Does los have an image crisis?

[wolf5370]

In a few other posts a lot has been said about the current regimes announced 'war on sleaze'. In one of these I, and several others, mentioned that the image was such that tourists were actually put off coming. The question was then posed is the loss off sex-tourists offset by the gain of family orientated tourism.

Well this excerpt comes from todays Daily Mail (Monday 18/08/2003 Page 26) - for non-Uk'ers the Daily Mail is a middle class and slightly right of centre national non-broadsheet.

RUSSIAN tennis star Anna Kournikova is to promote the seedy Thai resort of Pattaya. Anna, 22, famous for skimpy outfits, is getting £250,000 for starring in a video guide and playing an exhibition match there. But the video won't show the darker side of the resort - now a multi-billion-dollar hub for Thailand's sex industry

That is word-for-word from the paper (even the strange grammar - "won't" and starting a sentance with "But" etc).

That is the image that is being sent to the middle class readers that Taksin's government is trying to attract. Is it no wonder he is trying to be seen as doing all he can to 'clean-up' the streets?

[chaladmak]

no, seems like it doesn't ! so far a lot of visitors to Thailand ...

[Jack Jones]

Newspapers have to sensationalise things a little or else thier stories would be boring. I agree that Thailand still suffers from an image problem and when you say that you are going on holiday to Thailand, most people only think one thing. Unfortunately that stereotype will take a long time to shake off.

Pattaya is probably the exception rather than the rule though, as that is where the farang orientated 'industry' is concentrated. Easy for papers to sensationalise that part of Thailand.

[ThaiPauly]

I could understand if it was the Sun, Mirror, Star, News of The World or The People, but if the daily Mail says it- that is a credible newspaper

[britmaveric]

Daily Mail credible? I'd give more creedence if it were the London Times.

[xbusman]

I had the pleasure of spending some time with the Director of the Las Vegas tourism council, the main body for promoting Las Vegas tourism and learned some interestng things. Back in the late 80s a few moral nitwits decided to promote Vegas as the "family" destination. It came very close to completely bankrupting the city and opened the door to many other competitors such as Atlantic City. As a tourist destination, you can be Disneyland or you can be Vegas, you just cant be both. The Thais are in for a very bad time if they want to close their Vegas to open a Riveria. The costs will be monumental, at best it can only be marginally successful, and in the end they will have a tourism industry as well developed as say Bangledesh.

The best model they could use would be the mexican model. The Mexican government built "tourist only" resorts on the Yucatan and left the border towns wide open for the riff raff. These resort areas are heavily secured by the military and off limits to the Mexican population at large. I was always rather put off by concept of creating tourist areas that are off limits to the local population but unfortunately it works and works well.

I keep seeing outlines of this framework in Thailand. I think they are going to make places like Pattaya wide open and eventually build tourist areas with casinos that are walled off from the world.

[Jockstar]

Newspapers have to sensationalise things a little or else thier stories would be boring. I agree that Thailand still suffers from an image problem and when you say that you are going on holiday to Thailand, most people only think one thing. Unfortunately that stereotype will take a long time to shake off.

Pattaya is probably the exception rather than the rule though, as that is where the farang orientated 'industry' is concentrated. Easy for papers to sensationalise that part of Thailand.

Same as when you live here or even a visitor who has met a girl who has never or never will work in the sex industry. So if you say to someone i have a Thai gf or wife. Some people think the worst. But then they have never been here.

[johna]

Daily Mail credible?    I'd give more creedence if it were the London Times.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Murdock owns the Times and the Sun how can anybody trust these papers

[toastwars]

TRT are trying to change Thailand into a total luxury destination, this means putting off the long termers, backpackers and sex tourists. Promoting only big spending high end tourists is kind of like balancing the pyramid on it's point, the results of this plan will put millions out of work or on severly reduced incomes. It is doomed to failure and I hope that it is stopped before too much damage is done

[game4shame]

Does Thailand have a bad reputation?

Well, when i tell colleagues i'm going on holiday to Thailand, the common reaction is 'Oh right' while looking down sheepishly.

So there's your answer.

But the majority (if not all) of these people have never been there and most importantly I couldn't give a flying &lt;deleted&gt; what they think!!

[peterzxr]

Everyone I know that's been to Thailand have been there more than once.

If there was such an image problem they wouldn't go the first time round and if they had actual problems whilst there they wouldn't go back again.

As with most things Thaksin and TRT say regarding things like this, it's just publicity aimed at making the general Thai population think he is an upstanding, moral kind of guy.

[Kerryd]

I'm working for a company in Afghanistan (talk about a poor image for tourism !). As a frequent visitor to the LOS, I'm often asked about Thailand. Where to go, what to do, and so on.

Quite a number of our ex-pat employees (men and women) have made at least one trip to Thailand after listening to me rave on and on about it.

One woman even arranged to have her sons (18 & 21) meet her in Bkk. Unfortunately, bad weather here delayed her departure for over a week. I was bugging her about how her sons would be meeting her at the airport, with their brand new Thai wives ! (Actually, she was VERY fortunate, as she had been planning to go to Phuket, on 26 Dec !)

A couple of people have told me that they didn't want to go to Pattaya, as it was "Sin City". They decided to go to Phuket instead. I laughed at them. They thought Phuket was a squeaky clean, sin-free zone !

I'll tell people about all the things you can do here (er, I should say "there"), the beaches, zoos and tourist attractions, the temples, the food, everything that makes the LOS such a great place to visit, including the nightlife.

Everyone that has gone to Thailand, has come back with great stories and memories of their trip(s), which they pass on to even more people of course. I haven't heard a single negative comment from any of them.

No image problem about Thailand here in the 'stan !

[Pattaya_Fox]

Does Thailand have a bad reputation?

Well, when i tell colleagues i'm going on holiday to Thailand, the common reaction is 'Oh right' while looking down sheepishly.

So there's your answer.

But the majority (if not all) of these people have never been there and most importantly I couldn't give a flying &lt;deleted&gt; what they think!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

..... and i`ll bet that most of your male colleagues wish they were going too

[SEAtramp]

TRT are trying to change Thailand into a total luxury destination, this means putting off the long termers, backpackers and sex tourists. Promoting only big spending high end tourists is kind of like balancing the pyramid on it's point, the results of this plan will put millions out of work or on severly reduced incomes. It is doomed to failure and I hope that it is stopped before too much damage is done

Singapore, & Hong Kong were once labelled with being a sex tourist destination. They both had an image change with promoting high end tourist to luxury accomadation. And contrary to what you say about making millions out of work, or on reduced incomes, these countries now prosper enourmously. Where as Thailand is still what it has aways been famous for, the sex industry and still a country stagnated against those that have seen fit to change their image.

BTW. Pattaya has had famous foreign woman players in Pattaya long before Thaskin was prime minister.

[Pattaya_Fox]

<font color='#000080'>In a few other posts a lot has been said about the current regimes announced 'war on sleaze'. In one of these I, and several others, mentioned that the image was such that tourists were actually put off coming. The question was then posed is the loss off sex-tourists offset by the gain of family orientated tourism.

Well this excerpt comes from todays Daily Mail (Monday 18/08/2003 Page 26) - for non-Uk'ers the Daily Mail is a middle class and slightly right of centre national non-broadsheet.

RUSSIAN tennis star Anna Kournikova is to promote the seedy Thai resort of Pattaya. Anna, 22, famous for skimpy outfits, is getting £250,000 for starring in a video guide and playing an exhibition match there. But the video won't show the darker side of the resort - now a multi-billion-dollar hub for Thailand's sex industry

That is word-for-word from the paper (even the strange grammar - "won't" and starting a sentance with "But" etc).

That is the image that is being sent to the middle class readers that Taksin's government is trying to attract. Is it no wonder he is trying to be seen as doing all he can to 'clean-up' the streets?</font>

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

...Well my dictionary definition of Seedy is: (a)...full of seed....( shabby, and ©...unwell...

I would say that for:-

For (...yes there are some shabby areas.

For ©.... yes a few unwell people after too much libation.

...and for (a)...you should draw your own conclusions..

[COBBER]

RUSSIAN tennis star Anna Kournikova is to promote the seedy Thai resort of Pattaya. Anna, 22, famous for skimpy outfits, is getting £250,000 for starring in a video guide and playing an exhibition match there. But the video won't show the darker side of the resort - now a multi-billion-dollar hub for Thailand's sex industry

When you consider the huge numbers of Russian tourists (mainly couples and family's) decending on Pattaya these days it seams like good marketing stratergy for TAT or whoever is paying to use a high profile Russian in their advertising campaign.

[superchav]

Maria Sharapova would surely have done a better job (and cost more of course)

[NedKelly]

Driving around Pattaya last week I would have to say that by far and away the main market for Pattaya is the middle aged single farang male. So the marketing strategy with Hornykova will no doubt work. If you alsa think about the millions who do not really know about Pattaya......and yes there are many who do not do any homework prior to coming here.......then again it should work as they will highlight all those things that look exotic to others, inthe promo video.

Another observation about Pattaya which is new tomy way of thinking about the place.....is that someone should satrt a training school for bg's downthere to trainthem in aged care........seriously I witnessed some guys using walking canes who looked like they needed a ventilator and live in nurse to accompany them.......and in tow was the usual girlie......ok fair enough maybe they been married for 25 years.....but that would make their wedding day same as her birthday !!

[Sphere]

Guys, I dont want to piss on this parade, but the opening post is from August 2003. Hornykova has cum and gone!