TAT Proposes Extended Visa-Free Stays to Boost Tourism

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21 hours ago, Spock said:

I always come in the rainy season June - August. I like not having to compete for accommodation and transport options and room prices are more competitive. Depends too on what you want to do in Thailand. I want to escape Melbourne winters so off season suits. But I think it would be unfair to ignore Australians for 90 day visas while giving them to tourists from just about every other country that visits Thailand.

Yes, it definitely depends on what part of the world one is coming from and what one would like to do. But, if I'm not mistaken, the biggest bulk of tourism in Thailand is focused more on the months I mentioned because those are the months that suit a much larger portion of visitors. But, of course the "off" months should absolutely not be ignored and I can't imagine a reason why they would not include Australians in that 90 day deal. The only thing I can think of is if there might be a less than desirable visa policy in Australia toward Thais and so Thailand would maybe want some sort of concession on the Australian end to help Thais get to Australia more easily before they give the 90 day visa to Australians?  Just a wild guess... I have no idea. I would think that Australians would be included....

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21 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

I agree, but it was never so bad as the last years...and the tourism going back already for years and first they had the Chinese coming in, but now they don't come anymore in big numbers, and there is no is/was no investment in the tourism industry Thailand has lost a lot of its charm.

Not sure what "it" is referring to. In some of the things, I would agree that they weren't as bad, but others, in my personal experience, things were DEFINITELY worse. Of course, that is only limited to my personal experience and may be very different from others'. There were absolutely worse years in places that I was in for pollution, both smoke and industrial/vehicle. I remember police wearing masks ALL the time because the pollution was so bad and tests revealed that the average street cop in BKK had something like 9 or 10 times the amount of lead or some other crap in their blood than is safe. I remember feeling nauseous because the air was so horrid. Haven't felt that for many years now. Crime was hit and miss although I definitely experienced more problems with break-ins back in the 90s and early 2000s. Seems much safer these days. Double pricing and signs forbidding foreigners from some establishments were also much more common from what I've experienced in the past 10 years. The Chinese boom of tourism is a relatively recent thing, although there are many factors, it seems that since 2012 with the "Lost in Thailand" movie, Chinese started arriving in droves, much like how tourism boomed after the movie "The Beach" in 2000, but the Chinese just keep coming... although perhaps not in as huge numbers, just like how the boom after the popularity of The Beach waned with time. People are fickle and also Thailand has changed, developed a lot since those days and it is nowhere near as cheap as it once was. And I have a feeling that with its development, many people don't feel the cultural "charm" as much as they once did. Of course, it is a very complex thing and there are a massive number of factors that all add up into one big pile of "Thainess" from which the putrid odor emanates strongly enough to make me not as interested as I once was, but I have become attached in different ways that are not detachable now 😅  But don't get me wrong. It's not all bad. There are plenty of things to enjoy and don't need to let the smell get to you, that's what respirators or good masks are for after all!😂

[ikke1959]

54 minutes ago, Sig said:

Not sure what "it" is referring to. In some of the things, I would agree that they weren't as bad, but others, in my personal experience, things were DEFINITELY worse. Of course, that is only limited to my personal experience and may be very different from others'. There were absolutely worse years in places that I was in for pollution, both smoke and industrial/vehicle. I remember police wearing masks ALL the time because the pollution was so bad and tests revealed that the average street cop in BKK had something like 9 or 10 times the amount of lead or some other crap in their blood than is safe. I remember feeling nauseous because the air was so horrid. Haven't felt that for many years now. Crime was hit and miss although I definitely experienced more problems with break-ins back in the 90s and early 2000s. Seems much safer these days. Double pricing and signs forbidding foreigners from some establishments were also much more common from what I've experienced in the past 10 years. The Chinese boom of tourism is a relatively recent thing, although there are many factors, it seems that since 2012 with the "Lost in Thailand" movie, Chinese started arriving in droves, much like how tourism boomed after the movie "The Beach" in 2000, but the Chinese just keep coming... although perhaps not in as huge numbers, just like how the boom after the popularity of The Beach waned with time. People are fickle and also Thailand has changed, developed a lot since those days and it is nowhere near as cheap as it once was. And I have a feeling that with its development, many people don't feel the cultural "charm" as much as they once did. Of course, it is a very complex thing and there are a massive number of factors that all add up into one big pile of "Thainess" from which the putrid odor emanates strongly enough to make me not as interested as I once was, but I have become attached in different ways that are not detachable now 😅  But don't get me wrong. It's not all bad. There are plenty of things to enjoy and don't need to let the smell get to you, that's what respirators or good masks are for after all!😂

Do you live in Thailand?

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20 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

Do you live in Thailand?

I thought that would be evident from my comment... although I suppose I didn't explicitly say so... Yes.