Tourism confidence in Thailand plummets amid economic jitters

[khunjake]

6 hours ago, Ben Zioner said:

Just cancelled my week in Koh Chang, decided  to go to Penang. Found out that hotels are cheaper. If I get taxed, all our holidays will be out of Thailand. 

All of our holidays are outside the country now as well so that I can do my 90 day Non-O ME run. Thanks to thai immigration who wants 35k baht to even consider my fully legitimate and qualified application for extension of stay. Married to a Thai national means pay up nowadays. Thanks to the RTP immigration!

[Dogmatix]

Pheua Thai always promotes an image of being very effective in promoting GDP growth, although there is little evidence for this and the flagship policy of the previous PT government under Yingluck, the rice pledging scam, was an utter disaster, as were her primary school tablets. 

 

So Srettha is desperate to boost growth to perpetuate this false image and counter accusations of spending large amounts on wasteful projects like digital wallets and subsidizing fuel prices.  Unfortunately relying solely on low end chinese tourism is unlikely to work for Srettha.

[Dogmatix]

37 minutes ago, khunjake said:

All of our holidays are outside the country now as well so that I can do my 90 day Non-O ME run. Thanks to thai immigration who wants 35k baht to even consider my fully legitimate and qualified application for extension of stay. Married to a Thai national means pay up nowadays. Thanks to the RTP immigration!

It will make more sense to holiday outside Thailand particularly if prices are comparable and you have a foreign credit or debit card you can use to access your overseas savings tax free.

[spidermike007]

4 hours ago, alexlm said:

I don't understand this article. If someone could explain?

I'm planning my 2 months trip to Thailand from December to February.

Everything is already fully booked.

My Pattaya hotel told me they are fully booked for December 10th when I arrive, until April. How to find an hotel? Will I be stranded in the street with all the hotels booked??

My car rental guy said they are booked until April too at 99% and they are not sure they can provide me with a rental car.

His partner told me there are so many Foreigners right now.

When I lived in Thailand from 2014 to 2018, I could just walk into my favorite hotels and get a room in 3 minutes.

Ask for a car some morning and get the rental car 3 hours later the afternoon.

Has it changed so much since 2018???!

It seems it's full of Foreigners.

So why this article seems to indicate the opposite?

Or I didn't understand something I'm sure.

If someone could explain...

Thanks ????

Alex LM

Total nonsense. Absolute lies. They just cannot admit truth. It is quiet here now. Most tourism operators are complaining.

[Bim Smith]

Nice to see Malaysia at the top. UK passport gets 90 days on arrival exempt. Only 30 days for Thailand. I love Penang. Teflon Thailand no more. Needlessly closing the country for two years didn't help am sure but it was heading downward anyway. They chased too many cheap low spending Chinese and Indian tourists. 

[Gknrd]

Really a shame but Thailand has turned into another Autocratic run country.  With the same chest beating of any other autocracy.  Time to move on..

 

 

Edited October 4, 2023 by Gknrd

[madisongy]

My thai wife and I probably spent $30K in the three months we were allowed in Thailand earlier this year.   A lot of that time was spent traversing Bangkok, to get a simple two month extension based on marriage.   It's simple to come for 30 or 60 days, but then ya gotta go.   I'd love to do 6 months in Thailand, but they just make it way too difficult.

[andux]

16 hours ago, alien365 said:

I would have thought tourist confidence is also related to how tourists expect to be treated while here. It has probably plummeted partly because previous visitors did not feel welcomed enough to return. I've seen how badly some businesses here speak to tourists and its disgraceful. The unfair acts of dual pricing and overcharging also leave a bitter taste for many, including me. Thailand is also no longer that cheap. Prices have gone up, but quality continues to remain low. 

Yeah this is unfortunate. Many of the people who came to visit me and do some tourism around Thailand experienced that bittersweet feeling, and some even told me that they were treated disrespectefully often.

 

Not all Thais are like that though, and I have to admit that Thais are generally very nice people. But many of them treat foreigners in a noticeably negative way. I've even learned that part of living here is having to deal with that on a daily basis, even if it's from only 10-20% of the Thai population.

 

But naturally tourists will not love that feeling and a lot of them will think twice before coming back.

Edited October 4, 2023 by andux

[Jiggo]

23 hours ago, Ben Zioner said:

Just cancelled my week in Koh Chang, decided  to go to Penang. Found out that hotels are cheaper. If I get taxed, all our holidays will be out of Thailand. 

Was there back end of last year, been a few times, disappointed that visit, beer very expensive now also food unless you go to the food market near the jetty The beach at B F is not that good.

 

[mikeymike100]

20 hours ago, alexlm said:

I don't understand this article. If someone could explain?

I'm planning my 2 months trip to Thailand from December to February.

Everything is already fully booked.

My Pattaya hotel told me they are fully booked for December 10th when I arrive, until April. How to find an hotel? Will I be stranded in the street with all the hotels booked??

My car rental guy said they are booked until April too at 99% and they are not sure they can provide me with a rental car.

His partner told me there are so many Foreigners right now.

When I lived in Thailand from 2014 to 2018, I could just walk into my favorite hotels and get a room in 3 minutes.

Ask for a car some morning and get the rental car 3 hours later the afternoon.

Has it changed so much since 2018???!

It seems it's full of Foreigners.

So why this article seems to indicate the opposite?

Or I didn't understand something I'm sure.

If someone could explain...

Thanks ????

Alex LM

I am in Pattaya and believe me its certainly is NOT full of foreigners! Went to Central Festival Pattaya a couple of days ago and it was almost deserted, saw a few Indians in a group, but very quiet.  What will happen in December, high season, is anyone's guess, but certainly all the hotels will not be full and obtaining a rental car will not be a problem. I have a feeling you are feeling you are being told lies by some wishful thinkers?

[paulikens]

Tomorrow story...  "Thailand's tourism is on the up"

[paulikens]

Just now, mikeymike100 said:

I am in Pattaya and believe me its certainly is NOT full of foreigners! Went to Central Festival Pattaya a couple of days ago and it was almost deserted, saw a few Indians in a group, but very quiet.  What will happen in December, high season, is anyone's guess, but certainly all the hotels will not be full and obtaining a rental car will not be a problem. I have a feeling you are feeling you are being told lies by some wishful thinkers?

[sscc]

23 hours ago, ChaiyaTH said:

Same we usually go to another country, Vietnam is populair among my Thai friends (in their twenties) too. No wonder, we can get 10 beers for like 300 baht there, a very nice room for only 400-500 (or they just book the entire dorm with 6 people for 80 each). 

 

But how are people surprised, same to blame covid, this down trend already started before covid. And it is the result of the Thai their actions. Will only get worse for them, Vietnam will basically do everything better than Thailand. They already produce 40K IT students yearly now, that are way better than Thais are. So far our company hired 2, in Thailand we found 0 in a decade.

 

Many people just endlessly defend Thailand, because they so far were not the target, or because they are stuck here regardless, while not being objective at all. Anyone who has a bit of brains, and is realistic, knows this is all true.

 

The USA could not even beat Vietnam, let alone Thailand.

Let's have some figures to compare. 

Care to Tell us how many tourists Vietnam had received so far this year ? 

 

 

 

[sscc]

21 hours ago, alexlm said:

I don't understand this article. If someone could explain?

I'm planning my 2 months trip to Thailand from December to February.

Everything is already fully booked.

My Pattaya hotel told me they are fully booked for December 10th when I arrive, until April. How to find an hotel? Will I be stranded in the street with all the hotels booked??

My car rental guy said they are booked until April too at 99% and they are not sure they can provide me with a rental car.

His partner told me there are so many Foreigners right now.

When I lived in Thailand from 2014 to 2018, I could just walk into my favorite hotels and get a room in 3 minutes.

Ask for a car some morning and get the rental car 3 hours later the afternoon.

Has it changed so much since 2018???!

It seems it's full of Foreigners.

So why this article seems to indicate the opposite?

Or I didn't understand something I'm sure.

If someone could explain...

Thanks ????

Alex LM

 

Full of foreigners in Dec ?                          Yes.  Will be in the high Season. 

Hotel fully booked during high season ?    No.  have hotel rooms available. 

Rental car fully booked ?                             No,  not either. 

 

Somehow somehow had tried fooling you. 

 

[Mr Meeseeks]

18 hours ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

Historically, many countries defeated in war have bounced back to prosperity with envious economies. Germany and Japan, for example. Perhaps what Thailand, Land of the Free, needs is a "jolly good thrashing" to show its latent potential.????

Thailand was defeated in WWII, along with Germany and Japan.

 

Churchill wanted them properly punished for atrocities on Thai soil, but American colonial aspirations let them off lightly. 

[BarraMarra]

It's just Greed plain and simple. Once Thailand Re-opened up what did they do to lure Tourists back? Increased hotel prices, increased Domestic flights, increased prices, increased or invented silly rules to squeeze more money from incoming tourists, to recoup for lost revenue brought about by Covid. Don't be fooled the Tourism figures were already falling due to the greed, rip-offs, and the way you were treated. We were seen as just here to be fleeced, with no respect or customer care. Now you can't even complain if your hotel is dirty or treated unfairly. All they have to do to alter the decline is listen to what advice is given, stop prioritizing other countries treat all tourists the same, offer discounts on hotels and domestic flights, and offer 90 day visas on arrival in a stamp on your passport as you enter no silly proof of this, proof of that, fill this in fill this out nonsense, and most train all staff in the tourism industry to make the tourist want to return with curtesy and manners.

Edited October 5, 2023 by BarraMarra

[Sqoop]

On 10/4/2023 at 12:51 PM, spidermike007 said:

hiring based on merit,

What a shocking thought, it will never happen when most roles are purchased via bribes.