why first sign of rain everything floods. It's cos the drains go nowhere, they just fill up, then flood.

 

There are many things to love about Thailand, but don't try to defend the indefensible. 

 

Internet, not bad, depending on where you are, but international gateway screws it up

[BritManToo]

3 hours ago, GinBoy2 said:

Maybe in BKK, but for much a Thailand two claps of thunder and the power is off for hours.

 

Don't even get me going on water, which can be cut off for days.

 

Sewers, well if you don't live in a city, you have the poop tank that needs to be pumped out

 

How about storm drains? Ever wondered why first sign of rain everything floods. It's cos the drains go nowhere, they just fill up, then flood.

 

1. I have solar and batteries, don't really notice if the grid goes off. 

2. We do have water problems, 1/2 a day with low pressure here and there.

3. 8 years with a 'poop tank', never had it pumped out.

4. Flooding, the road outside the moobaan used to flood the road, but my misses had a dam built at the moobaan gates and now the flood just passes our estate by.

 

As for the west,

I lived in the South of England in the 1970s rolling power cuts and a 3 day week that seemed to last for months, 1980s, no electricity for 2 weeks when all the trees blew down. Then I lived near Boscastle and watched all the parked cars washed out to sea. All far worse than anything I've encountered in Thailand. I'm thinking Europe will have lots of extreme energy problems this winter that we will never see in Thailand.

Do I need to mention the Florida floods a while back, and the Texas power failures last winter?

[Brian Nose]

Trash westerners from the richest countries on earth as dirty and diseased. And then welcome tourists from a country with the world's largest number of destitute and diseased (India) that have just opened rock-bottom budget flights to the Thailand. 

 

Please. Someone explain the misguided logic that went into the decision making process. 

[KhunLA]

4 hours ago, GinBoy2 said:

What are you talking about.

 

Maybe in BKK, but for much a Thailand two claps of thunder and the power is off for hours.

 

Don't even get me going on water, which can be cut off for days.

 

Sewers, well if you don't live in a city, you have the poop tank that needs to be pumped out

 

How about storm drains? Ever wondered why first sign of rain everything floods. It's cos the drains go nowhere, they just fill up, then flood.

 

There are many things to love about Thailand, but don't try to defend the indefensible. 

 

Internet, not bad, depending on where you are, but international gateway screws it up

Depends where you actually live apparently.

 

Udon Thani, power out during storms, and no surprise there.  Rolling outages, until wife calls and tell them, then turned back on.  

 

No real water problems, 1st village, own deep ish well, 2nd place, storage tanks & pump, 2nd house, storage tanks & pumps, so no real water issues.

 

Now PKK, and surprisingly, maybe 1 power outage, for less than 1 hr in 5 yrs.  Water pressure excellent and never off, without warning, when working on the lines.

 

Have solar now & collect rain water for drinking, but consistent PEA electric & city water was never a problem here/PKK.  With that 1 exception, can't remember any outages more than a minute or 5.  Impressive compared to UT metro and outer villages.

 

USA, since mentioned, never a problem, anywhere I lived, and that's 9 different states, and 20 ish different areas served by different suppliers.  Never an electric or water issue.  That's metro areas and rural (hills of WV), FL, MI, PA, NJ, DE, WV, TX, TN, MS.

 

Septic tanks here, never dumped.  The concrete ring thingys, 3 or 4 rings, and maybe emptied 3 times in 10 yrs.

[Gknrd]

1 hour ago, Brian Nose said:

Trash westerners from the richest countries on earth as dirty and diseased. And then welcome tourists from a country with the world's largest number of destitute and diseased (India) that have just opened rock-bottom budget flights to the Thailand. 

 

Please. Someone explain the misguided logic that went into the decision making process. 

You nailed that one.  A country that live on GDP of tourism and then excludes the richest nations.. These guys are idiots.  Chinese politicians are laughing their A$$es off at Thailand...  While the countries with money are avoiding them..

[metisdead]

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