Tourism Thailand’s Tourism Confidence Dips Amid Economic Challenges

[baansgr]

What increased costs do Thais have for everyday living? Sure I know fish n chips and steak meals have increased but who comes to Thailand to eat what they can get at home far cheaper

[spidermike007]

As expats, maybe it is time we start celebrating the drop in tourism. It dramatically improves our quality of life here. Their mistakes, our benefits. 

[baansgr]

42 minutes ago, ronster said:

Gasoline is certainly not the same price .

When I came here at first it was 18 bht a litre for 95 gasoline , today it's 33 .

Yes and 22 baht in 2020 but 33 baht in early 2000s gasoline fluctuates so take an average costing you will find it's almost the same

[grain]

As far as I can tell Vietnam has pretty well replaced Thailand as the favorite of SEA. Thailand seems to be getting the dregs of tourism these days. Social media is full of videos of drunken shirtless yobs fighting in the streets of the top tourist spots and getting chased around by gangs of ladyboys. In the past these things could happen and very few people knew about it, today there are people all over the place with smartphones taking vids and putting them up. The whole world is watching all these disgusting and violent things taking place in tourist hubs around the country. 

[atpeace]

53 minutes ago, baansgr said:

Please read my post...costs for day to day living have barely increased in 20 years. Internet is cheaper, water/electric same price. Gasoline same price, rents are cheaper and marginal increase in food....please tell me where you think costs have increased???..I really would.like to know

My cost have gone up the last 5 years and I assume you know this but just want to make a point.  20 years ago a local restaurant in Chiang Mai served normal Thai dishes for 25 baht and now they are 60 baht.  Local markets have seen big price increases for meats and have no idea about other produce.  Meats are 50% higher than 20 years ago.  I eat lots of tuna which is up at least 20% in the span of 3 years.  Average electric cost are up 1/3 since 2020.

 

We also make more than we did 20 years ago as a whole so in the end the big price increases are nearly unnoticeable IMO.  It is a little more expensive in big cities but still cheap.  I increase my budget 3% a year and that seems to work over many years 🙂

[atpeace]

7 minutes ago, grain said:

As far as I can tell Vietnam has pretty well replaced Thailand as the favorite of SEA. Thailand seems to be getting the dregs of tourism these days. Social media is full of videos of drunken shirtless yobs fighting in the streets of the top tourist spots and getting chased around by gangs of ladyboys. In the past these things could happen and very few people knew about it, today there are people all over the place with smartphones taking vids and putting them up. The whole world is watching all these disgusting and violent things taking place in tourist hubs around the country. 

That post excites me!  Been years since I witnessed any of this and think there is a time and place for almost everything.  Thailand was much more wild 25 years ago and a blast!  Now it is boring and old news for many.  Vietnam is more exciting! 

 

I have just adjusted and now enjoy a less exciting existence.

[shackleton]

Conflicting stories from the Tourist board they are paranoid over figures 

Change weekly 

One week Pattaya has never had it so good then it's  bar staff motor cycle guys 

Queuing up for free food as business is slow

TAT always trying to say everything is smelling of roses  

Always looking for travel agencies around the world saying how good Thailand 

Is numbers suggest otherwise 🤔 

 

[wimpy]

2 hours ago, baansgr said:

Still cheap...same same as 20 years ago..no inflation here unless your are a drinking monger..rents..cheaper, utilities..cheaper, gasoline..cheaper, food... marginally more...best place on Earth 👍 

 You must be joking. 20 years ago, pork was 50 baht /kg. More importantly, the baht was 40 /$

[NatureFilm]

Maybe good idea, to be nice with the expats, who stay.

[connda]

Keep showing Thai-on-foreigner beat-downs of tourist on Thai streets which happen wayyyyy too often as well as the reoccurring was on the Thai-Cambodian border which main-stream media is ampping up to become "an actual war,' well, it may be a rather slow tourist season.

[Will B Good]

 

I doubt for one second TAT hold a similar view.....they are the eternal optimists.

 

 

War could bring tourists flooding in.

 

[paul1804]

2 hours ago, thongplay said:

Why do we have the Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT) and the TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand) and the ministry of sports and tourism?

 

 

To keep a whole bunch of unproductive people employed at the Tax payers expense!!

[paul1804]

I need to stop reading these TAT, TCT & other similar agencies articles! They contract themselves weekly, obviously dont proof read their stories and mostly offer a bunch of dribble. In my area wholesalers are experiencing a better June/July than the last few years, tourist accommodation for August is almost completely booked so it can't be all doom & gloom in the tourist industry. 

 

Yes Thailand is no longer the budget destination it once was but thats not really a bad thing because budget destinations so often attract budget tourists and Thailands deficient infrastructure is overloaded, remember Thais dont see the bigger picture where better infrastructure attracts tourist with bigger spending budgets. One day they will get it so lets hope for those in the industry its not to late. Thailand is still a relatively cheap destination globally, locally produced food, housing, restaurants, fuel etc etc.

Hopefully the Tarrif war will lower the cost to the consumer of Thai imports which globally are on the expensive side, compliments of a greedy short sited government but I suppose its an easier way to collect revenue!!! 

[Patong2021]

I think a war with Cambodia is just what Thailand needs to help encourage tourism.   Everyone knows that the Chinese, Korean and Japanese are not concerned by  such things as a war. 🙃🫠

[Globalres]

What could be a problem is reading about police razzias in night clubs, the complicated alcohol drinking laws (for tourists), even though in practice perhaps doesn’t mean much, the anti vaping law is quite a surprise for many who don’t study all the do’s and do t’s before travelling to Thailand.  Many people have proudly stopped smoking and vape instead (yes, I know, let’s not start a discussion about pros and cons of vaping), and are startled by the fact of being fined or even find themselves arrested simply for vaping, a habit which is broadly accepted in the West.  It is cleaner (no butts), mostly odourless and is restricted to smoking areas.  
It seems to many as if Thailand has become a police state, particularly directed at tourists being the greatest target.  Driving motorbikes without a helmet, yes one shouldn’t do that, but there again tourists are more targeted than the locals.  It’s become rather unpleasant.  
I have been alerted to this fact by many friends and their friends, so they are reluctant to visit.  These friends at least know about these facts, but many arrive thinking they’ll enjoy a relaxing holiday and promptly get fined/arrested simply enjoying their vapes and wonder why the alternative delivery method of nicotine is criminal but cigarettes are not!

[Pompeygeezer]

Funny how people on here start there Thai bashing when actually tourism in Thailand is no worse off than any other country.  Tourism is down everywhere because the cost of living is so high because the world decided to shutdown for a couple of years over a cold.  which was a disproportionate reaction by the WHO and the world's governments . But most people on here are rolling out the same old lines that accompanies every article about tourism being down and what Thailand is doing wrong, when it's just feeling the impact of the covid shutdown.  And in actual fact is doing a lot better than a lot of countries tourism wise.   

[Hawaiian]

5 minutes ago, Pompeygeezer said:

Funny how people on here start there Thai bashing when actually tourism in Thailand is no worse off than any other country.  Tourism is down everywhere because the cost of living is so high because the world decided to shutdown for a couple of years over a cold.  which was a disproportionate reaction by the WHO and the world's governments . But most people on here are rolling out the same old lines that accompanies every article about tourism being down and what Thailand is doing wrong, when it's just feeling the impact of the covid shutdown.  And in actual fact is doing a lot better than a lot of countries tourism wise.   

At least Thailand doesn't have a leader that is bashing potential tourists.

[Pompeygeezer]

1 hour ago, Hawaiian said:

At least Thailand doesn't have a leader that is bashing potential tourists.

Although they don't have a leader at all at the moment😉

[baansgr]

1 hour ago, wimpy said:

 You must be joking. 20 years ago, pork was 50 baht /kg. More importantly, the baht was 40 /$

And. Chicken was 45 and is now 58..compare that to western countries. You eat what is in season...maybe I am just used to it and as always cook at home have hardly notice an increase...I thought that's what most people.do, obviously not..and regarding XE in 1995 it was 22 baht to $, also if you are working here as I was until a few years ago $£€ rates are irrelevant as was paid in Baht, same as Thais are

[NoshowJones]

3 hours ago, baansgr said:

Don't forget Malaya, I think they are the biggest increase in tourist numbers

I will never understand any tourist going to a Muslim country.

[newnative]

That's really reaching to try to blame the tourist numbers on tariffs.  Back to the excuse drawing board.  

[NoshowJones]

1 hour ago, atpeace said:

My cost have gone up the last 5 years and I assume you know this but just want to make a point.  20 years ago a local restaurant in Chiang Mai served normal Thai dishes for 25 baht and now they are 60 baht.  Local markets have seen big price increases for meats and have no idea about other produce.  Meats are 50% higher than 20 years ago.  I eat lots of tuna which is up at least 20% in the span of 3 years.  Average electric cost are up 1/3 since 2020.

 

We also make more than we did 20 years ago as a whole so in the end the big price increases are nearly unnoticeable IMO.  It is a little more expensive in big cities but still cheap.  I increase my budget 3% a year and that seems to work over many years 🙂

Makro increased the cause of a tin of baked beans quite a bit and people stopped buying them. There have been no beans in my nearest Makro's for ages now. Now my local small Big C has stopped selling them as nobody will pay the inflated prices for them.

[atpeace]

17 minutes ago, NoshowJones said:

Makro increased the cause of a tin of baked beans quite a bit and people stopped buying them. There have been no beans in my nearest Makro's for ages now. Now my local small Big C has stopped selling them as nobody will pay the inflated prices for them.

Maybe it's the cans 🙂

 

 

 

[Hawaiian]

1 hour ago, Pompeygeezer said:

Although they don't have a leader at all at the moment😉

Isn't Phumtham the interim prime minister?  

[Hawaiian]

1 hour ago, Pompeygeezer said:

Although they don't have a leader at all at the moment😉

What about Phumtham?

[wimpy]

1 hour ago, baansgr said:

And. Chicken was 45 and is now 58..compare that to western countries. You eat what is in season...maybe I am just used to it and as always cook at home have hardly notice an increase...I thought that's what most people.do, obviously not..and regarding XE in 1995 it was 22 baht to $, also if you are working here as I was until a few years ago $£€ rates are irrelevant as was paid in Baht, same as Thais are

Chicken is more like 90 and up where I live. You might get a carcass for 58. Most ingredients I cook with have doubled (in baht terms) in the last 20 years. Much worse if measured in $.

[atpeace]

4 hours ago, JustinTyme said:

Am I the only one who sees a direct relationship between a "strong Baht" and "weak Tourism"  ???
Gosh, you make your country 10%+ more expensive for tourists and exports, and then wonder why the economy and stock market are in the toilet?? Really? Really?

I think everybody can see a relationship in the cherry picked data 🙂 How about going back 15 years and then your premise falls apart.  Tourism was booming when the baht was strong.

[Toby1947]

7 hours ago, baansgr said:

Still cheap...same same as 20 years ago..no inflation here unless your are a drinking monger..rents..cheaper, utilities..cheaper, gasoline..cheaper, food... marginally more...best place on Earth 👍 

Obviously you've never been anywhere else. 🤣😂

[baansgr]

38 minutes ago, Toby1947 said:

Obviously you've never been anywhere else. 🤣😂

I have been a lot of places but Thailand beats them all hands down...depends what you are looking for

[baansgr]

3 hours ago, wimpy said:

Chicken is more like 90 and up where I live. You might get a carcass for 58. Most ingredients I cook with have doubled (in baht terms) in the last 20 years. Much worse if measured in $.

Chonburi province, I would say you need to look around, I normally pay 55 baht for 10 eggs, only last week I went to lotus and didn't even look at the price....95 baht when I checked out...so there can be a large difference in prices in the same locality