Travel Rising Prices, Broken Systems Dim Thailand’s Tourist Charm

[KhaoHom]

International trips aside, my wife and myself go to one inexpensive place of beauty and tranquility six weeks a year and have done so since we met. Cheap.

 

There's nowhere like it in Thailand and much the world.

 

Most anywhere else will not be as beautiful, peaceful, great for health and exercise. In the better times still fun.

 

I know exactly why I don't travel / go anywhere else...just doesn't measure up. Overpriced Dec, Songkran especially

[kiwikeith]

On 4/30/2025 at 7:21 PM, Magictoad said:

It sounds like Americans whining & whinging to me!  When you read through the list it's like some out of a BLM or feminist meeting. Disparity in pricing!! Give me a break. Can some explain about THE DISPARITY IN WAGES.

Cannabis concerns. Pathetic  Just shut your window. As for children. Then don't bring them here- take them to Disney Land.

Neighbours offer betters experiences? NO THEY DONT.

Quality Matters: Scrutiny Over Infrastructure and Cleanliness

This is a third word country and people get reminded of it sometimes. 

Cost Concerns: Value for Money Diminishing

This might be an issue in some cities such as Bangkok and Pattaya but it's still VERY CHEAP in Issan and the North East.

I wouldn't go to a tourist dump like Chaing Mai.

So yes Thailand is still worth visiting.

Thailand isn't the same since the dope shops opened only a fool can not see this and Pattaya and Phuket are rubbish dumps 

I have not been to Chiang Mai for a while but I lived there a while back every time I go back there it's been worse with  Chineese gold shops and money lenders everywhere stampedes of Chinese tourists at Tapai gate not the same just a mess like the dope heads shops. If you are a dope head beware of senility it took all my friends out over time 

[Lorry]

8 hours ago, kwilco said:

 

Air pollution is a major factor for some - no-one in their right mind would book a holiday in the North between January and April

Chinese like CM a lot, and they do come at Chinese New Year (January/February).

Never heard them complain about the air.

(Maybe when breathing they feel right at home.)

[kwilco]

53 minutes ago, Lorry said:

Chinese like CM a lot, and they do come at Chinese New Year (January/February).

Never heard them complain about the air.

(Maybe when breathing they feel right at home.)

 

"Never heard them complain about the air." - Interesting - I worked with a lot of Chinese people In Thailand for about 3 years and pollution was not on the conversation every now and then, but we lived in the South - They were very concerned about pollution in their home towns but the overriding impression I got was that they were largely unaware of the levels of pollution in Thailand at various times - but when made aware, would certainly avoid it.

 

Furthermore, we know that tourism figures in the north are getting reduced at times of pollution. Chiang Mai in particular is concerned about low number during burning season. I also know  Euro-Thai families with children who are desparate to leave the region for good.

A couple of years ago - I did or rather started a tour of the North west - every single place I visited was totally empty - usually it was Thai people I"d expect to see but they were deserted - some places were actually closed in Umphang the only other tourists we saws was a small group pf Swedes. In Mae Hong Son eading for Chiang Mai, I turned back and headed South with a chest infection.

 

However you seem to had had extansive conversations with Chinese tourists - You do realise that Chinese New Year is celebrated all over the country by both Thai Chinese and visitors but you seem to have worked out the difference - BTW do you speak Mandarin?

 

 

[kwilco]

7 hours ago, KhaoHom said:

International trips aside, my wife and myself go to one inexpensive place of beauty and tranquility six weeks a year and have done so since we met. Cheap.

 

There's nowhere like it in Thailand and much the world.

 

Most anywhere else will not be as beautiful, peaceful, great for health and exercise. In the better times still fun.

 

I know exactly why I don't travel / go anywhere else...just doesn't measure up. Overpriced Dec, Songkran especially

Your photos are precisely the things that Thai is destroying and losing - it doesn't matter to many businessmen as now the majority of tourists come for the concrete  and deckchairs. ...and BTW - why are you so close to that coral?????

[daejung]

On 4/30/2025 at 2:01 PM, Harrisfan said:

When were flights $ 300?

Since 2013, the lowest price I paid from France was 650 € with one extra checked baggage and a leg from my city to Paris or Amsterdam
Last November I paid 1 842 €

[Mad Mustang]

After living in Thailand for 15 years, both in Issan and Bangkok and seeing all the changes take place. It is now over priced and doesn’t offer much value at all anymore for foreign residents or tourists. Chaing Mai air is rotten, Phuket now essentially a Russian enclave, Pattaya infested with a disrespectful low spending often unhygienic demographic of so called tourists.
Crazy rents for anywhere decent in Bangkok, endless traffic jams, rorts and scams and red tape galore and fleece the Farang is now almost a national sport. There’s not too much appealing about the place anymore.
I have a lifetime elite visa, went to Phnom Penh a month ago for the first time. For me i found it better than Vietnam and better than Thailand in every way. Packing up and going.

Thailand has lost most of its shine and has become only about $$$. I don’t think I will miss the place too much and wouldn’t recommend it as a holiday destination any more.

[JamesPhuket10]

 

Oh no, many miserable skint farangs are out in force again thinking they have some say in what goes on in Thailand.

 

The Thai government and tourist authority are not interested in your constant squealing about prices, you are nothing compared to the 40(ish) millions of tourists who come to Thailand to spend each year.

 

They have been saying for years they wish to cater for more upmarket tourists willing to spend a lot of money over a two week visit, they are the target crowd not the winging so called ex-pat (annual temporary visa extensions) on their miserable £1500 a month spending budget.

 

Phuket is reassuringly expensive (compared to the back of beyond, up-country squalid village) , it keeps the moaning skint ex-pats away.

 

I have not met any tourist or so called expats living in Phuket who thinks it is expensive compared to many other countries in the world, as far as I can see it is dirt cheap.

 

 

 

[KhaoHom]

4 hours ago, kwilco said:

Your photos are precisely the things that Thai is destroying and losing - it doesn't matter to many businessmen as now the majority of tourists come for the concrete  and deckchairs. ...and BTW - why are you so close to that coral?????

 

She is in the back of the coral..