27 minutes ago, VBF said:

Well... there's no "war" with Cambodia, just a few border attacks that just won't affect tourists, most of whom won't be going anywhere near. TDAC is a 5 minute job, (less time than it takes to apply for a visa) Kidnapping Chinese - how does that affect other nationalities? As for unstable government - pick any time in the last 40 years!

So i don't think any of those is the reason.

Quit a lot of tourists holiday in Thailand then get the bus to Cambodia. Probably 100s everyday. Last time I used the bus there was 10-20 leaving full from Bangkok everyday.

Just now, BritManToo said:

Quit a lot of tourists holiday in Thailand then get the bus to Cambodia. Probably 100s everyday.

Sure but "hundreds" won't affect the figures much and of those, many will just change that bit of their trip. Maybe go to VN instead or tour Thailand.

Thing is, I imagine(?) you're just guessing at numbers or do you have figures to show how many?

 

My point was that the reasons you initially gave won't really have that much effect on overall tourist numbers....IMO.

22 hours ago, StayinThailand2much said:

 

Great! How about people who couldn't work during the pandemic; should they maybe ask for 100% or 200% salary increases now to 'recuperate losses'? S**t happens when you run a business, so why insist on catching up on 'lost income'? All it will do, is drive tourists to more affordable destinations, and loss of more income...

It’s like The Stupids (1996 • Comedy/Adventure • 1h 34m) highly recommended if you want to make sense of Thai logic.

As of September 7, 2025, Thailand recorded over 22.3 million foreign tourist arrivals, generating more than 1 trillion baht in revenue. The top source markets are China, Malaysia, India, Russia, and South Korea, though growth in Singapore and India has recently boosted these numbers. The Ministry of Tourism and Sports and Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) are focusing on high-value tourism and sustainable growth.  https://intelligencecenter.tat.or.th/articles/22978

BEST OF THE WEEK:

"Vietnam has overtaken Thailand for Chinese adventure travelers. "

1 hour ago, wensiensheng said:

Well if the 33 million are the big spending quality tourists that TAT claims to have targeted, then it’s far better than 40 million mass tourists. 
 

Unfortunately it’s unlikely to be the case.

     It's always been, and likely always will be, a mix.  And, despite what anyone says, including TAT, that is what a country should want and, certainly needs, if it also has, as Thailand does, a  mix of tourist accommodations, from cheap hostels to 5-star resorts. 

     I remember sometime ago reading an article where, at that time, Thailand was getting too much of one type of tourist and not enough of another type.  Can't remember if it was too many budget tourists or too many 5-star tourists; think it might have been the latter.  In any case, there was moaning and groaning from the tourist businesses not getting enough of their type of tourists.  A mix is good.  

6 hours ago, Paul Henry said:

They convienently forgot the exchange rate of the Thai baht.A few years back one Aussie dollar was worth over 27 bht to day 19 -20bht. The fat cat politicians must wake up and stop driving the bht up for their own personal gain.

Never gonna happen; in Thailand the only people that matter are 'Important' people' and no ordinary Citizen or Tourist is of any consequence !

If they deducted the amount of Expats coming back home from overseas trips, which is quite a substancial number, the arrival numbers would look even sicker !

Kind of makes sense, as a few negative headliners of late, involving folks from CN.   Along with 10% difference in exchange rate, 5% down against THB, 6+% up against the Dong the past year, along with Nam being less expensive, or so I hear & read.   Less congestion alone would be a plus.

 

It's only a holiday vs living there.

16 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Kind of makes sense, as a few negative headliners of late, involving folks from CN.   Along with 10% difference in exchange rate, 5% down against THB, 6+% up against the Dong the past year, along with Nam being less expensive, or so I hear & read.   Less congestion alone would be a plus.

 

It's only a holiday vs living there.

Vietnam is better in all ways, except for a long term visa.

If I were a tourist I'd be in Vietnam

If I were a new expat, I'd be in Cambodia or the Philippines for the easy Visas.

13 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Vietnam is better in all ways, except for a long term visa.

If I were a tourist I'd be in Vietnam

If I were a new expat, I'd be in Cambodia or the Philippines for the easy Visas.

 

A bit sad if your criteria for a living space is only visa related. There is usually a work around for most places. 

 

 But I suppose if a "new" expat " has never lived anywhere else, it might work.

39 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Vietnam is better in all ways, except for a long term visa.

If I were a tourist I'd be in Vietnam

If I were a new expat, I'd be in Cambodia or the Philippines for the easy Visas.

I wouldn't be in Cambo or PH, even if they let us stay without a visa.  Visa here is easy.  Went to the bank Monday, ordered my 'credit advicet', return next week to pick up and get account statement & balance sheet.  Head off to Imm with a few copies of BS, and get my extension.   Too easy.

 

Nam looks nice, playing tourist, as I watched a view of Paddy Doyle's vids when he did Nam.  Infrastructure still needs work, and a few issues like TH.   If visa available, think I'd still be here.  

 

Not a fan of TH above us, as just came back from a northern loop, and see no reason to visit again.  If daughter wasn't in BKK, I'd never go there either.

it's amazing to see them whining when times are tough but never saying anything when they full their pockets.... Economy and businesses are facing periodic ups and downs due to several reasons or events. It's part of the risk. Keep money aside when times are good and reinvent yourselves when times are more difficult. Business as usual has never been a winning strategy in a fast moving world. it would be time for the Thai leaders to get out of "Thailand is the epicenter of the World''. Face realities instead of looking away and find fake excuses for anything happening.'' Break failure'' doesn't explain everything.......

On 9/16/2025 at 10:11 AM, snoop1130 said:

Interestingly, Vietnam has recently overtaken Thailand as the top regional destination for Chinese adventurers.

 

Good, this will teach them

19 hours ago, newnative said:

    Thailand should be thrilled if it hits 33 million, especially considering all the problems it has had, including safety issues, too many changes in government, the war wth Cambodia, the strong baht, various scandals/negative publicity, etc.   33 million is not that far off the record numbers of 2019 and more than double what the figure was for 2010.   And, 33 million is still far more than the 22 to 23 million projected for Vietnam this year.  Be happy with 33 million--still plenty.

 

Why would any country be thrilled with a decline in one of its major industries if there are no other opportunities for the workforce ? 

 

Tourism sucks up a major labour pool of unskilled workers, if they are idle or unemployed crime goes up. There is a direct correlation and I actually think if you combine that with the drug problem it's a major reason why tourist places like Pattaya and Phuket have an image problem news wise. 

On 9/16/2025 at 4:15 PM, StayinThailand2much said:

 

Time to double prices to make good for the shortfall... 😆

 

So as the "shortfall" could also double!e then...

I'll put this one out there for discussion. Whoever was in Pattaya during COVID saw the emptiness of the place, people suffering, the decline of the infrastructure, nothing happening, the government pleading poverty. What a golden opportunity to improve and upgrade everything that is wrong with the city, employ people that didn't have a job, sort the infrastructure issues out without disrupt tourism while there wasn't any.

 

Contrast that with Siem Riem in Cambodia, a much poorer city and country by miles. They employed every tuk-tuk driver and other idle worker to upgrade their roads, communal areas etc and sort out their drainage system. They used to get far worse flooding than Pattaya back then.

 

All I can say is visiting Siem Reap now, 10 years after I was last here, in the height of this rainy season and experiencing worse downpours than Pattaya, they have sorted it out. Yet I still see the same old problems in Pattaya.

 

Unfortunately tourist cities in Thailand are the definition of an  Italian style mafia system. Corrupt public works at City Hall level where billions get pumped in with zero improvements. Does anyone with an ounce of common sense really think that a grossly overpriced LED sign at the entrance to Walking Street is going to attract more tourists to Pattaya ?

 

Maybe the bubble is finally bursting and tourists are seeing Thailand as a tired, overpriced, and if you are very unlucky, corrupt destination..

 

I'm welcome to be shot down, but that's how I see it after 25 years of slow decline. Not pulling the plug yet, but recognizing and experiencing the better options nearby.

 

On 9/16/2025 at 4:15 PM, StayinThailand2much said:

 

Time to double prices to make good for the shortfall... 😆 

For Foreigners only I'm sure 

Higher price, same old contents without any improvement.

A big turnoff.

People are increasingly becoming price/costs and etfect conscious, on global scale.

 

 

38 minutes ago, kinyara said:

 

Why would any country be thrilled with a decline in one of its major industries if there are no other opportunities for the workforce ? 

 

Tourism sucks up a major labour pool of unskilled workers, if they are idle or unemployed crime goes up. There is a direct correlation and I actually think if you combine that with the drug problem it's a major reason why tourist places like Pattaya and Phuket have an image problem news wise. 

     What I said was Thailand should be thrilled with 33 million due to all the problems it has had this year, not that it should be thrilled with a decline in its numbers.   Those problems have been many, both internal and external.  Of course, Thailand wants to see rising numbers but if it manages to hit 33 million it should breathe a sigh of relief for a difficult year.  It could have been worse and I believe some country's numbers are actually up.  The decline should be a wake-up call for Thailand to begin to address some of the problems keeping tourists away.  

4 minutes ago, newnative said:

     What I said was Thailand should be thrilled with 33 million due to all the problems it has had this year, not that it should be thrilled with a decline in its numbers.   Those problems have been many, both internal and external.  Of course, Thailand wants to see rising numbers but if it manages to hit 33 million it should breathe a sigh of relief for a difficult year.  It could have been worse and I believe some country's numbers are actually up.  The decline should be a wake-up call for Thailand to begin to address some of the problems keeping tourists away.  

 

You've obviously been here a while and understand the issues first hand, do you honestly think they give a monkeys ? I've given up hope. Those in power are so busy jockeying for position and influence for personal financial benefit they've lost sight of the bigger picture in my opinion.

So Thailand bemoans the fact that tourist numbers are down because of rising costs. And what is the headline of the top story on here today:

 

"Thailand plans to increase air travel costs" 

 

Is that what you call an oxymoron?

1 minute ago, banyanman said:

So Thailand bemoans the fact that tourist numbers are down because of rising costs. And what is the headline of the top story on here today:

 

"Thailand plans to increase air travel costs" 

 

Is that what you call an oxymoron?

 

I can't remember a year when the baht depreciates in high season, and certainly against my currency, it's the strongest it's been now since tourism restarted.

On 9/17/2025 at 10:16 AM, paul1804 said:

Thailand has had some bad publicity post covid and many of these things are avoidable, it really needs to toughen up on violence, scams and the likes, especially law & order including road drivers discipline & taxi mafia. One of the first things tourists get stung by are the overpriced taxis that run without a meter and this often stays in their minds. 

These things are not avoidable. they are fact of how things really are. Do you not think the government has not tried to cover up a lot of the misgivings happening all around Thailand to the world. Thailand thrives on social media, the tourists that do come also post the bad things happening in Thailand. This and the high value of the Thai baht is what is driving people to seek another tourist place. Thailand also has a problem with upgrading what tourists can do. They do not improve and remain stagnant, hoping more tourists will come see and do the same things they did before. Should hotels drive up their prices, they will surely lose numbers on people staying there. 

Vietnam has opened up and is generating things to do for their tourism to increase. Thailand does stupid things like offering a free plane ticket to another city if you can show them you flew in from another country.  After the fact that and knowing you would never use that ticket in their time limit of their pre-planned stay in Thailand. It is laughable, especially when everything is said and done to deliberately reduce tourists numbers. Rather than increase them as they always say they are trying to do. 

1 hour ago, actonion said:

For Foreigners only I'm sure 

 

Of course.

Self harm is an epidemic in this country.

2 hours ago, black tabby12345 said:

 

So as the "shortfall" could also double!e then...

 

Well, some who are in charge don't seem to consider that. 😆 

1 hour ago, kinyara said:

 

You've obviously been here a while and understand the issues first hand, do you honestly think they give a monkeys ? I've given up hope. Those in power are so busy jockeying for position and influence for personal financial benefit they've lost sight of the bigger picture in my opinion.

      Agree.  I try to be a 'glass half-full guy' but it's a challenge in Thailand.  If I read one more article where the government is 'eyeing', 'studying', 'aiming', 'pondering', 'hoping', 'wishing', 'thinking', etc., etc. on________fill in the blank . . .   A lot of '---ing' words, with the exception of doing.  

If folks want to go to New Delhi or Bombay (Mumbai), they would fly to India.  Thailand needs to wake up and realize that people vote with their wallets.

2 hours ago, black tabby12345 said:

Higher price, same old contents without any improvement.

A big turnoff.

People are increasingly becoming price/costs and etfect conscious, on global scale.

 

Yes, esp. their preferred target group, the Chinese; travelling to Vietnam and Japan instead... 😆