Despite Floods, Thailand Poised For Tourism Record

[webfact]

Despite Floods, Thailand Poised for Tourism Record

By Newley Purnell

BANGKOK — Thailand’s vital tourism industry has suffered terribly from the massive floods that continue to drain slowly from Bangkok’s suburbs. Remarkably, however, the country is poised to set a record for the most yearly international arrivals, underscoring the tourism sector’s resilience despite a string of recent crises.

The floods, which began in July and have killed more than 600 people, may mean that Thailand welcomes up to 750,000 fewer foreign visitors this year, the government says. That could lead to as much as $600 million in lost tourism revenue.

But arrivals were so high in the months leading up to the inundation that the country is still expected to welcome more than 16 million international travelers this year — a new record. That’s good news, since Thailand’s tourism industry employs more than 2 million people and comprises 6 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

The floods were “a most unusual phenomenon,” Martin Craigs, chief executive of the Bangkok-based Pacific Asia Travel Association, told Southeast Asia Real Time. “It was like a slow moving disaster.” [more...]

Full story: http://blogs.wsj.com/searealtime/2011/12/06/despite-floods-thailand-poised-for-tourism-record/

-- blogs.wsj.com 2011-12-06

[Guest]

Who makes up these figures?

[Ricardo]

Lies, dam_n Lies & Government Statistics !

[laurentbkk]

Well ,its always better to lie than to scare people no ? I just wonder if the government will do something for the 1.4 meters of water which is still in my area ... 6 weeks , that becomes a big joke .. like many things in this country .

[Oberkommando]

I would say 9 million absolute maximum for this year, nowhere near 14-15 million which were the phony 'record' numbers from last year.

[kurnell]

While they are telling massive porkies, why not declare "Corruption entirely eradicated in Thailand"

[laurentbkk]

Talking about corruption , I had to pay the immigration officer 3,000bath under table money so I can get 1 month visa ..then of course for my one year visa they will ask again for money , beside the fact that all my documents were correct and good , after 18 years here I still have to pay for those ...not to mention that they know I am a flood victim and still cannot go back to my house .... is this what they want in Thailand ? so much consideration for floods victim. How can they pretend to be a real democracy ....

[laurentbkk]

While they are telling massive porkies, why not declare "Corruption entirely eradicated in Thailand"

that will be the next week official comment

[JeremyBowskill]

As soon as I saw the heading it was clear this was a work of total fiction, why oh why did I waste a minute of my life to read it...........

[garrfeild]

A Joke without the punch line I guess they have to justify their job!

[Mosha]

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHPOzQzk9Qo TAT instruction video.

[kutjebu]

The minority of tourists are coming from the west.

1 Malaysia 2,058,956 persons

2 China 1,122,219 persons

3 Japan. 993,674 persons

4 England 810,727 persons

5 Korean 805,445 persons

6 India 760,371 persons

7 Laos 715,345 persons

8 Australia. 698,046 persons

9 Russia. 644,678 persons

10 America. 611,792 persons

11 Germany. 606,874 persons

12 Singapore. 603,538 persons

13 Frans. 461,670 persons

14 Vietnam. 380,368 persons

15 Taiwan 369,220 persons

16 Sweden. 355,214 persons

17 Hong Kong 316,476 persons

18 Indonesia. 286,072 persons

19 Philippines. 246,430 persons

20 Netherlands 196,994 per

These figures are from 2010

Edited December 6, 2011 by webfact
formatting fixed/code deleted

[geriatrickid]

Nope, it is not fiction. Don't forget that Phuket is Thailand's 2nd biggest tourist destination and in comparison to last year, the number of visitors is way up. Occupancies at the mid to upper end hotels were robust. This is due in large part to the increased number of direct flights from Australia, Asia and Russia that brought in additional package groups. Indian visitors also surged this year. Toss in the Koh Samui and surrounding regions and the tourist trade had a vibrant lifeline. Nor should one lose sight of Chiang Mai another pillar of the tourist trade. It has a loyal and steady tourist base that appreciates the region. As for Pattaya, well the city would have to be under a massive zombie attack before its visitors paid attention.

Yes the Bangkok floods hurt, but tourists don't want to hang around Bangkok for more than a couple days. Many of the betterorganized tour operators changed their itineraries around and moved the tourists to other venues. In any case, BKK operated, and aside from a few weeks, the popular tourist areas of BKK were ok.

I know that many will disagree, but the only real historical dent to the tourist trade came when the airports were occupied. Even at the height of the Bangkok Redshirt protests, key tourist areas in Chiang Mai and Phuket were humming along. Yes, many people were hit hard by the floods, but those areas doon't hold the big tourist draws, which remain, beaches, sun and golf courses. I predict that the December 2011 tourist numbers are going to surge.

Don't believe me? Check out the room availabilities on Phuket and Samui.

[Oberkommando]

715,000 'tourists' from Laos.

The fact they have 'England' and not the 'UK' is enough to disregard those statistics posted above as nonsense IMO.

Edited December 6, 2011 by Oberkommando

[Oberkommando]

Nope, it is not fiction. Don't forget that Phuket is Thailand's 2nd biggest tourist destination and in comparison to last year, the number of visitors is way up. Occupancies at the mid to upper end hotels were robust. This is due in large part to the increased number of direct flights from Australia, Asia and Russia that brought in additional package groups. Indian visitors also surged this year. Toss in the Koh Samui and surrounding regions and the tourist trade had a vibrant lifeline. Nor should one lose sight of Chiang Mai another pillar of the tourist trade. It has a loyal and steady tourist base that appreciates the region. As for Pattaya, well the city would have to be under a massive zombie attack before its visitors paid attention.

Yes the Bangkok floods hurt, but tourists don't want to hang around Bangkok for more than a couple days. Many of the betterorganized tour operators changed their itineraries around and moved the tourists to other venues. In any case, BKK operated, and aside from a few weeks, the popular tourist areas of BKK were ok.

I know that many will disagree, but the only real historical dent to the tourist trade came when the airports were occupied. Even at the height of the Bangkok Redshirt protests, key tourist areas in Chiang Mai and Phuket were humming along. Yes, many people were hit hard by the floods, but those areas doon't hold the big tourist draws, which remain, beaches, sun and golf courses. I predict that the December 2011 tourist numbers are going to surge.

Don't believe me? Check out the room availabilities on Phuket and Samui.

I was in Phuket for three months last year (when tourist numbers were at record numbers apparently) and everyone, and I mean everyone was complaining that there was no-one there.

I have never seen it so quiet.

I don't doubt Phuket is busier than Bangkok (I was at the Motor Expo last Friday and didn't see another white face) but talk of 'record number's and figures north of 9 million per annum are nonsense.

[Bakseedaa]

Talking about corruption , I had to pay the immigration officer 3,000bath under table money so I can get 1 month visa ..then of course for my one year visa they will ask again for money , beside the fact that all my documents were correct and good , after 18 years here I still have to pay for those ...not to mention that they know I am a flood victim and still cannot go back to my house .... is this what they want in Thailand ? so much consideration for floods victim. How can they pretend to be a real democracy ....

Why do you do it ..? paying corruption money is just as bad as taking corruption moneys.. The Thai authorities should have a corruption hotline where anyone, Thai or Farang, can call in and report these bastards... If you are all legal , there is No need to pay anything..!

[Robby nz]

Havent read all the replys to this topic but was interested to note in todays news

Posted Today, 11:23

Flood crisis creates Thai Airways Bt3 billion Q4 loss; passenger load falls to 61% from 72% year-on-year in November: THAI president /MCOT

RT @BangkokDan: Phnom Penh's today what Bangkok once was. Bustling with young travelers, hip bars, colonial-style restos, great vibes.

Seems to be some conflict of opinion somewhere

[Oberkommando]

Havent read all the replys to this topic but was interested to note in todays news

Posted Today, 11:23

Flood crisis creates Thai Airways Bt3 billion Q4 loss; passenger load falls to 61% from 72% year-on-year in November: THAI president /MCOT

RT @BangkokDan: Phnom Penh's today what Bangkok once was. Bustling with young travelers, hip bars, colonial-style restos, great vibes.

Seems to be some conflict of opinion somewhere

I have been going to Phnom Penh regularly for over 10 years and enjoy every minute of it. It just keeps getting better and better. I was there a couple of weeks ago and apart from an unpleasant experience with the owner of the Green Vespa bar I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Those Thai Airways statistics don't lie either, unless these vast numbers are arriving on foot or by boat.

[OzMick]

I checked with 3 local Koh Samui hotel/resort owners about the "vibrant" tourist numbers - their answers were unprintable under forum rules.

Please discount the Aussie numbers a bit. My mate and I are both on type Os, so 10 of the count are we 2.

Any guess on how many of the Malaysians are shaggers hitting Sadao and Sungai Kolok for a piss-up and a bit of the nasty? Not that I mind either, but the hypocrisy is a bit much.

[Thaihog]

If business is so good, then the Tourism Authority won't be needing the hundreds of million baht budget for their Miracle Thailand campaign..... then again

Edited December 6, 2011 by Thaihog

[animatic]

The whole thing is a ridiculous PR effort.

I want them to come, but do not believe this article will make

anyone suddenly rebook their cancelled bookings.

There are few tourist people here, and that's the facts Jack.

Edited December 6, 2011 by animatic

[Orac]

Havent read all the replys to this topic but was interested to note in todays news

Posted Today, 11:23

Flood crisis creates Thai Airways Bt3 billion Q4 loss; passenger load falls to 61% from 72% year-on-year in November: THAI president /MCOT

RT @BangkokDan: Phnom Penh's today what Bangkok once was. Bustling with young travelers, hip bars, colonial-style restos, great vibes.

Seems to be some conflict of opinion somewhere

I have been going to Phnom Penh regularly for over 10 years and enjoy every minute of it. It just keeps getting better and better. I was there a couple of weeks ago and apart from an unpleasant experience with the owner of the Green Vespa bar I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Those Thai Airways statistics don't lie either, unless these vast numbers are arriving on foot or by boat.

I would assume that a tourist going to Cambodia but having to transit Bangkok to get there and back would count twice in the figures.

[QED]

I have re-entered the country 36 times so far this year, and will be up to 38 or 39 by the year end due to business trips. If they are counting everyone of these entries as 1 tourist then I can understand where they get the figures from.

Do I still get classed as a tourist if on a business visa? Are they just simplistically counting all arrivals at airports and borders?

[edwinchester]

Just back home in Kanchanaburi after touring up north from Chiang Mai up to and along the Mekong. ALL the hotels and resorts we stayed in were either empty or very quiet with all the owners complaining of lack of visitors.

There is no way these figures are credible.

[Felt 35]

Every time TAT is playing the trumpet I only need to take a look at the front cover of the novel

”Kingdom of Making believe” and its all clear to me

[Felt 35]

Ops...It’s not TAT well then it must be just plain TIT

[EyesWideOpen]

I always get a laugh out of the fact the largest group of tourists to Thailand are devout Muslims from Malaysia coming up to Sadao to boink Thai girls...... Would be nice to see some actual tourist numbers instead of the cr*p TAT puts out. I think if you take out the Malaysian sex tourists, the Lao and Cambodia border shoppers, the people who are only transiting Bangkok, and the endless visa border run people, that what is left is not even near the numbers that TAT is touting. Maybe start with raw airline arrivals, and then subtract the transit people I think would leave a pretty good number.

I have never been really sure of why TAT always puts out such high numbers for expected tourist arrivals. Possible tourists will see these high numbers, and decide they will not come because the country will be too crowded and every hotel full. What they SHOULD do is put out low numbers, which will encourage people to come.

[ramrod711]

Who makes up these figures?

thai airways loses money because nobody is coming to thailand, the tourist areas of chiang mai are like ghost towns, massage ladies are practically kidnapping passers by and we are supposed to believe huge increases in tourism. what a load of crap!

[softgeorge]

Nothing like a good flood, rotting garbage, poluuted waters, desease, food shortages and inflation going through the roof to wet the appitite of tourists. Record numbers I'd like to see that.,

[softgeorge]

Havent read all the replys to this topic but was interested to note in todays news

Posted Today, 11:23

Flood crisis creates Thai Airways Bt3 billion Q4 loss; passenger load falls to 61% from 72% year-on-year in November: THAI president /MCOT

RT @BangkokDan: Phnom Penh's today what Bangkok once was. Bustling with young travelers, hip bars, colonial-style restos, great vibes.

Seems to be some conflict of opinion somewhere

I have been going to Phnom Penh regularly for over 10 years and enjoy every minute of it. It just keeps getting better and better. I was there a couple of weeks ago and apart from an unpleasant experience with the owner of the Green Vespa bar I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Those Thai Airways statistics don't lie either, unless these vast numbers are arriving on foot or by boat.

I would assume that a tourist going to Cambodia but having to transit Bangkok to get there and back would count twice in the figures.

What about the planes that pass through thier airspace but don't actually land? Got to be a few hundred on them passing through Thailand