Incoming tourism growth slows amid visas, airfares and attacks on Chinese nationals which have caused jitters

[nigelforbes]

15 minutes ago, shackleton said:

Let's hope the numbers are down in November as I will be visiting Hua Hin stay for about. 2- 3 months get a good deal at the hotel ???? we stay in ????

Hope the majority of  Russians and the chinese  stay in

Phuket and Pattaya ????

They don't, six weeks ago the place was heaving with Russians.

[Karma80]

I live in Phuket, and seen a noticeable drop in people and traffic. I think the surge post covid is done and now you see the reality of high travel costs and economic wariness start to bite. That at the air Is crap, weather is hot and Phuket is boring compared to the other possible destinations for Chinese, like Japan.

[Sydebolle]

 The foreign tourism numbers targeted by the government and economic planners this year ........ are generated by real genuine tourists. So, forget smoking the excellent weed in all your offices, stop to play your own trumpet and go out to find out, what actually has happened to the tourism product marketed as "Amazing Thailand". 

Since its conception of "Amazing Thailand" some 35 years have passed and literally EVERYTHING has changed. Rip Offs left, right and centre, two- and multi-tier pricing policies, visa policy not even understood by some of those semi-divine officers in all those immigration offices (some not even able to speak English .... in an immigration office!), the greed of the service providers, a policy of racism of unseen proportions with "alien", "dirty farang", "khaek", "Jeck" and many more. 

Back to basics and you're doing OK again, numbers say absolutely nothing as quality and quantity are still two different pairs of shoes! 

[trainman34014]

5 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Any downturn is great news IMO. Might save a few places from the fate of Maya Bay.

Last time I visited the White Temple the horde of tourists was horrible. I didn't bother staying it was so bad.

 

Can we at least hope for tourists that don't destroy the environment by sheer weight of numbers?

They don't care about their environment; just look around and see the endless amounts of Trash they throw anywhere themselves other than in the right places.  Only money matters to these Jerks and as long as they get heaps of it the environment can go to hell !

[trainman34014]

3 hours ago, nigelforbes said:

Tourism here in Thailand is 75% dependent on regional tourists, not the people back home. Prices here are lower than in China or Malaysia which is why it's an attractive destination for them.

Don't know how many times you've been to China but on my numerous trips i have always found it to be cheaper than Thailand.    Of course; if you shop in Bejing or Shanghai things might reach Bangkok prices !

[nigelforbes]

2 minutes ago, trainman34014 said:

Don't know how many times you've been to China but on my numerous trips i have always found it to be cheaper than Thailand.    Of course; if you shop in Bejing or Shanghai things might reach Bangkok prices !

I lived there, in Beijing, for two years but that was over twenty years ago. My current information comes from friends and neighbors who are Chinese, a story all the ones I meet reinforce.

[BarraMarra]

Lets be honest and stop making excuses Thailand is not the dream destination anymore. People now realize there are better destinations where you will looked after better and will return. How many newbies have come and returned saying never again, You never hear tourists who have been to Viet or Cambo complaining about being scammed treated poorly, not being made to feel welcome and thought of just a cash cow to be Extorted as soon as you leave the stairs of your inbound flight. Don't worry the blame won't be laid at Thailand's feet.

[ikke1959]

No touristic season, high energy costs that took a lot of the budget of people, expensive airfares, and promotion ,not to fly but stay near your home because it is better for the climate, air pollution all over Thailand, and very very hot even at the beaches, double pricings for foreigners, chasing foreigners by RTP for checking driverslicenses, helmets, forbidden e cigarettes. limited alcohol buying hours.. ( at 15.00 at the beach i want to have a beer but can't buy it even in this heatwave). No clue of what tourists want and how they have to be treated instead of threatened. Yes I am wondering why the tourism sector stays behind and the worst has to come yet 

[pp00]

6 hours ago, DjSilver said:

Great news, more people needs to stop going to Thailand. It needs to be less than Thailand had during 2020 and 2021. We need to send a strong signal to the Thais, that we will not be scammed any more.

Totally agree. Thais have never ever done something to the benefit of foreigners. Not protected foreigners but doublepriced them and scammed them wherever they could. But worst is how they speak (in Thai) about you as a foreigner. Total disrespect and nothing else then disrespect towards all of us, any farm  animal would be higher in their eyes then a falang. I don't expect from Thais a change of mind since the absence of education formed ther opinions.

 

But I would wish to see our governments put the spotlight onto issues where Thais illtreat their citizens despite receiving considerable amounts of financial aid from our countries.

 

The "dirty farang" (who doesn't shower and infects Thai people) wants to be rehabilitated by the moron named Anoutin and the rest of the lowlifes around him and Prayuth Chachacha.

[pp00]

I think Thai authorities need another intelligent car. This time not to find overstayers. Maybe one specialized in protecting the vast majority of good farangs from bad criminal Thais. I want to see a task force set up with effective protection mechanisms for tourists being scammed. Not rocket science. But probably bad for the police's own income since they are many times in the middle of it

[John Drake]

What if . . . Xi is slowly closing off China from the rest of the world? He likes how Mao did things. And Mao did that. 

[steven100]

1 hour ago, shackleton said:

Let's hope the numbers are down in November as I will be visiting Hua Hin stay for about. 2- 3 months get a good deal at the hotel ???? we stay in ????

Hope the majority of  Russians and the chinese  stay in

Phuket and Pattaya ????

Nope .....    the Chinese and Russians are coming to Hua Hin in November ...  about 4,000 of them.  They will be staying at your hotel as far as I know,    but it's still months away so things could change ...

[Mavideol]

8 minutes ago, John Drake said:

What if . . . Xi is slowly closing off China from the rest of the world? He likes how Mao did things. And Mao did that. 

reminds me of Mao's decision on closing the country to the sparrows now closing it to the rest of the world another disaster on the making  555

 

In 1958 Mao Zedong ordered all the sparrows to be killed because they ate too much grain. This caused one of the worst environmental disasters in history

https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/09/26/1958-mao-zedong-ordered-sparrows-killed-ate-much-grain-caused-one-worst-environmental-disasters-history/?firefox=1

 

 

 

 

[Mavideol]

10 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand is struggling to achieve the foreign tourism numbers targeted by the government and economic planners this year according to the latest arrival numbers up to mid-April

and TAT again has to revise their always "misleading/incoherent" expectations.... more "expectations" soon to be released with a drastic increase on tourist arrivals 555

[ThailandRyan]

10 hours ago, webfact said:

Fitch Ratings already downgraded projected GDP growth for Thailand to 3% this year due to a sharp contraction in exports but even this was dependent on the country welcoming 27 million tourists this year. Based on the latest figures to April 18th, the final tally is now likely to be something like 24 million although there is hope with more flights coming on stream in the months ahead.

It is what it is and as many before me have stated, the pent up supposed demand is over.  Folks have spent what they wanted, and could afford to, and now have returned to work to re-fill there own coffers, while Thailand is still hoping to reach the numbers they predicted. what the predicted.  My view is that we have seen the last of big tourism until the next hi-season starts.  My kids who were here and have now departed back home spent an average of 11k Thb per day, that was the total amount for both of them, basically 5500 Thb each per day, while they were here, and that included hotels food and travel around the country with the GF and myself. 

 

10 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand is struggling to achieve the foreign tourism numbers targeted by the government and economic planners this year according to the latest arrival numbers up to mid-April. The figures, although on course for a three-year high in April 2023 for Chinese visitors and showing a marked recovery in foreign tourism, appear to indicate that growth is slowing from the key market with tourist industry leaders blaming higher airfares

The higher airfares were why my sisters family did not come for their spring break, like they wanted to.  Ticket prices for the 5 of them were going to run almost 10k USD, and for a two week trip they would have broke their budget for the whole year.

[Toby1947]

Thailand is washed up, but who really gives a toss. Been a tourist for over 20yrs but no more, much nicer places and people elsewhere 

[Pink Mist]

8 hours ago, madmitch said:

After the pandemic have they forgotten the annual event known as low season?

My take on this is that they expected the Chinese tourists and Saudi's as well as Indians to fill the void, but it appears the numbers they expected will not materialize.  Spoke to a neighbor who just returned from Rawaii.  He stayed near Nai Harn and he said it was lovely but crowded with Russians and surprisingly Brits.

[Pink Mist]

A troll post has been removed.

[pp00]

10 minutes ago, John Drake said:

What if . . . Xi is slowly closing off China from the rest of the world? He likes how Mao did things. And Mao did that. 

It's not Xi but some complaining Chinese but it is perfectly ok.

Chinese and their pandemic diseases please stay away! We need our KaiShui hot water (free ofc) for other purposes.

What Thiland DOES NOT need is the invasion thru Chinese. People need to watch where it leads to. Now we have so many examples, where Chinese came and took over. Just look at Laos where Chinese literally occupied a big part of Laos closed off Lao people and taken over entirely. In other parts of the world they take over by buying property and infrastucture. Bali's many hotels and restaurants have Chinese owner just as in so many other countries. I never understood the proud Thai not grasping what is going on in Thailand? Chinese bought property in Chiangmai, Bangkok and Pattaya, in Phuket and elsewhere. Chinese slowly and silently take over Thailand. Who now does not come is only the Chinese tourist. The Chinese business and especially also the Chinese mafia is long time already in the hotspots of Thailand, welconnected and malicious like cancer.

 

These are Xi's soldiers. Xi increases his power worldwide by the help of these people. And Thais? Did they actually noticed that Chinese tourists come but no money is being made? Because Chinese come with Chinese agencies stay in Chinese owned hotels, eat in Chinese restaurants and move around in Chinese owned busses from Chinese agencies... so why are Thais so eager to receive Chinese back to Thailand?? Is Somchai really that stupid? Yes he is. And Xi knows it.

[Petey11]

Haven't they noticed that most countries are suffering with high inflation and stagnant wage growth, the western tourists just don't have the disposable income they had pre pandemic times.

[khunpin]

If I would be from Schina I would be afraid of being ripped off, abducted, injured or killed in Thailand. 

The best decision is to avoid the land of smiling gangsters and go to another destination. 

Good for the rest of tourists. 

[Guderian]

Perhaps the expensive air fares nowadays have something to do with it? A lot of people are just taking one long foreign holiday a year now, instead of two shorter ones.

[NoshowJones]

8 hours ago, DjSilver said:

Great news, more people needs to stop going to Thailand. It needs to be less than Thailand had during 2020 and 2021. We need to send a strong signal to the Thais, that we will not be scammed any more.

"We need to send a strong signal to the Thais,"  Just who are you referring to here? The soldiers making an a$$ of running the country or the Thai people themselves?

If the former, then yes, I agree with you, if the Thai people themselves, no!

Countries all over the world will have their share of scammers, especially in tourist area's.

I find that most of the Thai people are decent, and honest, but I admit that some of their behaviour has gone back a bit since the end of the pandemic, but not their honesty.

[nigelforbes]

37 minutes ago, Petey11 said:

Haven't they noticed that most countries are suffering with high inflation and stagnant wage growth, the western tourists just don't have the disposable income they had pre pandemic times.

Indeed, but many Eastern tourists do and they are the ones that are supporting the tourist industry here, not the Brits, not the Europeans, not the Americans, the Asians.

[NoshowJones]

7 hours ago, nchuckle said:

So you’d run a business whereby catastrophic events which caused significant losses should not be offset by charging prices that reflect the current position reflecting the economic basics of supply and demand ? Well,you’d run a business…but not for long. ????‍♂️ 

There is far too much greed and capitalism amongst big business. ie if something negative happens and your average business loses money ie one country invading another, a pandemic, they always pass all the financial losses on to the public, to me that is wrong, they should bear some of the losses themselves. there should be some thought to the people who made them rich in the first place.

Most of the people at the top of any big business are financially secured for life, they should start being fair to the very people who put them in the position that they are in.

[quake]

12 minutes ago, Skeptic7 said:

Zero argument from me there❗????

+ damn good grub too❗????

 

Actually still plenty of positives, despite their silly self-inflicted attempts of economic suicide by a thousand cuts...then always pointing fingers elsewhere. 

 

Yes very true,

Better off here than the uk, if you have the money.

 

 

 

 

 

[NoshowJones]

2 hours ago, pp00 said:

Totally agree. Thais have never ever done something to the benefit of foreigners. Not protected foreigners but doublepriced them and scammed them wherever they could. But worst is how they speak (in Thai) about you as a foreigner. Total disrespect and nothing else then disrespect towards all of us, any farm  animal would be higher in their eyes then a falang. I don't expect from Thais a change of mind since the absence of education formed ther opinions.

 

But I would wish to see our governments put the spotlight onto issues where Thais illtreat their citizens despite receiving considerable amounts of financial aid from our countries.

 

The "dirty farang" (who doesn't shower and infects Thai people) wants to be rehabilitated by the moron named Anoutin and the rest of the lowlifes around him and Prayuth Chachacha.

Round about my small town/village here up country, nearly all the pictures of Anutin have been deliberately knocked down, and I am the only farang who lives here now.

The only pictures of that despicable man that have not been vandalised are the ones in the town centre.

[Chongalulu]

20 minutes ago, NoshowJones said:

There is far too much greed and capitalism amongst big business. ie if something negative happens and your average business loses money ie one country invading another, a pandemic, they always pass all the financial losses on to the public, to me that is wrong, they should bear some of the losses themselves. there should be some thought to the people who made them rich in the first place.

Most of the people at the top of any big business are financially secured for life, they should start being fair to the very people who put them in the position that they are in.

You’d do well to check out the huge losses made by airlines /oil companies and many others during the pandemic. "They always pass on all the financial losses to the public" . Would you like to qualify that with proper examples,because that’s just ill informed economic illiteracy. Shareholders may take a hit but you’ll find most companies pricing is governed by supply and demand. 
Perhaps you think communism is a more successful model ..? 

[Pink Mist]

An off topic troll post and reply have been removed. 

 

The OP is: Incoming tourism growth slows amid visas, airfares and attacks on Chinese nationals which have caused jitters

[PingRoundTheWorld]

IMHO the main reason why Bangkok has never rebounded in terms of tourism is the wet blanket 2am closing times. That changed the whole nightlife experience that used to be here in the past, and hurts tourism significantly. Bangkok is not getting repeat tourism as a result. I know many guys who used to come several times a year but now they won't return because it's boring for them.

Phuket fares a little better because they close later - but Phuket is it's own **** show and having to deal with hordes of annoying drunk tourists and shisha smoke everywhere is a terrible experience.

Pattaya is trying to commit tourism-harakiri lately by raiding establishments and conducting drug tests on innocent people - ruining their night in the process. The end result is simple - less tourists. I was supposed to go to Pattaya today - cancelled my trip.

Chiang Mai is air pollution central - 'nuff said.

Add to that price increases across the board, increase in taxi and other scams, viral bad news like kidnappings and raids, and the list goes on.

The last year+ was fueled by young people who were desperate to travel, but now that they've scratched that itch already, world economy and inflation woes, and higher airfare prices - many will not return as often. This was completely predictable.

At least the good news is that once tourist numbers are down, prices and attitudes will get back down to earth too.