TAT workshop to find way for rise in quality tourists to 40%

[Aussie Paul]

You don't need to get 300 people together for a junket at the taxpayers expense. The Ambassadors have been telling you over and over what the problems are. The high end farangs are not going to come to Thailand whilst the beaches are dirty, the streets and rivers are littered with garbage, duel pricing and scams are rampant. Setting up safety zones leads one to think that the rest of the areas are no go zones and doesn't sound attractive for a holiday.

The problems are been plastered all over the international media for years but Thailand has always put the earplugs in the blindfolds on putting it down to farang hysteria.

Word!

[KireB]

Anyone have anything nice to say about Thailand? Anyone?

C'mon, are you depressed or something? Sure there are a lot of downsides to living here, but this country is stunningly beautiful, has friendly people, a sabai sabai culture, great food, great weather, everything is relatively affordable, fantastic vacation infrastructure and so on. But importantly, you must open your eyes and want to see it. You choose.

[deecee10]

The TAT workshop is looking at getting 'quality tourists'.

Dictionary definition of Tat:

Tat Noun. 1. Rubbish, junk. Abb. of tatty.

Used to refer to the kind of junk sold by crafty Cockneys to unsuspecting tourists in central London.

e.g. "You can't wear that old jacket, it's tat." {Informal}

Image problem?

[Bagwan]

You don't need to get 300 people together for a junket at the taxpayers expense. The Ambassadors have been telling you over and over what the problems are. The high end farangs are not going to come to Thailand whilst the beaches are dirty, the streets and rivers are littered with garbage, duel pricing and scams are rampant. Setting up safety zones leads one to think that the rest of the areas are no go zones and doesn't sound attractive for a holiday.

The problems are been plastered all over the international media for years but Thailand has always put the earplugs in the blindfolds on putting it down to farang hysteria.

300 people attend, only one person speaks i.e. the Boss. The foot soldiers will sit and nod like a toy dog in the back window of an Austin Allegro. Nobody would dare to offer a suggestion even if it was a positive one. Brain storming couldn't get a visa to enter the country.

[GreenSnapper]

Nice photo, of Boracay.

Yes, bancas with the outrigger gear and the painted names. TAT working on the idea all Asian beaches look the same to foreigners so let's pass off a nice one as ours.

Selling fake Rolex, selling fake beach. TIT.

[ekhk]

quality tourists will just not choose thailand which is only known for its sex industry and counterfeits, not what quality tourists seek in their holidays.

all thailand has to offer are low taste attractions and entertainments and if you understand thai and know what they said behind the backs of all tourists, you see what is behind their superficiel smile

[KireB]

quality tourists will just not choose thailand which is only known for its sex industry and counterfeits, not what quality tourists seek in their holidays.

all thailand has to offer are low taste attractions and entertainments and if you understand thai and know what they said behind the backs of all tourists, you see what is behind their superficiel smile

You and I must live in a different Thailand then! Maybe Thailand is nothing more than a sex industry for yourself. For other tourists/expats it might be more than that. Why don't you go out and explore this country and find out that it is more than Patpong, Phuket or Pattaya.

[ekhk]

quality tourists will just not choose thailand which is only known for its sex industry and counterfeits, not what quality tourists seek in their holidays.

all thailand has to offer are low taste attractions and entertainments and if you understand thai and know what they said behind the backs of all tourists, you see what is behind their superficiel smile

You and I must live in a different Thailand then! Maybe Thailand is nothing more than a sex industry for yourself. For other tourists/expats it might be more than that. Why don't you go out and explore this country and find out that it is more than Patpong, Phuket or Pattaya.

unfortunately these are the places most tourists go, they will not visit a small village in Issan

[Bagwan]

Anyone have anything nice to say about Thailand? Anyone?

I wish i could but the Thais simply dont want farangs here anymore.

They conveniently forget that if it werent for the yanks in WW2 all these rich Thais would be coolies and serfs lying around on hammocks drinking lao kao with the Burmese.

Thailand has used us to make real estate expensive and now they think they dont need us anymore. Chinese, Ruskies Indians and Arabs are the future apparently. We are not quality? F##k you Somkid. Ok, throw it back in their faces.

Beer bars sit on prime real estate in BKK and Pattaya. How long before theyre torn down. Its already started in Bangers. Pattaya next?

Yet another fool who gets his history lessons from Hollywod movies. Do read please about the forgotten Army (14th) that pushed the Japanese invaders out of Burma. Read about Orde Wingate and his guerillas. Learn about the abortive attempts to take out an important bridge over the Kwai by USAAF, called to a halt when the RAF sent just three light bombers to do the job for them.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/striderv/4623649283/

http://www.aircrew-saltire.org/lib141.htm

Clearing out the beachside properties in Pattaya has been in progress for some time, hence the monstrous Central building and Hard Rock. The redevelopment will carry on for the forseeable future in an attempt to gentrify the sea front. Planners dream of creating a 'Promenade des Anglais', wishful thinking on their part maybe. Many of the small bars have relocated to Soi Buakhao and new beer bars have been set up away from the seafront in Jomtien.

[CIHUAHUA]

Dream on.

[jaidam]

For a government that says it wants wealth redistribution, wanting only quality tourists will have the opposite effect. Big spenders coming for a weeks holiday, staying in their 5 star hotels and beach resorts(often foreign owned chains) will have minimal benefit to the poor Thais. Dining on fine imported foodstuffs, drinking wine and imported spirits, utilizing the hotel organized tours and trips again doesn't help the average Thais.

Backpackers and adventure tourists that get out and about using local transport, eating from roadside stalls and low end local restaurants, staying in small guesthouses do far more to benefit the economy IMO. I don't have statistics at hand but they will likely stay much longer and spend a similar amount of money as the high rollers, only they will spread out their spending in a far more beneficial way. This market took a big hit with the end of the unlimited visa on arrival and introduction of the 2 week overland visas that encourage the backpackers to add other SE asian countries to their trips. To further insult this tourist segment by implying they are unwanted is plain silly.

[fakename]

Thailand is the hub of fakes, and does not want to change. Not sure where the photo is from, but doesnt look Thai to me, but if you look at the different adds for Pattaya, you will see that the beautiful photos with the blue sea and white sand, are taken somewhere else. There seems to be no limit on trying to fool the tourist, no matter if they are quality or not.

How long, before enough people get pissed with all this quality talk??

[Bagwan]

The TAT workshop is looking at getting 'quality tourists'.

Dictionary definition of Tat:

Tat Noun. 1. Rubbish, junk. Abb. of tatty.

Used to refer to the kind of junk sold by crafty Cockneys to unsuspecting tourists in central London.

e.g. "You can't wear that old jacket, it's tat." {Informal}

Image problem?

Bleedin L. Somewon wat can understand proper English like wat I can.

Reminds me of a time when I was working in Savannah, GA and was invited to an evening out in 'The Englsh Bar.' There was nothing English about the place, in fact it was reminiscent of a Dutch bar/restaurant. The owner said that though he and his wife were very happy there, she did miss London and would I speak with her. He pointed her out and I tapped her on the shoulder and said "Orlright gel." She took the cue and for most of the evening we conversed using Cockney slang and the following morning my project team members asked <deleted> we had been talking about. They hadn't understood a word.

[Cuban]

Do tourists come to Thailand to buy real Rolexs or designer brands, no they buy them in their own countries from trustworthy retailers.

Will people visit night markets and buy the fake brand along with DVDs etc - of course they will, it's part of the holiday experience.

Does the prospect of being beaten up by drunken/drugged thug taxi/tuk-tuk/door-staff/Jet-ski Thais put people off Thailand's holiday resorts YES.

Does the seasonal reports of uninvestigated tourist deaths in resort locations give Thailand it's bad reputation - YES.

Seems that the debate needs to be on the basics rather than high thread count Egyptian cotton sheets and Belgian truffles on the pillow when the beds are turned down in the evening.

Hub of pipe-dreams.

[varun]

If they're looking to increase the arrivals of 'quality tourists' by 40%, maybe they should first look towards decreasing the number of 'scamming locals' by 40% ?

[JulesMad]

TAT is so full of it

No normal person believes their numbers; they are ALWAYS going up

[Baerboxer]

The TAT workshop is looking at getting 'quality tourists'.

Dictionary definition of Tat:

Tat Noun. 1. Rubbish, junk. Abb. of tatty.

Used to refer to the kind of junk sold by crafty Cockneys to unsuspecting tourists in central London.

e.g. "You can't wear that old jacket, it's tat." {Informal}

Image problem?

Bleedin L. Somewon wat can understand proper English like wat I can.

Reminds me of a time when I was working in Savannah, GA and was invited to an evening out in 'The Englsh Bar.' There was nothing English about the place, in fact it was reminiscent of a Dutch bar/restaurant. The owner said that though he and his wife were very happy there, she did miss London and would I speak with her. He pointed her out and I tapped her on the shoulder and said "Orlright gel." She took the cue and for most of the evening we conversed using Cockney slang and the following morning my project team members asked <deleted> we had been talking about. They hadn't understood a word.

I know what a typical English pub bar is like. But, although I lived and worked in the Netherlands I cannot remember anything differient or unique about their bars or restaurants. How would you desribe their unique features?

It's like all the themed "Irish bars" that can be found around Thailand. Are these supposed to be Irish or American Irish bars? They certainly don' t remind me of anything in Eire or Northern Ireland.

These things are just markerting branding. Thailand would be better concentrating on all the rich Thai things Thailand has to offer the quality tourists it wants.

[ekhk]

Do tourists come to Thailand to buy real Rolexs or designer brands, no they buy them in their own countries from trustworthy retailers.

Will people visit night markets and buy the fake brand along with DVDs etc - of course they will, it's part of the holiday experience.

Does the prospect of being beaten up by drunken/drugged thug taxi/tuk-tuk/door-staff/Jet-ski Thais put people off Thailand's holiday resorts YES.

Does the seasonal reports of uninvestigated tourist deaths in resort locations give Thailand it's bad reputation - YES.

Seems that the debate needs to be on the basics rather than high thread count Egyptian cotton sheets and Belgian truffles on the pillow when the beds are turned down in the evening.

Hub of pipe-dreams.

they have a product that attracts only low end tourists, not by having 5 stars luxury hotels makes thailand a destination for quality tourists, this will never happen, thailand will always be taken as a paradise for backpackers and sex tourist. And they are proud of it

[Unkomoncents]

The TAT workshop is looking at getting 'quality tourists'.

Dictionary definition of Tat:

Tat Noun. 1. Rubbish, junk. Abb. of tatty.

Used to refer to the kind of junk sold by crafty Cockneys to unsuspecting tourists in central London.

e.g. "You can't wear that old jacket, it's tat." {Informal}

Image problem?

Bleedin L. Somewon wat can understand proper English like wat I can.

Reminds me of a time when I was working in Savannah, GA and was invited to an evening out in 'The Englsh Bar.' There was nothing English about the place, in fact it was reminiscent of a Dutch bar/restaurant. The owner said that though he and his wife were very happy there, she did miss London and would I speak with her. He pointed her out and I tapped her on the shoulder and said "Orlright gel." She took the cue and for most of the evening we conversed using Cockney slang and the following morning my project team members asked <deleted> we had been talking about. They hadn't understood a word.

I know what a typical English pub bar is like. But, although I lived and worked in the Netherlands I cannot remember anything differient or unique about their bars or restaurants. How would you desribe their unique features?

It's like all the themed "Irish bars" that can be found around Thailand. Are these supposed to be Irish or American Irish bars? They certainly don' t remind me of anything in Eire or Northern Ireland.

These things are just markerting branding. Thailand would be better concentrating on all the rich Thai things Thailand has to offer the quality tourists it wants.

Word on the street is that some of those "Irish" bars on Sukhumvit continue to be controlled by those with "ill-gotten" gains. At the heart of everything big and beer-soaked in Thailand is a scam.

[Baerboxer]

quality tourists will just not choose thailand which is only known for its sex industry and counterfeits, not what quality tourists seek in their holidays.

all thailand has to offer are low taste attractions and entertainments and if you understand thai and know what they said behind the backs of all tourists, you see what is behind their superficiel smile

You and I must live in a different Thailand then! Maybe Thailand is nothing more than a sex industry for yourself. For other tourists/expats it might be more than that. Why don't you go out and explore this country and find out that it is more than Patpong, Phuket or Pattaya.

I agree with you KireB. I guess most of the "quality" tourists that come here for the cheap booze and sex think that all tourists are like them. They select their destination based on the sex industry. You can imagine they would go to places like Amsterdam, Hamburg or Cologne and only see the red light districts and then claim "to know the cities".

Anyone who thinks Thailand is only for its sex industry and counterfeits demonstrates a lack of understanding ot Thailand, independant thought, and the ability to research something, which is very easy now with the internet and seach engines like google. The people looking for the sex trade of course will find it in any city.

The hospitality and travel industry is massive, There are professional associations and numerous college courses purely for this industry. And we get geniuses saying that Thailand is just known for sex and then claiming to know what quality tourists are really looking for. Who do they think uses all the 5 star hotels and resorts - richer sex tourists??? Beckham and Ronaldo came for holidays last year, and they can afford anywhere.

Thailand has so much to offer, and so much to do to clean its act up. But, so do most other nations in this region.

[hellodolly]

You don't need to get 300 people together for a junket at the taxpayers expense. The Ambassadors have been telling you over and over what the problems are. The high end farangs are not going to come to Thailand whilst the beaches are dirty, the streets and rivers are littered with garbage, duel pricing and scams are rampant. Setting up safety zones leads one to think that the rest of the areas are no go zones and doesn't sound attractive for a holiday.

The problems are been plastered all over the international media for years but Thailand has always put the earplugs in the blindfolds on putting it down to farang hysteria.

you say

"The problems are been plastered all over the international media for years but Thailand has always put the earplugs in the blindfolds on putting it down to farang hysteria."

Some problem.

The tourist still continue to come in ever growing numbers. I wish my income had that type problem.

Unfortunately TAT's idea of a quality tourist is one who spends a lot of money. Got nothing to do with their quality as a human being.

One good idea to raise the number of tourists is to stop building 5 star resorts and start building family orientated ones for middle class earners.

[Baerboxer]

The TAT workshop is looking at getting 'quality tourists'.

Dictionary definition of Tat:

Tat Noun. 1. Rubbish, junk. Abb. of tatty.

Used to refer to the kind of junk sold by crafty Cockneys to unsuspecting tourists in central London.

e.g. "You can't wear that old jacket, it's tat." {Informal}

Image problem?

Bleedin L. Somewon wat can understand proper English like wat I can.

Reminds me of a time when I was working in Savannah, GA and was invited to an evening out in 'The Englsh Bar.' There was nothing English about the place, in fact it was reminiscent of a Dutch bar/restaurant. The owner said that though he and his wife were very happy there, she did miss London and would I speak with her. He pointed her out and I tapped her on the shoulder and said "Orlright gel." She took the cue and for most of the evening we conversed using Cockney slang and the following morning my project team members asked <deleted> we had been talking about. They hadn't understood a word.

I know what a typical English pub bar is like. But, although I lived and worked in the Netherlands I cannot remember anything differient or unique about their bars or restaurants. How would you desribe their unique features?

It's like all the themed "Irish bars" that can be found around Thailand. Are these supposed to be Irish or American Irish bars? They certainly don' t remind me of anything in Eire or Northern Ireland.

These things are just markerting branding. Thailand would be better concentrating on all the rich Thai things Thailand has to offer the quality tourists it wants.

Word on the street is that some of those "Irish" bars on Sukhumvit continue to be controlled by those with "ill-gotten" gains. At the heart of everything big and beer-soaked in Thailand is a scam.

Yep - wouldn't go in any of them.

[hellodolly]

When Thailand stops being a littered, cluttered, filthy, backwards shlithole, then they can talk about a higher quality tourist. Oh did I mention dangerous roads with no real traffic policing or how many tourists die each year?

Maybe the best they could do for now is to try to get better looking Isaan gals into the bars.

Where do you live or hang out so I can avoid it.

[newermonkey]

They should put Miss Pancake into their adds that will have a definite impact on the numbers because foreigners will be able to get a preview of the "real" Thailand.

[hellodolly]

For a government that says it wants wealth redistribution, wanting only quality tourists will have the opposite effect. Big spenders coming for a weeks holiday, staying in their 5 star hotels and beach resorts(often foreign owned chains) will have minimal benefit to the poor Thais. Dining on fine imported foodstuffs, drinking wine and imported spirits, utilizing the hotel organized tours and trips again doesn't help the average Thais.

Backpackers and adventure tourists that get out and about using local transport, eating from roadside stalls and low end local restaurants, staying in small guesthouses do far more to benefit the economy IMO. I don't have statistics at hand but they will likely stay much longer and spend a similar amount of money as the high rollers, only they will spread out their spending in a far more beneficial way. This market took a big hit with the end of the unlimited visa on arrival and introduction of the 2 week overland visas that encourage the backpackers to add other SE asian countries to their trips. To further insult this tourist segment by implying they are unwanted is plain silly.

You are spot on.

The high roller spends far more money than the back packer but it goes mostly into the hands of the all ready rich.

The back packer spends a lot less but his money goes to far more poor Thais.

[JetsetBkk]

Let me correct the headline:

TAT workshop to find way for rise in moneyed-up tourists to 40%

[GentlemanJim]

Anyone have anything nice to say about Thailand? Anyone?

Yep! I love it here and the beaches where I live are fantastic empty and clean. I just don't know how they get the high end tourists in. One thing for sure is that a piss up for 300 travel reps is not the way to come up with an effective, sound policy.

Edited July 2, 2013 by GentlemanJim

[Ricardo]

Anyone have anything nice to say about Thailand? Anyone?

Certainly, I quite liked it the way it used to be, cheap beach-bungalows on Koh Samui with video-bars & 100B-pig-roast, less industrial-development & concrete-jungle, even Bangkok was exotic & fun !

I still quite like it the way it is now, lively Pattaya has no equal anywhere, beach-resorts on Krabi have aircon & local-airlines make getting there cheap/easy, compared to the overnight-trains/buses, Hat Yai has shopping, Chiang Mai makes an excellent place to live, and there are still quieter more-remote places to escape to, up in the mountains.

But why do the TAT have this obsession with 5-star hotels & ultra-picky high-end tourists, surely because their friends all own hi-so resorts, or aspire to this lifestyle !

Better to identify what the country is good at & known for, and try to protect & promote that, instead of wanting to be something it simply isn't, and which the world already has a surplus of ?

Clean up the beaches, make roads & local-transport safer, clear out the jet-ski/taxi-mafia & gem-scams & so-on.

Thailand can still make a very good living off tourism, as long as it doesn't keep trying to market itself, as something it isn't !

[jalansanitwong]

Anyone have anything nice to say about Thailand? Anyone?

I wish i could but the Thais simply dont want farangs here anymore.

They conveniently forget that if it werent for the yanks in WW2 all these rich Thais would be coolies and serfs lying around on hammocks drinking lao kao with the Burmese.

Thailand has used us to make real estate expensive and now they think they dont need us anymore. Chinese, Ruskies Indians and Arabs are the future apparently. We are not quality? F##k you Somkid. Ok, throw it back in their faces.

Beer bars sit on prime real estate in BKK and Pattaya. How long before theyre torn down. Its already started in Bangers. Pattaya next?

Yet another fool who gets his history lessons from Hollywod movies. Do read please about the forgotten Army (14th) that pushed the Japanese invaders out of Burma. Read about Orde Wingate and his guerillas. Learn about the abortive attempts to take out an important bridge over the Kwai by USAAF, called to a halt when the RAF sent just three light bombers to do the job for them.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/striderv/4623649283/

http://www.aircrew-saltire.org/lib141.htm

Clearing out the beachside properties in Pattaya has been in progress for some time, hence the monstrous Central building and Hard Rock. The redevelopment will carry on for the forseeable future in an attempt to gentrify the sea front. Planners dream of creating a 'Promenade des Anglais', wishful thinking on their part maybe. Many of the small bars have relocated to Soi Buakhao and new beer bars have been set up away from the seafront in Jomtien.

Who's the fool ? What has Hollywood got to do with anything? General Slim was about the only British leader with any ability certainly in the SEAsia theatre.(Burma)

He didnt stop millions of Japanese in the Sth Pacific. The Poms and the Australians were small players with limited resources.The USA built thousands of war and supply ships. The yanks could build them faster than the Japs could sink them.

Are you saying that Slim saved the Thais and all of SEAsia..Absolute fairytale garbage. I m Australian ,not a yank and the Australians fought well in PNG and Nth Africa as well as the Brits but our joint efforts in Singapore were pathetic.

The Americans werent much better but they had unlimited resources expecially as the war moved into years.

If the USA lost in the Pacific there would be no Australia and no SEasia as we know it today. Maybe no USA either.

The Japs would of slaughtered all our children just like they did in China.

[Unkomoncents]

quality tourists will just not choose thailand which is only known for its sex industry and counterfeits, not what quality tourists seek in their holidays.

all thailand has to offer are low taste attractions and entertainments and if you understand thai and know what they said behind the backs of all tourists, you see what is behind their superficiel smile

You and I must live in a different Thailand then! Maybe Thailand is nothing more than a sex industry for yourself. For other tourists/expats it might be more than that. Why don't you go out and explore this country and find out that it is more than Patpong, Phuket or Pattaya.

Hate to say it but it's a little idealistic to think that this "other" Thailand that isn't dressed in a mini-skirt and approaches unsolicited on nearly every street corner in nocturnal Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya, Hua Hin (and every other accessible tourist area) captures the attention of the outside world. The nice side of Thailand is tucked away in the more remote corners of the country, requiring hours of travel and an esoteric awareness of the Kingdom's more pre-modern charms. Only those dedicated to such experiences ever find them. It's also getting easier to see these things without so much travel if you just go to Burma: all the gentle, Buddhist charm with none of the trappings of a society that is torn between mindless exploitation and greed and the one that HM the King so clearly remembers when he talks about his country.

Edited July 2, 2013 by Unkomoncents