Thailand faces a decline in British tourists and expats: Causes and Consequences

[Millman]

3 hours ago, Driller said:

Used to be any remote place on this earth would have an Englishman and at least one Filipino, now they are both becoming not so typical. I always enjoyed reading Robinson Caruso, and could easily picture an Englishman as Caruso. I am going to have to find that book now and have a long overdue read again.

 

2 hours ago, NanLaew said:

 

Perhaps the greater number of Brits referred to in the article have absolutely no knowledge of or interest in Thai media as they're still bladdered from those buckets of Saeng Som on the beach last night.

Robinson Crusoe !..…Caruso was a singer

[charleskerins]

3 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

That is not corract.

At least in Bangkok decades ago the air quality was worse and the traffic was worse.

Now it's far away from good, but a lot better than it used to be.

 

Remember those things?

 

What about Northern Thailand?

[newbee2022]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

witnessing a significant drop in the number of visitors from the United Kingdom.

Good news 👏👍🤗🙏

[Taboo2]

The old saying, "Go where you are treated with respect and appreciation" comes to mind.  When this country continues to insult the paying tourists and give extra days to those who do not contribute as much, what did they expect?  Vote with your wallet.

[tlcwaterfall]

41 minutes ago, saintdomingo said:

I had a few drinks in Chequers the other day, didn't notice any dodgy lowlifes.

Sorry I was late😁

[Bobthegimp]

I've seen a great improvement in the quality of British tourists since the bad old days of the 70 baht £. 

 

Aside from the headlines about minor incidents like the fecal shower boy, most of it is pretty pedestrian stuff.  One New Year's Eve circa '07 a Brit went on a rampage in the lobby of the Honey Hotel, attacking people and smashing things up - with a claw hammer!  The Brits were quite violent back then. When I heard a certain accent in a bar I knew the beer was too cheap, so I would pay my bin and move to where the beer was a few baht more per bottle and the problem disappeared. 

[Presnock]

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I don't know who did what. Maybe it was the Bangkok governor. Or maybe it was police enforcement of existing laws. There are multiple reasons why things might happen, and I think often it is not obvious why.

 

Years ago, there were a lot more vehicles with black smoke, especially busses and big trucks. Over the years, the situation got better and better? Why? I don't know. 

in the mid-90's, gasoline in Thailand switched to unleaded which led to a change in the pollution levels.  improved but still horrible.  S. Asian burning of forests and use to clear land for farming of sugar caneand corn (used for ethanol and paid for by govt) with very little govt intervention and controls worsens every year, not only because of burning in Thailand but all of S. Asia.  Easy to see with the satellite showing the open fires - countries in SEA almost totaly red at times.  Govt spending on war basically useless war materials instead of fire fighting equipment (necessary due to remote mountain forests) make 

a bad situation even worse.  I have lived at times in Thailand beginning 55 years ago and can remember vividly flying from BKK to NKP and being unable to see the landscape due to SMOKE from the rice farms.  I read yearly that the govt will tackle the issue - it must be the same in the reginal countries as all the citizens have to suffer too yet nothing really changes much.  Now statistics are put out by the local media and it is scary as all of us suffer from the pollution.  My opinion based on observations and living here  for over 30 years (not continuous).  I have air purifiers in every room of my houses, sent my daughter to a school that had air purifiers and even closed during periods of high pollution numbers (on line schooling which then helped when they closed for COVID), wear good quality n95 surgical masks when I exercise or go outside and not sure how long I will continue to stay here.  Wife owns our house in CM and she is even talking about going extended vacation during the burning season. 

[Bobthegimp]

5 minutes ago, Taboo2 said:

The old saying, "Go where you are treated with respect and appreciation" comes to mind.  When this country continues to insult the paying tourists and give extra days to those who do not contribute as much, what did they expect?  Vote with your wallet.

 

I love it here and feel like I'm treated well. The income tax business might be a challenge or nothing at all, but so far, so good.

 

Have you been maltreated here? 

[DonniePeverley]

Quantity of tourists over Quality. 

[Henryford]

37 minutes ago, Mark Nothing said:

Yes in my condo building the UK residents who bought in at 75 baht to the pound are all selling out.  They are ageing now and don't like the changes occuring here. 

 

The long haul flights are a nuisance, they are no longer party animals, they need to be around constant affordable healthcare. They used to come to thailand for 6 months.  Now they come for 2 weeks.  If tgey come at all.

 

Where are they going to? the wet cold islamic republic of the UK?

[john donson]

thailand wants short term 2 week millionaires, not long stay expats

 

or they at least would have given us RESIDENCY after a few years of marriage/children/sponsoring the economy/eventually working...

[GammaGlobulin]

3 hours ago, saintdomingo said:

Robinson Caruso.? I suspect your spellchecker is playing games with you driller.

 

He is saying that he can picture any Englishman as an Enrico Caruso?

 

Far From the Madding Crowd, and alone with Friday and Crusoe, on some remote isle.

 

But, now, no more.

Travel has become prohibitively expensive for the likes of you and me.

 

In my view, it is best to just choose some place, no matter how remote, as long as you love it, add then just remain in one spot, and enjoy a much more stress-free, as well as much lower-cost, existence.

 

This is what I do.

I will not spend money to buy things, or go places, based on artificially created need.

Let Madison Avenue's propaganda be read and acted upon by those far more gullible than I.

 

Save money on airfare, and then spend that money to create a personal utopia of your own....

Far From the Madding Crowd of Phuket and BKK.

 

Travel is NOT fun.

Travel is stressful, expensive, and no longer worthwhile.

 

Travel for pleasure is no longer what it once was.

And, this is the Myth that the travel industry is still trying to sell you.

 

 

 

[oslooskar]

3 hours ago, Ben Zioner said:

The devastating effect of Thai street food. 

 

If that was true, I'd get my fat ass down to the Beach Road and start eating Thai street food. That having been said, I will now get busy on my newly bought treadmill----which I should bought when I first moved here.

[Henryford]

39 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Thailand has nothing to offer tourists, Vietnam is better in every way.

The Viets don't hate white folk, they don't put the wrong stamps in your passport, the beaches aren't infested by sand flies, there is more to see.

 

If I didn't already have a Thai house, wife, kid, I'd not be here.

 

Unless you want to stay more than a month. No long stay visas.

[TDCNINJA]

3 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Sad, who will be English teachers?

Filipinos

[RandolphGB]

4 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

sloth, lack of vision and extreme arrogance. 

 

Perfect summary of all the problems in Thailand. Often, they all come down to laziness.

[Ctkong]

2 hours ago, shackleton said:

The Thai government / Thai tourist agency won't be losing sleep of the decline of Brit tourists or Expats

There are plenty of Russian and Chinese arriving buying up the property plus businesses ect 

Reading the news lately with Brits no money on drugs maybe its a good thing there are less of them coming 😱

Mainly foreign visitors are Russians, Chinese and Indians though neighboring malaysians of over 4 millions on short jaunt also visit annually.  

[saintdomingo]

8 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

He is saying that he can picture any Englishman as an Enrico Caruso?

 

Far From the Madding Crowd, and alone with Friday and Crusoe, on some remote isle.

 

But, now, no more.

Travel has become prohibitively expensive for the likes of you and me.

 

In my view, it is best to just choose some place, no matter how remote, as long as you love it, add then just remain in one spot, and enjoy a much more stress-free, as well as much lower-cost, existence.

 

This is what I do.

I will not spend money to buy things, or go places, based on artificially created need.

Let Madison Avenue's propaganda be read and acted upon by those far more gullible than I.

 

Save money on airfare, and then spend that money to create a personal utopia of your own....

Far From the Madding Crowd of Phuket and BKK.

 

Travel is NOT fun.

Travel is stressful, expensive, and no longer worthwhile.

 

Travel for pleasure is no longer what it once was.

And, this is the Myth that the travel industry is still trying to sell you.

 

 

 

Agree with your sentiments GG, but a bit puzzled about what in my post set you off. But no problem anyway.

 

On second reading I see it very clearly, well spotted.

[Baba Naba]

3 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

Sad, who will be English teachers?

DUH? The Filipinos of course!!! 

[maddox41]

I lived and worked in Thailand for 20 yrs  now would I want to live as expat in Thailand nope 

The new sting the expat with  tax when you when you have already paid tax in your own country. 

The low end tourists mainly Russians run the place  phuket now the rude Chinese and the hoads of Indians. 

Thailand always works backwards all about the money not the quality or the type of  quality  individuals. 

When the <deleted> hits the fan they panic change all the rules and he we go again. 

Great to visit but to live to hard with all the red tape and the trailer trailer trash expatss and greedy Thais. 

Go to Vietnam  way better 

[BestB]

I have lived in Thailand for most of my adult life, almost 25 years, so not just bashing 

 

i often visit neighboring countries as well.

 

everywhere in the world there is progress over the past 25 years where as in Thailand I feel it’s a regress.

 

English got worse, service got worse, scams became more and no recourse

 

Visa became harder, no benefits of any kind

 

stupidity and idiocy is nourished while innovation and improvement frowned upon.

[BritManToo]

10 minutes ago, Henryford said:

 

Unless you want to stay more than a month. No long stay visas.

45 days is enough for legit tourists.

[BritManToo]

14 minutes ago, john donson said:

thailand wants short term 2 week millionaires, not long stay expats

So why the 90 days for Russians?

[Andrew65]

3 hours ago, Driller said:

Used to be any remote place on this earth would have an Englishman and at least one Filipino, now they are both becoming not so typical. I always enjoyed reading Robinson Caruso, and could easily picture an Englishman as Caruso. I am going to have to find that book now and have a long overdue read again.

Robinson Crusoe was based on a real-life man called Alexander Selkirk, who was Scottish.

[Zack61]

2 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

That is not corract.

You are correct.

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Thailand, a country that has long held a special place in the hearts of British travelers and expats, is witnessing a significant drop in the number of visitors from the United Kingdom.

UK economy is screwed.. the low end who used to visit Thailand can no longer afford to come.

Those with money choose something better than Pattaya or Phuket

[RobU]

Travelling here is now very expensive UK tourists tend to go to cheaper destinations. Recent horror stories about ill maintained travelators and monorails (which were published around the world) don't help. Tourists walk and gawk, yet pedestrians are the worst catered for group in Thailand apart from the disabled. The sidewalks are atrocious and difficult to navigate and crossing the road is extremely dangerous, even if the crossing is light controlled. It is not family friendly children are in constant danger of being hit by motorbikes on the sidewalk.  Many of those UK expats settling in Thailand were retired, often living on the UK state pension. They visited Thailand previously on a dream holiday and decided to retire here because they could live better.  The UK state pension is the lowest in Europe. Thailand looks at the relative wealth of expats from other countries and targets it's charges accordingly. Thailand is simply pricing itself out of the UK market by making it very expensive to live here (visa requirements, tax etc) for uk expats 

[NanLaew]

1 hour ago, orchis said:

negligible difference: one could still take the same flight to BKK and then a low cost short flight at about 50USD to Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia,...
Quite a few people I knew in Bangkok now live in Siem Reap surviving on their pension there.

 

Proof, if ever proof were needed, that not only are the lowlifes fleeing to Cambodia but their cheap charlie cousins are as well.

 

Sad but true.

[suspectdevice]

1 hour ago, Tropicalevo said:

The offerings are usually reciprocal.

How can Thais get into the UK visa free?

 

By boat?

[Shocked farang]

2 hours ago, rexpotter said:

Fidel Castro was a Cuban Opera Singer

Well, Robison Crusoe won't be seen in Phuket, that's for sure!