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Thailand to move away from foreign tourism and rely more on home travellers in the latest TAT masterplan


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3 hours ago, Mike Lister said:

Taxi's refusing to use their meters in tourist areas; dual pricing on hotel rooms, foreigners vs locals; dual pricing on tourist attractions and parks, and probably a bunch more.

That's a list of possible double pricing but it's not evidence that double pricing has any impact on tourism.  There was double pricing in 2019 when 39 million foreigners visited.

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There is a global economic downturn and many countries are bordering on a recession, there are 2 major wars going on right now and given Thailands ripoff the Farang attitude, the high levels of corruption and rising crime are you surprised that visitor numbers are down! Thailand is no longer the cheap destination it once was and air travel has become much more expensive. 

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4 hours ago, Captor said:

Just fix the air pollution and the tourists will come back. Why do tourists want to travel with family to a country with dangerous air?

 

Look like TAT don't want see the elephant in the room

Dangerous air, among many, many, other things

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4 hours ago, 2baht said:

More Chinese are travelling to Australia while Australians are travelling to Bali and Japan! 

 

Correct. I saw large numbers of Chinese tourists in Australia's and NZ's major tourist spots as early as beginning of 2023. Seems, Chinese tourists want to see other things now than just Thailand's shrimp buffets, or boats to Koh Larn. (And other nationalities have discovered different destinations, too.) - Sorry, Thailand, but (with the exception of Russians, Indians, and Malaysian day-trippers) you are on the 'Out' list...

Edited by StayinThailand2much
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No clue to solve the problem and to be attractive again for foreign tourists. So local tourist more public holidays more borrowing and loan  to show how wealthy the middle class is to go on holiday and more debts.. TAT why are they needed? they have no clue come with fake numbers and ideas that are stupid. And they call it a masterplan.. 

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2 hours ago, Mike Lister said:

You need to realise that UK visitors to Thailand aren't even part of the equation, their numbers are so small as to be economically irrelevant.

 

  1. Malaysia: 367,530 visitors
  2. China: 328,375 visitors
  3. India: 131,230 visitors
  4. Russia: 115,743 visitors
  5. South Korea: 95,229 visitors
  6. Vietnam: 84,221 visitors
  7. United States: 70,977 visitors
  8. United Kingdom: 70,089 visitors
  9. Laos: 68,204 visitors
  10. Hong Kong: 67,771 visitors

 

https://www.thailand.go.th/issue-focus-detail/009_165

 

In 2020, UK tourists accounted for 2.4% of total visitors.

 

https://trail.bananabackpacks.com/thailand-tourism-stats/

     It's meaningless to use 2020 stats.  Those are covid numbers.  In 2019, UK visitors were about 1 million.  Less than the US at 1.16 million but more than any other European country except Russia.  In numbers UK, came in at  #11.   I don't think it's correct to say that UK is economically irrelevant to Thai tourism.   Even in your above recent totals, UK is at #8, and very close to USA at #7.   Obviously, neither country is sending tourists in numbers to match the numbers of China, India, Malaysia, etc., and likely never will.  But both are in the top 10 and do contribute to Thailand's tourism.  

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4 hours ago, ChipButty said:

It's not busy like it was last year, most mornings I take a drive down to the beach and have a coffee somewhere, few people down the beach early but when you look at the car and bike rental shops full of bikes for rent, locals are saying it's not busy like last year.

Not just tourist areas. None tourist areas are feeling the same pinch. just no money around. Locals where i live are all talking about the situation and 90 percent are not happy about the restrictions placed on this digital B10,000 hand out, as it doesn't really benefit them. Plus. It already looks like the handout will be delayed by 7-8 months.

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If that really is the plan then so be it but..........maybe they should seriously think about making it easier for expats to actually live here long term instead of going out of their way to make it harder.

The expat community are fed up with milked and scammed. Already there are conversations about alternative places to live.

THAT needs addressing if the plan is to use them to replace international travellers. This new tax law isn't going to help either.

Edited by Jackbenimble
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8 minutes ago, newnative said:

     It's meaningless to use 2020 stats.  Those are covid numbers.  In 2019, UK visitors were about 1 million.  Less than the US at 1.16 million but more than any other European country except Russia.  In numbers UK, came in at  #11.   I don't think it's correct to say that UK is economically irrelevant to Thai tourism.   Even in your above recent totals, UK is at #8, and very close to USA at #7.   Obviously, neither country is sending tourists in numbers to match the numbers of China, India, Malaysia, etc., and likely never will.  But both are in the top 10 and do contribute to Thailand's tourism.  

Even in 2019 at 1 million, as percentage of 39 million, that's still only the same 2.5%. In relative terms, the UK contribution to tourism is not meaningful. The ranking number means nothing, the number of visitors tells the story.

Edited by Mike Lister
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1 hour ago, kinyara said:

 

I haven't been to other tourists towns/cities recently but I think that's a very fair reflection of the state of the infrastructure in Pattaya these days. Walking around the daily obstacle course of appalling pavements or stuck in a baht bus on the central circuit as yet more holes are dug up and filled in for no practical benefit always designed for maximum high season inconvenience, I question the level of tourism they deserve for the state of the public services they provide.

 

it was cute and acceptable decades ago. 

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15 minutes ago, ikke1959 said:

TAT why are they needed? they have no clue come with fake numbers and ideas that are stupid. And they call it a masterplan.. 

 

All their numbers have been fake since, at least, the early 2000s, when, after tourist numbers went south, they abruptly took the tourist statistics off their website. And their almost weekly changing projections are a joke. 

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3 minutes ago, StayinThailand2much said:

 

With a good number of expats in Thailand, why not offer them (meaningful) promotions, discounts, and fair pricing in national parks, temples, etc., rather than overcharging and scamming them whenever possible? It might lead to more travel and spending in country.

 

i would gladly lube up for all of those things mentioned if i was simply given PR status through my marriage. 

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If Thailand could attract 39 million in 2019 and this year, the first year of covid economic recovery, a year when the global economy is only just beginning to recover, they can attract 28 million, even without the support of the Chinese mass market, what does that tell you about the volume of people who want to visit.

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22 minutes ago, RandolphGB said:

Don't worry, it's all fine, because tourists are willing to pay five million baht for a glorified tourist visa that includes a few free massages and a Toyota Camry collecting them from the airport.

 

Yes, and in true Thai fashion they will probably come up with a scheme to double all prices and fees for foreign tourists 'to compensate for a 40-50% decline in arrivals'...

Edited by StayinThailand2much
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1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Thailand became popular last century as a cheap and cheerful place for a holiday with a bit of the exotic Oriental added.

Then the greedies built flashpacker places and ruined the beaches with concrete.

Then the government made it harder to stay long time, the smile vanished, the rip offs grew, the infrastructure decayed, it was dirty and full of rubbish and horrid concrete buildings. All the things that made LOS a desirable place for western tourists vanished.

Now they wonder why western tourists don't want to come any more. Duh!

Brilliant post 

So true ! 

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5 hours ago, Skipalongcassidy said:

The "local tourists" with money are travelling to other countries... why would they travel to destinations in Thailand that really do not welcome Thais as their guests?

For the three confused forum members... Thai businesses typically would rather cater to foreign tourists than to Thais who do not spend much more than for basics nor do they tip... the business owners would prefer western tourists who tip except for the canadians of course.

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25 minutes ago, shackleton said:

Well here's looking out for the mass arrival of Tourists foreign and domestic coming for the much anticipated extended opening hours of bars ect selling alcohol until 0400hrs over the Christmas and New Year holidays 🥳

Let's see what numbers transpire 🤔

The numbers will be awesomely humungous.

It is called self-serving propoganda.🙃🙃

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4 minutes ago, Skipalongcassidy said:

For the three confused forum members... Thai businesses typically would rather cater to foreign tourists than to Thais who do not spend much more than for basics nor do they tip... the business owners would prefer western tourists who tip except for the canadians of course.

That is simply a matter of conjecture or your opinion.

Any data to back it up?🙃🙃

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5 hours ago, AhFarangJa said:

The exchange rate does not help. This Country is expensive to holiday in now compared to several years ago. I am not an economist so can someone please explain how the loss of millions upon millions of foreign money coming into the Country from international tourists, ( Once a large part of GDP), can be made up by locals who are only circulating money already here?

Domestic consumer spending is a significant part of GDP in every country.  For example, in USA it's about 70%.

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29 minutes ago, Mike Lister said:

If Thailand could attract 39 million in 2019 and this year, the first year of covid economic recovery, a year when the global economy is only just beginning to recover, they can attract 28 million, even without the support of the Chinese mass market, what does that tell you about the volume of people who want to visit.

Does the 28 million include me "visiting" the country 10 times this year?

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