Focus On Quality Tourists, Not Quantity, Urges PM Abhisit

[dunkin2012]

The PM knows that there are a number of Bad Farangs in Thailand. He is trying to clean up the whole country starting with these Farangs... Hahaha...... clean up the mess... No Girls, No Drug and No Mafia. I know Pattaya is a paradise of some bad guys.

[h5kaf]

"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.

Good point. Another pointer to the thinking can be found in the speech of the TAT representative. "Suraphon said the TAT would lure new visitors by launching the "Amazing Stopover" programme". To lure tourists is to imply that you are going to fleece them or do something unpleasant, but to attract tpourists is to imply that you are trying to impress them. Slip of the tongue or a Freudian slip?

[snaggletooth]

If Thailand wants quality tourists it should focus on becoming a quality destination which means clean streets, clean sidewalks, clean roadways EVERYWHERE like in Singapore, well-manicured shrubbery in all the major towns and cities, a fresh coat of paint on every building in the country. The list goes on doesn't it?

If you want quality you better give quality everywhere.

[kiwiphil]

Bingo!

The Thai tourist industry has been in decline here since 2008, and the 15.8 million number includes pass-thoughs to other country destinations. Hotel occupancy rates are abysmal (ask any of them) and this latest 'focus on quality' is lip service, plain and simple. Denial is not a river in Egypt.

denial,,,eegip'T',,,i like that !

:Dwhat about degangees,,, sub incontinance tribe,,come here to do the' riverside rock slapping ' .

:unsure:nyuknyukknyukkk say L.M.C.

[pisico]

"A smattering of Russians and no one else" was how the tourist numbers on Koh Samet were described to me yesterday. "Even the staff are getting worried", said the restaurateur of eleven years in a prime location on the island.

"Low season hasn't even begun and I've never seen it this bad, even the Scandinavians have vanished."

This is the reality and these business owners are not expecting any growth in trade for the foreseeable future, particularly now with very high oil prices on the horizon with the revolutions across the Middle East, continuing global economic turmoil and the resilient strength of the Thai Baht.

So I think they need to be concentrating on quantity. Not quite sure how you control quality unless consulate interviews are conducted to get a 30 day holiday visa.

The hiso of Bangkok has spoken. Viva the Elite!

Obviously he has no idea what having to meet a payroll entails, or maintaining a healthy bottom line in a business environment.

Quality tourists? Qualify that, please!

Any tourist that has enough money to buy an airline ticket and come to Thailand should be welcomed with open arms. Those are the ones who keep the guests houses and small hotels going. Those are the tourists that help small restaurant stay in business and those are the ones who want to get as much as they can from their vacation because they have to save to buy the air fare and the money they will need to pay for their room and board. To promote "quality" tourism (what ever that means) is in fact the most anti economic strategy anyone can enact to save a business. Imagine a pizza parlor that will only admit customers wearing tie and suit and women wearing long dresses and jewelry and yet, it will offer a standard pizza and shoddy service.

Do the Thais in government ever read (or have access) to the comments in Thai Visa? I wonder.

[snaggletooth]

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.

Yep

I'm not a big fan of Thailand even though I live here out of necessity, but I do not get that impression about thais at all. I have plenty of Thai friends and they aren't hanging out for my money and the vendors near my house that I deal with, I'm charged the same as everyone else. If you are nice here, talk to them and smile, Thais love you.

I find Thais helpful and kind.

[Macmundi]

There are several ways. Improve the quality of tourist destinations within the country. Improve the services offered to tourists. Improve the quality and range of souvenirs tourists can buy in the country. Stop ripping tourists off. Round up all the scam artists and throw then in the slammer (including the scammy officers) Educate locals on quality services, guarantee and warantys. Limit the number of umbrellas on the beach. Clear off all jet skis and fishing boats off Marine National Parks. Impose higher tax and control of ladyboys and girly bars (to minimise gang related crime, drugs and diseases.)

Basically the tourists might have to pay abit more in just one quality stop than to pay a cheap price and find out they got ripped off ten times.

But then again, the vendor might just mark up their prices claiming they have quality stuff , and the tourists will never come back again.

In the end, if you want quality customers, you have to lure them in with quality products. Quality customers are not stupid. They don't want to spend money on cheap things, and definitely not over-inflated goods.

[oevna]

The first thing to do might be to define what a quality tourist is. I would assume that one of the key factors is how much is spent and, according to a poll on another site catering specifically for pattaya more than 50% of members are spending more than 5k baht a day and this figure rises to over 75% if you look at spends of over 4k baht a day.

I am not sure how this would compare to how much other types of tourist are spending and in other areas but it this income is not something that can be ignored.

I think it also has something to do with where the money is spent (or, more specifically who the recipients of said money are). The members of the Thai Hotels Association would probably like a cut of the money that the members of the aforementioned Pattaya-targeted website are spending on... who knows what.

I too am curious about how they define a "quality tourist," and wonder what category they consider me to be in!

[Tiffer]

15.8M tourists or arrivals?

15.8m recorded boarder entries in to Thailand by non Thai passort holders.

It does not, as I believe you are suggesting, signify 15.8m different people nor is it an indication of the pupose of vist, number of nights stayed in the country or per capita spend.

A tradesperson entering from a neighbouring country is counted too.

I hope this helps,

[TechnikaIII]

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.

are you real?

He's real. It's just that his george has gone soft.

[SteveH]

I would say that the number of tourists has definately increased. You just don't see it as there are far more places for them to spread themselves out in. Lower hotel/guest house occupancy is probably due to there being more rooms available. You'd need to compare the rooms:tourist ratio to be sure though. As for beaches I know one that was completely deserted 5 years ago but is now packed each and every weekend.

this makes sense. the money's here, it's just being spread thinner and not going where 'some' people want it to go (i.e. owners of 5 star hotels and restaurants)

I agree, the so called lower end tourist spreads their money to far more of the Thai population than the high end that spend most of it in a few 5 star hotels and the gift shops within them. Which is the best for the most Thai people ?

[Tiffer]

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.

Yep

I'm not a big fan of Thailand even though I live here out of necessity, but I do not get that impression about thais at all. I have plenty of Thai friends and they aren't hanging out for my money and the vendors near my house that I deal with, I'm charged the same as everyone else. If you are nice here, talk to them and smile, Thais love you.

I find Thais helpful and kind.

Agreed. Best to ignore the expat malcontents.

[samran]

Thailand as the knock shop of Asia.

And what exactly is wrong with that. If Thailand does not like being seen as that they would and could have shut down the sex industry here years ago. It's time for Thailand to raise a finger at the rest of the world and say we're happy the way we are.

opportunity cost, that is what, opportunity cost.

Foregone and more productive investment in other areas - whether tourism or otherwise. Nothing to say about providing additional opportunities, and dare I say it, dignity, for those who work in the industry.

[craigj7]

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.

WELL SAID

[doggie888888]

If I assume the PM is more western than Thai, since he was born and educated in the west, it follows that his outlook and thought process are more western. Now, since he is not your average Thai, he is expressing a more focussed aspiration for his country. I can bet there is NOT ONE leader in the West who would be happy with a certain type of tourists that seem to flock to Thailand in droves. Similarly, the PM is aware of a longer term image problem if the entrenched view is that Thailand is a low cost sex tourist destination. So what is wrong with trying to clean up the industry? The success or failure of his stated aspiration is unknown, but as I said can't blame him for stating an aspiration.

Also, the PM is able to recognise white trash when he sees/smells/hears it...unlike the average Thai who may think all farangs are rich and well-educated. So which leader wouldn't want to minimise white trash from arriving and worse still, setlling here and breeding?

[Randee]

Quality tourists in Thailand

[Jayroo]

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.

Now that's real classy. I reckon a good start would be getting of smug people like you, that think everyone else should be shot, or "bulldozed" (as you so politely put it) except themselves.

[TechnikaIII]

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.

You articulate that beautifully, and speak for me 100%.

Be careful, there's probably a corrupt official or two reading this. Bearing in mind, as another poster said, we are tolerated for our money, and levels of tolerance have their limits.

[cardholder]

Thailand as the knock shop of Asia.

And what exactly is wrong with that. If Thailand does not like being seen as that they would and could have shut down the sex industry here years ago. It's time for Thailand to raise a finger at the rest of the world and say we're happy the way we are.

opportunity cost, that is what, opportunity cost.

Foregone and more productive investment in other areas - whether tourism or otherwise. Nothing to say about providing additional opportunities, and dare I say it, dignity, for those who work in the industry.

How pompous !

Those 'working in the industry' have done so for hundred's of years.

Thai ladies have been servicing the needs of males for ages. The Farang represents only a small part of the gross income earned from selling sexual services.

[thaikahuna]

Seems we heard this somewhere before.....does the Thailand Elite Card ring any bells>?

[Tiffer]

I would say that the number of tourists has definately increased. You just don't see it as there are far more places for them to spread themselves out in. Lower hotel/guest house occupancy is probably due to there being more rooms available. You'd need to compare the rooms:tourist ratio to be sure though. As for beaches I know one that was completely deserted 5 years ago but is now packed each and every weekend.

this makes sense. the money's here, it's just being spread thinner and not going where 'some' people want it to go (i.e. owners of 5 star hotels and restaurants)

I agree, the so called lower end tourist spreads their money to far more of the Thai population than the high end that spend most of it in a few 5 star hotels and the gift shops within them. Which is the best for the most Thai people ?

Hmmm....

This is an extract from a journal article entitled "When the tourists flew in: strategic implications of foreign direct investment in Vietnam's tourism industry"

The full article appears in: Management Decision, 35/8 [1997] 595–604

Read and discuss ;-)

When the tourists flew in

The Finance Minister said "It will boost the Economy

The dollars will flow in."

The Minister of Interior said

"It will provide full and varied employment for all the indigenes."

The Minister of Culture said

"It will enrich our life…

contact with other cultures must surely

Improve the texture of living."

The man from the Hilton said

"We will make you a second Paradise;

for you it is the dawn of a glorious new beginning!"

When the tourists flew in

our island people metamorphosized into a grotesque carnival

– a two-week sideshow

When the tourists flew in

our men put aside their fishing nets to become waiters

our women became whores

When the tourists flew in

what culture we had went out the window

we traded our customs for sunglasses and pop

we turned sacred ceremonies into ten-cent peep shows

When the tourists flew in

local food became scarce

prices went up

but our wages stayed low

When the tourists flew in

we could no longer go down to our beaches

the hotel manager said

"Natives defile the sea-shore"

When the tourists flew in

the hunger and the squalor were preserved as a passing pageant for clicking cameras

– a chic eye sore

When the tourists flew in

we were asked to be "side-walk ambassadors"

to stay smiling and polite

to always guide the "lost" visitor…

Hell, if we could only tell them

where we really want them to go!"

(Cecil Rajendra, quoted in; Richter L.K. (1989), The Politics of Tourism in Asia, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu. pp. 190-91)

Or to put it another way… tourism is like a virus that ultimately destroys its host…

[ROMANOBA]

I agree.Maybe Mr Absit need a reality check.Everywhere in the world Thailand means: low quality, cheap tourism.People with some refinement and money avoid Thailand like the pest.I do not mean that Thailand has nothing to offer to' quality tourists', but simply that the image of Thailand doens not match any of the requirements of quality tourism.Thailand is COMPETITIVE at the low, perhaps medium level, but if you want to spend 500 usd for a state of the art resort. well, choice enough elsewhere in the world...Go to the Maldives, or the Seychelles, or tons of other places.If I am a ' quality tourist' and at my arrival at the airport i go to the information desk, and the employee answer my question with' NO HAVE', well...quality tourism ask for quality staff, right?Furthermore it s obvisous that of the 15 million tourist coming to Thailand, maybe a few thousand are' high quality tourists', but that the bulk of the money comes from low to medium tourist segment.One last thing: with the increase in prices, the medium segment is becoming less and less competitive.For a cheap beer and some cheap fun I can go to the Philippines.For good medium quality I can go to Vietnam,Indonesia or even Malasya, they are now cheaper than Thailand.For high quality, well, I will not even think of Thailand....

"A smattering of Russians and no one else" was how the tourist numbers on Koh Samet were described to me yesterday. "Even the staff are getting worried", said the restaurateur of eleven years in a prime location on the island.

"Low season hasn't even begun and I've never seen it this bad, even the Scandinavians have vanished."

This is the reality and these business owners are not expecting any growth in trade for the foreseeable future, particularly now with very high oil prices on the horizon with the revolutions across the Middle East, continuing global economic turmoil and the resilient strength of the Thai Baht.

So I think they need to be concentrating on quantity. Not quite sure how you control quality unless consulate interviews are conducted to get a 30 day holiday visa.

[Crushdepth]

"Low quality" tourists may contribute less $$$ but they spread them around better, including in the more remote places where money is most needed. "High quality" tourists may look good on paper, but if the $$$ all goes to some foreign-owned 5-star hotel chain, is that better?

The government should encourage tourism across all brackets. And take its head out of its @#$& and start thinking for a change.

Edited March 3, 2011 by Crushdepth

[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.

Yep

I'm not a big fan of Thailand even though I live here out of necessity, but I do not get that impression about thais at all. I have plenty of Thai friends and they aren't hanging out for my money and the vendors near my house that I deal with, I'm charged the same as everyone else. If you are nice here, talk to them and smile, Thais love you.

I find Thais helpful and kind.

The original comment was I think you'll find about tourists not residents like yourself. You have presumably like me assimilated yourself into Thailand and are seen by the Thais in a very different light than your regular tourist who is here for a few days/weeks only.

However that said while sitting in my local rural kerbside restaurant partaking of a fried rice and/or beer why does the lottery ticket seller pester me and only me to buy a ticket. He ignores all the Thais and looks at me with dollar signs in his eyes. If one of the Thai customers wants to buy a ticket he/she has to call out to the vendor for attention.

Same goes for any other walking vendor of junk, towels, shoes, etc. They see me and think 'rich'. They see Thai and think 'poor' even if said Thai is driving a Benz. In reality the shop owner has far more money than I do. I know that because I do her banking.

[celtasia]

Those sex tourists spend a lot of money, more than the average backpacker. You don't find 300 baht bungalows and Samsong buckets in Pattaya. They're also the defacto welfare system for Issan single mothers and families.

If you're taking quality to mean high-end spenders then you'd be bulldozing Khao San Rd first.

Haaaa...yeah right. 300 baht rooms are available in Pattaya easy! 35 baht beer Changs also, plenty of takers at 11 in the morning also. Add in a mix of 500 baht street girls and Bobs your uncle! Pattaya is sure a quality tourist destination.

[KKK]

By the way, where can I get an "Elite" card?

Try http://www.thailandelite.com/

[TechnikaIII]

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

What a fabulous idea for a new series! Fawlty Towers moves to Thailand! All the fun they could have with the 'quality tourists' ... dual roll female staff, and I can see Basil freaking out with the ladyboy conundrum.

[craigj7]

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.

WELL SAID

[pisico]

Backpackers spend quite a lot per head, they just don't spend it on accommodation.

High rollers are unlikely to go to the LOS - they have better options.

Maybe the LOS needs to rediscover the family holiday market.

It certainly needs to get the scams under control and reduce the pollution.

A very good point!

That is what Las Vegas did and it turned it around from the seedy image of past years to a favorite vacation spot for families in the USA and from abroad.

The problem is that LOS is always interested in saving face and not admitting that they have flawed ideas and/or that their planing is not well thought out (take the major sky walk that will cost billions) instead of having a hard look at themselves and make an effort to improve the quality of the country. There should be a campaign in which the government tell the public at large in Thailand that tourists make Thailand richer and better with their visits. That tourists should be respected by all and that Thais should be friendly to tourists instead of seeing tourist as a wad of money on legs. The public takes a cue from the Government and also implement their double pricing tables. As a Farang try to buy a ticket to see Muey Thai for instance. You will pay ten times more than a Thai to see the same thing. Try to make a taxi driver turn the meter in Pattaya. The list goes on and on. What am I saying? That will mean enforcement of the laws.

If the country improves in quality, more high-end tourists will come to Thailand. But, a country that shoos backpackers, lower or Middle class tourists is bound to stay underdeveloped in the tourist industry.

[samran]

Thailand as the knock shop of Asia.

And what exactly is wrong with that. If Thailand does not like being seen as that they would and could have shut down the sex industry here years ago. It's time for Thailand to raise a finger at the rest of the world and say we're happy the way we are.

opportunity cost, that is what, opportunity cost.

Foregone and more productive investment in other areas - whether tourism or otherwise. Nothing to say about providing additional opportunities, and dare I say it, dignity, for those who work in the industry.

How pompous !

Those 'working in the industry' have done so for hundred's of years.

Thai ladies have been servicing the needs of males for ages. The Farang represents only a small part of the gross income earned from selling sexual services.

OK - lets have your daughter, sister or mother enter the industry then shall we...seems like you think it is an upstanding equal opportunity employer with tonnes of career prospects.

And tell me your home country...lets shift Pattaya there in all its glory. If it is so good, you can have it.