Tourists... ?

[IrishIvan]

I believe a foreigner can never become a Thai Citizen

 

Incorrect - the procedure is quite transparent and based on a points system (age, qualifications, charitable donations, Thai language ability etc)..  If you're married to a Thai citizen, then you do not need to have PR to apply for citizenship.  There is no annual quota and no big fee to pay.

 

That being said, although I score high points in most categories, there are no points awarded for divorcing a Thai citizen two times, so I'm probably not going to be able to apply in the near future...

 

I digress from the original topic.  In my work (small hotelier - the hotel, not my height), I have seen a major change in the tourist demographics over the past 5 years or so.  Whereas almost 100% of my customers used to be 'western', I now see that more than 70% are Chinese.  My average guest room rate has fallen year on year, in order to secure bookings from these new markets.  I am learning to speak Mandarin Chinese, since most of my guests speak no more than 3 words of English ('hallo', 'bus' and 'noodle').

 

Who is responsible for this change in demographics?  I can't blame one single authority, but I see three reasons (in no particular order:

 

- The general economy/exchange rates etc

- The incompetence of TAT

- The incompetence and corruption of government and regulatory authorities in Phuket who have failed to look after the island and it's tourists

 

To put it bluntly, a three year old child with a blindfold could do a better job than those who are currently tasked with these responsibilities.

 

As an example, I recently re-applied to work as a police volunteer at the airport (I previously worked there for 3 years, before working overseas for a year).

 

After applying 2 months ago, I'm still waiting to be given the go-ahead to help tourists at the airport again..  It's almost as if they don't want a foreign police volunteer to 'protect' the tourists from the scams....

 

Simon

Chinese are becoming more affluent and also they make up over one 5th of the worlds population. Chances are you will run into a few

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[NamKangMan]

I believe a foreigner can never become a Thai Citizen

Incorrect - the procedure is quite transparent and based on a points system (age, qualifications, charitable donations, Thai language ability etc).. If you're married to a Thai citizen, then you do not need to have PR to apply for citizenship. There is no annual quota and no big fee to pay.

That being said, although I score high points in most categories, there are no points awarded for divorcing a Thai citizen two times, so I'm probably not going to be able to apply in the near future...

I digress from the original topic. In my work (small hotelier - the hotel, not my height), I have seen a major change in the tourist demographics over the past 5 years or so. Whereas almost 100% of my customers used to be 'western', I now see that more than 70% are Chinese. My average guest room rate has fallen year on year, in order to secure bookings from these new markets. I am learning to speak Mandarin Chinese, since most of my guests speak no more than 3 words of English ('hallo', 'bus' and 'noodle').

Who is responsible for this change in demographics? I can't blame one single authority, but I see three reasons (in no particular order:

- The general economy/exchange rates etc

- The incompetence of TAT

- The incompetence and corruption of government and regulatory authorities in Phuket who have failed to look after the island and it's tourists

To put it bluntly, a three year old child with a blindfold could do a better job than those who are currently tasked with these responsibilities.

As an example, I recently re-applied to work as a police volunteer at the airport (I previously worked there for 3 years, before working overseas for a year).

After applying 2 months ago, I'm still waiting to be given the go-ahead to help tourists at the airport again.. It's almost as if they don't want a foreign police volunteer to 'protect' the tourists from the scams....

Simon

Chinese are becoming more affluent and also they make up over one 5th of the worlds population. Chances are you will run into a few

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Or run over a few - but apparently that is 7 years bad luck, running over a Chinaman. :)

[LivinginKata]

The last 3 posts removed. Inflammatory/trading insults.