Tourism plunges 22 per cent

[mrtoad]

I don't think that Thai tourists are staying in boutique hotels in Europe for 800 or 1,900 baht per night.

No, but they don't get charged double because of the colour of their skin in Europe . Foreman's experience is another reason why the Thai tourist industry is biting the hand that feeds. It really is quite nonsensical.

Thai tourists are generally charged at least 5 times more in Europe than farang in Thailand. Let's not even get started on the double standards in wages.

What you have stated has squat all to do with the practices of double pricing. Anyway, what seems even more nonsensical than your drivel, is that the hotel is prepared to have an empty room, rather than rent it out at the regular price. This during what has been proven to be a terrible tourist year.

As for double standards on wages, I guess it depends on what you work in, as in my previous job in the UK some of the highest paid employees were not actually British.

[kissrev1]

Tourism hit 49-year low

BANGKOK: -- The tourism industry has hit a 49-year low and is expected to plunge by 22 per cent this year, according to the Tourism Council of Thailand.

Besides the global economic crisis, the country's continuing political turmoil had contributed to the sharp decline in tourism, Tourism Council of Thailand chairman Kongkit Hiranyakij said on Thursday.

The expected number of tourist arrivals had been reduced from 14.1 million to 11, he said.

The A(H1N1) flu outbreak could make tourism contract by three to four per cent, causing the country to lose up to 200 billion baht of tourism revenue this year, he said.

Last year, Thailand gained 540 billion baht in tourism revenue.

"If the government can solve its political problems and is able to host the Asean meetings successfully, tourism should be revived by the end of this year or the beginning of 2010," Mr Kongkit predicted.

However, he said Thai tourists would help generate 430 billion baht in revenue this year.

-- Bangkok Post 2009-07-23

[TopDogger]

I thought I would go back to my pet love (Udon Thani) and was shocked to find the town I fell in love with 2 years ago had gone from about 20 bars to 240 bars and become the mini pattaya of Isaan, filled with sex tourists. Good thing I have real friends there to keep me away from all 240 of those bars.

Don't talk sh1t..

[JacknDanny]

I don't think that Thai tourists are staying in boutique hotels in Europe for 800 or 1,900 baht per night.

No, but they don't get charged double because of the colour of their skin in Europe . Foreman's experience is another reason why the Thai tourist industry is biting the hand that feeds. It really is quite nonsensical.

Thai tourists are generally charged at least 5 times more in Europe than farang in Thailand. Let's not even get started on the double standards in wages.

What are you going on about!!!

I know a lot more Thais in Thailand with money, than I know Farangs with money.

Dont kid yourself that all Thais are poor. The rich here are very, very rich

And double standard charging, as you put it, based on whether or not you are Thai, is simply wrong and offputting.

[easybullet3]

Hmmm... Let's see... Elected government removed by the military, Yellow Shirt airport closures, Red Shirt riots, SCAMs including false imprisonment & blackmail by an airport shop in collusion with the Tourist Police, anti-foreigner rhetoric by senior immigration officials, visa regulation making it more difficult to come and/or live in Thailand... Duh...

Seeing as I'm an X radio operator including Morse Cod maybe you will "get" this acronym...

<deleted> K

elaborate please

(for those who are trying to solve your acronym)

[TopDogger]

I don't think that Thai tourists are staying in boutique hotels in Europe for 800 or 1,900 baht per night.

No, but they don't get charged double because of the colour of their skin in Europe . Foreman's experience is another reason why the Thai tourist industry is biting the hand that feeds. It really is quite nonsensical.

Thai tourists are generally charged at least 5 times more in Europe than farang in Thailand. Let's not even get started on the double standards in wages.

What are you going on about!!!

I know a lot more Thais in Thailand with money, than I know Farangs with money.

Dont kid yourself that all Thais are poor. The rich here are very, very rich

And double standard charging, as you put it, based on whether or not you are Thai, is simply wrong and offputting.

A Thai could roll upto the hotel in a brand new 5 million baht BMW and be given the room with the Thai rate... Then along come a couple of backpackers or english teachers who haven't had a proper shower for weeks and can only afford 30 baht meal's, and they get told double the price of the BMW driving local.... Perfectly fair.....

[Dumtien]

I think that we may congratulate Foreign Minister Kasit, he considered the airport occupation "fun". We may congratulate the army too for using absurd force and distrusting the police for not being able to do the job. We may congratulate Suthep and Newin fro assembling a shirt of Blue shirted ex convicts who ignited the red shirt mob in Pattaya and we must absolute congratulate the army for screwing up the economy. The bottom line: economic crisis? Sure, but in the case of Thailand: Som Na Naa

Wreker l know it's human nature to blame everybody but ones self, we are going through the worst economic climate the world has seen. Maybe that could be "another factor" that people just don't have the money to go on holiday! Or could it be in your eyes that the holiday maker is afraid of the Foreign Minister/Police/Army, oh and also the red & yellow shirts. Who are you trying to kid.

Small minds!

[Pesche]

The Land of Smiles is turning into the Land of Greek Tragedy - sad but true

This is really insulting for Greece and all the greek people, Thailand will never be like Greece and surely not its people like the greek people are.

Do you really know what is a Greek tragedy ????

Tragedy (Ancient Greek: τραγῳδία, tragōidia, "goat-song") is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure.

There is ABSOLUTELY no offense nor insult to Greece and its beautiful people! You silly

Let's call it ROMAN tragedy then...

Still sad AND true

[easybullet3]

I don't think that Thai tourists are staying in boutique hotels in Europe for 800 or 1,900 baht per night.

No, but they don't get charged double because of the colour of their skin in Europe . Foreman's experience is another reason why the Thai tourist industry is biting the hand that feeds. It really is quite nonsensical.

Thai tourists are generally charged at least 5 times more in Europe than farang in Thailand. Let's not even get started on the double standards in wages.

What are you going on about!!!

I know a lot more Thais in Thailand with money, than I know Farangs with money.

Dont kid yourself that all Thais are poor. The rich here are very, very rich

And double standard charging, as you put it, based on whether or not you are Thai, is simply wrong and offputting.

imagine in our home countries if we charged people on a sliding scale depending on the passport that they hold (based on Thai logic)

- would people from Dubai be happy to pay double the price as people from America (for instance).. and more to the point,,, would it work and would business owners get away with it?

[TheGhostWithin]

I thought I would go back to my pet love (Udon Thani) and was shocked to find the town I fell in love with 2 years ago had gone from about 20 bars to 240 bars and become the mini pattaya of Isaan, filled with sex tourists. Good thing I have real friends there to keep me away from all 240 of those bars.

Don't talk sh1t..

Excuse me? Talk what? I presented numbers, real numbers from a friend that actually owns a prominent bar in Udon and has been in the business for some time. If you have a problem with the numbers or the facts I have presented, present your own. Trying to shoot someone down with abuse is deconstructive to the conversation and degenerative.

If you havent been there and think Im lying, take a look for yourself. Ask a local where you can find day/night (theres about 50 bars there, open literally from about 10am until 2-3am when the Police turn up to close them), or Nutty park, where you will find almost as many. Forgive me for stating the truth from personal experience.

[kissrev1]

Yes, and they don't even mention the thousands of tourists who were stranded in Thailand when the yellow shirts stupidly blockaded the airports, or the many who are now revealing that they have been victimized by the police/ Thai King Power scams at the airport. Taxi drivers who refuse to use the meter, pickpockets, etc. There is another aspect as well. As the economy is trying to recover, you would think that Thailand would do their level best to keep and attract more International companies. Nope. It seems that here in Thailand, the M.O. for all is to keep going to the well to get all that you can until the well goes dry. When that happens, it's everyone else's fault (The tsunami, the bird flu, the swine flu, the economy)

Hmmm... Sounds like my first few Thai girlfriends before I finally wised-up. In their case, however, I became a "sefitt Man' when I refused to buy a new water buffalo for the village, or some such thing. You gotta laugh, guys. Sabaai, Sabaai.

[Chunkton]

Hi.

Who is beating the dead horse with The Airport Blockade™ again..??

It says it all that i received two "breaking news"alerts today in my inbox.

First one: "Crackdown on back-to-back tourist visas"

Second one: "Tourism at 49-year low"

Any more questions? They are slowly making it illegal to even set foot in this country, let alone stay for longer - and then wonder why nobody comes..??

T. i. T.

Thanh

Yes, I was thinking the same, great timing!

"Tourism at 49-year low": I have had friends back home ask me why I would live in Thailand with all the scams, corruption, imprisonment and violence they read about. One friend did an Air Asia flight through KL and over landed into Thailand. Arrived with his notebook and surfboard to relax and do some online trades. Planned for a month but then found out only had 15 days before he had to get out, went off to Bali earlier than planned. I think perception of Thailand has slipped a lot and don't see anything improving it.

"Crackdown on back-to-back tourist visas": Little do my friends realize the Thai government seems to be doing all it can to get the foreigners out anyway so staying may not be an issue.

Little has really changed little for me, although I wonder sometimes if being here a long time and getting used to just letting things go somehow gives you a tunnel vision about a place. Maybe my friends are right, something to think about.

[dsfbrit]

I can add a fresh perspective on the rampant anti-tourism movement that seems to be infecting Thailand and its people. Today my Thai wife attempted to book 3 hotel rooms at a modest, 'boutique' style hotel in Chiang Rai for two nights--six room-nights all told--so my golfing buddies can try out the area courses next month. We have used this same hotel three times in the past three years and we were always able to negotiate a fair rate, even if it was slightly higher than the standard Thai price. Today, my wife was blatantly told that since a Farang was included in each hotel room, the price would rise from 800 baht to 1,900 baht. Even after we explained that all 3 men are long-term residents and have Thai driver's licenses as well to prove their status. It was as if talking to a brick wall. They wouldn't budge and I listened carefully to my wife--she was patient and polite.

So it is not just the BiB and the government that are hurting Thai tourism. The PM ought to seriously consider pleading to all Thai tourism operators that the old double standard for pricing has gone far enough and is definitely affecting tourist attitudes. Nobody appreciates racism and unfair practices...causing foreign tourists to vote with their feet. I doubt that we treat Thai tourists the same in Europe, Austral-Asia and North America. Even if this hotel suddenly caved-in on its pricing policies, I would shun them like the plaque....enough is enough. I'll pay gladly more money to stay a better quality hotel that does not insist on separate pricing depending on one's citizenship. And indeed we found a few hotels in Chiang Rai that meet this category. PM me and I will reveal the name of the miserable hotel to you in private.

Exactly vote with your feet so they catch on! Why don't you post the name of the place. What is wrong with that?

And sadly many of the 'special offers' available to boost tourism are useless. Bangkok Airways, of which I am a member, sent me this 'great offer' today. If I book this I get extra BA points as well. Naturally I am booking immediately to avoid the rush!!

Melati Beach Resort & Spa Koh Samui:-

Grand Deluxe Starts from 6,500 / room / night

Private Garden Pool Starts from 8,500 / room / night

Pool Villa Starts from 10,000 / room / night

[Lancelot]

The Thais aren't too worried about Western tourists because they've got the "CIA." CIA reference meaning "Chinese, Indians and Arabs." Just take a stroll down Walking Street, Pattaya if you don't believe me

Tourism contributes around 7% to the Thai GDP, but I've also heard it said that it is the biggest earner of foreign currency. I'm not sure what is officially used to measure that 7% figure but I would argue that a disproportionate amount of tourist/expat revenue goes to poor Thai who desperately need all the income they can get.

I wish them all the best but as one educated Thai poster said "The Thais know exactly what they are doing and they could care less." He was referencing farang complaints concerning tourist/expat scams. You know what, I think he is right...

[verydumbubba]

If they keep this up, there will be a Giant Sucking Sound as all the peeps migrate to Penang.

All BG extremely welcome!!

Buba

[sukeroku]

If they keep this up, there will be a Giant Sucking Sound as all the peeps migrate to Penang.

All BG extremely welcome!!

Buba

I think the sucking sound will be the perps migrating to Cambodia...

[antony77]

Tourism hit 49-year low

BANGKOK: -- The tourism industry has hit a 49-year low and is expected to plunge by 22 per cent this year, according to the Tourism Council of Thailand.

Besides the global economic crisis, the country's continuing political turmoil had contributed to the sharp decline in tourism, Tourism Council of Thailand chairman Kongkit Hiranyakij said on Thursday.

The expected number of tourist arrivals had been reduced from 14.1 million to 11, he said.

The A(H1N1) flu outbreak could make tourism contract by three to four per cent, causing the country to lose up to 200 billion baht of tourism revenue this year, he said.

Last year, Thailand gained 540 billion baht in tourism revenue.

"If the government can solve its political problems and is able to host the Asean meetings successfully, tourism should be revived by the end of this year or the beginning of 2010," Mr Kongkit predicted.

However, he said Thai tourists would help generate 430 billion baht in revenue this year.

-- Bangkok Post 2009-07-23

[vin1965]

The Thai's in power are well known to shoot themselfs in the foot again and again.

They want farang to come here and spend money but don't give two ----- about them, they in fact make it more and more difficult to come here. Then all of a sudden they realise that they have lost billions od baht!!

Not all the Thai's think like that if they did then I would have to say goodbye to Thailand.

[easybullet3]

If they keep this up, there will be a Giant Sucking Sound as all the peeps migrate to Penang.

All BG extremely welcome!!

Buba

not sure if penang has that much of a pull factor.

[Fore Man]

I don't think that Thai tourists are staying in boutique hotels in Europe for 800 or 1,900 baht per night.

No, but they don't get charged double because of the colour of their skin in Europe . Foreman's experience is another reason why the Thai tourist industry is biting the hand that feeds. It really is quite nonsensical.

Thai tourists are generally charged at least 5 times more in Europe than farang in Thailand. Let's not even get started on the double standards in wages.

What are you going on about!!!

I know a lot more Thais in Thailand with money, than I know Farangs with money.

Dont kid yourself that all Thais are poor. The rich here are very, very rich

And double standard charging, as you put it, based on whether or not you are Thai, is simply wrong and offputting.

You took the words right out of my mouth, JacknDanny; as another argumentative poster hinted at, why should I mind paying double tariff if I have the funds to do so? No, it is not an ego trip on my part (as was also hinted) and yes, the point being that Thailand needs to treat its foreign guests with more respect, regardless of the size of their wallets and bank accounts. I travel all over the world in my business and the only place that I am scammed because of a lack of local nationality is in the LOS...it may happen elsewhere, but dual-pricing structures are not published nor evident). It was embarrassing when a family of foreigners came to stay with us a few months ago...we took them up to Doi Suthep and my wife paid everyone's lift tickets to use the tram. As we were stepping aboard the car, the ticket booth operator came running over, demanding in a hostile manner that we had to fork over additional money for the Farangs. Yes, the fare difference was not inordinate, but what kind of sad impression did that register on our visitors? They later reported similar rudeness when they visited Phuket, and I doubt they will spend their hard-earned money to visit Thailand again. Many posters here miss the point entirely and absurdishly. We are not bashing the Thai people but are discussing why tourism numbers are plummeting. All I ask is that TV members keep an open mind nd focus on the relevant topic.

[antony77]

I came to work in Thailand in 1962. 47 years ago there were hardly any tourists. So the figures just don't make sense

[CHINWA]

Hi.

Who is beating the dead horse with The Airport Blockade™ again..??

It says it all that i received two "breaking news"alerts today in my inbox.

First one: "Crackdown on back-to-back tourist visas"

Second one: "Tourism at 49-year low"

Any more questions? They are slowly making it illegal to even set foot in this country, let alone stay for longer - and then wonder why nobody comes..??

T. i. T.

Thanh

Even for the Thais. It is a sad reality! We will all pay for someone else's huge mistakes and in my opinion it is time for the Government to sit down and think very seriously about solutions to save the country and its image!

[Robroy]

The Bangkok Post told us with a straight face 3 years ago that the blanket of smoke over northern Thailand, Laos & eastern Burma (300,000 people treated for pulmonary problems) was caused by Chiang Mai's Korean barbeque restaurants.

So we mustn't expect much.

Re Thailand, I have to agree with the som num naa comment: this is the result of an abject failure to respond to problems which have been accumulating very visibly for many years.

I'm a writer, & dozens of adjectives flew through my head during my 3 years in Thailand, to best describe the place. In the end "passive" is the one that stuck.

If anything is, the new airport in Bangkok is at the very heart of Thai tourism. This week's report of an extortion scam

run there - within King Power Duty Free - with the assistance of bent police, says it all. Out of sheer passivity, the authorities will not act to prevent one crook & a few bent cops from stealing thousands from tourists. The story goes all over the world. Thai tourism (& thus their incomes, ultimately) decline even further...

...but there seems to be a strange inability to connect cause with effect - A with B.

I love Thailand & owe it a lot. It contains competent, well-meaning people. But, as Einstein said of the US: "The idiots will always rule".

[ray23]

I think that we may congratulate Foreign Minister Kasit, he considered the airport occupation "fun". We may congratulate the army too for using absurd force and distrusting the police for not being able to do the job. We may congratulate Suthep and Newin fro assembling a shirt of Blue shirted ex convicts who ignited the red shirt mob in Pattaya and we must absolute congratulate the army for screwing up the economy. The bottom line: economic crisis? Sure, but in the case of Thailand: Som Na Naa

Don't forget the BOT they darn good job propping up the baht making it the most expensive place in Asia to buy from or visit. Great job.

[Gonzo the Face]

If Thailand really wanted to have a great tourist income, then they'd quit screwing with the frangs here, with all the BS , Immigration changes, etc. etc., and get it right like when Thaksin was in office, he wanted to make Thailand a real destination for world tourism. This regime does not, so it seems.

You get around much ?????

[ParadiseLost]

In 1960 the British holiday makers were considered fortunate to be able to afford 2 weeks on the Costa Brava let alone SE Asia. It was the same for the other Europeans, the Americans and probably the Australians. These claims in this article are nonsense.

They were off to the colonies where they were treated like royalty...

[laocowboy2]

Agree with this. It all depends how the Govt really wants to perceive itself; a tourist economy or start to be focused on their manufacturing.

I trust you realize that even in the "boom" years that tourism has never accounted for more than 6-7% of Thai GDP. Feel free to google it.

I love Thailand without all the tourists- the "low season" deals this year are amazing!

The main benefit of tourism to the Thai economy is the creation of a large number of better quality hotel etc jobs in areas that otherwise usually have limited non-agricultural job opportunities. As you say, as a percentage of GDP it is significant but not vital. I do however wonder whether the tourism number really catches the total tourist spend - especially the cash part in the "informal" sector.

[LivinLOS]

22 per cent is a steep decline, but not the catastrophic end to tourism most of you guys seem to want to justify your views on the minor hassles of being a falang here.

Anybody have any comparitive data for other tourist destinations. I suspect they will be of the same order for longhaul.

Bali is a very comparable island..

Up 8% this year..

[ParadiseLost]

Making it hard to own property = YES

making it hard to transfer money = NO - NEver had any issues wiring decent amounts of cash into the country.

Correct, in no problem, try taking it out !,. like everyting else money related in thaiiand its on a one way ticket and in their favour,.

I live in Vietnam now where it is just as hard to buy land as in Thailand.

You are able wire transfer money out of Vietnam as long as you have evidence that it originally came into Vietnam from overseas or that it has been earned legitimately and that tax has been paid on those earnings. Isn't Thailand the same? What's wrong with that?

Surely you're obliged to pay tax in western countries as well. It would be a sensible policy for any government to adhere to.

What - and force banks to turn down all that lucrative drug money the international cartels move around???

[tomartoh]

I can't understand why you guys take any notice of any figures published from any source in Thailand. They are all suspect and in many cases just meaningless gibberish.

You can all see for yourselves the lack of tourists and if the Thais are lucky they will only be 22% down.

The big money earner is in residential tourism, but they are not going to go down that road for sure.