webfact Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 POLITICAL EFFECTPolitical unrest could affect tourism, association warnsBamrung Amnatcharoenrit,Sucheera PinijparakarnThe NationSupporters of opposition Democrat Party take part in a rally against an amnesty bill in Bangkok, Thailand, 31 October 2013.BANGKOK: -- Political demonstrations could have a negative impact on country's tourism, especially if the situation turns violent, Sisdivachr Cheewarattanaporn, president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA), has warned.Key inbound markets for Thailand's tourism industry - Japan, South Korea and China, which make up 30 per cent of total foreign arrivals - could be especially affected, as they are key drivers for the country's tourism growth, said Sisdivachr. Those three markets are especially important at the present time, as arrivals from the European Union are down because of its economic downturn.The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) projects 24.5 million foreign-tourist arrivals this year. Among Asians, Japanese tourists are the most sensitive to economic change.Sisdivachr said Thailand's political impasse had so far only slightly affected arrivals to the country, with the number of forward bookings during this year's high season dropping by only 5 per cent compared with the same period last year. However, he said foreign travel agents were keeping a close eye on the country's political unrest in case it turned violent."When political demonstrations start, they are likely to have a negative impact on the tourism industry - undermining tourists' confidence," he said.Local tour operators, said Sisdivachr, had also expressed concern that violence could lead to casualties and travellers from key markets would be warned not to come here.Sisdivachr recalled the political chaos between the red and yellow shirts in 2008, after which the tourism industry was severely hit - taking six months to recover. Package tours to Thailand were affected the most, with almost 100 per cent of business lost. Many foreign tour agents have quit doing business in Thailand - permanently as well as temporarily, he added.Sisdivachr urged demonstrators to protest peacefully and not to damage downtown areas and tourism sites - the heart of economic activity.The TAT projects 1.5 million Japanese arrivals this year and 1.3 million from South Korea, while arrivals from China are expected to be between 4.3 million and 4.5 million. New Chinese legislation on outbound "zero-dollar tours" from that country is expected temporarily to affect the number of arrivals from there.The new legislation, which took affect on October 1, saw the number of Chinese outbound arrivals to Thailand on package tours drop by 70 per cent, a decline of between 40,000 and 50,000 arrivals in October - down from the average of 140,000-150,000.TAT offices in South Korea and Japan are also worried about the political situation hurting tourism from those markets. They said domestic politics was the main threat to inbound tourism to Thailand from those two nations. However, the TAT's office in Kunming said it believed unrest in Thailand would not adversely affect outbound tourism arrivals from China as instability in this country was nothing new.Nittaya Amubhitaya, director of TAT's Tokyo office, said that to date, the Japanese Embassy in Thailand had only posted warnings on its website telling people to avoid areas where political protests were taking place. As long as there is no violence, Japanese arrivals to Thailand will not be affected, she said.Meanwhile, Sutapa Amornvivat, chief economist and executive vice president of the SCB Economic Intelligence Centre (EIC), said she believed political instability in Thailand would only have a short-term impact on business, as many foreign companies had remained in the country despite political instability over the past decade. However, the Kingdom has lost opportunities to attract new local and foreign investment, she added.-- The Nation 2013-11-01 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soi41 Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 The good news is that all the demonstrators had to travel to get to the protestsite. So at the moment TAT is busy adjusting up the numbers in the domestic tourism statistics! Thailand the destination for adventure-tourists: Get gassed in the taxi or get involved in streetfights. The choice is yours, just remember to spend your $$!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halion Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 It makes absolutely no sense to me to put so much editorial into the bloody tourist figures whilst almost ignoring and accepting the pathetic and nepotistic state of the current administration. If you want stability and the development of your tourist market then you must first put your own house in order. Stabilize your legal ,administrative and social systems in a manner that they are efficient ,transparent and operate in a manner beneficial to all Thai people and not just the rabid few who think the are beyond reproach. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CraigSchuler Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 Just ONE of hundreds of reasons why Thailand is losing their tourists. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulesMad Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 Don't worry! As usual, TAT will give this a positive spin and TAT numbers will go up I am not a gambler at all, but I would like to put ALL my money on this bet. Any takers?!? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hellodolly Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 I hope it losses all it's tourism/ Then even the dumbest of the red shirts will understand what they are doing is not helping Thailand. Now back to reality. Tourism is growing every year the numbers go up. They use the same criteria to count the tourists as they did the year before. They have always counted the visa runners and passing through. It is the same every year and yet the number goes up. They have had to make Don Mueang an international airport and are busy increasing the size of swampy. More visa runners because there is more people wanting to stay here, Yes we do have a corrupt government but according to the Corruption Perception index there is over 80 countries worse than Thailand. I would imagine that next year it will be more like70 worse than Thailand. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moe666 Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 Yeah we all know one more nail in the coffin heheheheh been hearing that for years but the numbers always come back and keep going up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charmonman Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 I never understand all this whining about tourist numbers. Only 5 years ago (or less) the number was around 15 million, now its 25 million, back in 1987, "Visit Thailand Year", it was only 3 million. Nothing seems to stop people from coming here. Thailand is already one of the most heavily touristed countries in the world - what is the magic number that would stop all the whining - 50 million, 100 million, 1 billion? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpeg Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 (edited) Phuket's practically deserted (good). They only had the Chinese and Russians last season, a smattering of Euros returning to maintain their properties, and that's it. Today is the official opening of 'High Season', but my guess is, the declining (not the TAT bs), numbers, (now the Chinese are on the wane - Russians, who knows? So long as Egypt's still at it), bar the fortnight leading up to and after Christmas will continue to decline. Excellent. To all you who have opened businesses which actually makes life more convenient for the expat contingent, and which does not include more bars/dive shops/property shops/over priced 'farang' restaurants, my sympathies. Edited November 1, 2013 by jpeg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetsetBkk Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 Phuket's practically deserted (good). They only had the Chinese and Russians last season, a smattering of Euros returning to maintain their properties, and that's it. Today is the official opening of 'High Season', but my guess is, the declining (not the TAT bs), numbers, (now the Chinese are on the wane - Russians, who knows? So long as Egypt's still at it), bar the fortnight leading up to and after Christmas will continue to decline. Excellent. To all you who have opened businesses which actually makes life more convenient for the expat contingent, and which does not include more bars/dive shops/property shops/over priced 'farang' restaurants, my sympathies. I've just been to Phuket town and back from Rawai, and I wouldn't exactly call it "deserted"! But I know what you mean. Last night Kata was full of tourists. Wish they'd all read more about the troubles here and go home! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpeg Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 I hope it losses all it's tourism/ Then even the dumbest of the red shirts will understand what they are doing is not helping Thailand. Now back to reality. Tourism is growing every year the numbers go up. They use the same criteria to count the tourists as they did the year before. They have always counted the visa runners and passing through. It is the same every year and yet the number goes up. They have had to make Don Mueang an international airport and are busy increasing the size of swampy. More visa runners because there is more people wanting to stay here, Yes we do have a corrupt government but according to the Corruption Perception index there is over 80 countries worse than Thailand. I would imagine that next year it will be more like70 worse than Thailand. Name the very worst on the Corruption Index and i'll simply sail through it Having learned every bloody trick in the book from my current alma mater. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neilly Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 "When political demonstrations start, they are likely to have a negative impact on the tourism industry - undermining tourists' confidence," he said. Nice to see Captain Obvious out and about again ...and of course TAT saying there isn't a problem at all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hellodolly Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 I hope it losses all it's tourism/ Then even the dumbest of the red shirts will understand what they are doing is not helping Thailand. Now back to reality. Tourism is growing every year the numbers go up. They use the same criteria to count the tourists as they did the year before. They have always counted the visa runners and passing through. It is the same every year and yet the number goes up. They have had to make Don Mueang an international airport and are busy increasing the size of swampy. More visa runners because there is more people wanting to stay here, Yes we do have a corrupt government but according to the Corruption Perception index there is over 80 countries worse than Thailand. I would imagine that next year it will be more like70 worse than Thailand. Name the very worst on the Corruption Index and i'll simply sail through it Having learned every bloody trick in the book from my current alma mater. 37 4 33 40 88 Thailand 37 8 34 40 88 Zambia 37 8 32 42 94 Benin 36 6 29 44 94 Colombia 36 7 32 40 94 Djibouti 36 3 22 50 94 Greece 36 7 30 42 94 India 36 10 33 40 94 Moldova 36 8 31 40 94 Mongolia 36 7 32 40 94 Senegal 36 9 33 39 102 Argentina 35 8 31 39 102 Gabon 35 5 32 38 102 Tanzania 35 8 31 38 105 Algeria 34 6 29 40 105 Armenia 34 6 29 38 105 Bolivia 34 7 28 40 105 Gambia 34 5 22 45 105 Kosovo 34 3 32 37 105 Mali 34 6 27 40 105 Mexico 34 9 31 37 105 Philippines 34 9 30 37 113 Albania 33 7 30 36 113 Ethiopia 33 8 30 36 113 Guatemala 33 6 28 37 113 Niger 33 5 28 38 113 Timor-Leste 33 3 23 42 118 Dominican Republic 32 6 28 37 118 Ecuador 32 6 28 37 118 Egypt 32 7 27 37 118 Indonesia 32 9 27 37 118 Madagascar 32 8 26 37 123 Belarus 31 5 25 37 123 Mauritania 31 5 25 36 123 Mozambique 31 7 29 34 123 Sierra Leone 31 8 28 34 123 Vietnam 31 8 27 35 128 Lebanon 30 6 27 34 128 Togo 30 5 24 35 130 Côte d´Ivoire 29 8 25 33 130 Nicaragua 29 7 26 32 130 Uganda 29 8 25 32 133 Comoros 28 3 15 40 133 Guyana 28 4 25 31 133 Honduras 28 6 24 32 133 Iran 28 6 20 35 133 Kazakhstan 28 8 21 35 133 Russia 28 9 25 32 139 Azerbaijan 27 6 23 31 139 Kenya 27 8 24 31 139 Nepal 27 5 23 31 139 Nigeria 27 9 22 31 139 Pakistan 27 8 23 31 144 Bangladesh 26 7 20 33 144 Cameroon 26 8 20 32 144 Central African Republic 26 4 22 30 144 Congo Republic 26 6 20 31 144 Syria 26 5 22 31 144 Ukraine 26 8 24 29 150 Eritrea 25 4 10 40 150 Guinea-Bissau 25 4 22 29 150 Papua New Guinea 25 5 18 32 150 Paraguay 25 5 20 29 154 Guinea 24 7 19 28 154 Kyrgyzstan 24 6 21 27 156 Yemen 23 6 20 27 157 Angola 22 7 20 25 157 Cambodia 22 7 17 27 157 Tajikistan 22 5 15 28 160 Democratic Republic of the Congo 21 5 16 27 160 Laos 21 3 19 23 160 Libya 21 6 14 27 163 Equatorial Guinea 20 3 18 22 163 Zimbabwe 20 8 12 27 165 Burundi 19 5 14 23 165 Chad 19 5 15 23 165 Haiti 19 5 14 23 165 Venezuela 19 7 15 22 169 Iraq 18 4 14 22 170 Turkmenistan 17 3 12 22 170 Uzbekistan 17 6 14 20 172 Myanmar 15 4 9 21 173 Sudan 13 6 8 17 174 Afghanistan 8 3 2 13 174 Korea (North) 8 3 2 13 174 Somalia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thai at Heart Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 I hope it losses all it's tourism/ Then even the dumbest of the red shirts will understand what they are doing is not helping Thailand. Now back to reality. Tourism is growing every year the numbers go up. They use the same criteria to count the tourists as they did the year before. They have always counted the visa runners and passing through. It is the same every year and yet the number goes up. They have had to make Don Mueang an international airport and are busy increasing the size of swampy. More visa runners because there is more people wanting to stay here, Yes we do have a corrupt government but according to the Corruption Perception index there is over 80 countries worse than Thailand. I would imagine that next year it will be more like70 worse than Thailand. Thus if they recount the ever increasing number of visa runners they can achieve exponential growth. I can believe the numbers are up, whether it is providing the same economic return as the first 10mn of mainly European visitors is the issue. I doubt it but TAT is never going to admit it anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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