Tourism: Thais unfazed by economic slowdown

[webfact]

TOURISM
Thais unfazed by slowdown
Bamrung Amnatcharoenrit
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- In spite of falling spending power, Thais are still planning to go abroad over the next three months to celebrate their long holidays, and the Asean+3 nations are among their favourite destinations.

Starting this month, forward bookings for outbound tours during the festive season are filling up, especially to China, Japan and South Korea. Sutthiphong Pheunphiphop, president of the Thai Travel Agents Association, is confident that the number of outbound tourists for the entire year will grow 10 per cent year on year to 5 million.

Overall, he said the prospects for the final quarter of the year were still good, even as the economic slowdown has hit consumers' pockets.

The US government shutdown, which resulted in the closure of some tourist destinations in that country and has affected visa processing, has not had any impact so far on outbound tours overall. Few Thais travel to the United States anyway.

Japan is one of the top destinations among Thais after it began offering them 15-day visa-free entry. According to Anake Srishevachart, president of the Thai-Japan Tourist Association, the number of Thai tourists going to Japan rose 59.6 per cent in the first eight months of this year to 220,000 compared with the same period last year. In 2012, the total was 300,000.

Japan appears to be competing head-on with South Korea to capture a big share of Thai tourists. Sutthiphong said Korea was losing its share of the Thai market to Japan. Besides the visa issue, air travel to Japan is getting cheaper.

The launch of Asia Atlantic Airlines in Thailand recently underscored this trend. The airline is owned by Japan-based HIS Group, a travel-agency giant that has a branch in Thailand. The charter airline has two aircraft in its fleet and offers an affordable package of Bt29,999 for a five-day trip to Tokyo or Osaka.

However, HIS Group's move has intensified competition in the Thai travel market. Thai travel agencies are losing sales to HIS, which is aggressively trying to fill the seats in its new airline.

Sutthiphong said South Korea should review its marketing strategy to draw Thai tourists by discontinuing low-cost packages. It's true that these have helped boost tourist numbers, but in practice they have proved problematic, with complaints over service quality and, at worst, the stranding of travellers. The result is that the country's tourism image has suffered.

At present, a tour package to South Korea costs about Bt16,900, but with the good standard of service, such packages should cost Bt23,000-Bt24,000, he said.


-- The Nation 2013-10-07

[noitom]

They're cool these Thais. They travel to places like Japan and Korea. They come back and yet when you talk with them about Japan and Korea, they know virtually nothing about the places.

[NongKhaiKid]

Pssst, don't tell TAT but Thai tourists are flocking overseas.

I suppose they will simply revise foreign arrivals upwards to balance things out.

[ChrisY1]

They're cool these Thais. They travel to places like Japan and Korea. They come back and yet when you talk with them about Japan and Korea, they know virtually nothing about the places.

Quite right.....have rels that travel quite a bit.....never have anything of interest to talk about when they return.....

But...they do have lots of photos on their iPhones....

[beenhere2long]

They're cool these Thais. They travel to places like Japan and Korea. They come back and yet when you talk with them about Japan and Korea, they know virtually nothing about the places.

they also know sod all about Thailand..

[chooka]

Pssst, don't tell TAT but Thai tourists are flocking overseas.

I suppose they will simply revise foreign arrivals upwards to balance things out.

They will just count their own people returning as arrivals.

[Noistar]

They're cool these Thais. They travel to places like Japan and Korea. They come back and yet when you talk with them about Japan and Korea, they know virtually nothing about the places.

I'd be surprised if they'd even determined its rough geographic location to Thailand.

If Thai pilots had to use map and compass, would we ever see Thai planes in the Kingdom again?

[jaltsc]

Philosophically speaking...That's the way to revitalize the economy...Take the Thai Baht out of the country instead of investing it their own economy. In reality, there aren't enough Thais with that much money to affect the economy by spending Thai Baht overseas as tourists (Money laundering is another story). I doubt any ASEAN country is saying: "The Thais are come. We're in the money!"

Many of those who are traveling overseas are probably the ones with proportionately obscene incomes compared to the average Thai who would benefit if the rich would reinvest some of their ill gotten gains back into the economy. Then the headline would read: "Thais celebrate another year of economic gains".

Thailand still hasn't learned the old adage: "Nothing changes if nothing changes".

[jaltsc]

They're cool these Thais. They travel to places like Japan and Korea. They come back and yet when you talk with them about Japan and Korea, they know virtually nothing about the places.

I'd be surprised if they'd even determined its rough geographic location to Thailand.

If Thai pilots had to use map and compass, would we ever see Thai planes in the Kingdom again?

Only when they needed a place to crash. Which wouldn't be a bad idea. The country would revitalize its economy by the sale of domestically produced spray paint.

[soi41]

They're cool these Thais. They travel to places like Japan and Korea. They come back and yet when you talk with them about Japan and Korea, they know virtually nothing about the places.

Not unlike many tourists coming here! Spend their whole holiday in or around the hotel. Eating at McD or BK or on a brave day a pizza.

Not to mention all the expats, who have never been outside Patts, They are cool too.

[robblok]

They're cool these Thais. They travel to places like Japan and Korea. They come back and yet when you talk with them about Japan and Korea, they know virtually nothing about the places.

Quite right.....have rels that travel quite a bit.....never have anything of interest to talk about when they return.....

But...they do have lots of photos on their iPhones....

Does everyone have to enjoy their holiday in the same way ? I am no fan of those fast package tours clicking pictures at sites but some love it. Let them be, i prefer to be in the water and sun all the time I dont care much about the culture of the place that I am just the ocean and the marine life. Everyone is different be happy about it.. Don't act so superior.

[canopus1969]

They're cool these Thais. They travel to places like Japan and Korea. They come back and yet when you talk with them about Japan and Korea, they know virtually nothing about the places.

Not unlike many tourists coming here! Spend their whole holiday in or around the hotel. Eating at McD or BK or on a brave day a pizza.

Not to mention all the expats, who have never been outside Patts, They are cool too.

I take exception to that - I did visit Naklua once

[robblok]

They're cool these Thais. They travel to places like Japan and Korea. They come back and yet when you talk with them about Japan and Korea, they know virtually nothing about the places.

Not unlike many tourists coming here! Spend their whole holiday in or around the hotel. Eating at McD or BK or on a brave day a pizza.

Not to mention all the expats, who have never been outside Patts, They are cool too.

Don't forget those English guys who can't survive a few days without English grub. Yea us farangs are so superior. Let everyone enjoy their holliday how they want they paid for it.

[Patronus]

They're cool these Thais. They travel to places like Japan and Korea. They come back and yet when you talk with them about Japan and Korea, they know virtually nothing about the places.

Not unlike many tourists coming here! Spend their whole holiday in or around the hotel. Eating at McD or BK or on a brave day a pizza.

Not to mention all the expats, who have never been outside Patts, They are cool too.

Could be that you are just mixing with the wrong people. Broaden you social network and you may observe different results.

[nong38]

The average Thai does not go abroad, they cannot afford to and they have little concept of the country's economy, they would not have any idea that is was slowing down. Take one day at a time, can we pay the bills and eat.

[robblok]

The average Thai does not go abroad, they cannot afford to and they have little concept of the country's economy, they would not have any idea that is was slowing down. Take one day at a time, can we pay the bills and eat.

Tell that to my gf the tourguide who takes average Thais on trips to vietnam / china / singapore ect. There are the dead poor and there are people who can afford it and then you got the rich who usually go on non guided trips.

[i claudius]

They're cool these Thais. They travel to places like Japan and Korea. They come back and yet when you talk with them about Japan and Korea, they know virtually nothing about the places.

Not unlike many tourists coming here! Spend their whole holiday in or around the hotel. Eating at McD or BK or on a brave day a pizza.

Not to mention all the expats, who have never been outside Patts, They are cool too.

I take exception to that - I did visit Naklua once

Do you need a visa ?

[bigbamboo]

So South Korea is responding to losing market share by making it's prices more competitive. Seems like a good business strategy to me.

Of course this concept is totally alien to Thais whose standard response to a loss of business is to put their prices up!

[rumbo1]

The average Thai does not go abroad, they cannot afford to and they have little concept of the country's economy, they would not have any idea that is was slowing down. Take one day at a time, can we pay the bills and eat.

Tell that to my gf the tourguide who takes average Thais on trips to vietnam / china / singapore ect. There are the dead poor and there are people who can afford it and then you got the rich who usually go on non guided trips.

robblok I think your spot on about the different financial levels of Thais , as in many countries some people earn money and waste it then moan they're poor others work hard for little money and manage to save and occasionally treat themselves.

You only have to look at all the big new cars on the roads to see Thais have money , many people in the uk can't afford large new cars ! And yes I know the cars are on credit but that's the same in western countries

[robblok]

The average Thai does not go abroad, they cannot afford to and they have little concept of the country's economy, they would not have any idea that is was slowing down. Take one day at a time, can we pay the bills and eat.

Tell that to my gf the tourguide who takes average Thais on trips to vietnam / china / singapore ect. There are the dead poor and there are people who can afford it and then you got the rich who usually go on non guided trips.

robblok I think your spot on about the different financial levels of Thais , as in many countries some people earn money and waste it then moan they're poor others work hard for little money and manage to save and occasionally treat themselves.

You only have to look at all the big new cars on the roads to see Thais have money , many people in the uk can't afford large new cars ! And yes I know the cars are on credit but that's the same in western countries

The new cars is just a thing of priority.. UK people could afford it too if they spend as little on housing as the Thais do. Thais don't mind living in a shack as long as they got a new car. Its a status symbol, also getting credit here is easier and loads of Thais are in debt. I have followed the accounts on the first car and the doubling of non payment ect. Its not all as good as it looks.

However there are still people who do manage their finances good and can go abroad.

[NanLaew]

...

The new cars is just a thing of priority.. UK people could afford it too if they spend as little on housing as the Thais do. Thais don't mind living in a shack as long as they got a new car. Its a status symbol, also getting credit here is easier and loads of Thais are in debt. I have followed the accounts on the first car and the doubling of non payment ect. Its not all as good as it looks.

However there are still people who do manage their finances good and can go abroad.

You got that right. A lot of middle-class Thai's descending into further debt and paying for their overseas trips with credit cards... because they can.

Witness the amount of repossessions of new cars from 'first-time' buyers that didn't work out that sales tax rebate does not diminish the financial commitment to a 3 to 5 year car note.

It is not that they are unfazed by the recession, they just don't have a bloody clue.

[Benmart]

They're cool these Thais. They travel to places like Japan and Korea. They come back and yet when you talk with them about Japan and Korea, they know virtually nothing about the places.

Not unlike many tourists coming here! Spend their whole holiday in or around the hotel. Eating at McD or BK or on a brave day a pizza.

Not to mention all the expats, who have never been outside Patts, They are cool too.

I haven't seen a survey that could support your statements. I've not met "all the expats" so I couldn't comment on their explorations outside of Pattaya.

[Soutpeel]

Sutthiphong said South Korea should review its marketing strategy to draw Thai tourists by discontinuing low-cost packages. It's true that these have helped boost tourist numbers, but in practice they have proved problematic, with complaints over service quality and, at worst, the stranding of travellers. The result is that the country's tourism image has suffered.

At present, a tour package to South Korea costs about Bt16,900, but with the good standard of service, such packages should cost Bt23,000-Bt24,000, he said.

F me....if the 24k includes the flight ($760) accomdation etc WTC are they expecting?, a Rolls at the airport their own butler, a 5 star hotel, all the somtam they can eat ....24k will be crap quality and the 16k option will be worse

For the most part the rest of SEA aint cheap to visit...ie South Korea, HK, Singapore, Japan etc...this man is delusonal...24k is good quality..!

[h90]

They're cool these Thais. They travel to places like Japan and Korea. They come back and yet when you talk with them about Japan and Korea, they know virtually nothing about the places.

I know of a group tour to Europe. They managed to not eat a single local food. Either Chinese or noodles the brought with them.

They didn't even get the idea that the European things can be eaten....

[Skorz]

Thais unfazed by economic slowdown.

Ignorance is bliss.

My university educated ex-thai wife based the health of the regional and global economies solely on the price of fish.

Pardon the pun.

[kimamey]

As usual nothing effects tourism in the country and now for those going out as well. Nothing new there. I just wonder how accurate the figures are.

What is different here is that the main bulk of this story is about the number of Thais going abroad and we all know that the figures for incoming tourists are regularly brought out to show how well Thailand is doing. Then there is this section.

Sutthiphong said South Korea should review its marketing strategy to draw Thai tourists by discontinuing low-cost packages. It's true that these have helped boost tourist numbers, but in practice they have proved problematic, with complaints over service quality and, at worst, the stranding of travellers. The result is that the country's tourism image has suffered.

All of a sudden numbers aren't that important any more.

[NanLaew]

...

Don't forget those English guys who can't survive a few days without English grub. ....

Just because the Dutch cuisine is so bland and tasteless....

And baked beans are an UK culinary delicacy, come on we all know what we mean those Brits that really need pup food, would not touch Thai food . Not all English are like that mind you but there are quite a few like that.Might be because living on an island made it hard to go abroad and expand on ones horizon.

Getting off topic but baked beans are a whole FOOD GROUP and the British Empire builders brought their magnificent cuisine to the world so there was absolutely no need to to embrace witchety grubs, rats gizzards, blowfish jism and bits of a pig we would normally throw away now was there?

[nong38]

The average Thai does not go abroad, they cannot afford to and they have little concept of the country's economy, they would not have any idea that is was slowing down. Take one day at a time, can we pay the bills and eat.

Tell that to my gf the tourguide who takes average Thais on trips to vietnam / china / singapore ect. There are the dead poor and there are people who can afford it and then you got the rich who usually go on non guided trips.

THey spend money they dont have and one day the collector comes round. My wifes father never even saw the sea, most Thais live a localised existance. The average Thai ? 15000bts a month Govt employee or is it 300bts a day, these figures not add up foreign travel unless you look at my first sentence.

[metisdead]

Off topic posts and replies have been removed.

[robblok]

The average Thai does not go abroad, they cannot afford to and they have little concept of the country's economy, they would not have any idea that is was slowing down. Take one day at a time, can we pay the bills and eat.

Tell that to my gf the tourguide who takes average Thais on trips to vietnam / china / singapore ect. There are the dead poor and there are people who can afford it and then you got the rich who usually go on non guided trips.

THey spend money they dont have and one day the collector comes round. My wifes father never even saw the sea, most Thais live a localised existance. The average Thai ? 15000bts a month Govt employee or is it 300bts a day, these figures not add up foreign travel unless you look at my first sentence.

Seems more like you want all Thais to be poor.. that is just not the case. Its not that expensive to go to an other Asian country.