Thailand Forecasts 30 Million Foreign Tourists in 2023

[nigelforbes]

3 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

It's a wage problem. Those segment not paying a decent wage to attract workers. Most flocked to better establishments who pay well. 

True, although I was thinking more along the lines that the posters spends all his time in the bars everyday where he learns from people who know less than he does.

[Tom H]

welcome

[kinyara]

I don't knowwho the Tourist Council of Thailand is, other than than a clickbait vehicle for that Pattaya News advertising comic,  but the government/TAT target is 25 million, up from the 10 million target they exceeded in 2022. With 2.1 million visitors arriving in December and additional airline capacity coming back through the year the official 25 million target seems perfectly achievable and realistic.

 

Where are all the guys who said the 10 million target was a joke last year ?

[BigStar]

8 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Only the sky seems to be the limit. Does anyone believe these guys? Does anyone care? There is no credibility, so why would anyone listen to these inane predictions?

Rather, does anyone believe TAT: ANF's numbers. Oh--what numbers?

 

Yes, we always believe them if they say the numbers are down. Totally credible. And, after a deafening mass sneer at the 40 million number for 2019, we totally flipped and embraced them as totally credible so that we could wring as much doom and hysteria as possible from the low numbers reported for 2020, which were accepted without question. This meant the FINAL FINAL NAIL IN THE COFFIN.

 

So, why would anyone want to listen TAT: ANF's inane sneers? Just a bash. Can turn around instantly when convenient to fit the narrative.

 

[BigStar]

10 hours ago, StayinThailand2much said:

Also, I'm happy for Thailand that, supposedly, each of the tourists (from toddlers to grannies) will spend 100,000 baht over their one-week stay in Thailand.

Let's see that calculation.

[BigStar]

3 hours ago, crazykopite said:

I would be amazed if they even hit the 20 million mark especially now that they are introducing a 300 baht surcharge

Yeah, that 300 baht surcharge will discourage at least 10 million. Obviously, the Chinese haven't heard about it!

 

 

There goes the baked-beans-on-toast market. I'd never come here if I had to pay another 300 baht. Could this finally be IT? Really it. You know, the long-prophesied End of Thai Tourism?

Edited February 2, 2023 by BigStar

[nigelforbes]

3 minutes ago, BigStar said:

Yeah, that 300 baht surcharge will discourage at least 10 million. There goes the baked-beans-on-toast market. I'd never come here if I had to pay another 300 baht. Could this finally be IT? Really it. You know, the long-prophesied End of Thai Tourism?

And don't forget the Taiwanese shake down debacle, news of that corrupt behaviour will stun tens of thousands of UK tourists into staying home in Morecambe and Clacton instead.  

[Lorry]

8 hours ago, nigelforbes said:

Apparently you've never been to China, Shenyang and the Pearl River Delta are certainly more polluted than Thailand.

Didn't know that Shenyang or Dongguan are tourist attractions,  though...

[nigelforbes]

Just now, Lorry said:

Didn't know that Shenyang or Dongguan are tourist attractions,  though...

Well Hong Kong certainly is and it suffers badly with pollution from the Guangzhou industrial areas.

[Lorry]

4 hours ago, Tom H said:

welcome

Tourists don't go much to Bangkok anymore, long time already. 

Fly directly to the beaches. 

In related news: Qatar airways will fly to Phuket 3 times daily (today's Bangkok Post)

Phukets tourist numbers are 50% higher than pre-covid.

[Lorry]

10 minutes ago, nigelforbes said:

Well Hong Kong certainly is and it suffers badly with pollution from the Guangzhou industrial areas.

That's "certainly was" pre-covid

But, yes, I trust HK tourism will recover.

 

[newnative]

6 hours ago, Blumpie said:

Says who the TAT?  Oh yeah, I believe that right?  

   Well, TAT 'says' only 428,000 international visitors for 2021.   If there ever was a year to pad the numbers, that was it.

[Mickmouse1]

Excellent  news, does that mean THEY WILL NOT LEVY THAT 300 ThB to help that industry?????55

Or no no no ,still RIP'zm off

[bkk6060]

I think naive do not beleive it.  The whole world it seems wants to come here it is packed now.

If staying loing time, I would buy a condo now and find a girl before they are all taken. Seriously.

[zzaa09]

Some appear to be obsessed with this particular subject matter....

Let it go.

[BigStar]

5 minutes ago, zzaa09 said:

Some appear to be obsessed with this particular subject matter....

Let it go.

Never! Then they'd lose the will to live. ANF knows this quite well, too.

[nigelforbes]

22 minutes ago, bkk6060 said:

I think naive do not beleive it.  The whole world it seems wants to come here it is packed now.

If staying loing time, I would buy a condo now and find a girl before they are all taken. Seriously.

The master plan, in order to cater to the increased numbers, is to move all Thai  people to Laos and leave just a skeleton population to collect the money take care of the tourists. Nobody's quite decided where the Laos people will go but it's not looking good for them. Somebody suggested Wales but I understand the sheep may object.

[Blumpie]

6 hours ago, BigStar said:

Rather, does anyone believe TAT: ANF's numbers. Oh--what numbers?

 

 

 

They are readily believed when it supports a narrative, true or not.  This is endemic on the internet.  ????  And when they are not believed when they do not support a narrative.

Now I know who they call "tourists" and who they don't call "tourists".  Therefore, I purport that the 11 million number is a touch askew.  But in the end, it doesn't matter.  The truth is the truth and one thing I can say about Thailand is you will never know the truth because its leaders want facts to support narratives.  

[peter zwart]

17 hours ago, webfact said:

funding, labor, knowledge, and innovation to welcome the return of tourists in this booming year.

Then lets start with some proper education shall we?

[Lorry]

3 hours ago, nigelforbes said:

The master plan, in order to cater to the increased numbers, is to move all Thai  people to Laos and leave just a skeleton population to collect the money

Good description of Koh Tao, Koh Lipe and to some degree,  Samui.

But when you continue "to take care of the tourists" - no, there are Burmese for that. Not many tourists on Koh Tao ever interact with a Thai. Certainly safer for the tourists this way.

[nigelforbes]

1 minute ago, Lorry said:

Good description of Koh Tao, Koh Lipe and to some degree,  Samui.

But when you continue "to take care of the tourists" - no, there are Burmese for that. Not many tourists on Koh Tao ever interact with a Thai. Certainly safer for the tourists this way.

You apparently had a sense of humor lapse and the went off on a complete tangent in your explanation, a double well done.

[BigStar]

2 hours ago, Blumpie said:

The truth is the truth and one thing I can say about Thailand is you will never know the truth because its leaders want facts to support narratives.  

And you're not getting it from TAT: ANF. You have no facts to refute any TAT numbers. Now what you have instead is your own narrative, also free of any evidence, to support posturing as a wise, shrewd consultant about what can be known and never known about Thailand. Which, given the content of your posts, seems laughable. You were adding your sneers to the TAT: ANF narrative:

 

13 hours ago, Blumpie said:

30 million... muuuuhahahahahahaaaa!!!!!  Booohahahahahaha!!!

And now you're claiming to be merely an enlightened skeptic superior to both TAT and TAT: ANF, a Lao Tzu who only knows what he doesn't know. 

 

I'm not sure what rosy government narrative lower numbers support, which TAT: ANF believes totally to support their narrative. You haven't addressed this point:

 

6 hours ago, newnative said:

   Well, TAT 'says' only 428,000 international visitors for 2021.   If there ever was a year to pad the numbers, that was it.

 

Edited February 2, 2023 by BigStar

[StayinThailand2much]

4 hours ago, nigelforbes said:

Nobody's quite decided where the Laos people will go but it's not looking good for them.

Didn't they (well, some Hmong people anyway) go to French Guiana after 1977?

[nigelforbes]

2 hours ago, StayinThailand2much said:

Didn't they (well, some Hmong people anyway) go to French Guiana after 1977?

Was Jim Jones Hmong!

[StayinThailand2much]

49 minutes ago, nigelforbes said:

Was Jim Jones Hmong!

That was in Guyana (the former British colony), not French Guiana...

[Gknrd]

Ahhh the weekly prediction.

[jacko45k]

17 hours ago, nigelforbes said:

And don't forget the Taiwanese shake down debacle, news of that corrupt behaviour will stun tens of thousands of UK tourists into staying home in Morecambe and Clacton instead.  

Yes, but definitely not Blackpool nor Rhyl!

[StayinThailand2much]

On 2/2/2023 at 1:17 PM, spidermike007 said:

This time it is from the TIC. The tourism industry council. Prior to this article, likely only a few hundred people ever heard of their existence. Much ado over nothing. 

TAT won't take this sitting down, but will top that number by 50 or 100% soon, I'm sure...

[John Drake]

On 2/2/2023 at 3:09 AM, webfact said:

pumping 3 trillion baht into the country’s economic circulation.

And there are many ways in which to help achieve this goal. According to Khaosod, starting today, and coinciding with the start of Chinese group tours, Immigration will no longer use baggage checks, requiring tourists to open their luggage. Just makes me wonder how many suitcases stuffed with cash from China on its way to triads in Bangkok will start going through today, too.

[rabiedabruce]

I've noticed this year same as every other here on Phuket. People going home. Good.