Tourism Tourism Shock: Thailand's Visitor Numbers See Alarming Plunge

[Cabradelmar]

On 5/16/2025 at 7:39 AM, webfact said:

Former TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn stresses urgent reform is needed to revive the industry and proposes the creation of new destinations to attract higher-quality visitors. Visitor numbers have dropped 1% as of May 11

Not enough of a drop, but it's a good start.  Seriously, a whooping 1%... call the King, mobilize the army LOL #overreaction  So, if this continues through year end, a grand total of 400k fewer (of the projected 40m) tourist will arrive. Hardly a madidate for "urgent reform". These TAT clowns and their hyperbole. What's really happening is these clowns want so desperately to allow casino gambling that they all going to pretend the sky is falling to get their way. 

[10baht]

On 5/16/2025 at 7:39 AM, webfact said:

 

Thailand's tourism sector faces a pressing situation as foreign arrivals nosedive

Putting all your eggs in the wrong basket...what do you expect. It's like investing - go for high quality and diversify.

[10baht]

On 5/16/2025 at 7:59 AM, FlorC said:

The picture suggests that construction in Thailand is so bad that Chinese visitors wear a 

helmet to walk around. 

555, too bad they don't wear them on motorbikes.

[factual monk]

actually now Thailand has got stagnant in respect to tourism...  Higher costs of Transportation,  hotels and sightseeing. Exchange rates of Thai Baht... plus higher cost of travel or sustaining. For example... ATM withdrawal per transaction costs 220 thb for a non thai card where-as same in Vietnam costs around 70 thb... taxi scams... plus that constant irritating touts... asking boom boom... while walking around in tourist areas especially at night. Plus competition from countries like Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos ... who are offering 2 to 3 months stay evisa... 

[technoronin]

On 5/15/2025 at 7:59 PM, FlorC said:

The picture suggests that construction in Thailand is so bad that Chinese visitors wear a 

helmet to walk around. 

 

That's the Sanctuary of Truth.  They require visitor to wear hard hats.

[spidermike007]

Thailand is no longer attracting that many people from the West, and the vast majority of tourists are now Russian, Malaysian, Indian, and Arab, and some Chinese, and I don't think very many of them are wealthy. So, the industry continues to hurt. 

 

Thailand is no longer attracting very many Western tourists for a dozen very good reasons. One could argue that these are relatively low quality tourists, in terms of the amounts of money that they spend. Sure you have a few wealthy Russians and some wealthy Chinese, but most are lower to middle income and don't spend alot. 

 

Thailand suffers from an impossible level of smugness and arrogance, and a persistent belief that they are truly the center of the universe and the best thing in the world. They don't have a clue. Sometimes it feels like the fact that the nation was never colonized was a leading factor in this hubris and inability to see the world for what it is. The severe inability to adapt, improve, and reform, has hurt their prospects. 

 

It's all good. Far less tourism would make Thailand far more comfortable for the tourists who come, and for the expats, and would likely lead to better attitudes amongst people in tourism. They simply would need to be creative in figuring out ways to make up for the lost billions in revenue. 

 

This process will not be reversed until the authorities wake up and make some sacrifices such as lowering luxury taxes, lowering wine taxes, cleaning up the air, making the highways safer, allowing more private air travel, helicopter travel, high-speed trains and alternatives to the totally choked and extremely hazardous highways. 

 

And now they have invited in the Bratva, by opening up the country to all Russians. Quantity over quality only works if you are selling $2 items at a swap meet. Dumb and dumber. 

 

 

[GammaGlobulin]

My wish is that 90 percent of Thai tourists would be sent to other SE Asian countries, like Burma.

 

They say they want higher quality tourists.

I am one, but I don't see many others.

[Card]

On 5/16/2025 at 4:04 AM, petermik said:

No the biggest danger is the pavement conditions...folk are tripping and falling due to them looking skywards for falling debris......

Or chatting on their phones while walking

[harryviking]

???? ITS LOW SEASON!!! Rain and flooding!  🙄😆

[peter48]

In the earlier 2000s Farang / Europeans/ Aussies flocked to Thailand because you got for example 55 baht to £. Now its too expensive often in tourist places well over 550+  baht for just two drinks and a basic meal for two. You can be charged 100 baht for a Leo in some bars. Decrease the Baht's value and tourists would flock back.

 

Even now as Trump threatens the Thai economy and Thai exports with massive tariffs on its goods exported to USA ( where poor Trump voters will pay a lot more for everything imported)  we only get  circa  43 baht to £, lower rates at most Thai ATMs and ATM charge on Tourists every time is  230 baht ( circa £5.30) 

[lavender19]

On 5/16/2025 at 7:59 AM, FlorC said:

The picture suggests that construction in Thailand is so bad that Chinese visitors wear a 

helmet to walk around. 

 

Especially if walking down Rama 2

[ronster]

Quick double the prices for hotels !!! 

[Cameroni]

4 minutes ago, peter48 said:

550+

 

550 baht for a meal for two and two drinks is too expensive?

[wensiensheng]

On 5/16/2025 at 8:45 AM, Gottfrid said:

And it´s going to fall more, resulting in a deeper decline. I think, happy days are here again. It´s going to be cleaner, nicer and calmer. 

And more Russian. They are the only people here in numbers 

[peter48]

18 hours ago, StayinThailand2much said:

 

Lots of backpackers, yes, who don't spend much...

Not sure on that, kids or students on gap year are not the poor of Europe. Generally middle class kids before or after university from wealthier parts of UK or Europe and whose parents can afford for their off spring to travel for some months often not just Thailand but Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia which as we know are cheaper and reportedly some say friendly too. 

[wensiensheng]

“The emphasis lies on transitioning from a demand-driven to a supply-driven approach, crafting high-value tourism products”

 

what a fool. Doesn’t he realize that the Thai tourist industry is already a supply driven one. They supply huge amounts of hookers and booze on every street corner in tourist areas and they get the tourists who want that kind of thing. Sexpats in other words.

 

If Thailand truly wanted to upgrade its tourist offering and attract upgraded tourists from what they currently get, they’d need to eliminate sleaze and improve the infrastructure and environment so that tourists don’t get continually injured, maimed and murdered.

 

The alternative is to be honest about what you’ve got to offer and market the heck out of that.

 

Neither is happening at the moment, hence the handwringing.

 

On a plus note maybe the Central bank will now massage the baht downward 😃

[peter48]

6 minutes ago, Cameroni said:

 

550 baht for a meal for two and two drinks is too expensive?

I guess compared to UK/Europe not as expensive but that's just 2 Thai drinks with an early night. But I think if you are not on some 2 week splurge yes prices in Thailand have crept up after all  its not a first world country. If your here for longer several weeks or month or so etc its noticeable and taxi trips in and around at 200 baht for 1 short trip. 

[alfredwilliams]

Thailand a country in a permanent state of semi deriliction..

[wensiensheng]

20 minutes ago, harryviking said:

???? ITS LOW SEASON!!! Rain and flooding!  🙄😆

Didn’t that happen in previous years also? So not an explanation for a fall in tourist numbers that typically arrive at this time of year

[JJ-Thailand]

On 5/16/2025 at 7:39 AM, webfact said:

urgent reform is needed to revive the industry and proposes the creation of new destinations to attract higher-quality visitors.

 

If you want to attract higher quality visitors, you need to create a higher quality country.
How about starting with safety and security.

[Hummin]

On 5/16/2025 at 9:24 AM, nong38 said:

The decline is hardly a surprise to me, Thailand has been putting up prices but not giving anything more so the value of the holiday has gone down, food prices up and hotels as well and then there is the variety of prices for the same thing. I was in Hua Hin last week and we got a tuk tuk ride for 100 bts, the return wanted 150 bts until the wife stepped in but this seems to be typical in :  see what I can get out of the tourist  ". The week before I was in Koh Samui and went into a pharmacy to get tablets for an upset stomach, the 10 tablets cost me 50 bts, where I live in Thailand I can get a box of 60 for 80 bts.  ON the Lamai Night market my wife got food poisoning and put it down to old oil, not a problem for the kitchen and it saves them money but the market loses its reputation. Just a few examples of maybe why tourists might be looking elsewhere.

No doubt non of these are the reason for the decline in TAT or similar, it will be the exchange rate, well do something about it then!

Use grab in Hua Hin. Tuk have actually been cheaper now since we lived here before covid, because of grab

[hotchilli]

On 5/16/2025 at 7:39 AM, webfact said:

Former TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn stresses urgent reform is needed to revive the industry and proposes the creation of new destinations to attract higher-quality visitors. Visitor numbers have dropped 1% as of May 11, with particular declines from key markets like China, Hong Kong, and South Korea.

So what do you want, quality or quantity...

Quality will not come while numbers are so high and people fit in like sardines in a can.

Plus sort out the daily brawls in the family friendly areas and some might not cancel their holiday idea in Thailand for a more stable, safer location.

[wensiensheng]

20 hours ago, frank83628 said:

The people on this forum are just miserable bitter old men, in the real world 'thaivisa' as it used to be known is a running joke nobody takes anything said here seriously

Talking your own book?

[peter48]

2 minutes ago, wensiensheng said:

“The emphasis lies on transitioning from a demand-driven to a supply-driven approach, crafting high-value tourism products”

 

what a fool. Doesn’t he realize that the Thai tourist industry is already a supply driven one. They supply huge amounts of hookers and booze on every street corner in tourist areas and they get the tourists who want that kind of thing. Sexpats in other words.

 

If Thailand truly wanted to upgrade its tourist offering and attract upgraded tourists from what they currently get, they’d need to eliminate sleaze and improve the infrastructure and environment so that tourists don’t get continually injured, maimed and murdered.

 

The alternative is to be honest about what you’ve got to offer and market the heck out of that.

 

Neither is happening at the moment, hence the handwringing.

 

On a plus note maybe the Central bank will now massage the baht downward 😃

But there are loads of places to go in Thailand where what you describe is not true, loads of gorgeous  beaches, loads of historic places, family places, student places,  walking areas, country parks, sea sport places ….maybe you just go where there are lady bars no problem with that, but don't assume all lovely Thailand is like mad Phuket or the wild west of Pattaya 

[Hummin]

3 minutes ago, JJ-Thailand said:

 

If you want to attract higher quality visitors, you need to create a higher quality country.
How about starting with safety and security.

The prices is decent, but to be true, they need to clean up, and make better value for tourists who is willing to pay good money.

 

When drug and sex tourists mixes with higher end tourists, it is self explained what happens.

 

At a 5 star hotel 2 out of 3 nights been wakeup by sex tourists coming home late night with girls and making noise. Not acceptable, so we moved before the weekend to a place who are not guest friendly

[gejohesch]

On 5/16/2025 at 2:45 AM, Gottfrid said:

And it´s going to fall more, resulting in a deeper decline. I think, happy days are here again. It´s going to be cleaner, nicer and calmer. 

and cheaper I hope!

[superal]

When will the T.A.T. understand that the majority of Chinese tourists come to Thailand on escorted all inclusive deals which means that only a small amounts of money is spread to small businesses . Mostly window shopping and the same goes for the majority of Indian tourists .

For many Western world tourists it is the high prices of airline tickets that are beyond their budgets . These airlines appear to be a cartel .

[fittobethaied]

What do they expect! Scams galore are going on all over the Kingdom. Every time one's phone rings, you immediately expect it to be some con artist trying to scam you out of money. Crime is all over the place, and nobody feels safe. Every news article that reports on a crime blames it on those dirty foreigners and calls us out by nationality. It just shows the Thais' disdain for us. Everyone knows what is behind those fake Thai smiles. Foreigners are charged any random price for goods and services depending on how gullible we look, while Thais pay a set less expensive price. The beaches are crap with litter all over the place. I've lived here 15 years and nothing has changed. Thailand is still one of the greatest armpits in the world! 

[Yagoda]

45 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

Thailand is no longer attracting that many people from the West, and the vast majority of tourists are now Russian, Malaysian, Indian, and Arab, and some Chinese, and I don't think very many of them are wealthy. So, the industry continues to hurt. 

 

Thailand is no longer attracting very many Western tourists for a dozen very good reasons. One could argue that these are relatively low quality tourists, in terms of the amounts of money that they spend. Sure you have a few wealthy Russians and some wealthy Chinese, but most are lower to middle income and don't spend alot. 

 

Thailand suffers from an impossible level of smugness and arrogance, and a persistent belief that they are truly the center of the universe and the best thing in the world. They don't have a clue. Sometimes it feels like the fact that the nation was never colonized was a leading factor in this hubris and inability to see the world for what it is. The severe inability to adapt, improve, and reform, has hurt their prospects. 

 

It's all good. Far less tourism would make Thailand far more comfortable for the tourists who come, and for the expats, and would likely lead to better attitudes amongst people in tourism. They simply would need to be creative in figuring out ways to make up for the lost billions in revenue. 

 

This process will not be reversed until the authorities wake up and make some sacrifices such as lowering luxury taxes, lowering wine taxes, cleaning up the air, making the highways safer, allowing more private air travel, helicopter travel, high-speed trains and alternatives to the totally choked and extremely hazardous highways. 

 

And now they have invited in the Bratva, by opening up the country to all Russians. Quantity over quality only works if you are selling $2 items at a swap meet. Dumb and dumber. 

 

 

Your cut and paste and plagiarization is becoming  blatantly annoying.

[peter48]

15 hours ago, ericdk said:

It's pretty simple, Thailand used to be exceptional value for money, now it's only good value for money.

 

It also seemed as if they lost some of their world class service during covid. The awful face masks changed something.

 

I think your correct on that, noticed this year service can be variable with some restaurant lady staff looking quite miserable at times ( by know means all). Of course the best places  are where you are made to feel welcome, plenty of smiles, attentive bright staff, food suggestions, reasonable English, and those are the busier places, making more money, where visitors will return.