Tourism-Related Business Pleads For Thai Govt Help

[bangkokburning]

And attract tourists with a Lanna festival in BANGKOK??? Oh, look there's a Lanna festival in BKK, let's go to Thailand for vacation...

Dude, my thoughts exactly. I think exactly that every time they dream up some stupid promotion. They are all identical. Just like this.

Besides, how good do you think a Lanna festival is going to be in the Big Mango? Crap. There's no Lanna culture in Lanna!

Same with the free visas. Who is going to decide Thailand over another country over a free visa? In many other beach destinations - there aren't any visas! Then you stil have to contend with the mailers or hasle of going to the cons/emb AND then there is all the BS supporting materials. OR...we just go to: Caribbean, Mexico, Florida, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore. Even Indonesia with VOA you will break even (due to the tracking mailers at US36 r/t).

Why should tourists come to Thailand?

But rest assured TAT will report increase in tourism and spending for 2553

[lensta]

<br>

<BR>How sad... but how many have been closed due the sight of soldiers killing people in the street? How many businesses have been closed because of the airport occupation and how many have been closed due to the incompetence of Abhisit's boss Suthep? Lots more, the difference is that it is pretty convenient to complain when business is bad with this bunch of yellow shirt lovers, they will pay out and they can easily do so by cutting the absurd military budget.<BR>

<BR><BR><IMG class=bbc_emoticon alt=<img src="http://static.thaivisa.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/default/jap.gif" class="bbc_emoticon" alt=":jap:"> src="http://static.thaivisa.com/forum/public/style_emoticons/default/jap.gif">&nbsp; You have said it so well.&nbsp; <BR><BR>Thailand created a test tube cancer of scams, rip offs and dual pricing and set it free upon what they consider stupid uneducated farangs.&nbsp; Tourism is a muti million dollar industry for every country in the world.&nbsp; In Thailand many low class people rely on this industry.&nbsp; People such as the old lady sitting on the footpath with a newborn&nbsp;baby, the young children selling fowers at major intersections, the bar girls, the maids in the hotels and the service staff.&nbsp; I did not mention the tuk tuk's and jet ski because they are part of the cancer.&nbsp; People on Thai Visa have been warning for years of this proplem but it appears that the government did not see.&nbsp;&nbsp;<BR><BR>Nobody is going to Thailand and nobody wants to at the moment.&nbsp; In the last 5 yrs Thailand has taken a sky dive and will take many yrs to climb back up.&nbsp; We can not blame this on the reds/yellows but a combination of all the politics in Thailand.&nbsp; Tourists see Thailand as a land of political unrest,&nbsp; a land of scams and a place of where you can be accussed of a crime you did not committ. (scam)&nbsp;<BR><br>

<br><br>Agree 100% Not only that but not long after the Demo ended in Bangkok, the Hotel Association of Thailand pleaded with the hotels not to cut prices and start a price war. mmm would lower priced hotels and airfares encourage tourists to come back?? Travel agencies in Europe predicted a bonanza for tourists there, lower hotel prices, lower airfares and lower car rental as the tourist industry tries to recover after the volcanic eruptions all but closed down travel in a lot of European countries. Anyway the Thai government has announced that tourists are coming back, GDP is set to rise<br>etc etc. If all this is true then people in the tourist related industries have nothing to complain about, all is well in Thailand.<br>

[OldgitTom]

<br>

<br>How sad... but how many have been closed due the sight of soldiers killing people in the street? How many businesses have been closed because of the airport occupation and how many have been closed due to the incompetence of Abhisit's boss Suthep? Lots more, the difference is that it is pretty convenient to complain when business is bad with this bunch of yellow shirt lovers, they will pay out and they can easily do so by cutting the absurd military budget.<br>

<br><br><br>What a stupid biased statement!  <br><br>No-one was going to get hurt until the red mob got out of control.  Abhisit and the Govt at least warned and continued to warn until the violence was started by the Reds - if they had gone home as requested there would have been no violence as the Govt had already agreed to dissolve parliament and the reds had won but the idiot stage screamers refused and the ball of wax melted.  <br><br>Take off your sunglasses and put your beer down.  The yellow shirt protests at the airport never turned violent, trashed buildings, bombed businesses or burnt Thailand.  Businesses now - mine included - have all but stopped due entirely to reds not yellow, purple, white or blues.  Comments regarding budgets for military can lead into the grey areas of the royals and cannot be discussed here.<br><br><br><br>

<br><br>Nonsense: when you use the military to crush democracy, there are always later costs, many paid by the hidden rural poor. Unlike the unfortunate tourist sector, nobody pays them any heed - which is precisely why the military was rolled out to annul democracy in the first place. Without a legal voice, their only option was street action. Nice for the ugly farangs here - instantly they could bay for 'lorenorder' against 'terrorists'. What a different song these strong-armed but weak-principled authoritarians were singing when the tanks were crushing pro-democracy protestors in Tiananmen Square, Beijin!   OGT<br><br><br>

[rgs2001uk]

We (Wife, 3-year old daugther, 1 year old son and I) want to go to Thailand in November. The funniest (or sadest) thing are the prices for the flight to Bangkok:

Swiss Airways (normally not the cheapest one) will cost 4'000 swiss francs (about 3'600 US$).

Thai Airways (which we love and would love to fly with) will cost about 5'000 swiss francs (about 4'500 US$).

That's more than 20% more expensive. This will be the first time since about 5 years we will fly with Swiss, with that extra 1'000$ we can book a nice hotel for some days.

The following links may explain the price increase.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/archive/t-460205.html

http://www.nowpublic.com/world/thai-corruption-theory-and-now-practice-0

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:kdHRAIAPe80J:thaicrisis.wordpress.com/2008/10/10/thai-airways-the-situation-has-deteriorated-from-bad-to-worse/+thai+airways+corruption&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk

http://thainews.prd.go.th/en/news.php?id=254911120027

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/business/features/article_1528392.php/Thai-Airways-launches-cultural-overhaul-Feature

Best read these quickly before the "cyber scouts" block them.

[johndmf]

I'm sure its over 10 per cent. It's been awhile in coming but now the nation reaps what the PAD yellows and REDs have sown. Thanks guys

And you think the recession in the US and Europe has not had an effect on the Thai tourist industry? Potential holiday makers have less money to spend than in previous years, which is compounded by the relatively strong Baht against the US Dollar, Euro and Pound Sterling making Thailand more expensive. The cost of travelling to this country from Europe and the USA has increased substantially over the last year. Do you not think that might also have an had an effect? Thailand is facing strong competition as a holiday destination from other countries in the region.

Sure, PAD and UDD also had an effect, but the state of the Thai tourist industry is not entirely down to them. Instead of af asking for a bail out, it is time the Thai tourist industry stopped blaming all their woes on these two groups and started pushing for action to lower the cost of air travel to the country; and, a weaker currency would also boost the tourist industry.

I mainly agree with these comments.

I am coming on holiday with my wife and children of 8 and 10 for 3 weeks this August. In the final days of the red shirt protests I was having serious thoughts of missing Thailand and catching a connecting flight to Vietnam. Now, our current plan is to stay in Thailand although if anything should happen again I would review this. The only thing we are not doing now is going to Bangkok. This isn't just because of the protests, although that is a factor. It is also because the hotel/guest house prices in Bangkok are so much higher than anywhere else. I have decided to catch a taxi straight to Ayutthaya. We can stay in a nice place there for much less than in Bangkok. I have been to Bangkok several times but never Ayutthaya, so it will make a nice change. On the way back we are getting a flight from Chiang Mai to connect with our flight home.

It is much more expensive for us to come to Thailand than when we came 3 years ago. It is not just because the pound is so much weaker against the baht. I have also noticed that prices have gone up a lot, which surprised me. There are still some good hotels out there for a good price but they are more difficult to find, particularly in Bangkok. It doesn't help that we are usually having to book 2 rooms.

The recent budget in the UK to tackle the financial deficit has also made me a lot more wary of how much money I want to spend while we are away.

So in summary I would say the recession, the weak pound and the increase in prices in Thailand are far bigger factors in putting us off coming to Thailand again in the future than the recent protests.

[bangkokburning]

logbags

I will tell you there are a number of scammy Indians working the streets in Bangkok and Pattaya as con artists. I just gave one the finger straight up in his face yesterday. A Kashmiri sure. Then there was the "student astrologer" a Punjabi that took me for some sucker when I got off the BTS at Thong Lor. They are everywhere and especially a greasy mob is up on Khao Sarn Road. Never met a Kashmiri I liked, let alone trusted.

I am amazed at all the Indian riff-raff working the tourists. The word must be out.

Edited July 2, 2010 by bangkokburning

[MrP]

<br>How many have closed because they should not have opened in the first place.<br><br>Too many people jump on the band-wagon without first doing their homework. Some will open a bar, restaurant or guest house because their neighbour is doing it and has a few customers. Those customers won't just multiply overnight - they will spread themselves over all the available establishments and everyone loses out..<br><br>To be sure the recent protests by all colours have not helped tourism, but neither they not the government can be blamed for all the tourism ills. There is just over-supply, through lack of planning. <br><br>The government should not bail everyone out.<br>

<br><br>I agree. How many people do you meet who are going to open a restaurant that serves 'Thai' and 'Western' food. Wow, we really need more of those on Samui or Phangan, or why not open a bar, another great idea. This downturn in the global economy and fall in tourists visiting Thailand will help to eliminate the vast majority of businesses that fail to understand the importance of quality and repeat business. The attitude of there's another 10 white faces behind you so I don't care about your experience is going to have to come to an end sooner or later (I hope). <br><br><br><br>

[march]

How sad... but how many have been closed due the sight of soldiers killing people in the street? How many businesses have been closed because of the airport occupation and how many have been closed due to the incompetence of Abhisit's boss Suthep? Lots more, the difference is that it is pretty convenient to complain when business is bad with this bunch of yellow shirt lovers, they will pay out and they can easily do so by cutting the absurd military budget.

Entirely correct, pace the yellow-loving majority on this board. Tourism was doing fine when Thailand was still thought of as a democracy. The real trouble began with the most recent coup, with subsequent elections a sham because of NOTALLOWEDTOSAY and NOTALLOWEDTOSAY.

Apologies for interrupting a good rant, but you are entirely wrong regarding tourism. Tourism arrivals went up after the coup.

Edited July 2, 2010 by march

[hardy1943]

How sad... but how many have been closed due the sight of soldiers killing people in the street? How many businesses have been closed because of the airport occupation and how many have been closed due to the incompetence of Abhisit's boss Suthep? Lots more, the difference is that it is pretty convenient to complain when business is bad with this bunch of yellow shirt lovers, they will pay out and they can easily do so by cutting the absurd military budget.

Right on! What they even need a military for? Sorry forgot to line their pockets

and overthrow the governments on a regular basis.Sorry I forgot Cambodia is such a great threat

to Thailand.

Edited July 2, 2010 by hardy1943

[Jimi007]

<br>

<br>How sad... but how many have been closed due the sight of soldiers killing people in the street? How many businesses have been closed because of the airport occupation and how many have been closed due to the incompetence of Abhisit's boss Suthep? Lots more, the difference is that it is pretty convenient to complain when business is bad with this bunch of yellow shirt lovers, they will pay out and they can easily do so by cutting the absurd military budget.<br>

<br><br><br>What a stupid biased statement!  <br><br>No-one was going to get hurt until the red mob got out of control.  Abhisit and the Govt at least warned and continued to warn until the violence was started by the Reds - if they had gone home as requested there would have been no violence as the Govt had already agreed to dissolve parliament and the reds had won but the idiot stage screamers refused and the ball of wax melted.  <br><br>Take off your sunglasses and put your beer down.  The yellow shirt protests at the airport never turned violent, trashed buildings, bombed businesses or burnt Thailand.  Businesses now - mine included - have all but stopped due entirely to reds not yellow, purple, white or blues.  Comments regarding budgets for military can lead into the grey areas of the royals and cannot be discussed here.<br><br><br><br>

<br><br>Nonsense: when you use the military to crush democracy, there are always later costs, many paid by the hidden rural poor. Unlike the unfortunate tourist sector, nobody pays them any heed - which is precisely why the military was rolled out to annul democracy in the first place. Without a legal voice, their only option was street action. Nice for the ugly farangs here - instantly they could bay for 'lorenorder' against 'terrorists'. What a different song these strong-armed but weak-principled authoritarians were singing when the tanks were crushing pro-democracy protestors in Tiananmen Square, Beijin!   OGT<br><br><br>

Nice job of posting! Maybe you should use the preview button, it's next to the post button. And maybe you should post this on a thread that your BS has something to do with it. This thread I do believe is titled "Tourism Related Business Pleads For Thai Government Help."

[march]

...the airport heist December 2008 has lasting damage that will go on for decades. Westerners do NOT forget.

Another rant and another apology for interrupting it with reality. See graph above. It was forgotten in less than a year.

[march]

Right on! What they even need a military for?

Are you a citizen of Vatican City or some other entity with no military?

[bangkokburning]

march

Edited: Sorry your comments related to the coup, not the events of months past. Data would bear that out.

Edited July 2, 2010 by bangkokburning

[whatsupdoc]

I happen to have a business in Thailand that relies pretty much on tourists. The airport closure led to a significant drop in sales but the situation now is far, far worse. My business can ride out the storm but I am afraid many won't be able to do that. I have no doubt that the airport closures had a much smaller effect on the economy than the recent riots.

[ozzieal]

How sad... but how many have been closed due the sight of soldiers killing people in the street? How many businesses have been closed because of the airport occupation and how many have been closed due to the incompetence of Abhisit's boss Suthep? Lots more, the difference is that it is pretty convenient to complain when business is bad with this bunch of yellow shirt lovers, they will pay out and they can easily do so by cutting the absurd military budget.

What a stupid biased statement!

No-one was going to get hurt until the red mob got out of control. Abhisit and the Govt at least warned and continued to warn until the violence was started by the Reds - if they had gone home as requested there would have been no violence as the Govt had already agreed to dissolve parliament and the reds had won but the idiot stage screamers refused and the ball of wax melted.

Take off your sunglasses and put your beer down. The yellow shirt protests at the airport never turned violent, trashed buildings, bombed businesses or burnt Thailand. Businesses now - mine included - have all but stopped due entirely to reds not yellow, purple, white or blues. Comments regarding budgets for military can lead into the grey areas of the royals and cannot be discussed here.

[kg1947]

1.It's funny, the only business that will see any relief will be those can suffer the downturn the best.

The little guys will be SOL sure.

Its too easy to find a a pretty beach elsewhere in the world.

2.Indian, Chinese tourists have to be some of the cheapest people out there. Russians?

The Japanese finished with Thailand due to violence and scams years ago.

The expat can't really help, they have little to do with high end package tourism.

3.The economies of the west will only get worse in the years and decades ahead.

4.Thailand made a conscious effort not to educate its population like Malaysia - so there you have it.

5.I suggest everyone go back to the farm. that's where the money will be - agriculture.

6.The people that work in the industry that are not paid well to be polite and kind are anything but.

The love affair with Thailand is over and all the mess only exacerbated it.

Thailand's tourism is overbuilt and overpriced. Thailand's natural resources are a disaster.

.....1) Big business that are DIVERSIFIED will NOT suffer - even with empty hotel rooms /restaurants

because other income streams will keep producing income. The workers are always hurting.

Thailand is "sanook" and good time here is NOT the same as in other countries !

.....2) If Thailand want to "attract" higher value tourism, these are NOT the target groups.

Higher value tourist "demand" the best regardless of cost, can Thailand maintain the HIGH

STANDARD required ? ( when the workers are not happy with their pay, garbage tossed around,

scams & double standards pissed them off - will they return ? )

We the expats either grin & bear it or move away - and with Thai wife & children - WHERE TO ?

...3) Just look at USA & EU - it IS happening now and accelerating !!

When the US$ ceased to be the World's Reserve Currency and Germany re-adopts DM (Deutsche Mark)

then watch out.

...4) the " MUSHROOM " must be kept in the dark and fed manure to keep them ignorant & docile, otherwise

just imagine if those workers suddenly "demand" THB 500.- p/day min. wage !! where will the

factories find their next low wage workers ?

...5) Big Business is buying up land and get ready for large scale farming. Meanwhile small farmers

are having difficulty getting "fair price" for their products. Middle man take a larger profit than

what farmer can get for their sweat & hard work. So is it any wonder you see the recent uprising.

Any "smart" politician with understanding of basic math must do the calculation !!

You want majority - you satisfy the majority's demand. At least T(hai)R(ak)T(hai) understand this

math-101 and make use of it.

...6) see point 2) above. that's why Pattaya, Patong, Nana Plaza, Soi Cowboy will see a slight downturn

BUT will NEVER go out of business !! :) get me another beer teelak !!

Thank you "bangkokburning" for your excellent summary.

[Just1Voice]

We can all cite a number of issues as to why tourism is down. Global economy, strong baht, political unrest, demonstrations by both Yellow and Red, and the overall general attitude of Thai towards foreigners, which is becoming, IMHO, more blatantly rude every day.

One of the things that Thais don't seem to understand, or comprehend, is that if someone comes here and has a bad experience, when they go home they tell all their friends, which then deters those friends from coming, and those friends tell others, and so on. And old saying that "Word of mouth" is the best advertisement also works in reverse for bad publicity. I personally know of about 12 - 15 people who were planning to come to Thailand prior to the takeover of the airport by PAD, but then changed their destinations to Vietnam after that happened. And I know of a few others who were here during the UDD demonstrations in BKK and they are just thankful they managed to escape without injury, but have totally deleted Thailand from any future vacation plans. They also told me that along with the Red Riots, prices were totally unreasonable in many areas, and service at 5 star hotels was only about 1 star quality. One friend took his family to Phuket. He said that while walking down the street with his family (wife and 2 small boys), he was approached half a dozen times by people, many of them young kids, trying to sell him porn videos, bragging about the collection of "kiddie porn" they have.

Recently there was an hour long program on television to promote tourism in Thailand. While watching it, even my 51 year old Thai wife cracked up laughing when they were talking about Phuket, saying something to the effect: Yeah, right!

As has been stated by others, Thailand has "rested on it's laurels" for too long, been too complacent, and now that things are not going the way they want, they try to bully and cheat every tourist they come into contact with. Vietnam, Malaysia, and others, are quickly surpassing Thailand as vacations spots with better quality, better service, and better prices. Thailand's answer is to raise the prices and blame it all on the foreigner.

I live just outside of Chiang Mai, and on Monday and Tuesday I drove my motorsi into town to take care of some things. On both those days, and around noon time, I counted LESS that 20 tourists total for both days. The large market by the river was nearly devoid of anyone but Thai. That's why, then TOT comes out with their statements that tourism is down 10%, I have to wonder where they get those figures? They should get off their butts and go outside their air conditioned offices and get some REAL numbers.

Recently I looked online for round trip tickets from Chiang Mai to LA. Thai Air, ECONOMY CLASS, was 98,450 baht. EVA's EMERALD CLASS, which is comparable to Business Class in most airlines, was LESS than 56,000 baht. And Thai Air wonders why their business is down? I've flown both, and EVA, hands down, is a much better flight in every way.

The bottom line is that, regardless of the reasons, and there are a number of them, tourism in Thailand will only be a ghost of what it once was, and the Thai simply cannot comprehend THEIR own part in it, and want to continually blame the foreigners.

[bangkokburning]

Right on! What they even need a military for? Sorry forgot to line their pockets

and overthrow the governments on a regular basis.Sorry I forgot Cambodia is such a great threat

to Thailand.

Cambodia and Thailand have had simmering tensions on the border for years - where you been? Preah Vihear?? During 75-79 Thailand made lfe for refugees from the KR very difficult. Meanwhile, it propped up the KR buy buying gems and lumber, this went on until the last "KR" vacated Pailin well into the 90s.

Don't underestimate a pissed off Khmer with nothing to lose over a well trained but bloated, lazy and indifferent Thai army.

Then there is the south... a festering sore if there ever was one.

But yes, military has obviously WAY too much pull in this "democratic" country

Edited July 2, 2010 by bangkokburning

[Babcock]

the pot blaming the cattle it is black.

One of Abhisit's men I think

[logbags]

logbags

I will tell you there are a number of scammy Indians working the streets in Bangkok and Pattaya as con artists. I just gave one the finger straight up in his face yesterday. A Kashmiri sure. Then there was the "student astrologer" a Punjabi that took me for some sucker when I got off the BTS at Thong Lor. They are everywhere and especially a greasy mob is up on Khao Sarn Road. Never met a Kashmiri I liked, let alone trusted.

I am amazed at all the Indian riff-raff working the tourists. The word must be out.

Exactly, Australia is probably going to be worse sooner rather than later as well. The Thais just don't realise how annoying tourists find these people. I'm a very easy going person but when someone thrusts a greasy hand in my face and then mimmicks my accent with some smart-arse remark I don't appreciate it. These people are obviously uneducated and clueless because if they were business savvy they would just politely ask if you were interested in a non threatening manner.

I left Patong recently as I nearly launched a prison style bashing on a couple of them who followwed me taking the piss. I just totally ignored them but I was fuming inside and felt like getting on the first bus out of town. When I get approached by an Indian fortune scammer I usually tell them wait, I will tell your future, I see an Indian getting pounded out by an angry farang in about 2 minutes.

I actually chased one off Surin beach and told him to never come back, he ran so fast it was hilarious. God help me if one ever darkens my doorstep trying this out in Australia. He'll be in the boot along with my pointy nosed shovel.

[farangtopper1]

I really hope that tourisme will pick up. I do not believe it to quickly as the thai goverment believes er hopes. There is a lot of competition between Asia countries.

Thailand has to improve there quality and service. Thailand is now a days nothing special not same as 10 - 15 years ago. People where saying So you went to Thailand!!!!

I live in Pattaya and I already know which busnisses will survive and which one's will not. Has nothing to do with the origin of the owner of the business but how it is run.

It is now only busy in the weekend with Thai tourist. There are some farang bars and restaurants who still run well because of the expats who visit them frequently.

Yes the best advertisement is by everybody speaks how good it is over there.

But for sure the thai people have to change there business feeling really start seeing every customer as a good person and treat them that way. Otherwise it is going more downhill

Edited July 2, 2010 by farangtopper1

[MAJIC]

How sad... but how many have been closed due the sight of soldiers killing people in the street? How many businesses have been closed because of the airport occupation and how many have been closed due to the incompetence of Abhisit's boss Suthep? Lots more, the difference is that it is pretty convenient to complain when business is bad with this bunch of yellow shirt lovers, they will pay out and they can easily do so by cutting the absurd military budget.

same old song...

Yes same old BORING Song.

Fact is the losses sit fairly and squarely on the shoulders of the Red shirts and Thaksin,no amount of apologists excuses will alter that,typical childish reaction, dont admit liability for their own actions,blame it on someone else,yaa...yaa....yaa

[bangkokburning]

These businesses have seen nothing yet. Wait till the economies of the west really have problems in the next few years - they will have to depend on the Aussies for that 10milion+ number. Oh, and single Malaysian men up to Hat Yai for the weekend.

[cdnvic]

12 posts removed for:

- Flaming

- Profanity

- Quoting the above two

[laocowboy2]

I'm sure its over 10 per cent. It's been awhile in coming but now the nation reaps what the PAD yellows and REDs have sown. Thanks guys

And you think the recession in the US and Europe has not had an effect on the Thai tourist industry? Potential holiday makers have less money to spend than in previous years, which is compounded by the relatively strong Baht against the US Dollar, Euro and Pound Sterling making Thailand more expensive. The cost of travelling to this country from Europe and the USA has increased substantially over the last year. Do you not think that might also have an had an effect? Thailand is facing strong competition as a holiday destination from other countries in the region.

Sure, PAD and UDD also had an effect, but the state of the Thai tourist industry is not entirely down to them. Instead of af asking for a bail out, it is time the Thai tourist industry stopped blaming all their woes on these two groups and started pushing for action to lower the cost of air travel to the country; and, a weaker currency would also boost the tourist industry.

I mainly agree with these comments.

I am coming on holiday with my wife and children of 8 and 10 for 3 weeks this August. In the final days of the red shirt protests I was having serious thoughts of missing Thailand and catching a connecting flight to Vietnam. Now, our current plan is to stay in Thailand although if anything should happen again I would review this. The only thing we are not doing now is going to Bangkok. This isn't just because of the protests, although that is a factor. It is also because the hotel/guest house prices in Bangkok are so much higher than anywhere else. I have decided to catch a taxi straight to Ayutthaya. We can stay in a nice place there for much less than in Bangkok. I have been to Bangkok several times but never Ayutthaya, so it will make a nice change. On the way back we are getting a flight from Chiang Mai to connect with our flight home.

It is much more expensive for us to come to Thailand than when we came 3 years ago. It is not just because the pound is so much weaker against the baht. I have also noticed that prices have gone up a lot, which surprised me. There are still some good hotels out there for a good price but they are more difficult to find, particularly in Bangkok. It doesn't help that we are usually having to book 2 rooms.

The recent budget in the UK to tackle the financial deficit has also made me a lot more wary of how much money I want to spend while we are away.

So in summary I would say the recession, the weak pound and the increase in prices in Thailand are far bigger factors in putting us off coming to Thailand again in the future than the recent protests.

Nicely put. I would love to understand the logical processes behind capacity/ARPR management at a typical Thai hotel. Even the international management companies seem to lack the ability/willingness to manage capacity utilisation in the same way that airlines do. For example, an alternative to (big) reduction in headline room rate is to bundle in additional goodies that the hotel is already paying for - like free/discounted laundry and dry cleaning, spa, drinks etc. The difference between F&B costs in large hotels and going outside is usually large - and so people are motivated to experiment. Reduce the gap and people may be more likely to eat and drink in. And for laundry, I can usually buy a T-shirt on the street for less than what a 5* hotel would charge to launder one.

And the government should cut the actual hotel taxes temporarily rather than trying gimmicks related to income taxes, visa fees etc.

[laocowboy2]

We can all cite a number of issues as to why tourism is down. Global economy, strong baht, political unrest, demonstrations by both Yellow and Red, and the overall general attitude of Thai towards foreigners, which is becoming, IMHO, more blatantly rude every day.

One of the things that Thais don't seem to understand, or comprehend, is that if someone comes here and has a bad experience, when they go home they tell all their friends, which then deters those friends from coming, and those friends tell others, and so on. And old saying that "Word of mouth" is the best advertisement also works in reverse for bad publicity. I personally know of about 12 - 15 people who were planning to come to Thailand prior to the takeover of the airport by PAD, but then changed their destinations to Vietnam after that happened. And I know of a few others who were here during the UDD demonstrations in BKK and they are just thankful they managed to escape without injury, but have totally deleted Thailand from any future vacation plans. They also told me that along with the Red Riots, prices were totally unreasonable in many areas, and service at 5 star hotels was only about 1 star quality. One friend took his family to Phuket. He said that while walking down the street with his family (wife and 2 small boys), he was approached half a dozen times by people, many of them young kids, trying to sell him porn videos, bragging about the collection of "kiddie porn" they have.

Recently there was an hour long program on television to promote tourism in Thailand. While watching it, even my 51 year old Thai wife cracked up laughing when they were talking about Phuket, saying something to the effect: Yeah, right!

As has been stated by others, Thailand has "rested on it's laurels" for too long, been too complacent, and now that things are not going the way they want, they try to bully and cheat every tourist they come into contact with. Vietnam, Malaysia, and others, are quickly surpassing Thailand as vacations spots with better quality, better service, and better prices. Thailand's answer is to raise the prices and blame it all on the foreigner.

I live just outside of Chiang Mai, and on Monday and Tuesday I drove my motorsi into town to take care of some things. On both those days, and around noon time, I counted LESS that 20 tourists total for both days. The large market by the river was nearly devoid of anyone but Thai. That's why, then TOT comes out with their statements that tourism is down 10%, I have to wonder where they get those figures? They should get off their butts and go outside their air conditioned offices and get some REAL numbers.

Recently I looked online for round trip tickets from Chiang Mai to LA. Thai Air, ECONOMY CLASS, was 98,450 baht. EVA's EMERALD CLASS, which is comparable to Business Class in most airlines, was LESS than 56,000 baht. And Thai Air wonders why their business is down? I've flown both, and EVA, hands down, is a much better flight in every way.

The bottom line is that, regardless of the reasons, and there are a number of them, tourism in Thailand will only be a ghost of what it once was, and the Thai simply cannot comprehend THEIR own part in it, and want to continually blame the foreigners.

Agree completely ref Thai Airways fares. I live in Delhi - which means I have a choice of Jet, Kingfisher, Indian Airlines (no!!!), Cathay pacific or Thai. Flew biz class to and from Thailand last month. Quote on Thai more than 40% above that on Cathay. Better product at lower price - guess which I took :-)

[Colabamumbai]

Lots of good posts here. What goes around comes around, the vibration that you put out to the universe comes back to you. There are some Thai business owners who understand this. One money changer travel agent will raise his posted rate of exchange for you if you ask. He pays you more than the bank will for your foreign currency. He recognizes the fact that business is business and if he gives a little more in the long run he gets more customers and it all comes back.

[Groongthep]

...the airport heist December 2008 has lasting damage that will go on for decades. Westerners do NOT forget.

Another rant and another apology for interrupting it with reality. See graph above. It was forgotten in less than a year.

You should learn to read your own graph before accusing others. As indicated by the arrow representing the time of the tsunami the dates at the bottom represent the end of that year (i.e. the tsunami was 6 days before the end of 2004). Therefore, burgdawg is correct according to your graph (which comes without any reference to where the figures came from by the way) that arrivals DID decrease after November 2008.

[bangkokburning]

I don't know what all you negative Nellies are going on for. We have the Lanna festival coming up!

laocowboy2: Very good insight.

[ESB7]

The recent troubles didnt help but I think it comes down to pure greed by the business owners. They just dont realise their is a global recesion and neibouring Khmer, Laos and Nam offer just as much as Thailand but a lot cheaper. I ws recently charged 90 baht for a small glass of Sang Som in a crappy empty bar, it only costs 96 baht for a full bottle, with prices like that is it any wonder people are going elsewhere. Also the general attitude of Thais has become worse the past few years...its actually a reliefe to get away for a few days, amazing how genuine and nice people are compared to here.