Why do retirees marry in Thailand ?

[thailandbluegrass]

We all know whats going on NOW but as a lot of us here are expats what will we see in the future for Thai Economy?

I would like to hear from folks regardng YOUR opinions how they could rebuild the tourism AFTER this crisis is over?

In the past I have experienced (as a friend quoted) that when the economy is down the Thais try to make up for this (Hotels, Resorts etc) instead of lowering the prices, by RAISING them in order to make up for lost income. Most of us I think feel this is wrong but......

The Thai government (along with private companies) after the last crisis did a few things like lowering air travel domesticley to incourage Thai's and Farangs to travel more in Thailand. Also by removing the 1950 THB for Tourist visas etc.

For me, I would think maybe;

• Re-establishing the 30 day boarder crossing from the present 15 days (who cares if hippies take advantage of this, they are spending money in Thailand).
  
• Financially helping resorts and hotels etc in order for them to lower their costs.
  
• Sending via websites a Internationaly issued good video with reasons to come here again. (Don't ask me how or what but I think you get the point).
  
• Make the retirement, tourist, non "o" etc visas easier to get.
  

PS; Please don't correct my spelling and/or grammar mistakes hahahah

What can you folks suggest?

Edited May 16, 2010 by thailandbluegrass

[soundman]

Since this is not about Bangkok specifically, my suggestion is to move this topic to the business forum.

Moved.

[morrobay]

42 Baht/$

[lovelomsak]

I amnot sure about the economy as whole but tourism will return quickly people have short memories and most travellers want the most for their money so they will be back in a few months no problem. Agriculture trade will stay strong China needs the food. Manufacturing will return creating jobs.But this may take 1 to 2 years, because of world crises also. Manufacturing exports would have been affected without the crises we are seeing now. One example is Toyota their foreign buyers have ran into purchasing problems.

The Thai economy will respond to new growth quickly. No incentives that we will be aware of will be necessary.

[lonewolf99]

Thais will put the price up for sure to re-coup losses....this is not a myth.

I live in a large Condo building and it only takes a rumour that someone was getting 15,000 for a small holiday apartment per month instead of 10,000.

All the Thais start asking 18,000 to 20,000 and then when people say "no way " and the owners never get any money they cannot lose face "Sia Nah' in Thai, by backing off and going back to the normal rates. They will doggedly stick to the 18,000 waiting in vane for a mug to turn up.

When it comes to logic - there is no logic.

When it comes to how things are done - there are two schools of thought. First the rest of the worlds and the other is Thailands.

I am not anti Thai just a realist.

Look at all the news over the last few weeks. Even a man educated in England as P.M. has dithered and dallied lost his way and people are now dying on the streets. What a dreadful waste of time and life.

Land of smiles...it is NOT ...rivers of blood and tears more like....R.I.P

[kennalder]

You need to change your headline or your question. The Thai economy is not just about tourism. Important but not the whole ball of wax.

So I will answer your headline. First thing they need to do is get competitive--allow anyone to work and get rid of protectionism. Protecting local industries just makes them lazy, and promotes sloppy business practices at the expense of hard driving innovation. I won't buy anything made in Thailand except a wash cloth. Okay a Japanese supervised motorcycle. But electronics, appliances...forget it. I'll pay the horrendous import duties to get a reliable product from abroad.

Just look at the reporting coming out of the newspaper that this site supports. No editing at all. It's like: "No, we don't need any Farangs on staff, we can do it all." What a dumb bunch of crap! America was built by embracing every idea from anyone that wanted to land on her shores. Anyone could come and start a business, smart people from every walk of life contributed.

I'm afraid 20-30 years from now Thailand will wake up, look around and say "How did we fall so far behind?" I doubt even then they will get it.

[chiangmaibruce]

I am not sure about the economy as whole but tourism will return quickly people have short memories and most travellers want the most for their money so they will be back in a few months no problem. <snip>

I disagree. I think people will have long memories in this case, and because of the media + internet so many people have heard what has been happening in Thailand. Importantly, we are not just talking about one event, e.g. tsunami, airport closure, etc ... this has just been a series of PR disasters & tragedies over a period of YEARS. This has been compounded by our perception of the Government's response in each case, which could best be described as muddled, ineffective and <feel free to insert the term of your choice here>

The one exception might be if Thailand suddenly became a lot cheaper vis a vis its tourism competitors ... but I really don't think that's about to happen.

Yes the government will no doubt provide compensation/hand-outs, do some promo activity and <groan> road-shows to see to regain visitor/investor confidence. Do you think the tourism operators will ever pass that on in the form of lower prices? dream on

To get the tourism industry on track and moving forward will require both political stability AND a whole-of-government approach to the various problems affecting the tourism industry. Tourism is not so much an industry as it is an amalgam of segments of many industries (e.g. construction, accommodation, retail, transport, etc). This cuts across the jurisdiction of many different government departments. The tourism agency (TAT) can achieve VERY little in isolation other than ... yes ... advertising and roadshows. Other countries have found that only by formulating and implementing whole-of-government strategies can they ever affect any real changes to the tourism sector.

In Thailand on the other hand, I have great difficulty in seeing evidence of even whole-of-department approaches to any particular issue. Witness the operation of the Lands dept, the Immigration dept .... different staff in different offices of the same department invent their own rules and interpretations on a whim ... and no-one ever seems to step in to correct matters.

To make matters worse, I just don't think most Thais appreciate the depth/strength of the impression all of the above has made (and is making) on foreigners, and just how many foreigners are aware and are discussing these issues. Nor do they appreciate just how much this negative sentiment can and might (eventually) materially affect their future personal circumstances ... or those of their children

On the other hand the country is hardly about to just shut down despite all of the above .... as someone has already noted, tourism is just one factor in the Thai economy ... which remains in surprising good shape (for now) and has the potential to surge forward under the right circumstances. Tourists will continue to come although with big drops in many of the traditional source markets. Enough from me for now ... further comment at www.burning-bison.com

Edited May 17, 2010 by chiangmaibruce

[Heng]

Just clear up those intersections and keep doing what we're doing.

[alant]

You need to change your headline or your question. The Thai economy is not just about tourism. Important but not the whole ball of wax.

So I will answer your headline. First thing they need to do is get competitive--allow anyone to work and get rid of protectionism. Protecting local industries just makes them lazy, and promotes sloppy business practices at the expense of hard driving innovation. I won't buy anything made in Thailand except a wash cloth. Okay a Japanese supervised motorcycle. But electronics, appliances...forget it. I'll pay the horrendous import duties to get a reliable product from abroad.

Just look at the reporting coming out of the newspaper that this site supports. No editing at all. It's like: "No, we don't need any Farangs on staff, we can do it all." What a dumb bunch of crap! America was built by embracing every idea from anyone that wanted to land on her shores. Anyone could come and start a business, smart people from every walk of life contributed.

I'm afraid 20-30 years from now Thailand will wake up, look around and say "How did we fall so far behind?" I doubt even then they will get it.

i think you have certainly indicated one of the problems that there appears to be, protectionism does lead to isolation and a lack of quality standards. but lets not forget that this is compounded by some of our attitudes as farangs.

it will be a brave man that rocks the boat and empowers the ordinary working thai to integrate with overseas ideas and expectations so perhaps it is safer to maintain the isolation

[junkofdavid2]

A merit making ceremony should do the trick.

Make sure it's with the most senior monk they can find (the older looking the better), with a huge number of assisting monks as well!

Also, the bigger the donation, the stronger the "power" to help the economic recovery.

[TheItaliann]

OP,

Sounds like you have a really strong grasp on the Thai economy. I would add one thing to your list: government subsidized 2 Drinks for 1 promotions. That could really kick start the Thai economy. And who knows, with some heavily choreographed gogo dance routines, Thailand might even top 10% GDP annually. One thing is for sure and I think you will agree with me here, the Thais have to start showing more respect to farang as we are the lifeblood of their economy and without us, where would they be? Probably fighting wild rhinoceroses instead of using the internet. Might I remind you that it was our technological advances that helped them eradicate the rhinos in the first place! Oh, how it makes my blood boil the way they stare at me and Ning everywhere we go as if we are some kind of cirrus side show.

Edited May 17, 2010 by TheItaliann