Thailand Focuses On High Spending Tourists, Not Numbers

[leiftheswede]

According to Juthaporn, the TAT will also promote Thailand as a centre of medical tourism. The Middle East is the main target. Moreover, "green tourism" campaigns are planned to appeal to tourists from Europe, where environmental awareness is high.

Well this must be another world class comedy act.

I´ve been on Koh Samui since 1994 and sure it will attract Europen enviromental awarness visitors - NOOOOT.

The soer system is a laugh, the pawments almost non existing and the garbage laying everyher on the streets, not to talk abought the beeches wich are fare from clean.

Will the Thai goverment ever wake up and see things for what they realy are. Well I dont think it will happen - not in my life time anyway. Most of the authoritys seems to have no clue of the reality.

[cdnvic]

Those incapable of disagreeing without resorting to insults will be removed, as at least one poster in this thread has found out. Keep it civil please.

[yesdavy]

My first week in Thailand I saw the glitzy magazine produced by TAT for Thai people in Thai language and it became immediately clear that corruption was rampant here. What is a tourism ministry doing advertising tourism to its own citizens? If a family from Khon Kaen vacations in Hua Hin, what has that done for the economy except maybe move local money to somebody's cousin's bank account. Tourism ministries develop inbound arrivals. Local destinations compete for the arrival dollars. Some ministries provide matching funds for promotion of inbound arrivals, but said funds cannot be used for promoting domestic tourism. So, the magazine says to Thai people, look what we are doing with all the money we get to help Thailand, and nobody questions it. Next, I saw an article about a great new strategy with an expensive road trip to India in order to convince Indian people to come to Thailand to get married. Now there's an idea. Remember, Thais go through school being conditioned to not ask questions, which is tantamount to not thinking. Nothing like a non-questioning populace if you are in control of a country. When I asked a TAT staffer about this strategy they could see nothing wrong with it until I asked if they would go to India to get married, or anywhere else, for that matter? Of course not. People get married where their family and friends are. And what about religion? So, there was more graft at work, TAT execs playing in India and calling it work. Next I questioned what the tourism ministry was doing in sports and film festivals. Does anybody actually believe that sports and film festivals are a tourism draw of any significance? Perhaps there is some model or testing that would suggest it, but IMHO, it defies all logic for developing inbound tourism arrivals. I have seen the research that drives inbound tourism arrivals and it is quite simple: beaches, cultural touring opportunities, safety & hygiene. Then it comes to light about the bribery in the BKK Film Festival with the head of TAT selling access to Thailand. TAT seems to be the most opportunistic, self-serving, enterprise in Thailand. Now they are talking the talk but do not understand the walk. Targeting upscale, inbound, F.I.T. and group arrivals is the prime objective of any tourism ministry worth its salt. This is neither new nor revolutionary. One of the highest demographics to target is golfers. Golfers specify better than average air and ground transportation, better dining, and better accommodations than non-golfers. They tend to be older on average and have more time and disposable income for travel. NGF publishes data that USA golfers on average take 2+ golf dedicated trips per year and average 2 nights per trip. They may take other trips and include golf as well. But, just on the golf trips, with 26 million golfers in the USA, you are looking at 52 million golf trips and 104 million room nights annually just for golf. This data is a little dated but indicative of why golfers are the most sought after demographic. It is why Mexico changed horses mid-stream from their politically correct plan to build a golf course at each of their ten major destinations and got the private sector involved to develop Los Cabos at the tip of Baja as a golf destination. Now there are 7 courses by renowned designers. Golf is also specified for a lot of group travel, for meetings and incentive arrivals, both domestic and international. I approached an executive here in Thailand about promoting the EGAT courses and was told point blank to stay away from that idea because those courses are built for EGAT employees. I wonder which employees those would be. Well, the younger people TAT will target typically do not have the disposable income, especially now that so many are unemployed, or the time off available, unless of course you are talking about back packers, but they stay in hostels and eat on the streets.

[asiawatcher]

Excuse me please but I have lived in Pattaya for almost eight years and have watched crime committed against foreigners esculate at an alarming rate. Many older retirees nolonger feel safe in their own homes here. The " suicide " rate amongst foreign residents is also very high. Hardly an athosphere conducive to attracting the rich.

I have lived 6 years and not seen violence escalate with foreigners at an alarming rate.The suicide rate with mainly older expats is due to no money or ill health,but its not high as i do not know anybody who has commited suicide or got attacked by thais.I have friends who have been attacked by russians,and foreigners,does that count ??????

I have never been attacked,or robbed at house or jewelry in my 6 years stay,but i have read about many thais been atatcked/robbed/murdered by thais,does this count too.

Your statement,is quite frankly unbelievable and with no backing of stats.Pattaya is a very safe place to be unless you are very stupid,showing gold or very drunk every night,same same most places in the world

Interesting - I guess the guys - all three of them in the past six months, who committed suicide were all broke, no hopers or old? But the facts are - well heeled in Pattaya, all in the same building, all had Thai girlfriends and paying for that privilege oh but, they decided to snuff themselves, put a plastic bag over their heads, used their own telephone wires to strangle themselves and before passing out jumped in a single bound to end up like road kill on the footpath! Yep - there are no suicides in Pattaya even thought the police came to the conclusion they WERE suicides!!! dam_n I thought they were murdered but the police must be right - right? ... so you're right - crime cannot be on the increase in Pattaya! Yawn...

[Thakkar]

I spend over 1.2 million baht a year in Thailand, who spends more, a tourist or me, TAT should focus on taking care of me and people like me, people who live here!

Hear, hear. I know some people who would spend way more than 1.2m a year who considered and rejected moving here. One of their peeves was the indignity of the 90-day reporting and the need to get a re-entry visa every time they leave. These are well to do families who are used to coming and going as they please. By itself, this wasn't a deal killer, but it was a niggling thorn. Another consideration was a lack of a reasonable path to citizenship. Not that they would consider Thai citizenship, but saw this as an indicator of the level of social inclusiveness.

Fixing such things wouldn't cost a dime.

[animatic]

Quality targets for their semi-pro wallet emptying teams.

[brianw]

I have just returned home after staying one week in the Holiday Inn Pattaya The hotel was occupied by at least 70% Indians. (not your yankee ones) Whole families and groups of single males would spend the whole evening sitting in the hotel gardens eating take aways and drinking beers from the local 7/11 certainly not much money going into the local ecconomy still I suppose there is not much difference than a couple of old expats sitting in a bar with 2 beers all evening moaning about everything thailand has to offer.

[mca]

The agency will also produce more testimonial series to help promote tourism after noticing that English Premier League football team Liverpool's recent visit to the Emerald Temple in Bangkok lured many of the team's followers to the country. It was later noticed that the increase in expenditure by the Liverpudlian tourists was canceled out by a 2000% increase in insurance claims from irate locals who's vehicles had been "twocced" to get the scousers back to the airport in time for the flight home. A spokesperson for LFC would only comment "Dey Do Doh Don't Dey Doh" and advising our reporter to "Caaaalm down" before headbutting him.

Sorry Scousers couldn't resist

Edited January 18, 2010 by mca

[backsoon]

I have voted this as a 'bad idea'.

The reasons are many.

High rollers do not go for Thai holidays. Full stop.

They go to places that offer what Thai doesn't have. Or if they have it, the regulations here can not give it to them.

On the other hand, younger people from affluent countries are not exactly 'high fliers'.

There is safety in numbers. The more people come here, the more tourist dollars come in. Even if they are 'budget' tourists. Rich are in short supply around the world, compared to a number of average income people. The low of averages dictates that high rollers are not only short in supply, but are a more 'volatile' group. Ask any bank whether they prefer one deposit of $100,000,000 or a 100,000 deposits of $1000.

Maybe they need a consultation with Thaksin on this issue. He might be the only one to attract money without people.

[thaibkk]

what they mean is = scam tourist of expat even more...

more taxi scams, more thefts at king' power at suvi arranged with lump sums of money, etc...

ask tourist more (double, tripple) price for the same

[earlbrownuk]

Excuse me please but I have lived in Pattaya for almost eight years and have watched crime committed against foreigners esculate at an alarming rate. Many older retirees nolonger feel safe in their own homes here. The " suicide " rate amongst foreign residents is also very high. Hardly an athosphere conducive to attracting the rich.

I have lived 6 years and not seen violence escalate with foreigners at an alarming rate.The suicide rate with mainly older expats is due to no money or ill health,but its not high as i do not know anybody who has commited suicide or got attacked by thais.I have friends who have been attacked by russians,and foreigners,does that count ??????

I have never been attacked,or robbed at house or jewelry in my 6 years stay,but i have read about many thais been atatcked/robbed/murdered by thais,does this count too.

Your statement,is quite frankly unbelievable and with no backing of stats.Pattaya is a very safe place to be unless you are very stupid,showing gold or very drunk every night,same same most places in the world

Spend a day down soi 9, and you will see that crime against foreigners is at an all time high.

And you don't have to be stupid to become a victim. It can happen to anyone.

The crime in Pattaya has risen to very high levels in the last 10 years, and most is caused by people getting addicted to yabba, and funding their habit or paying of their gambling debts.

Thai's commit crime against foreigner's and desperate foreigner's commit crime against foreigners.

Since being here I have seen 8 people shot 2 on second road, and the rest on third road.

Most suicides are actually murders, but because of the elite forces involved, nothing ever gets investigated, only stuffed in a paper box.

[BlueSmurf]

I spend over 1.2 million baht a year in Thailand, who spends more, a tourist or me, TAT should focus on taking care of me and people like me, people who live here!

same same!!

[leiftheswede]

Suraphon Svetserni.

"This year, the authority will not aim at luring higher numbers of visitors, but will try to encourage visitors to spend more money while staying in the country," she said.

Younger travellers in developed countries are the target.

Another comedy act!!!!

Young travellers DONT spend big money - japanese have one week vication and spend a lot but still much less then familys from Europe on a 5 weeks vication.

Kun Suraphon Svetserni - et your facts straight and just do the matematic.

[earlbrownuk]

I spend over 1.2 million baht a year in Thailand, who spends more, a tourist or me, TAT should focus on taking care of me and people like me, people who live here!

same same!!

I agree, they should. And if you have children as well, you can double that figure. School fees, medical etc.

[Thaihog]

Just a thought, I wonder how many Farang are employed as consultants to TAT... I'll bet the number is zero.

The Thais know best and don't need any farang to tell them what the needs of a Farang are, lol...

Also why is the TAT management comprised of old biddies, totally out of touch with the modern world. There are plenty of people under 40 with high spending power.

They are just a bunch of plonkers, NUFF said...

[Soutpeel]

The agency will also produce more testimonial series to help promote tourism after noticing that English Premier League football team Liverpool's recent visit to the Emerald Temple in Bangkok lured many of the team's followers to the country. It was later noticed that the increase in expenditure by the Liverpudlian tourists was canceled out by a 2000% increase in insurance claims from irate locals who's vehicles had been "twocced" to get the scousers back to the airport in time for the flight home. A spokesperson for LFC would only comment "Dey Do Doh Don't Dey Doh" and advising our reporter to "Caaaalm down" before headbutting him.

Sorry Scousers couldn't resist

.....On a side bar, you know F1 racing teams recruit a lot of their pit crews from Liverpool as no one else can get the wheels off a car so quick...

[mca]

Oldie but goodie SP mate.

[BlueSmurf]

I spend over 1.2 million baht a year in Thailand, who spends more, a tourist or me, TAT should focus on taking care of me and people like me, people who live here!

same same!!

I agree, they should. And if you have children as well, you can double that figure. School fees, medical etc.

i have just come back from pattaya where I took a first time visitor.I was given him all the do's and don'ts chat then I let my guard down and as I walked back to the hotel a Katoey tried to rob me with 2 others waiting to pounce.Thank God I can still run fast.This was on second road about 12 pm.No bib's anywhere as usual...Yes too much crime in Patts these days. Been here 8 years and now and do not feel as safe as before.

[Thakkar]

Why does it have to be either/or? Why not continue to try and attract tourists of all income levels?

[johnswift1956]

I can see where the Thais are coming from. They see all the expats sat there in bars worrying about the price of beer and the real tourists flying in every year for a good 1 month blowout costing $4000. An expat doesn't throw much money around at the thai hotels, bars, restaurants, and other tourist attractions but spending their money at other expat establishments.

Afraid that's very naive. And it looks as if TAT are just as naive.

Expats may not spluge $4000 in a month. But we steadily spend, spend, spend throughout the year to way more than this.

And where do other "expat establishments" shell out money to get their food, beer, foodstuffs, staff, rent and taxes (not to mention Protection Money) cars, etc? And the expat takes a salary.....and where is that spent?

It all virtually ends up here in the local / national economy.

What a load of twaddle johnswift.So you are the 2 week milliuonaire who thinks you are important over here,paying the girls big money and ringing the bell.get back to reality,that what we dont want here.so you say 800 gbp a week for a moth is spending,wow you are a rich boy arent you,thats 160,000 baht a year.I have friends that spend that sort of money in 1 month so take them tourist sunglases off and get in the real world monger

Wow you know all about people!! I have had 30 trips to Thailand in the last 7 years!

Hate to tell you this but I know I am not important in Thailand. Only Thais are! Its their country.

What you totally missed out on is that I have been married to a Thai for 5 years living in the UK and travel to Thailand 3/4 per year on one month visas. We have the house in the village and hopefully all the village benefit from the farang spending money there.

My Thai wife works in the UK and has herself over the last five years spent 300,000bt per year in Thailand.

Hopefully we both will eventually retire to Thailand in the next few years when our income and pensions are sufficent enough to cover a good life there but for the moment we will continue to keep returning as vistors.

Yes we spend time in Pattaya, Phuket, Krabi for holidays but spend equally as much time in the village.

What we both see in Pattaya are the many farang that live there continually complaining about the lack of money but still are there year after year. Not just bar owners, website designers, teachers, property salemen, tailors, restaurant owners, take-aways, motor-cycles rentals,,,,,, The list just goes on.

In the UK we are in the tourist trade. We have seen reductions in tourist numbers of 25% per year over the last decade. This year could be worse then ever. Thailand has nothing we have not seen in the UK. What we have seen is that it does not help tourism when large numbers of people including the unemployed migrate to the seaside for what is perceived to be a better places to live by taking up residence in properties that are on the cheaper side of the spectrum. We are now full of unwanted low-life with all the unwanted benefits, drugs, drunks, etc. My Thai wife is unable to walk the 100 yds home from work on a night without an escort.

I do not see that the TAT in Thailand as being far off the mark. They have most likely well researched the tourism sector. They have got the right ideas to keep the "well to do" coming because without them all the good hotels will be finished and Pattaya will slide even more into the pits! If they succeed in their quest in getting the "better off" then it is something we in the UK have not been able to do.

[Soutpeel]

Why does it have to be either/or? Why not continue to try and attract tourists of all income levels?

Mate...please dont try and use logic when it comes to TAT...

[robint]

LOS = lost the plot.

I knew of an elderly lady who would fit the category of "high net worth" as she spent most of her time floating around on luxury cruise liners. She decided to visit her son who had been working (legitimately) for many years in Bangkok. This threw him into a panic. Which hotel should he book for her. Most of the best hotels failed to meet criteria she would expect,

Inaccessible (too far away from Sukhumwit and the sky train)

Surrounded by slums,

Too down market <5star

and so on

principally you couldnt step out of the hotel onto the pavement without likely breaking your ankle, being gassed by the open drains, confronted by dirty street food hawkers feeding office workers, begging mothers and children blocking the walkways and so on. If you live here you get used to all this slum life and it doesnt bother you.

If you come from the circles of the super rich, you are appalled and feel very insecure (rightly so).

In the end he opted to put her in that hotel adjoining the Mah Boon krung shopping Mall

Only a 4 star you might comment

yes but it is served by an elevated walkway, no beggars, no potholes and reduced stink from drains. She could walk to the MBK and float around the marble concourse looking at high end shops without likely encounter with low life.

It worked but she only stayed a week and left for Hawaii with great relief, never to return.

No doubt this tale will raise all kind of hackles amongst those flangs who still love the country. this is not my attempt at Thai bashing, its the reality of wealthy people who dont go down market cos you get a free visa.

The new/resuscitated TAT policy is so hysterically misguided but does anyone care, certainly not the economy as tourism is only 6% of GDP. It could all shut down tomorrow and the SET wouldnt twitch (probably go up now that the risk to flangs and the bad publicity has been eliminated).

[laocowboy2]

You've all missed the point...

Exactly what I was thinking - and elegantly put. There is no easy way to track per capita tourism spend - how do they know whether a person eating a meal is a tourist or a resident. Ditto internal flights, hotel stays, shopping etc etc.

The point about high end resort hotels ij another post is also to the point. In the Caribbean there is a lot of high end tourist places where almost all expenditure is "in-resort" on (often) impaorted supplies meaning little or no spend in local restaurants, bars, shops etc. And so no job creation outside the resort itself.

Tourist arrivals have been decreasing steadily and Thailand can't (or won't) do anything constructive about it.

So instead announce a plan that you will concentrate not on numbers but on quality visitors and presto the problem of declining numbers ceases to be a problem but instead becomes reflective of your new strategy and if anyone cites the decreasing numbers you've already devised a face-saving way of getting out of it. And if someone challenges TAT as to whether they've succeeded with their new plan to attract quality visitors they will probably find it far easier to manipulate (or outright invent) statistics on tourist spending habits than the arrival figures.

Overall, it is a classic Thai approach to a problem they can't (or won't) fix. Everybody will save face and look good and nothing will improve except their image which is all that matters, anyway.

[LuckyLew]

Legalize gambling

Put huge casinos in Bangkok Chiang Mai Phuket Koh Samui and Pattaya

Create a gorvernment sports book for gambling

Legalize prositutiuon and tax the bar girls and massage parlor workers

According to last years tourist arrivals they are fine

Trouble is people are spending their money on under

the table activities so Government is not getting tax

money from their spending

[mca]

Why does it have to be either/or? Why not continue to try and attract tourists of all income levels?

Thakkar's opening comment on his first day in his new job as adviser to the board of TAT on how to make Thailand a more attractive tourist destination.

He was fired 30 seconds later.

[cdnvic]

Legalize prositutiuon and tax the bar girls and massage parlor workers

....and of course they will dutifully declare all their income and hand over the tax money.

[Slaps]

Can you please stop all these Scouser jokes

There having it tuff back home in the cold weather

It was so cold some were seen with their hands in their own pockets

I know it's old

[mca]

Let me look into my crystal ball. It's clearing......it's clearing....... Please stay on topic. All scouser references will be removed. Signed. Kevin James O'Donnell. TVF Mod.

[moskito]

Hopefully some of their 'staff' will read these blogs and get it up the food chain a bit.

what are you dreaming about ???

THATS the worst problem in Thailand. They are born clever and need noone to educate them, neither to learn something or even read a foreign language when it is not totally necessary, sometime they really should but TIT

Specially in ThaiVisa are many ppl which knows what they are talking about and it could help not only the TAT to listen or read here sometimes!

[chiangmaikelly]

I used to be rich. I didn't come to Thailand. Went to the Bahamas until the Bahamians took over then avoided the place like the plague.

Went to Cuba till the Castro took then avoided it like the plague.

Went to Hong Kong till the Chinese took over.

Frankly from a tourist standpoint the British were wonderful administrators as was the mob in Cuba.

After the natives took over and began the anti Falang stuff all over the world rich people changed their vacation plans.

Victoria is a wonderful island off the coast of Canada. Ran into British royalty buying shoes in the same store as I did.

Skied in BC. Went sailing in the San Juan islands both US and Canadian. I defy anyone to tell me a city with better international cuisine than San Francisco. Maybe NY since it cleaned up its crime problem.

California wines have improved so much that France is no longer a prime destination for the wine lover.

Taken as a whole the beaches in Florida are better than any other place in the world unless you are into surfing. Rich people don't surf. Rich people sail.

I came to Thailand because it was cheap and I am no longer rich. Plus the added benefit of not running into my ex wives in Thailand. They are rich now and don't vacation in Thailand. They take cruises and visit Europe in an attempt to show other Americans they have culture.

I still have friends who are rich. I ask them to come visit me in Thailand. They reply, "you gotta be kidding." If you compare Thailand to Hawaii the Thai weather is rotten and the place is really dangerous. I would live in Hawaii but I can't afford it.

Rich people can fly anywhere. Why would they come to Thailand? Shopping! Rich people got rich because they don't waste money because they don't get scammed.

I went to the Bahamas once after the natives took over. Never again and that was years ago and it still upsets me when I think about it. We had a home there. We had friends and family. Now they have independence, crime, drugs and a dirty country. I hope they're happy. Thailand has a niche market and everyone knows what it is. The French and Portuguese sailors recorded in they're log books in the hundreds of years ago.

The poor Chinese and Koreans and Japanese that they hustle around in busses so that can't really see Thailand and get hurt may be the way to go but I doubt these people coming back.

If someone really wants to improve tourism the ideas in this thread are a great start. Summarize them and get them to someone who could make a difference. Maybe someone with Privy in front of his name. Make sure to include the poll. The people posting here really know what they are talking about for the most part. There is a billion dollars of new money on each page of this thread.

I wonder if any one who can really make a difference reads Thai Visa? Does anyone really know.

The people that are the prime market for Thailand besides its niche market are countries that are more dangerous and corrupt than Thailand.

The slogan should be, "It's better than Uzbekistan!" Or "If you don't feel scared in Pakistan you will love Thailand." Maybe, "You can still google it here."