Focus On Quality Tourists, Not Quantity, Urges PM Abhisit

[court]

I think I remember Basil Fawlty saying the same thing to Sybil in an episode of Fawlty Towers.

[shawndoc]

Wasn't this tried before under Thaksin with the whole platinum card or whatever it was that gave people free gold course access and free visas?

[pogal]

I agree about sorting out the country's polititcal problems first, along with tourist scams, etc, etc... What afluent family is going to risk being shot at, mugged, fleeced, or abused while swimming in a toxic ocean near the Rayong industrial estate? Thats the stuff adventurers/hippies/sex-pats/"travellers"/make beleive journalists/ (or people who have nothing to loose) flock to see. And despite all the problems here we told by TAT that they are actually still coming. Stick with what you've got and be thankful for it considering what you have to offer.

Secondly, targeting "Quality toursits" will only lead to the rich getting richer. The big quality hotels are owned by the rich while the smaller ones people who are "trying" to make a living.

Not a good time for such policy Marky Warky. you've got enough problems as it is.

[gbswales]

A good start might be taking a bulldozer through places like Pattaya. Round up all the bargirls on the streets. Quality tourists don't flock to Thailand for ladyboys and the sex industry.

mmm that depends on the definition of a quality tourist - I suspect for quality they really mean wealthy big spenders - well that is easy the bar girls and boys move upscale to become escorts and the government legalise casinos on a grand scale - worked for Las Vegas!

Of course this rather stupid edict ignores what will happen to all the thai people running small hotels, hostels and cheaper entertainment venues - the realistic fact is that a lot of people fall in love with Thailand because they can afford to live well there on much less than other places and because they like the quirky charm that is probably lost on wealthy tourists.

A holiday destination is defined by it's visitors - once it becomes the other way around then it becomes another concrete and swimming pool haven which can be anywhere which has the weather and is cheap enough for the hotel industry to make profits from tourists who know no better. I had friends who were amazed at the value of their two week virgin holiday to Thailand - I didnt have the heart to tell them that by travelling independently I has enjoyed a very comfortable 30 days there for much less money

Pattya is unique rather than bulldoze it they should make it clear to everyone that it is primarily an adult resort for more hedonistic pleasures - those businesses generate wealth in the same way as a five star hotel resort - or would if the government legalised activities so that people and businesses in it paid tax like everyone else

[sandythejock]

A good start might be taking a bulldozer through places like Pattaya. Round up all the bargirls on the streets. Quality tourists don't flock to Thailand for ladyboys and the sex industry.

You obviously have never been to Pattaya, there is alot more to the place than padyboys and bargirls.

[Tatsujin]

No wonder Tourism only accounts for 7% of GDP when each visitor only makes them (on average) 37 baht each lol

585,000,000 / 15,800,000 = 37 baht each

As usual, TAT (and by extension the Govt) is crap at getting correct or accurate figures.

Edited March 3, 2011 by Tatsujin

[Tywais]

Last year Thailand received 15.8 million international tourists, generating income of Bt585 million, he said.

Definitely a typo, perhaps they meant how much TAT spent on promotion:

The Tourism Authority of Thailand has projected that revenue from the international and domestic markets will reach Bt1 trillion in 2011, up from the Bt943 billion forecast for this year.

TAT governor Suraphon Svatasreni yesterday expressed hope that international visitors would total 15 million in 2011, up from the 14.4 million targeted for this year.

Revenue from overseas markets is expected to be Bt573 billion, against this year's projection of Bt540 billion.

The agency meanwhile forecasts domestic travel will see 91 million trips and generate Bt432 billion in 2011. This year, the local market is projected at 90 million trips and revenue of more than Bt500 billion

The Nation

[crazygreg44]

I saw it coming. By tighter visa rules, drive out all the Cheap Charlies and the boozefighters and Scarecrow-Types. Next comes big advertisement in China that Thaland is the southernmost luxury holiday destination of a Chinese-like homeland ( not truly a homeland but the ones in charge think in these terms ). Next step, tighten the visa rules a bit more. Result : Asia for the Asian new wealthises. The chines middle class is by far more promising a customer than fasr, ugly, misbehaving "sex"-Bomber tourists. The ones who have sttled down in the sticks will be fairly tolerated, as they do not spoil the picture of the "tourist destination". The transforamation has just begun. The chinese Yuan will compete with the Dollar. Fact is the Thais prefer chines tourist to "white longnoses". The long term holiday motto will be " come to China's most south !"

I long suspected they want to change the "image". This cannot be done in a sudden., but these news show that a transformation is under way. Not to mention that the formerly "poor" country girl from Eesarn now is the proud owner of rice filed re-developed to a rubber farm. Since germany recently introduced a duty to winter-tires, each car needs 8 tires. Which leads to newborn rubber baronesses , driving unpaid-for pickups and watching unpaid-for TV's and sending their kids to non-proven so called schools where they learn to sing and play football..

Welcome to Thailand ! Am I off-topic ?? I apologize ! OP was about tourism. I apologize fro being so off topic. But the tourist thing still clings to my mind. If it ever bothered government . . what's the outcome ?? 7% of the GDP ?? Did you ever wonder why Thais don t give a fuc_k for your presence ?

There were times when official stats were 3% on tourism. Not so long ago. It's about time some expats realize what in reality their often claimed "importance" is made of. Absolutely neglectible !

I am happy to contribute to a family of few, have bettered their lives a littel bit. I always thought that being a tourist I am paying to touds. Now i feel i am paying to families and their spouses directly.

The topic is TOURISM. Well, if I bogged you with this, Sorry !

[steven100]

15.8 million tourists ... I would say this figure is incorrect and it would be more like 7-8million maybe. Hardly 15.8 thats for sure.

With global economies struggling everywhere it would not be wise to focus on ' quality ' and not quantity at this time.

To implement quality ... you have a very broad spectrum of mechanisms that need to be put in place , for example the service sector would need to lift its game somewhat .

Standards in food preperation and preservation would need to be applied , also stamping out corruption with the taxi's would need to happen ... I don't know how many times taxis have stopped for me and they want to know where you are going before they will take you so they can determine how much profit he can obtain from your journey.

I could mention many other things but the list would be to long. Thailand is just not geared up enough to accept only quality tourism alone, and as such it will not make any difference have TAT doing roadshows , promotions , TV advertising etc ...

Thailand must face up to reality and accept that it is a medium class destination for travellers and tourists alike and if they try to invoke the quality token to much it can only be negitive in the long term because the international tourist who comes here expecting a certain level of quality as depicted by the TAT will be sadly disappointed, then they return to there home country and word of mouth is a very powerful tool.

Finally , how the heck could you even consider Koh Samet as destination for the quality tourist .... the accomodation there is so below any standard due to owners not maintaining rooms , fixtures etc ... also , the island is filthy with rubbish strewn everywhere , and the food and service is certainly below par. Thailand .... Abhasit , stick to quantity I think .. or you may end up worse off than ever.

Just my opinion.:jap:

Edited March 3, 2011 by steven100

[KKK]

A good start might be taking a bulldozer through places like Pattaya. Round up all the bargirls on the streets. Quality tourists don't flock to Thailand for ladyboys and the sex industry.

I'd drive a buldozer through your house first....not everything in Pattaya is to do with sex.

[Larry]

How stupid can you get!

Young "low quality" backpack tourists who have had a wonderful experience in Thailand talk about it to parents and friends, and debunk the myths of Thailand being a dangerous third world country. Who do you think "discovered" what are now high-end island resorts, etc! In addition, many of these come back again in a few years with a lot more cash. Talk about penny-wise and pound-foolish. Thailand should be encouraging these visitors.

[dumball]

'Siam Simon' timestamp='1299108773' post='4254705']

"Last year Thailand received 15.8 million international tourists, generating income of Bt585 million, he said."

That averages out at a tad over 37 Baht per international visitor. Is the quoted line a typo, or are the PM's advisors/scriptwriters slacking a bit?

Anyway, sad to say that Thailand (in common with just about every other country trying to entice tourists) can't be too picky at the moment.

I think you are proving the point mentioned by so many on TV concerning ' Tourist ' numbers , highly inflated to impress by counting not true tourists to Thailand in particular , but passers through to other destinations and the huge number of regular visa runners .

 Why would anyone be concerned about tourism anyway , they are often touted as such a minimal monetary input into Thailand , even expats who contribute millions into the local economies are treated as mere second class citizens , made to jump through hoops to stay , then treated as ' Ignorami '  who are not listened to for a wealth of suggestions to improve life for all .

When Thai improve the size of the welcome mat and hone up on how to treat visitors to their country , maybe , just maybe , tourism may improve to a scale where TAT can provide honest numbers , sorry , did I mention a word not contained in the Thai dictionary ? 

[dumpling]

I am sure I have heard this speech from other PMs when they were in the hot seat , It would be nice to see a change but I don't hold much hope for seeing it.

[drdoom6996]

A good start might be taking a bulldozer through places like Pattaya. Round up all the bargirls on the streets. Quality tourists don't flock to Thailand for ladyboys and the sex industry.

Pattaya does not make BIG headlines like the Reds and Yellows do. Most "Quality" tourists don't want to come to a War Zone. So Thailand gets the rest.

[ignis]

Focus On Quality Tourists, Not Quantity, maybe there not any good on history ?

Other Countries in the past have said the exact same thing, only to reverse it a year or 2 later as it was a disaster, some never recovered..

A good one a few years ago was France, no problem people just went to Spain instead, 100's of 1000's of business closed, some even moved and set up the same business in Spain, it took over 10 years to see numbers in tourist return to France..

I'm sure Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam would love to see all the extra tourists

Edit: I was there living in France at the time, they also tightened up on work and work permits, only I packed up and moved to Portugal not Spain

Edited March 3, 2011 by ignis

[KKK]

the land where one gains the impression that the inhabitants would be happier if we all just arrived on a plane emptied all our available money into a waiting bin and then got back on a plane leaving.

It's been like that for years.....where have you been hiding? Farangs are tolerated because they have money...nothing else.

[tmd5855]

A good start might be taking a bulldozer through places like Pattaya. Round up all the bargirls on the streets. Quality tourists don't flock to Thailand for ladyboys and the sex industry.

Why don't you get off the fence and say what you really want?

If you do not like Pattaya do not go. Pattaya is not Thailand, no doubt "Quality" tourists are intelligent to know that.

I work For a European company and live in Pattaya, like and enjoy how it is.

Bulldozers might knock down my house, so not very reasonable of you to wish it??

Or is your prostate giving you a rough time this morning, not sleep well

Edited March 3, 2011 by tmd5855

[phosphorescent]

How many men who initially came here for the sand, sea and sXX are now sending money to support Thai girls they met in bars? I'd like to know the ammount transfered to Thailand from overseas every year. The men who send this money would not have been considered as "quality tourists" but I'm sure now make up for a good chunk of the GDP.

[GamLing]

A good start might be taking a bulldozer through places like Pattaya. Round up all the bargirls on the streets. Quality tourists don't flock to Thailand for ladyboys and the sex industry.

I'd drive a buldozer through your house first....not everything in Pattaya is to do with sex.

Agreed...... you drive or I drive?

[asiawatcher]

"Last year Thailand received 15.8 million international tourists, generating income of Bt585 million, he said."

That averages out at a tad over 37 Baht per international visitor. Is the quoted line a typo, or are the PM's advisors/scriptwriters slacking a bit?

Anyway, sad to say that Thailand (in common with just about every other country trying to entice tourists) can't be too picky at the moment.

... and let's not forget the quote from TAT and AOT - here the report states 15.8M international visitors but AOT claimed 40+ million arrivals - so is domestic travel in and out of Swampy the other 25M? I love statistics. Makes me all hot and squirty (sigh).

[Ulysses G.]

...Asia for the Asian new wealthises....

crazygreg44 indeed.

[lucjoker]

While Thailands premier tourist island cant even tackle a few taxi drivers or thug jetski rentors they want to rebrand (in words not deeds) for quality tourists.

Real quality will come when offered real quality.. Not corrupt official burying garbage on the beaches, selling portions of public land for private use, and due to backhanders and payments allowing sections of the society to beat up and otherwise threaten those sections not yet paying. Simply raising prices doesnt attract the 5 star crowd. When Thailand has 2 star governance they will appeal to 2 star arrivals.. Asking for 5 star prices while having 2 star administration doesnt cut it.

soo true !!!!

wich 5star tourist wants to come to a "no"star place?

Pukhet still has the nice beaches....but Pattaya ?????

Jomtien????? there is more shit in the water than in my septic tank !(at least for the last 10 years)

Loose running dogs on the beaches,crap everywhere, 10 vendors for each tourist,.....and

they call it "prime location "????????

What a big lie !

What a sad joke !

[aphid25]

I think another reason spending has gone gown is because of the low exchange rate, people have a budget for their holidays and as Thailand has controlled their currency exchange in the last few years the cost for the tourist has increased by more than 30% so return visitors probably spend the same in their native pounds dollars ect but have less baht or find a new location which is cheaper than Thailand.

[Capealava]

Abhisit's as well as his advisors wealth and elitism is showing through. The impetus behind Thai Tourism and it's infrastructure has always been a "great vacation" at a great price, whether you are a sex tourist or a family from USA or Europe. Of the 15 million plus tourist that visited Thailand last year , how many were wealthy?? For the wealthy there are many choices, they can go anywhere. To try to lure the wealthy and forget the more common tourist is mistake. It seems if they had there way they would make the vacation spots a gated community where the only Thai's they would see would be the housekeeper and staff with their own private beach. I am sure the vast majority of innkeepers, hotels, resorts ect listened to Mr Abhisit with dismay.

His speech did nothing to support the tourist industry as a whole. He is not seeing reality. A foolish comment on Thai tourism.

[dokmaigarden]

The data from the press do not correspond well with what we can experience, the worst cool season ever. The Doi Inthanon mountain for instance is empty, the Chedi and Ratilanna hotels downtown are empty too. I agree it is hard for quality tourists to find the interesting spots, but there are many. The problem is that uneducated people try to give advice to educated people. To short-cut the filter of incompetence we need one (not hundreds) superior national tourist website containing all attractions and restaurants, preferably each page controlled by each venue. Then there is a direct-line between tourist and attraction, no incompetent middlemen. To make such a tourist site you need a well educated staff.

Ketsanee Seehamongkol, Dokmai Garden, Chiang Mai

[laurentbkk]

There are not much infrastructures to welcome quality tourists , some casinos for instance , great marinas to allow super yacht to arrive and stay for a while, super cruise vessels. It could be a good idea ,in fact Taksin tried to do it in Koh chang ( where he owns some lands on the shore). The problem is beside the nice 5* hotels , the streets are not the best to walk around , luxury shops for quality tourists can be found only in Bangkok.

They have to go and see what is done in other places such as the French Riviera , Sardinia , Marbella , Monaco , the Bahamas etc .. and see what should be in change in Thailand to attract those wealthy tourists.

At the moment there are nothing to attract them , I dont think those quality tourists enjoyed to stay 24h/day in their luxury hotel.

[JarekN]

I've been living in Vietnam for a bit now, just got back from Thailand couple of days ago... First of all the waiting time at the airport SUCKS! I have no idea why each of the booths had only one person processing paperwork?! Not a good way to welcome visitors... Second the cost of things in Thailand keeps on growing at a crazy rate... I managed to spend over 5000 baht per day and I wasn't living it up... For same money in Vietnam one can live many times better... Yes I know that Thailand is not Vietnam still I think this is the reason why Vietnam has a steady increase in tourists while Thailand does not... The numbers of tourists provided by the Thai government are full of BS, most hotels have tons of rooms empty and many have gone out of business after many years of operations. Don't expect the mainstream media to tell you exactly how it is as that could cause for panic.

The fact that they come out now and say that they want to Focus on Quality is just plain stupid! The percentage of Quality tourists is much smaller from the average ones, not to mention that if the country only starts to get quality (which they never will) it would cause some serious problems for everyone who is not running a 5* establishment which would further hurt the middle class.

The big hotels have the marketing money to spend on attracting the big fish, the little guys do not and that is who the government should be helping out...

On side note the cost of Condos in Thailand makes me wonder if there is some type of chemical that is being added to the food that makes people delusional? Seeing that 2 bedroom condos are going for over 200k while the same type can now be purchased in Florida for 60k!?

That is not to say that I do not like Thailand, I am sure I will be back soon

Edited March 3, 2011 by JarekN

[KKK]

Atomic bomb, much more efficient.

If that happened then Thailand could http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_tourism

[cardholder]

A good start might be taking a bulldozer through places like Pattaya. Round up all the bargirls on the streets. Quality tourists don't flock to Thailand for ladyboys and the sex industry.

I think you will find they do !

[AZBill]

So does he want the bars to raise their bar fines so all the sexpats can qualify as "quality tourists?"