Tourism Cambodia Outshines Thailand in Race for Chinese Tourists

[Luuk Chaai]

23 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

  23 hours ago, blaze master said:     They're going to build casinos though.

 

23 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Look at what happened in Cambodia, when casinos were approved. Billions of dollars flowed in for construction money and then the next government outlawed them, same would happen in Thailand no doubt. 

 

AND ...........  Somebody will get rich in the process 

23 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

 

 

  23 hours ago, blaze master said:

 

They're going to build casinos though.

Look at what happened in Cambodia, when casinos were approved. Billions of dollars flowed in for construction money and then the next government outlawed them, same would happen in Thailand no doubt. 

[J Branche]

20 hours ago, pdc9 said:

the tourists will come again when the currency exchange is adjusted to the reality, cost of a trip to Thailand went up the last few years and the Baht exchange is stable and clearly overvalued by about 25% so after adjusting the rate the tourists will think again about Thailand

Did a little more digging.  It appears that somehow the Thai Baht is tied to Gold Prices to some degree and Thailand has a decent amount of Gold Reserves.  That makes little sense as China has 10X the Gold Reserves as Thailand.  The Yuan is down 10% against the Baht YOY.  Definitely sounds like currency manipulation and not tied to Gold Prices.

[pieeyed]

They have casinos

[JoseThailand]

On 5/29/2025 at 4:43 PM, snoop1130 said:

While Thailand grapples with dwindling numbers of Chinese visitors, attributed largely to negative press surrounding tourist scams and issues, Cambodia has adeptly positioned itself as a budget-friendly, hassle-free haven.

 

LMFAO

 

SCAMbodia is a well deserved name

[Tomtomtom69]

On 5/30/2025 at 10:56 AM, Srikcir said:

Thailand has a mixed economy with the major economic sectors being agriculture, manufacturing, tourism, service and natural resources. In 2022, the tourism sector directly contributed around 2.78% to the gross domestic product (GDP) in Thailand. 

In 2021 the economy of Thailand was dependent on exports, which accounted for about 58% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) in 2021.

Tourism is a low-value sector while exports (manufacturing, agriculture) are higher value sectors of the economy.

Thailand might better advance its economy by shifting part of its tourism industry through training, mechanization and industrialization aimed towards higher value sectors. But a decade of post-2013 Thai governments have seemed too often incapable of making such a commitment.

 

 

 

Without double checking your figures, I doubt those are correct. Not sure where you got them from, but keep in mind that because 2022 was still a Covid year, tourism revenue was more depressed than usual.

 

The first half of the year saw little tourism revenue as it was still beset with restrictions. The second half of the year finally saw some growth, particularly the last quarter, when all inbound restrictions were lifted (although there was a requirement to have health insurance for those heading onto countries such as China and India that remained in place until those two countries removed their PCR/antigen testing requirements roughly around quarter 2 of 2023). 

 

I think tourism probably contributed around 6-7% to GDP in 2022 (the 2% figure refers to 2021 from memory and would mostly have come from domestic sources as the country was closed). 

 

Do remember that in 2019, tourism contributed 21.6% to GDP (I recall that figure off the top of my head) and it's again rebounded to well above 10% since 2023.

 

You're right - the country does need to rely less on international tourism in particular. That stated, successive governments have learned nothing from Covid and continue to rely way too much on tourism, while letting manufacturing gradually self-destruct (except for the electric car sector).

[Tomtomtom69]

On 5/30/2025 at 11:12 AM, J Branche said:

Quote

"I do appreciate there are those of you sex pats whose life revolves around a condo, beer bar with your favourite bar stool and the company of young Thai prostitutes - yuck!!"

 

Throw in some Tennis, Massages, Traveling sounds like a pretty good life in moderation.  Condo with Seaview for cheap. Or you can go back West and be ignored pay $6 for an average quality beer, $25 for a nice meal, and $120 for your cable and internet, $1800 - $2000 no Seaview Condo.  Airlines treat you worse than cargo.

 

Living the dream in Thailand and looking forward to many more years

 

You'll easily pay US$6 (in Baht) for a terrible beer at a bar or restaurant here in Thailand. Thai beers suck and alcoholic beverages are pricey.