Phuket Will Lead Recovery Of Thai Tourism

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Phuket will lead recovery of Thai tourism

PHUKET: -- The curent issue of Time magazine quotes Bill Heinecke, whose Minor group owns two hotels in Phuket, as emphasizing that Phuket and Hua Hin were among the many places in Thailand where "tourists were never in any danger and there were no problems" during the anti-government protests.

In a story headlined "Protests Not Expected to Hurt Thai Economy", the magazine notes that fallout from the civil unrest is expected to be limited, with most economic analysts predicting a year of strong growth. Indeed, the Bank of Thailand announced on May 27 that GDP would still grow between 4.3% and 5.8% for the year, not far off the forecast by the World Bank before the violence began.

Exports are the primary driver of the Thai economy. They are expected this year to contribute a record-breaking 60-65% of GDP, nearly double their contribution in the late 1990s.

Tourism, while a major growth industry, has yet to achieve a double digit percentage in what it brings to GDP. In 2008, a boom year for Thai tourism, the sector contributed less than 8%. This year, by all accounts, it is expected to deliver something a bit over 6%, about one-tenth of the contribution of exports.

Time refers to it as a "small blessing" that the recent bloodshed took place during the low-tourism season, noting that industry executives are now hopeful confidence in the country as a holiday destination can be restored before the start of the high season in October.

With confidence in Phuket damaged far less than has been the case in Bangkok and the north of the country, it is not unreasonable to assume that Phuket will play a leading role in restoring tourism's national health over the months ahead.

-- Phuket Gazette 2010-05-30

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[gotlost]

Yea, right, sure.

[jitenshaman]

tourists are never in any danger in Phuket, except of course if they run into a belligerent tuk tuk driver or jet ski operator.

[phuketrichard]

only danger is

tuk tuk

tailors

tuk tuk's :-)

overpriced restaurnts

Outside of that its as close to Paradise as one can get here now

[Beechboy]

The toursm figure of just 8% always puzzles me:-

1. Because it would be impossible to assess an exact figure with the sector covering such a wide ranging area ie. from tuk-tuk drivers to bar girls to street vendors et al.

2. The number of people who will not be on any "books." This includes many if not most of the above. I never seee a tuk-tuk fare recorded in any way or get a receipt from a street vendor. As for bar-workers, they come and go by the day.

3. How would they know what percentage of each one thousand baht is spent in, for example, Robinsons by tourists, Thais or ex-pats?

The amount of black money floating around the Thai economy must be inestimatable and much of this is related to tourists.

The fact is, that most on this Board recognise this fact, yet official figures are still spewed out ad nauseum. The "black" may well be taken into account to a certain extent, but it all has to be based upon guess-work which itself, and for some reason or reasons, is always under-pinned.

[sungate]

The toursm figure of just 8% always puzzles me:-

1. Because it would be impossible to assess an exact figure with the sector covering such a wide ranging area ie. from tuk-tuk drivers to bar girls to street vendors et al.

2. The number of people who will not be on any "books." This includes many if not most of the above. I never seee a tuk-tuk fare recorded in any way or get a receipt from a street vendor. As for bar-workers, they come and go by the day.

3. How would they know what percentage of each one thousand baht is spent in, for example, Robinsons by tourists, Thais or ex-pats?

The amount of black money floating around the Thai economy must be inestimatable and much of this is related to tourists.

The fact is, that most on this Board recognise this fact, yet official figures are still spewed out ad nauseum. The "black" may well be taken into account to a certain extent, but it all has to be based upon guess-work which itself, and for some reason or reasons, is always under-pinned.

Sooooo, do you think it's more than 8%? Or less than 8%?