Tourism Sector Begs End To Emergency Decree

[animatic]

Texas. Additions accepted.

But it is always hotter than hel_l now.

One reason they hold Songkran now is to cool off.

I got out in the 'Gus' Stetson and it don't seem so bad.

Hit the beach if your a tourist,

lots of other islands besides Phuket, Samui Phagnan too

[Juily14redux]

<br />just checked around for a good deal and methinks everything must be full...there is no other way to explain the high prices shown everywhere.<br />Or they want to make the same profit with 20 % of the tourists.....<br />

<br /><br /><br />

This is Thailand Man.

The only country in the universe where hotel operators raise their rates when business is down.

No Kidding.

[kurtgruen]

This is Thailand Man.

The only country in the universe where hotel operators raise their rates when business is down.

No Kidding.

I remember Bali, a few weeks after the bombing was similar. I went to buy product and the prices were higher, instead of lower. I was told "Not enough tourists and buyers, so we have to charge more"

[torrenova]

It's far too late to be worrying about flushing tourism down the toilet now. I've just had a whole bunch of international visitors cancel because they were i) afraid of the rampaging mob, ii) concerned that the airport may be seized again and they wouldn't be able to get home, and iii) aren't prepared to put their kids at risk by bringing them to what is being displayed as a war zone in the media overseas.

I wholeheartedly agree. Just how long this country can follow that mai pen rai rubbish and attempt to sweep each seemingly never ending crisis under the carpet and still not get the message that things are utterly screwed up and businesses are failing by the minute I do not know.

For once, the leaders have to get their heads out of the trough and come up with some sustainable plan to get the country back on its feet. We cannot just have more blustering about reconciliation with inaction.

[JimsKnight]

I did not follow what the US media put out on this latest uprising but it must have been pretty bad. My friends back there are urging me

to get the F out of here and think I am crazy for staying.

Well who would come vacation here then?

Pattaya is packed with farangs now, mostly hooligan/kee nok types for song kran. But i think after song kran tourism is gonna nosedive

bigtime!

Theres a fact you noticed.

It;s these types of tourists who are the most resiliant and most likely to throw money around that poorer thais can pick up!

Not seen one bar fly headed to the airport because of coups, violence etc. Quite the opposite, many actually come because they think it will be cheaper and less cluttered with "high end" torists droning on about the state of the beach, the weather, the taxi prices and generally walking around with a disgusted look on their faces!

The supposed High end are the first to high tail it. Sould the TAT be targetting them more?

This is exactly what I say. The battle for high-end tourism is lost for Thailand. Too many more countries are pulling them in instead.

Good riddance to them as well

The adventure tourists and expats are also getting sucked away by places like Cambodia and Phillipines etc.

[samgrowth]

Emergency Decree did not prevent tourist from coming.

Why lifting it will promote tourism?

I don't buy that.

[Oberkommando]

To be fair, the "backpackers are scum" policy is primarily a Thaksin/TRT/PPP policy. Not sure what the current government's policy is, but since Thaksin has managed to f*** up Thailand so badly, I'd say they will take anybody they can get, and gladly.

To be fair, the Thaksin administration also took Thailand's tourism industry through the Bird Flu crisis and the Tsunami crisis and handled both pretty well all things considered.

Thailand needs to address the serious problem of the political situation urgently before dreaming of becoming a viable tourism destination again.

Incidentally I see they have announced a 150thb charge per transaction for foreign bank cards using Thai bank ATMs to be implemented later this month.

Way to reel in the tourists Thailand!

[Richard W]

Sorry, no end of SOE until Thaksin is put in jail. Then Mark will reconsider.

No state of emergency exist over 99% of c the country

What about martial law still being in force in 31 provinces? Who has the power to lift martial law?

[sriracha john]

To be fair, the "backpackers are scum" policy is primarily a Thaksin/TRT/PPP policy. Not sure what the current government's policy is, but since Thaksin has managed to f*** up Thailand so badly, I'd say they will take anybody they can get, and gladly.

To be fair, the Thaksin administration also took Thailand's tourism industry through the Bird Flu crisis and the Tsunami crisis and handled both pretty well all things considered.

The wonderful thing about Thaivisa archives is that it makes dishonesty a lot harder to spew:

Fact Check:

The Thai government had vehemently denied that the avian disease, which has ravaged chicken populations in other Asian countries, has also struck Thailand. Farmers and others allege the government has perpetrated a massive cover-up to protect lucrative chicken exports.

Officials had maintained that chickens at local farms have been infected by poultry cholera and diseases caused by sharp temperature drops rather than bird flu.

Shares in major Thai chicken producers plunged today. A day earlier, Japan suspended all imports of Thai chicken meat.

Thailand's biggest poultry buyer Japan ordered a import ban on Thursday and the European Union, which is the industry's second-biggest customer, said Friday it would follow suit.

Thaksin, who is battling allegations of a cover-up, denied the government had hidden evidence of bird flu and said the health ministry had already been working on the crisis before official confirmation of the disease.

"Please trust the government. It did not make an announcement in the very beginning because it did not want the public to panic," he said.

There's an entire Sub-Forum of of Bird Flu quotes if even more are needed, btw.

It's always sad to remember that when Thaksin talked his BS, it cost people their lives....

Edited April 20, 2009 by sriracha john

[khaowong1]

I had a friend come visit me and he decided to pay an extra 500 quid to fly back after 2 days instead of the planned 2 weeks.... due to fear.....

Well that was just foolishness on his part.

This stuff is pretty localized

and great swaths of the country have absolutely NO PROBLEMS.

Yes, this is very true... You get outside of Bangkok or Pattaya, you will see virtually no problems... I live near Lopburi, and all is normal..

[JR Texas]

I had a friend come visit me and he decided to pay an extra 500 quid to fly back after 2 days instead of the planned 2 weeks.... due to fear.....

Well that was just foolishness on his part.

This stuff is pretty localized

and great swaths of the country have absolutely NO PROBLEMS.

Yes, this is very true... You get outside of Bangkok or Pattaya, you will see virtually no problems... I live near Lopburi, and all is normal..

We live in the middle of nowhere Thailand......small town.......and nothing out of the ordinary was happening during Songkran. BUT, my wife warned me not to wear a yellow or red shirt in town.

I can "sense" the anger underneath the smiles.......and the smiles have diminished.

No, I am not seeing violence here.........what I am seeing is frustration and anger starting to surface.

Will this break out in the form of a Civil War? I don't think so. But it does make me uneasy to see an ideological divide forming between rural and urban Thais.

I am also concerned that a large and growing unit of unemployed/underemployed young people are being pushed out of an economic system that cannot absorb them (my particular concern here is what will young Thai males do when they have no choice in life).

One only has to think about what happened in Cambodia--where a rural-urban ideological divide formed--to see the potential dangers. But that type of scenario will not happen in Thailand.

Eventually the power elite (on both sides) will realize they have made serious mistakes. Their positions will start to be threatened (already happening and that is the major reason behind the yellow-red conflict).

With any luck, they will decide that policies (particularly those related to the economy) must change in order for them to retain power/wealth.

Let me state again, the violence is localized. Tourists have almost nothing to fear if they want to visit the Kingdom.

But I would avoid Bangkok/Pattaya-Jomtien and head for Phuket.

[h90]

Emergency Decree did not prevent tourist from coming.

Why lifting it will promote tourism?

I don't buy that.

Emergency Decree does not sound good for tourists, no question, but after it is installed it does not matter much if continues to stay or not.

Important is if tourists feel safe or not. Felling safe or not is the point and that is not so easy.

Safety

Clean

Cheap

perfect environment

friendliness

Easy to go

Not getting cheated

Maybe the first point should be that tourists don't get cheated from the taxis at the airport.

[kaorop]

"Eventually the power elite (on both sides) will realize they have made serious mistakes."

and pigs will orbit the planet, land and tell everyone on twitter how good it was!

Fighting over who's turn at the trough (another pig ref) is all they (both sides) care about. imo nothing more nothing less

Other countries are battling the crap economies with major policies (rightly or wrongly depending on your position).

Does anyone know what policies/direction this thai gov is coming up with? Zilch?

I'm angry because many good thai people are getting F'd over by this situation.

[h90]

"Eventually the power elite (on both sides) will realize they have made serious mistakes."

and pigs will orbit the planet, land and tell everyone on twitter how good it was!

Fighting over who's turn at the trough (another pig ref) is all they (both sides) care about. imo nothing more nothing less

Other countries are battling the crap economies with major policies (rightly or wrongly depending on your position).

Does anyone know what policies/direction this thai gov is coming up with? Zilch?

I'm angry because many good thai people are getting F'd over by this situation.

why????

half a big cake is better than nothing!

If the economic crashes you can be only suck out half of the corruption of Thailand but that's still better than the other side gets the money.

So if wining: get at least something

if loosing the elite in power get less

a win win situation

[cyborg22]

So, apart from all the talk about Canada,

When will we have a devaluation of the THB.

It´s already drawn on for too long.

Why do people keep talking about the Thai baht being strong and calling for a devaluation? In real terms it's not the Thai baht that is strong, Moreso other currencies being weaker and losing value by the day.

The Thai economy is suffering in the world recession, but in actual fact is weathering it better than most. Hence the poor exchange rates although lack of tourism in the coming year will change that and see the baht weaken somewhat.

[animatic]

Yes there is martial law in the south.

But you can still go to all but 6 southern provinces

and you don't get hassled.

So I will ammend the 99% and say 93.000453578%

There is NO accurate measure of such and fluid concept.

Hat yai is on the list, but rarely is something happening there.

It is just not a never happening thing. The market there I don't visit.

Except for the really bad 6 provinces most of the south is safe enough.

I felt safer in Trang than NYC...

[tmwke]

I have been comming to Thailand for many years,i allways thought it was a developing country,but no the posters here are right it is a third world country. Its a shame that the majority of people on this Forum who know the reason why, cannot speak it ! Never the less i just decieded to come back for a holiday next week with my Thai wife (440 inclusive with Emirates) I cannot breath in England with all the hypocritical politicians lies and decite.almost like Thailand.At least i will feel alive again.only the Katoyes on Sukamvit worry me.

[LawnGnome]

I have been comming to Thailand for many years,i allways thought it was a developing country,but no the posters here are right it is a third world country. Its a shame that the majority of people on this Forum who know the reason why, cannot speak it ! Never the less i just decieded to come back for a holiday next week with my Thai wife (440 inclusive with Emirates) I cannot breath in England with all the hypocritical politicians lies and decite.almost like Thailand.At least i will feel alive again.only the Katoyes on Sukamvit worry me.

I'm sure the feeling is mutual

[JR Texas]

I have been comming to Thailand for many years,i allways thought it was a developing country,but no the posters here are right it is a third world country. Its a shame that the majority of people on this Forum who know the reason why, cannot speak it ! Never the less i just decieded to come back for a holiday next week with my Thai wife (440 inclusive with Emirates) I cannot breath in England with all the hypocritical politicians lies and decite.almost like Thailand.At least i will feel alive again.only the Katoyes on Sukamvit worry me.

Treading on sensitive ground. Personally, I think there is only one person in the Kingdom who can fix most of the problems. That person cares about Thailand. That person is intelligent. That person is compassionate.

But it is not a topic that can be discussed on this forum, so forget about it.

In my view, the situation is more complex. It involves ideological, economic, environmental, and population forces. It involves the flow of cultural information. And it involves the tendency of humans to act in their own self-interests (what is good the individual vs what is good for society).

Thailand is not unique.......the globalization of the economy has failed..........the centralization of the economy has failed.........the energy system used to fuel the global economy is inappropriate for the 21st century.......population levels are not sustainable and are rising..........ideology is grossly outdated.......

I could go on and on and bore readers to death...............let me just say this: It is time for the human species to evolve. And this time we must do it consciously and rapidly.

Now, how to help tourism in Thailand:

1) alter the visa rules to what they were prior to Thaksin,

2) stop the xenophobia (PM needs to talk about it),

3) stop discriminating against the majority of tourists (i.e., all those who do not fit the "quality tourist" designation),

4) establish true democracy with respect for the rule of law,

5) alter the business rules so that Thailand becomes a desired place for foreign investment (with particular focus on small scale businesses)

6) alter the education system so that Thai students are given the opportunity to grow and learn (emphasis on free thinking)

7) emphasize population reduction as a national goal (yes conflicts with immigration, but the number of people coming here is very small in relationship to the Thai population)

8) establish a free press (people must be free to say what they want without fear)

Easier said than done.............

[webfact]

I have been comming to Thailand for many years,i allways thought it was a developing country,but no the posters here are right it is a third world country. Its a shame that the majority of people on this Forum who know the reason why, cannot speak it ! Never the less i just decieded to come back for a holiday next week with my Thai wife (440 inclusive with Emirates) I cannot breath in England with all the hypocritical politicians lies and decite.almost like Thailand.At least i will feel alive again.only the Katoyes on Sukamvit worry me.

Treading on sensitive ground. Personally, I think there is only one person in the Kingdom who can fix most of the problems. That person cares about Thailand. That person is intelligent. That person is compassionate.

But it is not a topic that can be discussed on this forum, so forget about it.

In my view, the situation is more complex. It involves ideological, economic, environmental, and population forces. It involves the flow of cultural information. And it involves the tendency of humans to act in their own self-interests (what is good the individual vs what is good for society).

Thailand is not unique.......the globalization of the economy has failed..........the centralization of the economy has failed.........the energy system used to fuel the global economy is inappropriate for the 21st century.......population levels are not sustainable and are rising..........ideology is grossly outdated.......

I could go on and on and bore readers to death...............let me just say this: It is time for the human species to evolve. And this time we must do it consciously and rapidly.

Now, how to help tourism in Thailand:

1) alter the visa rules to what they were prior to Thaksin,

2) stop the xenophobia (PM needs to talk about it),

3) stop discriminating against the majority of tourists (i.e., all those who do not fit the "quality tourist" designation),

4) establish true democracy with respect for the rule of law,

5) alter the business rules so that Thailand becomes a desired place for foreign investment (with particular focus on small scale businesses)

6) alter the education system so that Thai students are given the opportunity to grow and learn (emphasis on free thinking)

7) emphasize population reduction as a national goal (yes conflicts with immigration, but the number of people coming here is very small in relationship to the Thai population)

8) establish a free press (people must be free to say what they want without fear)

Easier said than done.............

You are well right because the Immigration boys will have a certain view on 1-3, 5. Thats MHO. What could they do without altering the "their laws" on an almost daily basis....?

[samgrowth]

Emergency Decree did not prevent tourist from coming.

Why lifting it will promote tourism?

I don't buy that.

Emergency Decree does not sound good for tourists, no question, but after it is installed it does not matter much if continues to stay or not.

Important is if tourists feel safe or not. Felling safe or not is the point and that is not so easy.

Safety

Clean

Cheap

perfect environment

friendliness

Easy to go

Not getting cheated

Maybe the first point should be that tourists don't get cheated from the taxis at the airport.

I was in Swampy today. The arrival numbers is quite normal. So with SOE or not, it has not affected arrivals. Who cares if there is a SOE or not.

[NaiGreg]

Planting season will begin soon, people will return to work and the decree will be lifted.

[animatic]

Planting season will begin soon, people will return to work and the decree will be lifted.

So Thaksin is now irrelevent and this is just ;

Post Agrarian Transition Street Wars

and subject to planting cycles for it's membership?

[BigSnake]

Not to worry the tourists will return shortly, just keep the government stable and all will be just fine.

[JR Texas]

Emergency Decree did not prevent tourist from coming.

Why lifting it will promote tourism?

I don't buy that.

Emergency Decree does not sound good for tourists, no question, but after it is installed it does not matter much if continues to stay or not.

Important is if tourists feel safe or not. Felling safe or not is the point and that is not so easy.

Safety

Clean

Cheap

perfect environment

friendliness

Easy to go

Not getting cheated

Maybe the first point should be that tourists don't get cheated from the taxis at the airport.

I was in Swampy today. The arrival numbers is quite normal. So with SOE or not, it has not affected arrivals. Who cares if there is a SOE or not.

Thank you.....are you a demographer/statistician?

The fact is that tourism is on the decline.....the numbers from last year are way down (just ask a taxi driver.......he will give you a good proxy measure of the numbers of people arriving AND STAYING in the Kingdom).

What concerns me is that the problems that are causing instability in the country are not being addressed.......by that I mean the destructive visa/business rules, overall economy, poor education, etc.

No doubt, in the future, periods of calm will surface. But they will likely be followed by periods of even worse agitation.

There are lots of people being hurt by the visa rules: condo owners, real estate agents, taxi drivers, small to medium size hotel owners, restaurants catering to foreigners, etc.

Where is their collective voice? Do they not care? Do they not understand how changes to the visa rules have negatively impacted their bottom lines?

I think I would be SCREAMING! In a peaceful way, of course.

[ubonjoe]

Off topic post that breaks the forum rules delted.

[NaiGreg]

Planting season will begin soon, people will return to work and the decree will be lifted.

So Thaksin is now irrelevent and this is just ;

Post Agrarian Transition Street Wars

and subject to planting cycles for it's membership?

Yes.

[Oberkommando]

The wonderful thing about Thaivisa archives is that it makes dishonesty a lot harder to spew:

Fact Check:

The Thai government had vehemently denied that the avian disease, which has ravaged chicken populations in other Asian countries, has also struck Thailand. Farmers and others allege the government has perpetrated a massive cover-up to protect lucrative chicken exports.

Officials had maintained that chickens at local farms have been infected by poultry cholera and diseases caused by sharp temperature drops rather than bird flu.

Shares in major Thai chicken producers plunged today. A day earlier, Japan suspended all imports of Thai chicken meat.

Thailand's biggest poultry buyer Japan ordered a import ban on Thursday and the European Union, which is the industry's second-biggest customer, said Friday it would follow suit.

Thaksin, who is battling allegations of a cover-up, denied the government had hidden evidence of bird flu and said the health ministry had already been working on the crisis before official confirmation of the disease.

"Please trust the government. It did not make an announcement in the very beginning because it did not want the public to panic," he said.

There's an entire Sub-Forum of of Bird Flu quotes if even more are needed, btw.

It's always sad to remember that when Thaksin talked his BS, it cost people their lives....

I was referring to their handling of those crisis in terms of the tourism industry.

Nothing you have posted there even remotely suggests I am wrong. Indeed, the steadfast and continuous growth of the tourism industry despite both those crisis proves I am 100% correct.

[animatic]

Clearly mishandled, I was seeing this from Europe at the time.

And the the cat was out of the bag and egg all over Thaksin's face,

and so he the sacrificed a few snouts at the trough and reshuffled the cabinet.

Business as usual, including the under informed public living near diseased

livestock so they need not PANIC! Gave me a whole PANTLOAD o' confidence.

I determined to have a poultry free trip.

I was aware of that when I first came here and it DID affect my decision processes

in deciding to come. Not the fact bird flue was here,

I understood that it HAD to be HERE from basic regional demographics.

No, MY contraindicating issue was the LYING ABOUT IT BY THE GOVERNMENT...

So speaking as a tourist coming to Thailand for the 1st time, you are COMPLETELY wrong.

Edited April 24, 2009 by animatic

[Oberkommando]

Clearly mishandled, I was seeing this from Europe at the time.

And the the cat was out of the bag and egg all over Thaksin's face,

and so he the sacrificed a few snouts at the trough and reshuffled the cabinet.

Business as usual, including the under informed public living near diseased

livestock so they need not PANIC! Gave me a whole PANTLOAD o' confidence.

I determined to have a poultry free trip.

I was aware of that when I first came here and it DID affect my decision processes

in deciding to come. Not the fact bird flue was here,

I understood that it HAD to be HERE from basic regional demographics.

No, MY contraindicating issue was the LYING ABOUT IT BY THE GOVERNMENT...

So speaking as a tourist coming to Thailand for the 1st time, you are COMPLETELY wrong.

That may be your experience but the stats on tourist arrivals speak for themselves.

Again, and it is quite simple: the tourism numbers were not badly affected by the bird-flu or the Tsunami crisis, therefore the Thaksin administration, in terms of the tourism industry, handled the crisis well.

It would be interesting the statistics to compare with the PAD airport shutdown or even the military coup in 2006. This government doesn't seem to be doing too well with tourism 50% down in some parts of the country. I guess it's all down to the global recession though, huh?