Yingluck Urges T A T To Attract More ' High-End Tourists' Into Thailand

[ZhouZhou]

That is one of the most condescending statements about tourists i have ever hear a PM of any country say. If she is going to say this it should said in private to the TAT executives. Thinking like a hi-so and speaking like a hi-so.

Like Father - Like daughter. Taksin Shinawatra, son of a small movie house manager who probably did not enjoy the HiSo label, was the first idiot who told TAT to go for "more upmarket tourists". Mind you, at that time he was pushing his "Prestige" card, which in true Shinawatran Hokum - died a horrible death from bankruptcy. He couldn't give them away.

Now, Prestige is back and daughter Yingluck is singing Daddy's Song - again.

father - daughter?

you are the expert.

[ZhouZhou]

The most pitiful thing about her statement is that she does not realize she has insulted probably 95% of all tourist that come to Thailand. Clueless.

how is that insulting?

[Misterwhisper]

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

Okay, so that is around 1,400 US$ PER PERSON during a two-week vacation and does not yet include the flight ticket.

That really sounds like a paltry amount in a country that has fixed its daily minimum income at 300 Baht (10 US$), doesn't it?

What irks me most is that tiny little word "only" that has been slipped in. I doubt very much that these so-called average tourists back home are able to spend "only" 100 US$ every single day. To most people, 100 US$ are a considerable amount of money, whether on holiday or not. For Miss hi-so prime minister it is "only" 100 US$.

Slowly but steadily absolute greed creeps in and it never seems enough how much they want to fleece from tourists. It's almost to the point that they are looking down on the "average" tourist.

Let's be frank, more than 22 million "average" tourists per year (discounting those current 20% of "high-end" vacationers) is an enormous amount of visitors. Some other vacation countries in the world can just dream of such figures. Yet for Thailand that is still not enough.

Pathetic.

[Sing_Sling]

Not sure this program is going well. Thailand seems to be flooded

with Chinese and Russians on budget tour packages, and then throw in

the Indians on top of that. Definitely would not make me want to

open a five star restaurant here.. :-)

Got any problems with Chinese, Russians and Indians?

ZhouZhou, I think that his point was the fact that Chinese and Indians, as well as many (but not all) Russians tend to on average spend a lot less than Americans, Brits, Aussies, Swiss and Kiwis. He doesn't have a problem, he is communicating fact. Quality is not quality in Thailand, it is generally about getting people to spend more. quality actually means higher spending in Thailand. Quality Tourist means Higher Spending tourist.

Interesting numbers . .

Biggest spenders:

Tourist numbers.

Malaysia? Yup. Cleaner beaches, quality resorts, no cheap beers and hookers etc . . .

It seems Yingluck wants Malaysia's tourists

[otherstuff1957]

That is one of the most condescending statements about tourists i have ever hear a PM of any country say. If she is going to say this it should said in private to the TAT executives. Thinking like a hi-so and speaking like a hi-so.

Like Father - Like daughter. Taksin Shinawatra, son of a small movie house manager who probably did not enjoy the HiSo label, was the first idiot who told TAT to go for "more upmarket tourists". Mind you, at that time he was pushing his "Prestige" card, which in true Shinawatran Hokum - died a horrible death from bankruptcy. He couldn't give them away.

Now, Prestige is back and daughter Yingluck is singing Daddy's Song - again.

Nice analysis, but Thaksin's father was a member of Parliament. He also owned several businesses. He was, however, not as successful a businessman as his father or his son.

As for a HiSo label, Lert Shinawatra - father of Thaksin and his sister (not daughter) Yingluck, was married to the daughter of a princess (Jintap Na Chiang Mia). Is royalty HiSo enough for you?

[Ironmike]

I have to admit that I feel the same way as you regarding the influx of people but I do have to say that many Thai's are decendents of Chinese people, and to my understanding after living in Phuket for the past 6 years, I have never had a problem with them,, but these Russians are the ones that the Thai Gov. need to be getting rid of,, if we take a look at the past coupler months,, 3 Russians beat up a Canadian man and his GF,, 2 Russians kidnape two Falangs and demand 1 million baht,,, 6 Russians in Rawai arrested for no work permits,, 2 Russians arrested for illegally owning monkey's for profit, and in Pattaya Russians arrested in porn movies,,, to be honest Yunluck should read the news papers and reject these people from these cheap tour packages, there cheap people with no manners or respect for the Thai people or anyone else, that is not from mother Russia,,, if they want to deal with Russian business's let them stay at home,, they can get cheap travel to Siebira,,,, lets try and help the Thais in Phuket get rid of them,,,REPORT RUSSIANS working here,, if they do not want to spend the money on becoming legal then deport them all

[indyuk]

I beg the almighty crab to consider that Thailand's resorts are in a resource crisis especilly in respect to Electricty, potable water, and internet. This holiday season in Pattaya we loose service in all three of these services for a period most days. As I write in my home near Pattaya we have no water on tap, a daily threat of power cuts and no internet conexion.

[dcsw53]

I am sure the high enders will be bowled over by the pavement retail opportunities on Sukhumvit of an evening. So easy to meander down the uncluttered boulevard, and so nice to be able to take in the bouquet of the different drains.

[khaowong1]

I didn't read all the replys here but here's my 2 cents worth, which isn't enough to be welcomed in Thailand.

Ms PM Yingluck.. Thailand isn't Italy, France, England, US, Canada, etc. Do you get my drift? You don't have in Thailand what hi-so tourists want. You have grubby beaches, so so hotels, so so food, a grubby bunch of workers with no work ethic. Your National parks are a disgrace, taxi and tuk-tuk mafia, your streets are not safe to drive on, and the drivers who drive on them are dangerous. You have no world class museums, no opera, virtually nothing that these hi-so touists are interested in unless they are just curious to what a 3rd world nation looks like and does. You've been out there, you know what the rest of the world has to offer. Except in your case, you barely seen anything but high class shopping malls. So lets get real here. How about working to improve what you have, then look down the road. just my 2 cents worth. or approx. 3 satang..

[mancub]

"She also asked the TAT to introduce measures to extend tourists' length of stay from five days to six days,"

Really... im curious to see how to propose that when most people take a week off of work and need those 2 extra days for traveling back home.

Exactly.....but you see , where TAT is concerned , they don't actually have to do it, they just need to conjure up some stats to show it !

[stingray]

High end tourists not come to Thailand. The go to USA, Hawaii, Singapore, Switzerland, Dubai, etc. Thei don't sit in the back of Pattaya Pick Up Taxi dealing with some rude taxi drivers, and they dont come to Beaches where every 50 meters smell from some overloaded rubbish container, they dont swimm in brown water, etc. There arebetter places on earth to enjoy their holidays.

[BrooklynNY]

How greedy and dumb she is, Yingluck.

[Thai at Heart]

There is barely a stretch of immaculate pavement in the country, and the waste water systems in all the resorts are shocking. Throw in regular electricity problems, and wine at 10 times European prices, that is enough to put off the really high end tourist. The trick for Thailand is to make a true 5 start experience 30 percent cheaper than Europe. Haven't found it yet.

Try this one http://www.ratilannachiangmai.com/ 100 EUR a night on latestays.com, a real 5 star experience at a real bargain.

You miss my point entirely, there is high end and there is high end. If you really want to become a high end tourist destination, you have to cater for every whim not just inside the hotel, but everywhere around it. If you want genuine high spenders to come to your resorts, you need all the variety of high quality restaruants, high quality transportation, high quality clean uncluttered beaches, evian available, Louis Vuitton and Hermes shops a taxi ride away, all the wine, fois gras, and everything available at a moments notice.

The hotels can keep up with this, but you can't expect a high wealth individual to come to hua hin, pattaya, or samui, when the best restaurant outside the hotel is sitting on the shoreline with stinking water under the restaurant made out of wooden planks with a tin roof. For all its quaint Thainess, it just cannot deliver the level of 5 star across an entire resort area.

It is all about the entire experience of a holiday. We have all taken our trips around europe, and seen how immaculate the really high end resorts are and Thailand unfortunately hasn't even preserved one to be truly high end. They are all a mish mash from backpacker to 6 star accomodation. No one wants to be held captive in a 5 star hotel for 2 weeks, but when high end tourists explore beyond the confines of the hotel, having experienced high end European or other resorts, where does one go? Why do you think that the real high end Thai's spend their holidays outside Thailand?

Go to rimini, go to the south of France, go to whereever these high end people go, and they don't expect to be harrased by street side vendors, potholes, stinking drains and chicks shouting "hey you hansum man". Thailand has its good points, but claiming to be high class (beyond the boundary of the hotel grounds), is definitely not one of them. I haven't seen any entire resort area in Thailand that can compete even moderately with a high quality mediterranean resort for variety of restaurants, night clubs, shopping, beach, and all the rest that makes up a 5 star holiday.

Stayed there, no one there. and a really bad schirassoria in the basement.

Edited March 22, 2013 by Thai at Heart

[mancub]

The only reason she wants a limit on the number of tourists , is because she's read the reports that the infrastructure, water supply and sewerage in particular will not be able to cope .

[Locationthailand]

Every reason not to has been covered. TAT, who have this demand on them, shows the PM is way out of touch with reality. But hey, that's normal. She is but a political puppet.

Edited March 22, 2013 by Locationthailand

[Thai at Heart]

I have to admit that I feel the same way as you regarding the influx of people but I do have to say that many Thai's are decendents of Chinese people, and to my understanding after living in Phuket for the past 6 years, I have never had a problem with them,, but these Russians are the ones that the Thai Gov. need to be getting rid of,, if we take a look at the past coupler months,, 3 Russians beat up a Canadian man and his GF,, 2 Russians kidnape two Falangs and demand 1 million baht,,, 6 Russians in Rawai arrested for no work permits,, 2 Russians arrested for illegally owning monkey's for profit, and in Pattaya Russians arrested in porn movies,,, to be honest Yunluck should read the news papers and reject these people from these cheap tour packages, there cheap people with no manners or respect for the Thai people or anyone else, that is not from mother Russia,,, if they want to deal with Russian business's let them stay at home,, they can get cheap travel to Siebira,,,, lets try and help the Thais in Phuket get rid of them,,,REPORT RUSSIANS working here,, if they do not want to spend the money on becoming legal then deport them all

I have a feeling that the Russians with their laundered cash are precisely the type of clients they are looking for. Expect a big influx in a month or so once the Cyprus crap gets sorted out. They are the perfect type of client, loads of dosh, and not too concerned if their Chateaux La Tour 53 is off or not.

[philw]

I have to admit that I feel the same way as you regarding the influx of people but I do have to say that many Thai's are decendents of Chinese people, and to my understanding after living in Phuket for the past 6 years, I have never had a problem with them,, but these Russians are the ones that the Thai Gov. need to be getting rid of,, if we take a look at the past coupler months,, 3 Russians beat up a Canadian man and his GF,, 2 Russians kidnape two Falangs and demand 1 million baht,,, 6 Russians in Rawai arrested for no work permits,, 2 Russians arrested for illegally owning monkey's for profit, and in Pattaya Russians arrested in porn movies,,, to be honest Yunluck should read the news papers and reject these people from these cheap tour packages, there cheap people with no manners or respect for the Thai people or anyone else, that is not from mother Russia,,, if they want to deal with Russian business's let them stay at home,, they can get cheap travel to Siebira,,,, lets try and help the Thais in Phuket get rid of them,,,REPORT RUSSIANS working here,, if they do not want to spend the money on becoming legal then deport them all

Er...........

So you don't like Russians.......

Thank you for sharing that.

Not.

[philw]

I didn't read all the replys here but here's my 2 cents worth, which isn't enough to be welcomed in Thailand.

Ms PM Yingluck.. Thailand isn't Italy, France, England, US, Canada, etc. Do you get my drift? You don't have in Thailand what hi-so tourists want. You have grubby beaches, so so hotels, so so food, a grubby bunch of workers with no work ethic. Your National parks are a disgrace, taxi and tuk-tuk mafia, your streets are not safe to drive on, and the drivers who drive on them are dangerous. You have no world class museums, no opera, virtually nothing that these hi-so touists are interested in unless they are just curious to what a 3rd world nation looks like and does. You've been out there, you know what the rest of the world has to offer. Except in your case, you barely seen anything but high class shopping malls. So lets get real here. How about working to improve what you have, then look down the road. just my 2 cents worth. or approx. 3 satang..

Wow, you must be unhappy here.

But you are right, Thailand is not Italy.( nor Wales, thank god )

[rbrooks]

The reason why most Hi-end tourists do not come to Thailand is because most of Thailand is too Low-end for their Hi-end money.

[Thai at Heart]

I have to admit that I feel the same way as you regarding the influx of people but I do have to say that many Thai's are decendents of Chinese people, and to my understanding after living in Phuket for the past 6 years, I have never had a problem with them,, but these Russians are the ones that the Thai Gov. need to be getting rid of,, if we take a look at the past coupler months,, 3 Russians beat up a Canadian man and his GF,, 2 Russians kidnape two Falangs and demand 1 million baht,,, 6 Russians in Rawai arrested for no work permits,, 2 Russians arrested for illegally owning monkey's for profit, and in Pattaya Russians arrested in porn movies,,, to be honest Yunluck should read the news papers and reject these people from these cheap tour packages, there cheap people with no manners or respect for the Thai people or anyone else, that is not from mother Russia,,, if they want to deal with Russian business's let them stay at home,, they can get cheap travel to Siebira,,,, lets try and help the Thais in Phuket get rid of them,,,REPORT RUSSIANS working here,, if they do not want to spend the money on becoming legal then deport them all

Er...........

So you don't like Russians.......

Thank you for sharing that.

Not.

Indeed, the Russian farangs will be the downfall of the Thai tourism business, as though the Thais aren't doing enough to muck it up themselves.

Condom with your swim sir? 100k for your busted jet ski?

[Thai at Heart]

I didn't read all the replys here but here's my 2 cents worth, which isn't enough to be welcomed in Thailand.

Ms PM Yingluck.. Thailand isn't Italy, France, England, US, Canada, etc. Do you get my drift? You don't have in Thailand what hi-so tourists want. You have grubby beaches, so so hotels, so so food, a grubby bunch of workers with no work ethic. Your National parks are a disgrace, taxi and tuk-tuk mafia, your streets are not safe to drive on, and the drivers who drive on them are dangerous. You have no world class museums, no opera, virtually nothing that these hi-so touists are interested in unless they are just curious to what a 3rd world nation looks like and does. You've been out there, you know what the rest of the world has to offer. Except in your case, you barely seen anything but high class shopping malls. So lets get real here. How about working to improve what you have, then look down the road. just my 2 cents worth. or approx. 3 satang..

Wow, you must be unhappy here.

But you are right, Thailand is not Italy.( nor Wales, thank god )

A clear day in Solfach is as good as it gets in my opinion.

[Markaew]

Yingluck seems to think if she says it, then it is so. She lives in a fashion world full of vacations. What are they going to offer that is new from what they have now? She is in denial if she thinks she can wave her wand and suddenly hi-so vacationers will show up. The first thing that gets me when I leave the country and come back is this place smells like a wet dog. That a great first impression for her hi-so people!

[unanimosity]

How about an improvement of services before Thailand thinks of increasing high end tourists. I should think that wealthy tourists aren't interested in dealing with the neanderthals lurking in/outside Suvarnabhumi for a start.

And inside as well, lad.

[wilcopops]

I have to admit that I feel the same way as you regarding the influx of people but I do have to say that many Thai's are decendents of Chinese people, and to my understanding after living in Phuket for the past 6 years, I have never had a problem with them,, but these Russians are the ones that the Thai Gov. need to be getting rid of,, if we take a look at the past coupler months,, 3 Russians beat up a Canadian man and his GF,, 2 Russians kidnape two Falangs and demand 1 million baht,,, 6 Russians in Rawai arrested for no work permits,, 2 Russians arrested for illegally owning monkey's for profit, and in Pattaya Russians arrested in porn movies,,, to be honest Yunluck should read the news papers and reject these people from these cheap tour packages, there cheap people with no manners or respect for the Thai people or anyone else, that is not from mother Russia,,, if they want to deal with Russian business's let them stay at home,, they can get cheap travel to Siebira,,,, lets try and help the Thais in Phuket get rid of them,,,REPORT RUSSIANS working here,, if they do not want to spend the money on becoming legal then deport them all

I think you should compare 0 if possible - the crimes committed by other Nationalities - e.g Brits and other of the major Western tourists....before blaming the "Russians" who so often aren't even Russian.

They are now however the Thai bread and butter when it comes to tourism

[skorchio]

Try bringing a push-chair (thats a buggy in English) to Samui (anywhere there), Phuket (also try anywhere) or Bangkok and see why this wonderful country is not family friendly. A good buddy of mine brought his wife and newborn out here a few yrs ago, what a ffffing nightmare he had. I met him in Samui for a few days and we carried the buggy around rather than him pushing it. It was the same in Phuket, I never really noticed how inconsiderate to pedestrians this place is till my arms were hanging off me carrying the <deleted> buggy all day.

Quality (that means rich in Thai) tourists have expectations, and are happy to pay for quality, but Thailand is unable to provide, except in fits and starts. This is a land of contrasts, 5 star resorts and top class golf, with 5 star scum at the gate waiting to rob and intimidate (that would be the taxi entourage in Phuket). Quality (rich) tourists don't want to take the rough with the smooth, they work hard, have money, go on holiday and prefer to take the smooth and more smooth until they go home and back to work again. Quality (wealthy) tourists come to Thailand once and go home thinking "well that was so-so, I dont like having the pi$$ taken out of me, <deleted> it we will go to xxx next time".

I love it here, been here 10 years, have loads of cash, spend like a hero, but I am bullet proof. Your average geezer and his missus go away once or twice a year and they don't want hassle. There is a lot of hassle here. with kids, there is unbearable hassle .....

[Soi Sauce]

Scummy government wants class people/

An LV bag don't make you special.

Go look at decent destiantions/ not he toilets available in Thialand.

Please tell me one decent destination, and I will go there tomorrow/

[jitenshaman]

Hi end tourists don't want to be fleeced, scammed, and treated like crap by tuk tuk or jet ski mafias, not to mention the private vehicles they usually hire get harassed by the mafias to limit them from getting around...so why not call in the army to Phuket and clean the place of the sewage.

[jrincon17]

Sure Just make sure I have a Hi-So tuk tuk who wont kill me or beat me up.

[unanimosity]

The reason why most Hi-end tourists do not come to Thailand is because most of Thailand is too Low-end for their Hi-end money.

Well, the advertising is part of the problem. Most upscale tourists are not motivated by television commercials that depict a single male hanging around with juvenile boys in remote places, appearing to try to pick them up, with voice-over announcing in a voice and lisp a drag queen would die for. Is there one commercial out there promoting Thailand by depicting families and family values, or at least hetero couples? Thai Air is the same. No families. Families not welcome in Thailand is the inference upscale folk draw from this.

The first thing Madame PM must do is clean her "tourism" house completey (they've not kept the pre-election promises) and get professionals (not bureaucrats) involved that do not have corruption for breakfast very morning. As unbelievable as it sounds, Thailand's tourism ministry is advertising Thailand to Thai people. They produce a very slick and expensive tourism magazine in Thai language only that is only distributed in Thailand. The operational term is expensive. But, this is old news and nobody wants to change anything so Madame PM, if you are going to create a respectable legacy, you might start with educating the populace about violence toward women, and pedophelia, and xenophobic racism, and equal accountability under the law for all instead of the sakdina legislated inequality that the beneficiaries pretend doesn;t exist, Because, Madame PM, you and other upscale folk that are socially responsible avoid such illegal and despicable environments rather than lose face by supporting them with your tourism expenditures.

[BrooklynNY]

Most business in tourist trap areas are mostly owned by low life and greedy Thai people who are out to scam newbie tourists.

Sidewalks in Thailand are not pedestrians friendly and actually are like booby traps waiting for accidents to happen. I saw an accident happened to a farang family man had his face strucked hard by a sidewalk ads sign that was hung low about face level (Thonglor area), I was waiting for a bus at that time when the accident happened to the farang man who was about to make a walking tour with his family. He did not not see the ads sign though because the sign was hung in an awkward position, he had his face slammed into the metal pipe that was used to hold the sign. It must be painful that he almost gave up going further but he did not want to ruin the family fun so he went on walking staggering with hands covering his face.

Edited March 22, 2013 by BrooklynNY