Tourism plunges 22 per cent

[cyborg22]

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.

This is to say that they have never had a 22% drop before in 49 years

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.

Expected to be 11 million this year, Not that it was 49 years agoThe 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.

This is a contrubuting factor but not the underlying cause

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.

This should read they should see some sort of revival by the beginning of 2010 not totally revived.

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

This should also read Thailand tourists (farang visiting Thailand)

Just pickup a copy of the newspaper in thai and get a farang that can read Thai to interprete it for you. If they do it good you will see it in a different light.

Forgot to say not my translation, as not seen the thai version. but that of a farang lawyer friend in bkk

Edited July 23, 2009 by cyborg22

[WeeGB]

huskerpr, agree with your comments, I also think the Bank scam of 150 baht for using ATM machines is keeping tourists away. It's been well publicised and is an unnecessary expense for someone on a couple of weeks vacation.

Also, whatever the rights and wrongs of the British couple scammed at King Power fiasco, the fact is they both belonged to the section of clientele that the TAT is aiming at, and most people sadly DO believe what they read in the papers.

When times are hard, people are much more inclined to do some research before spending a large amount of their income on a holiday, and almost all of the recent news about Thailand is extremely negative.

On arrival, there are reports of tourists being scammed by taxis.

Wherever a tourist goes, he is expected to pay double the price when sightseeing.

The police have a worldwide reputation, of being at best unreliable, and at worst, similar to the mafia.

Hotels also practice double pricing, and I've seen several reports on here of them increasing their charges, due to a lack of customers.

Finally on leaving Thailand, a tourist has to negotiate their way through being possibly accused of theft at King Power, and being incarcerated while Tony negotiates their release.

Why would anyone, who's never been to Thailand, want to come?

Why bother to go on and on about all this. We all know about this, but posting it here is a waste of time.

Someone should step up and file complaints to the government or TAT or something on behalf of expats and tourists. Its not such a crazy idea. The government departments and offices within each department are so badly organised they dont even know what problems they are having.. how are they going to understand our problems?

George should have a useful links section on here with names of offices to write suggestions and complaints to...

Hopefully this should stop people whining in the forums so much - its really a waste of time, no offence intended ive done it too!

Sorry if my post has offended you, but I shall continue to post my views on areas I wish to discuss, whether they meet your approval or not. If you don't like people whining, why complain???

As for your links suggestion....

Perhaps you should read the forum rules:

"Please be informed that ThaiVisa is an apolitical discussion forum, meaning that we take an unbiased position in regard to political matters in Thailand. As such, ThaiVisa will not permit itself to become a sounding platform for members to lobby other members to effect changes to or suggestions on political issues or Thai government decrees. This does not mean that members cannot voice a political opinion as ThaiVisa is first and foremost a discussion forum, but lobbying for any kind of action is forbidden."

[henryalleman]

Nothing positive at all to say.

I guess most of you guys have been here for a while?

.

But when you settle in one place and people get to know your face you don't see the smiles any more.

What on earth did you do that nobody smiles at you anymore. Normally its the contrary the smile is even bigger after they start to know you.

[syd barrett]

The type of tourist that Thailand wants is the 2-3 week visitor, perhaps with wife/family who will stay in a hotel and dine out for breakfast and lunch and dinner. Who will spend money on massage, souvenirs and day-trips. The type of tourist who has travel insurance and return flights and spending money (to spend fully).

These types of tourists will decline further following the Bangkok Airport blockade, political unrest and the well reported crime in western red-top newspapers.

There are some big changes ahead for long-term resident 'cheap-charlies' such as myself.

I can't reveal what I now know, but expect the 'Thai Visa Residency & Work Permits' forum of Thai Visa to be 'On-Fire' in about one months time.

[minxwhale]

The scams, the sex trade, the corruption, political upheavals, the double pricing are nothing new and have been around seemingly forever. None of these ever mattered much to the vast majority of the ex-pats who post here nor to the vast majority of the tourists who kept on coming. The problem is that a relatively small group of organized criminals within the financial sector infiltrated the highest levels of the US government, scammed the world, took a lot of money for themselves, and then caused a significant contraction of the money available to everyone else. It is the resulting global recession/depression that has caused the large downturn in tourism, and not any of these trivial pet peeves that ex-pats have been griping about ad nauseum for decades.

correctomundo as the Fonz always said in Happy days

YOU ARE SOOOOOO RIGHT! It's the world economy and NOTHING else.

[Pawpcorn]

huskerpr, agree with your comments, I also think the Bank scam of 150 baht for using ATM machines is keeping tourists away. It's been well publicised and is an unnecessary expense for someone on a couple of weeks vacation.

Also, whatever the rights and wrongs of the British couple scammed at King Power fiasco, the fact is they both belonged to the section of clientele that the TAT is aiming at, and most people sadly DO believe what they read in the papers.

When times are hard, people are much more inclined to do some research before spending a large amount of their income on a holiday, and almost all of the recent news about Thailand is extremely negative.

On arrival, there are reports of tourists being scammed by taxis.

Wherever a tourist goes, he is expected to pay double the price when sightseeing.

The police have a worldwide reputation, of being at best unreliable, and at worst, similar to the mafia.

Hotels also practice double pricing, and I've seen several reports on here of them increasing their charges, due to a lack of customers.

Finally on leaving Thailand, a tourist has to negotiate their way through being possibly accused of theft at King Power, and being incarcerated while Tony negotiates their release.

Why would anyone, who's never been to Thailand, want to come?

I WISH this was the case; double wouldn't be so bad... but the last two sightseeing places I went to... Rama IV Palace and a waterfall in Nakon Nayok... Thai prices were 20 baht... Farang prices were 200 BAHT; simple math, 10 TIMES MORE FOR FARANG!!!

And I live here, teach English, pay THAI income taxes... hardly a "tourist" yet I (and WE) still get scammed...

[minxwhale]

Before you start making claims you should make sure you know what you are saying.

1) Cut 30 day Tourist Visa to 15 days. (this is for entry, not visa and only at land crossing)

2) Raise the prices on visas (what??? they made the tourist visa free..)

3) Cut down, or cut out, visa runs for longer stays. (this was abuse by people not following the rules)

4) Blatantly have two-tier pricing for farang and Thai (it happens in other countries too..don't like don't go there)

5) Have people walking down the street with their families, including children, being accosted to buy sex merchandise. (the govt does not promote this)

6) Have motorbike "gangs" that deliberately target farang on motorbikes, especially at night, to beat & rob. (give me a break on this and the rest of your comments)

7) Have women proposition men on the beach for sex, and when they refuse, the "boys" move in to beat & rob him.

8) Raise the price of rooms in hotels to outrageous levels, while cutting the services down to practically nothing.

9) Besiege people from the moment they clear customs at the airport with "taxi pimps" who try to steer you to their taxis that refuse to turn on the meters, and will even tell you that the hotel you are booked into burned down last night, but they will take you to another one just as good, but have it turn out to be worse, but cost you more.

10) Have blatant scams in the airport that accuse people of stealing, and then forcing them to pay huge sums to be "cleared" of the charges and let go.

And this doesn't even include all the political B.S. that goes on.

Oh, Yeah, Thailand, you're really encouraging the tourists - to go someplace else!

I'm no lover of Thailand, even though I live here due to my job. But these are ALL red herrings and you'll be proved wrong when the economy turns around. It will bounce back to previous levels despite all of these ills. And they are genuine ills. But mark my words, they will all still be going on in five years and tourism will be rockin' again.

[dreamtime]

I really don't think the tourism decrease can be attributed to the polical unrest and swine flu. Maybe to a small degree, but not to an all time low. I think this government needs to look at several items.

The exchange rate for the baht is horrible

The prices for lodging and services is becoming outrageous. $100 a night for hotels in Thailand. Please

Thai Air is probably one of the highest priced airlines going in th world right now.

== That's because the Thai's believe in the economic theory of "lower demand means increase pricing".

they think

ANd then there is the problem of gaining a visa, dual entry, just not conducive to the tourist.

As a farang married to a Thai lady, the fact that they are making it harder for us to buy property or transferring money just to support our wives and children has alot to do with why go to Thailand? They have made a very unappealing place to come to.

The Thai governement needs to wake up and smell the coffee, there are places such as Vietname to visit that are just as nice and far less expensive same with the Philippines. Thailand is pricing and governing themselves out of the tourism market.

== Not to mention Laos, Malaysia, Indonesia.

S

I hope someone from the government is listening.

[minxwhale]

Nothing positive at all to say.

I guess most of you guys have been here for a while?

The first two weeks is great when you com to Thailand even the first couple of months even a year if you are traveling from place to place. And you really do see the Thai smile.

But when you settle in one place and people get to know your face you don't see the smiles any more.

I kind of realized that Thai people only smile when you are handing over money.

We moan and screw, but why are we still here?

I guess we must be scared of what's out there as for when we first came to Thailand we only herd good things.

I've lived here for six years and I still the nice smiles from the people I know and the local businesses and restaurants I frequent. They are always nice to me, charge me the same as everyone else and often give me extras, freebies.

Today in fact, my shoe repairman fixed my shoe for free WITH A SMILE.

I don't know where you're living, but Thais are nice and they're not trying to suck us dry. Only a few and that can be same for whatever country you hail. Admit it.

[oswego]

Look on the bright side. It is a great time to be buying up these hotels and resorts! I might consider some properties in Silom and Phuket.

[JamesMemphis]

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.

When we are all gone...who will they blame?

-- Bangkok Post 2009-07-23

[macjet]

I have found the solution to this problem. It's only Thai banks charging this. Find a foreign bank like Citibank, Standard Charter, UBS or HSBC ATM. None of them are on the screw the foreigner bandwagon.

Since this fee was charged, I've gone to all of the four aforementioned banks and have never been charged.

For a start hsbc do charge a fee for foriegn withdrawal, So do the likes of yorkshire bank/barclays/nat west/loyds to name many others, Including nation wide who have just recently introduced the charge.

As i said before a Thai bank charge will be shown in Baht not Euro.

All banks charge for withdrawal at a foreign ATM but not twice! You will see the debit on your bank account statement, not on your ATM debit slip.Nationwide is already being sued in USA for this double dipping.

For a start, I recall that the debit was 20,150b and, I ass-umed the 150 was the thai bank charge. The charge in Euro was the debit for withdrawal at a foreign bank ATM network ( usually a fixed fee regardless of amount) "which charge is shared with the foreign bank". What the split is I don't recall but it is an international agreement. Thus the Thai banks are imposing a charge that hitherto was non-existent. They are in fact doing nothing for this that they have not already been paid for. I am not aware of any other banking system or country (other than the bandits in Panama recently) doing this but I have been away from banking a number of years. Quite a windfall! I can imagine the chortling going on in Thai bank boardrooms. They deserve worldwide attention and condemnation. Travel agents should forewarn clients e.g. "tourists".

[skullyman2727]

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

From all the crap the government does changing the laws day by day. This is why people opened their eyes and went else where.

[oswego]

Fundamentally, it has to do with the issue of trust. I mean when a farang come to Thailand for a vacation he/she is trusting that Thailand will take care of them to the best of her ability. Which means beautiful beaches, friendly and well attentive services etc...

However, if those criteria is not met. For example you are unable to return to your home country for some reason. e.g., flight canceled, H1N1 or something. Then you will have to reconsider your options next time you travel. I mean there are other destinations besides Thailand that the vacationers could go to, such as Bali, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Japan, Brazil, United States, Australia,...etc.

What I am stating is that if Thailand does not care for the Tourist dollars that is out there. I think there are plenty of alternatives that the rest of the world will avail themselves of. Then Thailand is just stuck with the cheap foreign tourists that wants cheap female companionship.

[henryalleman]

How on earth Mr Kongkit can expect Thai folks to spend 430 Billion baht, based on the above figures, frankly beggars belief. Apart from trips organised by the local temple, (where the folks on holiday stay in a temple, not a hotel), this is the first holiday any member of my wife's family has been on, apart from those I paid for.

You've just answered your own question.

OOOh you're very quick, and catty too!

I should have phrased it better.

The only holidays my wifes' family have been on, were 9 years ago, which cost a total of around 5000 Baht, for three days, and one trip to Singapore for my mother-in-law, as a treat, for my visa run, a couple of years ago. I do not expect to be paying for any more holidays in the future, so I won't be contributing to Mr Kongkits wild economic fantasy.

You are of course welcome to contribute to the "holiday for WeeGB's Thai family" fund, - cheques payable to Bank Of Nigeria.

I think youll find the Thais spend a LOT of money when on holiday - you wont find many Thais staying in fan rooms and if you go to top resorts, especially spas - mostly Thai tourists there

That is only a small minority of the population, the common Thai stay normaly in some home stay or cheap resort where he spend at most 300 or 400 baht for the bungalow they share. And stay at most 1 or 2 nights. The majority of Thai people never went to the beaches or mountains, in fact they never go further than 10 or 20 k from their village or town.

The majority of them even never went to the capital. And this is not only so for the people in Isan but this go for all provinces. Personally I know a woman with 2 grow up sons who have a small business about 10 k from Pitsanulok, she is 43 and went 5 or 6 times in all her life to Pitsanulok, her business is open 24/7 an she sleeps, eat and drink with her 2 sons in some backroom of her shop. She don't know the meaning of the word Holiday, as most Thai people.I really don't think you know allot about the daily life of Thai people.

Or do you consider some cremation or wedding vacation.

[ngeean]

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

SUM NUM NAA... NAAAA NON!!

[Saijai]

Not surprised since they are making it so hard for tourists to come into the country now. What else can they expect. I actually

plan on going over there in November for 4 months, but am unsure if they will let me (or if the borders will be closed due to swine flu)

I WOULD be bringing with me thousands of pounds to contribute to their economy (if they let me) and I have no issue with this. I love

Thailand, I just hope they let me in.

[cecco]

540 000 000 baht / 34 = $15 882 352.90 usd

22 % plung = 540 000 000 * 0.22 = 118 800 000 plunge in revenue

Thai tourists would help generate 430 billion baht this year?

But I live in Pai, the #1 tourist resort area for Thailand, and we just had a 4 day holiday, and the town is empty.

Is this what they call: "Go Hok," or "Jing Jing," or "Kwarm Jing" Joke, ha ha?

Lowest in 49 years? TAT was begun in 1977. 2 009 - 1 977 = 32

I was here in 1978 with Braniff, and they had no tourists, mostly Brits and Americans, fluor vacationers, and the like. We helped start and create TAT as younguns. I am not sure I understand this article, except that things are bad, and what is the truth and objective of this article?

.. mr. perplexed.

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

[Mr Red]

I would not like to condemn the Thais making money where they can, but I do have issues with 10x times prices for falangs, and (what I am experiencing) exorbitant rates for holiday destinations (Koh Samui in our case) that seem to be trying to recover on the falang dollar. We picked one hotel that seemed to be resonable and I hope we are happy with it. While I feel sorry for the economy, that does not give license for Thai facilities to start enforcing the falang vs. Thai rate ( 10x per another poster in Chiang Mai).

I will report after my trip next week (starting then to BKK, then on to Koh Samui, and several in-country destinations). Not a good sign that Thai tourism is trying to get more of my $ instead of being reasonable.

[Jiu-Jitsu]

huskerpr, agree with your comments, I also think the Bank scam of 150 baht for using ATM machines is keeping tourists away. It's been well publicised and is an unnecessary expense for someone on a couple of weeks vacation.

Also, whatever the rights and wrongs of the British couple scammed at King Power fiasco, the fact is they both belonged to the section of clientele that the TAT is aiming at, and most people sadly DO believe what they read in the papers.

When times are hard, people are much more inclined to do some research before spending a large amount of their income on a holiday, and almost all of the recent news about Thailand is extremely negative.

On arrival, there are reports of tourists being scammed by taxis.

Wherever a tourist goes, he is expected to pay double the price when sightseeing.

The police have a worldwide reputation, of being at best unreliable, and at worst, similar to the mafia.

Hotels also practice double pricing, and I've seen several reports on here of them increasing their charges, due to a lack of customers.

Finally on leaving Thailand, a tourist has to negotiate their way through being possibly accused of theft at King Power, and being incarcerated while Tony negotiates their release.

Why would anyone, who's never been to Thailand, want to come?

Thais have to pay when they withdraw money from an ATM overseas, so why should a farang be the exception when withdrawing from a Thai bank ? Thais get charged 100 baht in most countries, at least most countries I have been to anyway. I never seen the 150 baht ATM issue on BBC/CNN/ABC.. this was not even regarded as news.

The drop in arrivals has got nothing to do with ATM machines, its all down to whatever the press like to jump on. Such as airport closures, airport scams and low life tourists who steal beer mats.

The only thing that would bring tourism back to Thailand is if another country starts to take the eye of the press, particularly a country that competes with Thailand for its tourism. Remember Thailand was thriving during the Schapelle Corby case in and the bombings in Bali. All it takes is another bombing in Bali, or another drug smuggler gets caught and minor incidents in Thailand such as stolen beer mats and duty free scams will not even make the news.

Thais simply do not realize how much the international press dictate where we go on holiday, and when the other countries are behaving themselves Thailand should behave too.

But who is charging the Thais 100 baht? The Thai banks maybe?

[minxwhale]

Not surprised since they are making it so hard for tourists to come into the country now. What else can they expect. I actually

plan on going over there in November for 4 months, but am unsure if they will let me (or if the borders will be closed due to swine flu)

I WOULD be bringing with me thousands of pounds to contribute to their economy (if they let me) and I have no issue with this. I love

Thailand, I just hope they let me in.

For all you schmucks who think the tourism drop in Thailand has anything to do with the numerous gripes posted on this thread, expand from myopia and look at the same news from the REST OF THE WORLD. The pain is everywhere:

RADIO AUSTRALIA NEWS: Tourist arrivals in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands fell by 30 per cent in June, compared to the same month last year, under the impact of the global economic crisis.<<<<

REUTERS: Greek tourism industry groups said on Wednesday they see their revenues falling about 15 percent this year, dragging the country further into recession <<as a weak summer season hits a key driver of the economy<<

LATIN AMERICAN HERALD TRIBUNE: Tourist arrivals fell 11.4 percent in Spain during the first six months of this year, compared to the same period in 2008, the Industry, Tourism and Trade Ministry said Tuesday.

REUTERS: The global economic crisis took a heavy toll on travel to and from Britain last year, figures released on Thursday showed, while the first quarter of 2009 was also gloomy for the tourism industry. Visits to Britain fell to 31.9 million, down 2.7 percent from 2007 and the first fall since 2001, when the 9/11 attacks and a foot-and-mouth outbreak dented global travel, a report by the Office for National Statistics showed.

That's just a smattering.

'nuff said.

.

Edited July 23, 2009 by minxwhale

[cyborg22]

I will be so happy to go back home to Thailand next week.

May be then i won't have so much time on my hands, Which in turn means i won't be getting so many headaches by reading some of the posts on here.

Especially the ones that shout Mr Perplexed. Or should i say cecco

Edited July 23, 2009 by cyborg22

[klikster]

Usual blah-blah nonsense comparisons !!

49 years ago > 1960

There where the very first GIs from Vietnam discovering Pattaya for R&R spending 80 Bucks in two days...

I think you are 10 years off. Very few G.I.'s in 'Nam in 1960.

[minxwhale]

Usual blah-blah nonsense comparisons !!

49 years ago > 1960

There where the very first GIs from Vietnam discovering Pattaya for R&R spending 80 Bucks in two days...

I think you are 10 years off. Very few G.I.'s in 'Nam in 1960.

There were plenty of american military types in viet nam then.

U.S. military advisers arrived in 1950. U.S. involvement escalated in the early 1960s and combat units were deployed starting in 1965. Involvement peaked in 1968 at the time of the Tet Offensive.

YOU PEOPLE ON THIS SITE HINGE ON EVERY WORD AS IF EVERYONE'S AN EXPERT. BE KIND< LOVE ONE ANOTHER

Edited July 23, 2009 by minxwhale

[Chayaphum]

Tourism hit 49-year low "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.

These guys keep opening their mouths to change feet.....

There should be a lot more Thai tourists, more than last year, as there are much more Thais out of work now. No pesky jobs to go , more time for travel. Wonder where they will find the 430 million baht?

sorry, not million.......he talking about 430billion, little difference

but anyway....i dont understand the real problem about this 49-year low.

Thailand make just about 6-7% of the GDP with the tourism-sector.

That mean they dont need us "stupid Falangs" or other foreigners.

Thai Rak Thai, dont forget this.

49years ago the people here dont know about calculators (also many dont know today how to use it)

and how to make a statistic, so how they want to know this numbers and publishing bu****it like that.

Better to start thinking before doing something.

Chayaphum

[DMasut]

edited below

Edited July 23, 2009 by DMasut

[dreidcs2]

Land of the smiles?

Where did the smiles go?

I see less smile every year when i return to Thailand to visit my friends, actually i had felt some how unwelcome the last couple of times, i guess the new thai generation forgot how to make turist feel welcome or just forgot how important the money the bring to Thailand is.

It starts from the schools, they need to teach the school kids how important turists are for this country, and how important the smiles are....

[DMasut]

I think they mean this year is expected to be the largest % (percentage) drop in 49 years, which is about right.

However, I am more concerned what they will do to fix the problems, both short and long term to bring the economy back.

I do not think allowing businesses, taxi drivers, etc. to gouge and overcharge farang will help, with a justification that 'Farang have more and Thailand's economy is bad'. This practice has ALWAYS BEEN very counter-productive and problematic. PEOPLE HAVE LOST THEIR LIVES OVER MONEY BECAUSE OF THIS.

News archives and this forum are littered with stories about wives killing farang husbands over houses and moneys…or the Thai partner that has had their Farang partner "RUBBED OUT" by the local mafia or others.

Nor do I think making foreign investment rules harder and stricter sends a good message.

I think it is high time they allow foreign investors to own land outright without a Thai partner. This practice of a Thai parnter to own a house or business is both outdated and does not good to develop real trust between foreign investors, Thai people and government.

Requiring Thai partners to own land or a business has only given unscrupulous Thai (whether it is Thai wives or husbands, lawyers,;"friends" etc) and Government Officials an opportunity to scr&w honest investors out of their hard earned money whenever their greed is so encouraged to do so under the existing laws.

Then they need to deal with their political unrest in a diplomatic and democratic way.

LOOKING AT THE BIG PICTURE ON A LONG TERM SCALE MIGHT BE A HINT OF HOW TO FIX THE PROBLEMS!!!

THE SOLUTIONS ARE THERE, THEY ARE SIMPLE TO UNDERSTAND, BUT OLD HABITS "DIE HARD" IT SEEMS.

BEAUTIFUL BEACHES, MOUNTAINS, WORLD-CLASS SCUBA DIVING, FRIENDLY PEOPLE AND GREAT FOOD ARE NOT ENOUGH TO ENCOURAGE RETURN TOURIST BUSINESS WHICH IN TURN ATTRACTS MORE TOURISTS AND BUSINESS WHEN THEY ARE IN FEAR OF FALSE ARREST, BEING RIPPED OFF, CORRUPT POLICE, etc.

There is more to Thailand than bar girls...also just looking to relieve you of your money.

Edited July 23, 2009 by DMasut

[Datsun240Z]

I totally agreee.......................mate

QUOTE (trvlbum @ 2009-07-23 17:42:56) *

Maybe the foreigners are starting to feel that deep lack of respect for foreigners that the thais can no longer hide behind smiles. It starts at the airport and ends in the airport and runs all down the track from the taxi driver to the wives boyfriends.

No COUNTRY in the Entire world allows a foreigner to stay for a year

on a tourist visa!

Yes, but that is done on purpose = longer stay = spending more money. But the rest of the rules is made this way, falang can do nothing but spend the money.

[BAZZAT]

Amazing, it is all going to be solved in the next 4 months. Funny how the benefits of Tourism are always downplayed by the sock puppets, but in reality it is starting to bite. Well done, keep up the scams an other associated nonsense and they might even exceed these figures next year.

I agree they may even totally diminish what is left of there so call tourist ex-pat trade, they have a brilliant country but they just do not get it , who care's who owns what and where and the fact that we are contributing to there economy, with a bit of luck someware someone sometime the perverbial penny will drop, they just seem to be stumbling from one problem to the next with out any resolution or direction.