Airports Reopen: Foreign Travellers Could Drop 40%

[PhilHarries]

A lot of it is just TAT excuse mongering. Last year they made confident, optimistic predictions of tourist arrivals and a while back it was apparent the figures were not going to be met. So this little pair of problems, economic crisis plus PAD occupation, presented them with a lovely little get-out clause. They know they are going to be, say, 20% below target so they forcast a shortfall due to the problems of 40%. Anything less and they can claim they did better than expected given the circumstances. Anything more and it was far worse than anybody could have predicted.

[geriatrickid]

Utter fool Danton?

People dont decide overnight to come to Thailand. Most people plan their holidays months ahead. Drops in arrivals are the result of holiday decisions made montsh ago!

If PAD has any influence, which is doubtful, it will be noticed next year and not now.

Disagree. I needed to book travel from Phuket around Dec. 26. Prior to the airport seizures, every flight on Thai was sold out for Dec. 24-27, economy and business. Have a look now. Lots of seats available. That tells me, people cancelled their trips.

[Ulysses G.]

I live in a hotel and they say that lots of people are canceling from abroad right now.

[presscamera]

I am planning on coming to Thailand in July and spending 3 weeks in Hua-Hin and Bangkok with my Family. Whether we come now or not after this debacle is seriously up in the air so to speak, it will be decided by My Thai Wife who is currently stuck in Bangkok, scheduled to return to Perth on Sunday. We may decide to go to Penang instead as I havn't paid for the Hotels yet.

Does anyone think that their might be some cheap package holidays to Thailand after all of this. I would prefer to come to Thailand but you never know what might happen. I guess that's why Thai Tourism Department call it "AMAZING THAILAND"

[Nirvana]

I am planning on coming to Thailand in July and spending 3 weeks in Hua-Hin and Bangkok with my Family. Whether we come now or not after this debacle is seriously up in the air so to speak, it will be decided by My Thai Wife who is currently stuck in Bangkok, scheduled to return to Perth on Sunday. We may decide to go to Penang instead as I havn't paid for the Hotels yet.

Does anyone think that their might be some cheap package holidays to Thailand after all of this. I would prefer to come to Thailand but you never know what might happen. I guess that's why Thai Tourism Department call it "AMAZING THAILAND"

ermmmm , HUGE drop off in tourism and arrivals, do you think there might be some cheap packages ...?

Ermm maybe a wise man would think so...

[MyphuketLife]

Utter farce.

Really .

Take off your yellow blindfolds and ask yourself why did TG just announce dramatic capacity cutbacks on most of its european and asian routes???

But you think you know better .

People dont decide overnight to come to Thailand. Most people plan their holidays months ahead.

Drops in arrivals are the result of holiday decisions made montsh ago!

If PAD has any influence, which is doubtful, it will be noticed next year and not now.

To funny, to funny, do you know any one working at a travel agency? I do, and my friends say they have a 60% cancel due to the airport closer in Bangkok, and these are poeple that were to Vacation in Phuket.

Sure vacations are planned months in advance, but people getting scared to travel to a destination and cancel well that happens overnight.

[torrenova]

There's lots and lots of alternative destinations, its a big ask to expect putative holidaymakers to roll the dice on their vacation when sun sea and sand are available elsewhere too.

And sex too believe it or not ! Thailand is not the only place with bag houses and the like.

[splodger]

There's lots and lots of alternative destinations, its a big ask to expect putative holidaymakers to roll the dice on their vacation when sun sea and sand are available elsewhere too.

Correct ! There are many other destinations with similar beaches, climate, girls ( if you want them ) and fun. Thailand has not got a monopoly, i say this even though I live here ( at the moment ) !

With an unstable political situation, ever changing visa rules or interpretation of those rules, a strong baht, a weak pound / euro, 145 baht a beer in soi cowboy the incentives to stay are disappearing by the minute...

i agree i'm off to vietnam.

[Spee]

Riot police - drag them away. They resist and put the police in danger then the club comes out. Not very hard - first few people who get clubbed will deter others from doing so. If you know their is no consequence to what you do then this just emboldens these lot.

While a complete imitation would likely be overkill for Suv, a security entrance checkpoint model similar to Tokyo Narita would be effective in keeping out the anarchistic riff-raff in the future (not to mention other potential bad guys). It's all about perimeter security and Suv has never had any.

As for the 40% number being discussed from the OP, one could speculate whether it is accurate or not. My preference is to view the whole ordeal and repercussions as "potential tourist decision tie-breakers." Tourists typically plan their big trips well in advance and they usually start with a handful of potential stops and gradually narrow things down. I would speculate that this PAD sponsored fiasco will be an early round tie-breaker for many moons to come.

The commercial business aspects are a whole other animal. I can only imagine how many pissed off companies and business travelers there are because of all this nonsense. When companies want to do international business, one of the main factors they look for is stability. Compare Thailand with communist China. Companies may not necessarily agree with China's politics, treatment of citizens and environment, etc. But one thing companies will agree on is that China, faults aside, is a relatively stable country for doing business. How could anyone view Thailand in a similar light over the last couple of years and recent events? How could the country be viewed as anything other than unstable for doing business?

This is not to try to bash the country. A big part of my future probably lies within Thailand. I would like to see the country grow and prosper. I once thought Thailand was like two steps forward one step back, steadily making progress. These recent events are ten steps backwards. It's a shame and a disappointment. I would have expected better ... from all parties involved.

[misterman21]

I think one problem for tourists will be getting travel insurance, most companies will not cover Thailand whilst government travel warnings are in place. Whilst that may not deter the single traveller so much ,families will be unlikely to take the risk. So, there goes ToT's "quality" tourist.

Pattaya is full of quality tourists at the moment! If you walk along beach road you will see many old, perverted, shirtless, blotchy skinned, bald, red faced, smelly, ugly men (you know who you are) - decorating the beach front.

[tmd5855]

I think one problem for tourists will be getting travel insurance, most companies will not cover Thailand whilst government travel warnings are in place. Whilst that may not deter the single traveller so much ,families will be unlikely to take the risk. So, there goes ToT's "quality" tourist.

Pattaya is full of quality tourists at the moment! If you walk along beach road you will see many old, perverted, shirtless, blotchy skinned, bald, red faced, smelly, ugly men (you know who you are) - decorating the beach front.

Fallen out with your family then

[ratcatcher]

[/quote["Pattaya is full of quality tourists at the moment! If you walk along beach road you will see many old, perverted, shirtless, blotchy skinned, bald, red faced, smelly, ugly men (you know who you are) - decorating the beach front.

That applies to most of the Europeans and North Americans in Hua Hin and Phuket doesn't it? Are you one of 'em?

Edited December 5, 2008 by ratcatcher

[PhilHarries]

I think one problem for tourists will be getting travel insurance, most companies will not cover Thailand whilst government travel warnings are in place. Whilst that may not deter the single traveller so much ,families will be unlikely to take the risk. So, there goes ToT's "quality" tourist.

Pattaya is full of quality tourists at the moment! If you walk along beach road you will see many old, perverted, shirtless, blotchy skinned, bald, red faced, smelly, ugly men (you know who you are) - decorating the beach front.

Fallen out with your family then

Obviously misterman1 is an idol in his own mind.

Probably, in reality, one of those idols you see gracing the outsides of medieval churches.

[misterman21]

I think one problem for tourists will be getting travel insurance, most companies will not cover Thailand whilst government travel warnings are in place. Whilst that may not deter the single traveller so much ,families will be unlikely to take the risk. So, there goes ToT's "quality" tourist.

Pattaya is full of quality tourists at the moment! If you walk along beach road you will see many old, perverted, shirtless, blotchy skinned, bald, red faced, smelly, ugly men (you know who you are) - decorating the beach front.

Fallen out with your family then

Obviously misterman1 is an idol in his own mind.

Probably, in reality, one of those idols you see gracing the outsides of medieval churches.

Misterman21 - if you don't mind

I have been described as less than perfect - but obviously I don't fit the description of the beach trash

[dumball]

you are right mrman1 , we are all entitled to our own opinion , get out of bed , stagger to bathroom , look in mirror through bleary eyes and recite :

Mirror mirror on the wall

Who is the fairest of them all

And why am i ?

WOW , talk about conceit or self adoration .

Classic 555lol555lol

[BeauKarl]

Utter farce.

Really .

Take off your yellow blindfolds and ask yourself why did TG just announce dramatic capacity cutbacks on most of its european and asian routes???

But you think you know better .

People dont decide overnight to come to Thailand. Most people plan their holidays months ahead.

Drops in arrivals are the result of holiday decisions made montsh ago!

If PAD has any influence, which is doubtful, it will be noticed next year and not now.

Many people cancelled their holiday in the week that PAD was in the airport

[BeauKarl]

I think one problem for tourists will be getting travel insurance, most companies will not cover Thailand whilst government travel warnings are in place. Whilst that may not deter the single traveller so much ,families will be unlikely to take the risk. So, there goes ToT's "quality" tourist.

Pattaya is full of quality tourists at the moment! If you walk along beach road you will see many old, perverted, shirtless, blotchy skinned, bald, red faced, smelly, ugly men (you know who you are) - decorating the beach front.

Guess that's why your username is 'Mister' and you go to Pattaya for the beaches

[samgrowth]

I flew into Thailand from KL this afternoon. This is the 1st day AirAsia start flying to Swampy. Usually there is 8 flights a day, 4 from Thai AA and 4 from Malaysia AA. However only the Malaysia AA is flying today. Even with just half the usual capacity (4 instead of 8 flights), our plane is only about 60% full. Mainly Thai people returning after many days of stranded in KL. Not many visitors.

Swampy is almost empty. Not many immigration officer, even that, there was almost no queue at all. There was in Pakistani and his old mother in the airside complainning that they have been sleeping there (not sure airside or otherwise) for two nights already. They have just been told that they will have to sleep another night on the metal seat for another night. I am not sure if I believe him or not. But it look obvious that he has not shave for a long time.

Took a quick look at the screen. About half of the flight displayed are still shown as cancelled, especially foreign airlines. I hope things get back to normal soon.

If you take a quick look at AirAsia.com, internet is showing only 1 FD flights (Thai AA) / day for the next few months. However, AK (Malaysia AA) only cut from 4 flights to 3 / day.

[annetta]

I'm just back from the Thai Airways office in Rome. I struggled to get the confirmation of my flight to Phuket on 26th december with return on 6th of January, it seems that every flight from here is full and they said that people did not cancel any trip to LOS. The price of flight is high as usual, so no big changes. Only thing they admit is that the Bangkok airport is still a mess.....

Moreover my usual hotel is fully booked, and my room is now 3500 bath with breakfast, like last year.

So maybe Phuket is not feeling the pinch.....

[PanzerJohn]

I think it's very late in the day for "AOT to suggest arming security guards", to do this in a International Airport environment is not practical whatsoever.

They SHOULD have trained armed police officers like other International Airports, and have factored this into Suvarnabhumi's initial plans, long before it was even built.

Ermmm why is it not practical. When I came back to Thailand through Amsterdam Schiphol airport I noticed that Schiphol is patrolled by many Marechaussee (an army police branch) carrying big guns with their fingers near the trigger. If they can do this at Schiphol why can't they do it at Suvarnabhumi. And these guys are patrolling all of the building both airside and landside.

Armed police have patrolled openly in Heathrow Terminal 3 for more years than I can remember.

I remember seeing serious army machine gunners on a German airport back in 1973.

Flew in to ski in Innsbruck and getting off the plane in Germany was enlightening.

Been though Schiphol more recently and there was less obvious presence,

still there though, but then again the Red Army Faction was not active at that time.

Probably time to move from rentacops to real security...

Same here, went on school ski trip to a village outside Innsbruck the same year, first time I'd ever seen armed police at Munich airport, was a bit unsettling as their uniforms were virtually the same as WW2, as were the guns. Still odd seeing the armed fuzz at Heathrow..was even odder a few years back when the army were there. But the way things are these days there cannot be enough security at airports, ever fly El Al?, but the muppets in Thailand are useless, this whole episode has exposed the the joke that is law and goverance in LoS, and I fear things will get worse...Potjamman flew in tonight...must be time for the politicians to remember who pays their bills.

[old wanderer]

Today I canceled my flight on NW...had business class tickets for me and my wife...Dec 15 returning Jan 10.

Reason.....Pojaman....I do not think people realize the trouble that is brewing if she takes over the new party. Her return is the absolute worst thing that could have happened at this time.

There is absolutely no assurance we will not be in a major political war or Coup by early next year.

I have been around Thailand for almost 25 years, and have seen a lot...my wife owns 3 farms and some resort property, so we do have substantial ties to the Kingdom......and certainly the current heath of HRH plays a part in this decision.

[PanzerJohn]

Today I canceled my flight on NW...had business class tickets for me and my wife...Dec 15 returning Jan 10.

Reason.....Pojaman....I do not think people realize the trouble that is brewing if she takes over the new party. Her return is the absolute worst thing that could have happened at this time.

There is absolutely no assurance we will not be in a major political war or Coup by early next year.

I have been around Thailand for almost 25 years, and have seen a lot...my wife owns 3 farms and some resort property, so we do have substantial ties to the Kingdom......and certainly the current heath of HRH plays a part in this decision.

You got it in one there, I am not holding out too much hope for my Xmas trip, I hope I am wrong but I get bad vibes from all this, many undercurrents now.

[VegasVic]

I think one problem for tourists will be getting travel insurance, most companies will not cover Thailand whilst government travel warnings are in place. Whilst that may not deter the single traveller so much ,families will be unlikely to take the risk. So, there goes ToT's "quality" tourist.

I think that the inability or difficulty getting travel insurance will certianly be an issue, but not the main one. The main issue currently is WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND will vacation in Thailand until all of this is worked out? Even if there are new elections, whatever offshoot of the PPP wins the elections doesn't matter because if Thailand doesn't jail the PAD leadership then this same thing could happen all over again, and that more than anything else will be in the minds of potential tourists! The damage done by the PAD terrorists might very well be irrepairable

[tropo]

Certainly the closure of the airports by PAD sent a bad signal to many people, but given time and a recovery in the economies of the major countries, the tourists will surely return.

No, the problem visitors have now is that they can book an air ticket, and there's no guarantee that on the day of their inbound flight to Thailand that some group of folk in colourful shirts won't be back there to futz up the airport - uninterrupted by an indolent Police. And in that case your holiday is screwed and your insurer will tell you to go jump in the lake.

There's lots and lots of alternative destinations, its a big ask to expect putative holidaymakers to roll the dice on their vacation when sun sea and sand are available elsewhere too.

You made some very good points there. The sex trade is unrivaled. Everything else is easy to find elsewhere.

[tropo]

I think it's very late in the day for "AOT to suggest arming security guards", to do this in a International Airport environment is not practical whatsoever.

They SHOULD have trained armed police officers like other International Airports, and have factored this into Suvarnabhumi's initial plans, long before it was even built.

Ermmm why is it not practical. When I came back to Thailand through Amsterdam Schiphol airport I noticed that Schiphol is patrolled by many Marechaussee (an army police branch) carrying big guns with their fingers near the trigger. If they can do this at Schiphol why can't they do it at Suvarnabhumi. And these guys are patrolling all of the building both airside and landside.

But the main problem in Thailand is not international terrorists, but local protestors. I cannot see how armed police would get away with gunning down protestors in Thailand.

Edited December 6, 2008 by tropo

[dude123]

Today I canceled my flight on NW...had business class tickets for me and my wife...Dec 15 returning Jan 10.

Reason.....Pojaman....I do not think people realize the trouble that is brewing if she takes over the new party. Her return is the absolute worst thing that could have happened at this time.

There is absolutely no assurance we will not be in a major political war or Coup by early next year.

I have been around Thailand for almost 25 years, and have seen a lot...my wife owns 3 farms and some resort property, so we do have substantial ties to the Kingdom......and certainly the current heath of HRH plays a part in this decision.

Well said. Nothing is resolved and their is a sense of more nastiness to come. The one thing we all hope for is that the King stays healthy. My wife adores him, the lady who owns the Thai restaurant in our little town in Canada adores him and he seems to be a decent and genuine human being that has done his best to create stability in a system that is very unstable at best.

[dumball]

I think one problem for tourists will be getting travel insurance, most companies will not cover Thailand whilst government travel warnings are in place. Whilst that may not deter the single traveller so much ,families will be unlikely to take the risk. So, there goes ToT's "quality" tourist.

I think that the inability or difficulty getting travel insurance will certianly be an issue, but not the main one. The main issue currently is WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND will vacation in Thailand until all of this is worked out? Even if there are new elections, whatever offshoot of the PPP wins the elections doesn't matter because if Thailand doesn't jail the PAD leadership then this same thing could happen all over again, and that more than anything else will be in the minds of potential tourists! The damage done by the PAD terrorists might very well be irrepairable

I am very sorry to say this , but , the best thing that could happen to the Thais at this time would be for the PAD to close down the airport AGAIN , why is that you ask , very simple solution to ALL of their self inflicted problems . They are so full of themselves and what they believe in their antiquated way of thinking , yeah , yeah , the CUlTURE all you purist pendants so often refer to, you know , proud to live the historic ways of the country , look at their wonderfull family togetherness , do you not realise or appreciate sending children to the villge because mama/papa are too LAZY to care for them is a major obsticle to Thailand emerging , those children are raised(?) in 100plus year old methods and mind set , what input can they have to modern society ? It merely creates the viscious circle of sending daughters/sons to the big city to break the laws of prostitution and any other laws they have to so the parents can sit doing nothing except play cards and drink rice whisky . They are forced into child labour to work in the fields , not go to school , even when they do attend school , it is to learn arcaic brainwashed idealisms , yes another PAD take-over just might help them realise just how much the foreigners could do for them IF THEY COULD JUST LEARN TO LISTEN .

[TAWP]

Riot police - drag them away. They resist and put the police in danger then the club comes out. Not very hard - first few people who get clubbed will deter others from doing so. If you know their is no consequence to what you do then this just emboldens these lot.

Just a funny observation while I was in the taxi on my way into work this morning. Passed a police-pickup with a hardcover top on the back with blue text saying "RIOT CONTROT UNIT" [sic]

The irony made me chuckle.

Edited December 6, 2008 by TAWP

[cnxmike]

"getting travel insurance will certianly be an issue"

I don't think so. In all my life I never had a travel insurance. It's just a waste of money.

[siam4ever]

Remember that it is a 40% drop in the NUMBER of tourists. The actual weight of the tourists in total will be about the same as the size has been increasing exponentially for some time. Nothing to fear!