23 Million Foreign Tourist Arrivals In Thailand In 2013

[mancub]

"If the thread is about Pattaya having a flourishing sex industry please let me know. I thought it was about tourism. I have lived in Pattaya a number of years and have noticed single gentlemen from India almost never live alone in one hotel room. Invariably they share a room with a number of other men. Anyone else with knowledge of the hotel industry from Bangkok or Pattaya will also confirm for you that Indian men usually share rooms with multiple occupants."

Anyone with a knowledge of the hotel industry will confirm that usual room occupancy is "double " ie 2 or "triple " , apart from hostels with dorm rooms of course . Search any of the 1000+ Bangkok hotels offered on Agoda and you will see this . Doubt very much that hotels catering for tourists would be happy with 4 or 5 single males ,of any nationality . sharing a room !!! But you are the expert on that , especially where Indian gentlemen are concerned.

I would argue that so called "sex tourism " plays a large part in the economy of Pattaya....so it is of relevance . You claim to have lived there , perhaps you could enlighten us with your opinion of it's significance or deny it's existence ?

Edited December 14, 2012 by mancub

[elliss]

They did not mention the Indians....Pattaya is packed with them. Clearly quality tourists roaming Beach Rd. for the beautiful sea-views and gardens. PF :-)

FYI , indian gents , are not looked upon as farang / foreigner ,by our thai hosts .

in the eyes of thais , their money is as good as ours.

live and let live .

mines a chicken madras , thanks.

Edited December 14, 2012 by elliss

[F4UCorsair]

mancub said, "But he/she didn't mention the millions of pax/nt accomodation required/used by Thai domestic holidaymakers !".

You're right mancub, and I didn't do so intentionally. The figures just get infinitely worse when that's taken into account, so the figures I've guessed at, are way more than conservative. With about 70 million Thais, and a growing middle class who want to holiday, that is an enormous demand, and I've seen that demand in various places around Thailand with hotels over run by Thais.

cmk, you've observed more than a couple of Indian men sharing rooms. How do you know this? You wander through hotel corridors checking? If not, how do you know? They walk through the lobby together? That's no proof. You live in Pattaya, so you don't use hotels, unless they're short time hotels but you don't think there is a sex industry there, so that wouldn't be true. Your next post, below, indicates that you have contact with the 'ladies of the night' and they tell you stories of Indian men lying in wait. In what capacity are you dealing with these ladies?

Please enlighten us as to how you know that multiple Indian men share hotel rooms.

Edited December 14, 2012 by F4UCorsair

[chiangmaikelly]

"If the thread is about Pattaya having a flourishing sex industry please let me know. I thought it was about tourism. I have lived in Pattaya a number of years and have noticed single gentlemen from India almost never live alone in one hotel room. Invariably they share a room with a number of other men. Anyone else with knowledge of the hotel industry from Bangkok or Pattaya will also confirm for you that Indian men usually share rooms with multiple occupants."

Anyone with a knowledge of the hotel industry will confirm that usual room occupancy is "double " ie 2 or "triple " , apart from hostels with dorm rooms of course . Search any of the 1000+ Bangkok hotels offered on Agoda and you will see this . Doubt very much that hotels catering for tourists would be happy with 4 or 5 single males ,of any nationality . sharing a room !!! But you are the expert on that , especially where Indian gentlemen are concerned.

I would argue that so called "sex tourism " plays a large part in the economy of Pattaya....so it is of relevance . You claim to have lived there , perhaps you could enlighten us with your opinion of it's significance or deny it's existence ?

More important 5 or 10 years ago than today. The size of the p4p trade in Pattaya is shrinking daily and being replaced with Russians and Indians and Chinese among others. The ladies of the evening are hesitant to go out with Indian gentlemen because of the stories of multiple guests staying in rooms and awaiting the ladies of the night.

Pattaya because of the investment by the Central group among others is becoming much more appropriate family destination for both Thais and non Thai people. For raw numbers the change in tourists are bringing a lot more people and more to come by bus and train as well as plane.

There is little downside in Thailand's tourist future as the new tourists are not ones to complain about poop on the beach or dirty bathrooms as much as the Europeans used to. I doubt if India or China or Russia will spoil it's citizens for travel to Thailand.

[elliss]

good news for the thai economy ,

especially the rubber industry ,

any stats on the percentage of visitors , that are not sex tourists ?

probably a very low minority , well done .TAT .

Edited December 14, 2012 by elliss

[chiangmaikelly]

good news for the thai economy ,

especially the rubber industry ,

any stats on the percentage of visitors , that are not sex tourists ?

probably a very low minority , well done .TAT .

I think if you check the figures that the great majority of tourists are couples and not sex tourists.

[fasteddie]

Where are they all going then? it certainly aint Krabi/Ao Nang/Koh Lanta.

[fasteddie]

I don't mean to poke holes in the report, however the vast majority of travellers book direct with airlines and hotels these days, no airline I know of will share load factors pre/post with any travel agent associations. 23 Million tourists would be wonderful but the source lost me when they claim 5 million members and on their own site they have 1013 members and 321 allied members. 5 Million travellers used 1013 Thai based agents could be plausible.

http://www.atta.or.th/ATTAUI.aspx

I'll wait for the TAT estimates.

TAT will estimate about the same 23 mil and then claim they exceeded it with 24 - pure fantasy especially when they use the UNWTO method of counting anyone that arrives in Thailand and stays less than one year as a tourist.

And since the TAT website is part of the sovereign country of Thailand, everybody that visits it no doubt gets added to the dream.

Over the next 12 months, 83 per cent of the CEOs in Thailand said they planned to boost investment and only 5 per cent said they planned to cut investment.

http://www.thaivisa....-2013-thailand/

Thailand has no unemployment and the only real problems are a shortage of labor. Why would you think it is a dream to expect more tourists?

Judging by your number of posts, you've been here a while, so how come you don't know that Thais will always tell you what you want to hear, if that occasionally coincides with the truth, well that's nice but it's certainly not something they're too bothered about. And as for no unemployment? you need to get out more.

[Nisa]

Where are they all going then? it certainly aint Krabi/Ao Nang/Koh Lanta.

The continued increase in passengers at Krabi airport and their adding a second terminal to double the the passenger capacity of the airport must be due to people getting on the wrong planes. I'm guessing once they get there (by accident) they decide to stay for a spell since when I was there a few weeks ago most of the resorts I checked were fully booked on Koh Lanta.

Edit: I suspect in 2012 Krabi airport will near double the passenger traffic numbers from 2008.

2008 --- 650,000 passengers

2009 --- 679.000 passengers

2010 ---- 837,000 passengers

2011 ---- 989,000 passengers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_busiest_airports_in_Thailand

Edited December 14, 2012 by Nisa

[Nisa]

Over the next 12 months, 83 per cent of the CEOs in Thailand said they planned to boost investment and only 5 per cent said they planned to cut investment.

http://www.thaivisa....-2013-thailand/

Thailand has no unemployment and the only real problems are a shortage of labor. Why would you think it is a dream to expect more tourists?

Judging by your number of posts, you've been here a while, so how come you don't know that Thais will always tell you what you want to hear, if that occasionally coincides with the truth, well that's nice but it's certainly not something they're too bothered about. And as for no unemployment? you need to get out more.

Although you may not want to be willing to believe it, the rest of the international community that relies on and compiles data accepts Thailand as having one of the lowest unemployment rates of all countries ... and this is using Internationally accepted standards to adjust the figures to make each country comparable.

Edited December 14, 2012 by Nisa

[fasteddie]

It is a shame that TV posters can't get the word out to all these international organizations about how Thai tourism is on the decline.

World Travel and Tourism Council

http://www.wttc.org/...hailand2012.pdf

UN World Tourism Organization

http://media.unwto.o...ism-development

Euromonitor International

http://www.euromonit...thailand/report

Business Monitor International (BMI)

http://www.marketres...ism-Q2-6855289/

BBC

http://www.bbc.com/t...rism-in-bangkok

And just where do you think these organisations get their from?

[fasteddie]

It is a shame that TV posters can't get the word out to all these international organizations about how Thai tourism is on the decline.

World Travel and Tourism Council

http://www.wttc.org/...hailand2012.pdf

UN World Tourism Organization

http://media.unwto.o...ism-development

Euromonitor International

http://www.euromonit...thailand/report

Business Monitor International (BMI)

http://www.marketres...ism-Q2-6855289/

BBC

http://www.bbc.com/t...rism-in-bangkok

And just where do you think these organisations get their from?

oops! their information from that is.

[chiangmaikelly]

Over the next 12 months, 83 per cent of the CEOs in Thailand said they planned to boost investment and only 5 per cent said they planned to cut investment.

http://www.thaivisa....-2013-thailand/

Thailand has no unemployment and the only real problems are a shortage of labor. Why would you think it is a dream to expect more tourists?

Judging by your number of posts, you've been here a while, so how come you don't know that Thais will always tell you what you want to hear, if that occasionally coincides with the truth, well that's nice but it's certainly not something they're too bothered about. And as for no unemployment? you need to get out more.

Well Fast Eddie I'll tell you how come. Today I went to the bank and asked the head banker how much Thai Baht I had in my account. I told him I want to see about 20 million Bath there. He told me the truth. Gawd can you all imagine that. He told me I only had 5 million in the bank! Then I went to my doctors office and I told the nurse I wanted her to tell me I lost another 5 pounds. She put me on the scale and nope she told me my weight was the same as last month. So I was walking home and I saw a beautiful woman in a short little skirt with pink hello kitty panties and I truly wanted to spend some time with her. I was thinking about what you said and I asked her to stay with me a while for free. Well Fast Eddie she didn't do it. She didn't tell me what I wanted to hear. After living here for 10 years I have to disagree with you. Thais don't tell me what I want to hear. But if you have any better data on tourists or unemployment I encourage you to present it. However your opinions with nothing to back them up are worthless.

[soomak]

I'm not a nay sayer, and I've condemned those professional Thai bashers, the ones who don't believe anything good about Thailand, but I have to say this is fantasy.

Break down 23,000,000 to a daily figure, and it's 63,000 a day arriving!! Broken down to aircraft, that's 180 747's with 350 pax on each, not to capacity, but a decent load. I just can't believe it. Bearing in mind that there would be a lot of smaller aircraft from regional Asian centers, it would be 200+ aircraft inbound with only tourists bound for Thailand, and of course 200+ outbound, not taking into account transits.

I googled 'aircraft movements at Suvarnabhumi', came up with the actual airport site, http://www.suvarnabh...a_w_face_en.PDF, and a daily figure of 728 movements is mentioned. I've spent quite a bit of time in the airport over the years, odd hours, and I don't believe that there is, on average, a takeoff or landing every 2 and a bit minutes, not even close, maybe at a couple/few peak times, but not throughout the day.

Looking at the third column on that site, there was a grand total of 13.7 million disembarkations in 2010, but almost 3 million were Thais, international pax, and no doubt Thais returning from overseas. That's 10 million 'tourists', and it's difficult to believe that could go to 23 million in 3 years. There were a total of over 26 million embarkations and disembarkations, so perhaps they're counting twice??

Wikipedia shows the same figures as the TAT, and they also break it by country.

http://en.wikipedia....ism_in_Thailand

But I have no idea who exactly is counted (for example: connecting flights, people who cross to Laos for a few days then come back are counted twice, legal / illegal workers going in).

Not to mention certain kind people who spend a lot of time to help Thais learning english, who cross the border and get counted as a tourist

edit: i choose some better words

Teachers working illegally are only a few thousands tops, so it wouldn't change the stats.

But there are 2-3 million foreign workers in Thailand.

[Nisa]

It is a shame that TV posters can't get the word out to all these international organizations about how Thai tourism is on the decline.

World Travel and Tourism Council

http://www.wttc.org/...hailand2012.pdf

UN World Tourism Organization

http://media.unwto.o...ism-development

Euromonitor International

http://www.euromonit...thailand/report

Business Monitor International (BMI)

http://www.marketres...ism-Q2-6855289/

BBC

http://www.bbc.com/t...rism-in-bangkok

And just where do you think these organisations get their from?

Wasn't that the point ... they get the info from sources they trust and believe rather than the doom and gloom brigade on TV who are part of the few who know about the vast conspiracy .going on to inflate the number of foreign visitors to Thailand. Isn't it about time all the international organizations started listening to these folks instead of the official and verifiable data they currently are? I mean just look at the logic of these posters who don't know the average number of guests per hotel room or the number of hotel rooms in Thailand or the percentage of visitors staying at hotels but they are so smart they can use all these things they are clueless about to support their conspiracy theory.

Edited December 15, 2012 by Nisa

[DocN]

It is a shame that TV posters can't get the word out to all these international organizations about how Thai tourism is on the decline.

World Travel and Tourism Council

http://www.wttc.org/...hailand2012.pdf

UN World Tourism Organization

http://media.unwto.o...ism-development

Euromonitor International

http://www.euromonit...thailand/report

Business Monitor International (BMI)

http://www.marketres...ism-Q2-6855289/

BBC

http://www.bbc.com/t...rism-in-bangkok

And just where do you think these organisations get their from?

Wasn't that the point ... they get the info from sources they trust and believe rather than the doom and gloom brigade on TV who are part of the few who know about the vast conspiracy .going on to inflate the number of foreign visitors to Thailand. Isn't it about time all the international organizations started listening to these folks instead of the official and verifiable data they currently are? I mean just look at the logic of these posters who don't know the average number of guests per hotel room or the number of hotel rooms in Thailand or the percentage of visitors staying at hotels but they are so smart they can use all these things they are clueless about to support their conspiracy theory.

They get the numbers from THE ONLY SOURCE AVAILABLE!

And that is a BIG difference from a "source they trust"!

[lemoncake]

It is a shame that TV posters can't get the word out to all these international organizations about how Thai tourism is on the decline.

World Travel and Tourism Council

http://www.wttc.org/...hailand2012.pdf

UN World Tourism Organization

http://media.unwto.o...ism-development

Euromonitor International

http://www.euromonit...thailand/report

Business Monitor International (BMI)

http://www.marketres...ism-Q2-6855289/

BBC

http://www.bbc.com/t...rism-in-bangkok

And just where do you think these organisations get their from?

Wasn't that the point ... they get the info from sources they trust and believe rather than the doom and gloom brigade on TV who are part of the few who know about the vast conspiracy .going on to inflate the number of foreign visitors to Thailand.

I do not need to read any statistics , nor do i need to refer to any sources. All i need to do is to look at the bookings to my hotels, number of people eating in my restaurants. also just taking a walk down the street and seeing all the empty bars, restaurants and closed guesthouses and hotels is enough evidence.

If and its a big if assuming all those figures are correct, one can not help but wonder, where all those tourists are hiding and where are they all staying and where are they all eating

[Nisa]

It is a shame that TV posters can't get the word out to all these international organizations about how Thai tourism is on the decline.

World Travel and Tourism Council

http://www.wttc.org/...hailand2012.pdf

UN World Tourism Organization

http://media.unwto.o...ism-development

Euromonitor International

http://www.euromonit...thailand/report

Business Monitor International (BMI)

http://www.marketres...ism-Q2-6855289/

BBC

http://www.bbc.com/t...rism-in-bangkok

And just where do you think these organisations get their from?

Wasn't that the point ... they get the info from sources they trust and believe rather than the doom and gloom brigade on TV who are part of the few who know about the vast conspiracy .going on to inflate the number of foreign visitors to Thailand.

I do not need to read any statistics , nor do i need to refer to any sources. All i need to do is to look at the bookings to my hotels, number of people eating in my restaurants. also just taking a walk down the street and seeing all the empty bars, restaurants and closed guesthouses and hotels is enough evidence.

If and its a big if assuming all those figures are correct, one can not help but wonder, where all those tourists are hiding and where are they all staying and where are they all eating

Spoken like a true businessman.

[lemoncake]

Spoken like a true businessman.

actually spoken like a real person living in real world, running a real business instead of internet warrior relying on links and sources,

Unless of course you really believe the real facts come out from the government offices and not people on the ground

[Nisa]

It is a shame that TV posters can't get the word out to all these international organizations about how Thai tourism is on the decline.

World Travel and Tourism Council

http://www.wttc.org/...hailand2012.pdf

UN World Tourism Organization

http://media.unwto.o...ism-development

Euromonitor International

http://www.euromonit...thailand/report

Business Monitor International (BMI)

http://www.marketres...ism-Q2-6855289/

BBC

http://www.bbc.com/t...rism-in-bangkok

And just where do you think these organisations get their from?

Wasn't that the point ... they get the info from sources they trust and believe rather than the doom and gloom brigade on TV who are part of the few who know about the vast conspiracy .going on to inflate the number of foreign visitors to Thailand. Isn't it about time all the international organizations started listening to these folks instead of the official and verifiable data they currently are? I mean just look at the logic of these posters who don't know the average number of guests per hotel room or the number of hotel rooms in Thailand or the percentage of visitors staying at hotels but they are so smart they can use all these things they are clueless about to support their conspiracy theory.

They get the numbers from THE ONLY SOURCE AVAILABLE!

And that is a BIG difference from a "source they trust"!

Yes but clearly they are not nearly as intelligent as posters here who know the truth and ignore such figures and certainly wouldn't repeat them as fact. Come on now, contact these folks and let them know the truth so they can stop being part of this vast conspiracy to dupe the international community about tourist numbers, which are easily verifable by these same groups and that goes so far as needing to fill the void of Thailand GDP which they claim come from foreign tourism. Stop the madness, let everyone know the truth how airlines are increasing flights though the number of passengers are decreasing all to help Thailand with GDP. Let everyone know all these huge hotel chains opening up new huge locations here are all doing so just to help Thailand with the conspiracy or are their CEO, Investors and researchers just so stupid they don't know nearly as much as the doom and gloom brigade who choose to live or visit a country they clearly are miserable.withiin.

[Nisa]

Spoken like a true businessman.

actually spoken like a real person living in real world, running a real business instead of internet warrior relying on links and sources,

Unless of course you really believe the real facts come out from the government offices and not people on the ground

Yes, when your business is sucking then certainly don't look to yourself and your business but instead look to external sources you can't control despite the industry you are in being a booming one and attracting more and more players with significantly more expertise, knowledge and research done on the subject than yourself ... all in the name of perpetuating a doom and gloom outlook.

Edited December 15, 2012 by Nisa

[Nisa]

If and its a big if assuming all those figures are correct, one can not help but wonder, where all those tourists are hiding and where are they all staying and where are they all eating

If you don't believe international arrivals have been on an upward trend (and very significant the past few years) then there really is nothing rational that can be said but I will say people tend to eat and stay at places in locations they want to be (all the tourist spots see huge increases in numbers and huge investments in construction and infrastructure to support the increased numbers) as well as doing their business with folks who are not miserable and blame there problems on everyone else.

A bit of advice ... you should do a little research as any successful business does as opposed to looking at the window to make decisions because you will find the make-up of tourists has been changing dramatically over the years as opposed to acting like Sony Walkman distributor who keeps whining that nobody listens to music anymore and the music industry is in a doom and gloom state rather than looking at the trends and adjusting your business accordingly. .

Edited December 15, 2012 by Nisa

[Nisa]

The airlines and airports are in on the scam too ...

Suvarnabhumi Airport

2008 - 39 Million Passengers

2009 - 41 Million Passengers

2010 - 43 Million Passengers

2011 - 48 Million Passengers

Phuket Airport

2008 - 5.7 Million Passengers

2009 - 5.8 Million Passengers

2010 - 7.0 Million Passengers

2011 - 8.5 Million Passengers

Krabi Airport

2008 --- 650,000 passengers

2009 --- 679.000 passengers

2010 ---- 837,000 passengers

2011 ---- 989,000 passengers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_busiest_airports_in_Thailand#Passenger_Traffic

[lemoncake]

If and its a big if assuming all those figures are correct, one can not help but wonder, where all those tourists are hiding and where are they all staying and where are they all eating

If you don't believe international arrivals have been on an upward trend (and very significant the past few years) then there really is nothing rational that can be said but I will say people tend to eat and stay at places in locations they want to be (all the tourist spots see huge increases in numbers and huge investments in construction and infrastructure to support the increased numbers) as well as doing their business with folks who are not miserable and blame there problems on everyone else.

A bit of advice ... you should do a little research as any successful business does as opposed to looking at the window to make decisions because you will find the make-up of tourists has been changing dramatically over the years as opposed to acting like Sony Walkman distributor who keeps whining that nobody listens to music anymore and the music industry is in a doom and gloom state rather than looking at the trends and adjusting your business accordingly.

you now really making me laugh!

ever considered that while the air travel is on the up and many more pass through the airport, does not automatically translate into more tourists staying or visiting the country?

If BKK, Pattaya, Chiang Mai hotels are at low occupancy, when restaurants are closing down, and taxi drivers ALSO do not have much work that means there are less people-just simple logic and common sense.

Thank you for your advice on how i should operate a business, i suggest you first open one before you start to educate others on how to run it

In almost every post you bring up some stats and links, which shows either being being completely out of touch with reality or inability to process the information provided

[Nisa]

If and its a big if assuming all those figures are correct, one can not help but wonder, where all those tourists are hiding and where are they all staying and where are they all eating

If you don't believe international arrivals have been on an upward trend (and very significant the past few years) then there really is nothing rational that can be said but I will say people tend to eat and stay at places in locations they want to be (all the tourist spots see huge increases in numbers and huge investments in construction and infrastructure to support the increased numbers) as well as doing their business with folks who are not miserable and blame there problems on everyone else.

A bit of advice ... you should do a little research as any successful business does as opposed to looking at the window to make decisions because you will find the make-up of tourists has been changing dramatically over the years as opposed to acting like Sony Walkman distributor who keeps whining that nobody listens to music anymore and the music industry is in a doom and gloom state rather than looking at the trends and adjusting your business accordingly.

you now really making me laugh!

ever considered that while the air travel is on the up and many more pass through the airport, does not automatically translate into more tourists staying or visiting the country?

If BKK, Pattaya, Chiang Mai hotels are at low occupancy, when restaurants are closing down, and taxi drivers ALSO do not have much work that means there are less people-just simple logic and common sense.

Thank you for your advice on how i should operate a business, i suggest you first open one before you start to educate others on how to run it

In almost every post you bring up some stats and links, which shows either being being completely out of touch with reality or inability to process the information provided

Unless people pass through immigration they are not counted as a visitor and I find it very strange to suspect that the HUGE increase in airport passengers at the countries airports are attributed to people passing through that have decided to go through customs. I think this is a rather strange way to process and interpret data unless you are motivated for some reason to ignore reality. As for your belief that hotels are closing down, this is simply your incorrect perception, as the number of hotel rooms is increasing dramatically in the tourist areas of Thailand as is construction of new hotels .... but I suspect they are either part of the conspiracy or are being built to support the people who are passing through the airports ;-)

Edit: Another thing you are incorrect about and seem to have based your conclusion on nothing to do with fact is my history of being a business owner.

Edited December 15, 2012 by Nisa

[lemoncake]

If and its a big if assuming all those figures are correct, one can not help but wonder, where all those tourists are hiding and where are they all staying and where are they all eating

If you don't believe international arrivals have been on an upward trend (and very significant the past few years) then there really is nothing rational that can be said but I will say people tend to eat and stay at places in locations they want to be (all the tourist spots see huge increases in numbers and huge investments in construction and infrastructure to support the increased numbers) as well as doing their business with folks who are not miserable and blame there problems on everyone else.

A bit of advice ... you should do a little research as any successful business does as opposed to looking at the window to make decisions because you will find the make-up of tourists has been changing dramatically over the years as opposed to acting like Sony Walkman distributor who keeps whining that nobody listens to music anymore and the music industry is in a doom and gloom state rather than looking at the trends and adjusting your business accordingly.

you now really making me laugh!

ever considered that while the air travel is on the up and many more pass through the airport, does not automatically translate into more tourists staying or visiting the country?

If BKK, Pattaya, Chiang Mai hotels are at low occupancy, when restaurants are closing down, and taxi drivers ALSO do not have much work that means there are less people-just simple logic and common sense.

Thank you for your advice on how i should operate a business, i suggest you first open one before you start to educate others on how to run it

In almost every post you bring up some stats and links, which shows either being being completely out of touch with reality or inability to process the information provided

Unless people pass through immigration they are not counted as a visitor and I find it very strange to suspect that the HUGE increase in airport passengers at the countries airports are attributed to people passing through that have decided to go through customs. I think this is a rather strange way to process and interpret data unless you are motivated for some reason to ignore reality. As for your belief that hotels are closing down, this is simply your incorrect perception, as the number of hotel rooms is increasing dramatically in the tourist areas of Thailand as is construction of new hotels .... but I suspect they are either part of the conspiracy or are being built to support the people who are passing through the airports ;-)

Edit: Another thing you are incorrect about and seem to have based your conclusion on nothing to do with fact is my history of being a business owner.

mate, please quite while you ahead with posting rubbish.

you do not know how they collect the data, nor do you know when and where they collect the data.

Hotels are empty, restaurants are empty, bars are empty there are no people.

[chiangmaikelly]

If you don't believe international arrivals have been on an upward trend (and very significant the past few years) then there really is nothing rational that can be said but I will say people tend to eat and stay at places in locations they want to be (all the tourist spots see huge increases in numbers and huge investments in construction and infrastructure to support the increased numbers) as well as doing their business with folks who are not miserable and blame there problems on everyone else.

A bit of advice ... you should do a little research as any successful business does as opposed to looking at the window to make decisions because you will find the make-up of tourists has been changing dramatically over the years as opposed to acting like Sony Walkman distributor who keeps whining that nobody listens to music anymore and the music industry is in a doom and gloom state rather than looking at the trends and adjusting your business accordingly.

you now really making me laugh!

ever considered that while the air travel is on the up and many more pass through the airport, does not automatically translate into more tourists staying or visiting the country?

If BKK, Pattaya, Chiang Mai hotels are at low occupancy, when restaurants are closing down, and taxi drivers ALSO do not have much work that means there are less people-just simple logic and common sense.

Thank you for your advice on how i should operate a business, i suggest you first open one before you start to educate others on how to run it

In almost every post you bring up some stats and links, which shows either being being completely out of touch with reality or inability to process the information provided

Unless people pass through immigration they are not counted as a visitor and I find it very strange to suspect that the HUGE increase in airport passengers at the countries airports are attributed to people passing through that have decided to go through customs. I think this is a rather strange way to process and interpret data unless you are motivated for some reason to ignore reality. As for your belief that hotels are closing down, this is simply your incorrect perception, as the number of hotel rooms is increasing dramatically in the tourist areas of Thailand as is construction of new hotels .... but I suspect they are either part of the conspiracy or are being built to support the people who are passing through the airports ;-)

Edit: Another thing you are incorrect about and seem to have based your conclusion on nothing to do with fact is my history of being a business owner.

mate, please quite while you ahead with posting rubbish.

you do not know how they collect the data, nor do you know when and where they collect the data.

Hotels are empty, restaurants are empty, bars are empty there are no people.

You mean this is a slow tourist season in Thailand? 555 There must be more people living in Thailand that post on Thai Visa other than myself. Some one tell this person what is going on.

[Nisa]

lemoncake - In all seriousness, I do hope you the best in your business' but at some point you are going to need to adjust your views to become aware of the facts, such as the fact that your business problems are not a result of a decrease in foreign visitors because the reality is just the opposite is true. As well, occupancy rates across Thailand are up even though there has been a big increase in number of new hotel rooms available and built. If I were you, I would focus on and lean more about the changing makeup of tourists that are resulting in such a boom and adjust your business' accordingly if possible,

[lemoncake]

lemoncake - In all seriousness, I do hope you the best in your business' but at some point you are going to need to adjust your views to become aware of the facts, such as the fact that your business problems are not a result of a decrease in foreign visitors because the reality is just the opposite is true. As well, occupancy rates across Thailand are up even though there has been a big increase in number of new hotel rooms available and built. If I were you, I would focus on and lean more about the changing makeup of tourists that are resulting in such a boom and adjust your business' accordingly if possible,

yet again with the nonsense.

I do not own all hotels in Pattaya, nor do i own all restaurants, bars and other retails outlets.

I guess we, all hotel owners, bar owners and restaurant owners are doing something wrong, so people go stay in Nisa world

[lemoncake]

You mean this is a slow tourist season in Thailand? 555 There must be more people living in Thailand that post on Thai Visa other than myself. Some one tell this person what is going on.

ohhhh kelly kelly kelly ,in resort towns like Pattaya, people living in the country are not enough to fill all the bars, restaurants and hotels.

Its beyond ridicolous having debates with people who are not in business and rely SOLELY on what they read in the papers.

While no doubt they will come back with how they run huge businesses, speak thai etc etc etc, the posts speak for itself.

Last year was a bad high season, only this year its even worse, the numbers are not up, but down, irrespective of thai agency says or another agency relying on data provided by thai agency.