Hi-So Holidays Harder To Afford For Phuket Tourists

[NamKangMan]

still not convinced, the same was said for Bail after the bombing - normal service has resumed, albeit after some time

The Bali bombings were major terrorist attacks. Tourists have flocked back to Bali because they believe their safety and security is fine there now.

The same can't be said for Phuket. The same BS scams and rip offs are STILL here, after so many years.

Nothing postive has been implemented here for tourists, or the tourism industry, in years.

Phuket is failing due to bad management. Hardly "same same" as the Bali bombings.

Granted hardly the same - but still bad press & perceived lack of safety are two of the major points. The tourism industry here IS growing year on year, the problem lies with the quality (perceived or not) and the spend per tourist ratio

Whilst I have always thought TAT's statistics are exaggerated, the new flight routes from emerging economies are not.

Tourist numbers may be growing, but the tourist dollar here is shrinking. (profits)

That's the "death rattle" for the place, and yet, they still refuse to compete with other tourist destinations.

Like I said, the same BS is still here, after so many years.

Nothing positive has been implemented for tourist and the tourism industry here in years.

After Phuket has "gone through" the Chinese and Russians, like they have the western Europeans, who is left to market the place to????

[LivinginKata]

An off topic post removed.

[KarenBravo]

NamKangMan, on 23 Mar 2013 - 11:52, said:

The tourism industry to Thailand may only be 6% of GDP, but it employs around 27% of the working population, either directly, or indirectly.

A shrinking tourism industry for Thailand will not hurt GDP so much, but means a lot of unemployed Thai's.

Thailand's tourism industry is not shrinking; it is growing. The demography is changing, but, that was inevitable with Asian countries having robust growth rates compared to developed countries.

Once Europe's economy finally comes out of the doldrums, there will be an increase of visitors from there, too.

Your "doom and gloom" scenarios are just not going to happen.

[NamKangMan]

NamKangMan, on 23 Mar 2013 - 11:52, said:

The tourism industry to Thailand may only be 6% of GDP, but it employs around 27% of the working population, either directly, or indirectly.

A shrinking tourism industry for Thailand will not hurt GDP so much, but means a lot of unemployed Thai's.

Thailand's tourism industry is not shrinking; it is growing. The demography is changing, but, that was inevitable with Asian countries having robust growth rates compared to developed countries.

Once Europe's economy finally comes out of the doldrums, there will be an increase of visitors from there, too.

Your "doom and gloom" scenarios are just not going to happen.

Allow me to clarify, the tourist numbers may be growing, but the tourist dollars are shrinking.

The new demographic of tourists are not spending.

I think the TAT thought the more tourists, the more money, but it's not true of their target markets.

[lavender19]

NamKangMan, on 23 Mar 2013 - 11:52, said:

The tourism industry to Thailand may only be 6% of GDP, but it employs around 27% of the working population, either directly, or indirectly.

A shrinking tourism industry for Thailand will not hurt GDP so much, but means a lot of unemployed Thai's.

Thailand's tourism industry is not shrinking; it is growing. The demography is changing, but, that was inevitable with Asian countries having robust growth rates compared to developed countries.

Once Europe's economy finally comes out of the doldrums, there will be an increase of visitors from there, too.

Your "doom and gloom" scenarios are just not going to happen.

Doesn't look they are spending much thou.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/627804-yingluck-urges-t-a-t-to-attract-more-high-end-tourists-into-thailand/?utm_source=newsletter-20130322-1004&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=news

the average spending of a tourist is only 3,000 baht, or about 100 US dollars, per day.

Mind you I don't know if the hotel is included in that figure

[eezergood]

Not included

[Thailand1977]

Im hiso (when working i am in the top 2% of wage earners, its only needs to be £60K+) but dont want to pay ++ in most hotels and restaurants, or to be charged 150bht for the pleasure of using an ATM.

Sooner go on weekend/day trips in Britain/Europe

And you can get a bottle of beer for under 2GBP at all Wetherspoons pubs which is the largest chain in the country ... or any Liberal, Labour, Conservative club ... or any working mens club.

Edited March 23, 2013 by Thailand1977

[Beetlejuice]

It appears that the Thais want they’re cake and eat it.

In one instance they support the strong baht, then become bemused and disappointed when the Thai tourist industry starts to decline. This stems from their belief that all farangs have a bottomless pit of cash at their disposal and they will always have means to find the extra monies somehow.

We cannot compare today’s state of affairs with that of 10, 15 and 20 plus years ago, when prices were cheaper and not so hyped up in tourist areas, bank interest rates were higher and everything was not so commercialised, less profit orientated and the economies were more in proportion with people`s incomes and holiday expenditures.

If this current trend of the ever declining bahts for Western currencies continues, than Thailand will be priced out the market as a viable tourist destination. It`s that simple and no need to be an expert economist in order to figure this one out.

Edited March 23, 2013 by Beetlejuice

[NamKangMan]

It appears that the Thais want they’re cake and eat it.

In one instance they support the strong baht, then become bemused and disappointed when the Thai tourist industry starts to decline. This stems from their belief that all farangs have a bottomless pit of cash at their disposal and they will always have means to find the extra monies somehow.

We cannot compare today’s state of affairs with that of 10, 15 and 20 plus years ago, when prices were cheaper and not so hyped up in tourist areas, bank interest rates were higher and everything was not so commercialised, less profit orientated and the economies were more in proportion with people`s incomes and holiday expenditures.

If this current trend of the ever declining bahts for Western currencies continues, than Thailand will be priced out the market as a viable tourist destination. It`s that simple and no need to be an expert economist in order to figure this one out.

Totally agree.

The thing is, the minimum daily wage has not long gone up to 300 baht. Not a huge wage rise. Yet, prices for everything on Phuket have gone up a lot more, percentage based.

I've stated before that I think rent has driven up prices on the island which is out of line with the country, and the region. Maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong - but Phuket continues to outprice itself in the tourism industry.

I can only think that it is greed from wealthy Thai landlords that will eventually see Phuket's demise. Eg. when a beer HAS to be sold at 140 baht in a beer bar - game over - it will still be 70 baht in Pattaya - half price.

Edited March 23, 2013 by NamKangMan

[FritsSikkink]

Isn't England the place with never ending rain and grey skies? (At least it is in most movies :-)

Yes, and the smog - don't forget the smog. And Jack the Ripper. He's always walking around the smog filled streets.

In my bucket list: Pendine sands in S. Wales

- just like Phuket except, no tuk-tuks, no hassles, quiet, etc. Maybe like Phuket was 30 years ago.

.

Weather forecast Pendine Sands

Date Precipitation Temp Wind

23.03.2013 0 mm 5° 10 m/s

24.03.2013 <1 mm 3° 10 m/s

25.03.2013 <1 mm 1°

26.03.2013 0 mm 0° 6 m/s

27.03.2013 0 mm -1° 5 m/s

28.03.2013 0 mm -1° 5 m/s

29.03.2013 0 mm -1° 3 m/s

30.03.2013 0 mm 1° 4 m/s

Edited March 23, 2013 by FritsSikkink

[pipsqueak]

mariners compass gorleston on sea norfolk uk carlsberg £2.00 a pint bottles £1.50 fill ya boots.

[Guest]

Almost no rain at Pendine Sands

[RogueLeader]

It appears that the Thais want they’re cake and eat it.

In one instance they support the strong baht, then become bemused and disappointed when the Thai tourist industry starts to decline. This stems from their belief that all farangs have a bottomless pit of cash at their disposal and they will always have means to find the extra monies somehow.

We cannot compare today’s state of affairs with that of 10, 15 and 20 plus years ago, when prices were cheaper and not so hyped up in tourist areas, bank interest rates were higher and everything was not so commercialised, less profit orientated and the economies were more in proportion with people`s incomes and holiday expenditures.

If this current trend of the ever declining bahts for Western currencies continues, than Thailand will be priced out the market as a viable tourist destination. It`s that simple and no need to be an expert economist in order to figure this one out.

Totally agree.

The thing is, the minimum daily wage has not long gone up to 300 baht. Not a huge wage rise. Yet, prices for everything on Phuket have gone up a lot more, percentage based.

I've stated before that I think rent has driven up prices on the island which is out of line with the country, and the region. Maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong - but Phuket continues to outprice itself in the tourism industry.

I can only think that it is greed from wealthy Thai landlords that will eventually see Phuket's demise. Eg. when a beer HAS to be sold at 140 baht in a beer bar - game over - it will still be 70 baht in Pattaya - half price.

After the Tsunami, the trend of concentration of land ownership accelerated. There is now little to no competition in many tourist areas as all the land is owned by the same individuals, families and cartels. A great example of this is Had Khuat on the north shore of Ko Pha Ngan. There are three guest houses there, each with attached restaurant. The prices and facilities are pretty much uniform across all three, because the land and businesses are owned by the same company. Similar, but less obvious cartels operate on all the majoer islands. Samui and Phi Phi might look superficially like thriving economies but in reality, each is like a mini Cambodia - all owned by anti-competitive interests. Like Cambodia, you can do pretty much whatever you want as long a that activity maximises the money passing into the hands of the local gangst... legitimate businesses.

They're killing the goose. They know there are no golden eggs inside, but don't care.

Edited March 24, 2013 by RogueLeader

[hawker9000]

Harder for UK tourists perhaps. Hasn't stopped the Chinese or the Russians

...who don't spend the way farangs typically did. The Chinese travel on their group tours and don't stray far from them. The Russians buy their beer at 7-11. The Indians - well, I don't know WHAT they've ever been able to afford to buy. The reduced spending power of farangs certainly isn't going to bring exchange rates back to where they were, but they are most likely going to constitute an ongoing drag on the Thai tourist industry.

[RogueLeader]

Harder for UK tourists perhaps. Hasn't stopped the Chinese or the Russians

...who don't spend the way farangs typically did. The Chinese travel on their group tours and don't stray far from them. The Russians buy their beer at 7-11. The Indians - well, I don't know WHAT they've ever been able to afford to buy. The reduced spending power of farangs certainly isn't going to bring exchange rates back to where they were, but they are most likely going to constitute an ongoing drag on the Thai tourist industry.

Last time I was in India, the main reports of Russian tourists were that they brought their own vodka to bars and intimidated other customers into leaving, often refusing to settle their bill at the end. I heard these complaints form owners of Goan beach bars and saw it happening on more than one occasion. Europeans and Americans occasionally behaved disrespectfully, but I've never seen anything as rude and disruptive as what the Russians were doing.

Edited March 24, 2013 by RogueLeader