Russian tourism group threatens Thailand boycott

[webfact]

Russian Tourism Group Threatens Thailand Boycott
BY Khaosod Online



BANGKOK: -- The Russian Union of Travel Industry (RUTI) has urged the Thai authorities to improve safety for Russian tourists in Thailand or face a boycott from its members.

The Union, which represents more than 5,000 business groups and state agencies related to tourism industry in Russia, has submitted the letter to the Moscow office of Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), said Mr. Narin Tijayung, director of the TAT branch in Moscow.

The letter followed the road accident which injured more than 30 Russians in Pattaya on 15 November, four of them in serious condition. 51 Russian tourists were on their double-deck bus when it overturned on the highway, which the police believed was caused by the driver was dosing behind the wheel.

There have also been other cases of Russian tourists suffering from accidents or crimes in Thailand. Last month, 1 Russian tourist was killed and more than 30 other Russian passengers were injured when their tour bus flipped over in Kanchanaburi province.

Mr. Narin said the letter submitted by RUTI, which is addressed to the Thai Ministry of Tourism and Sports, called for a concise, practical measure to ensure safety for Russian tourists in the kingdom.

The letter specifically names road safety in Thailand as the main concern for the RUTI and its members, Mr. Narin added, such as the training of drivers, the condition of vehicles, and traffic regulations which have been lightly enforced.

The RUTI also reportedly demanded the Thai government to solve these issues within the end of November, otherwise it will consider responses necessary to maintain the safety of Russian citizens by canceling all scheduled charter flights from Russia throughout the period of December 2013 - March 2014.

If the cancellation indeed came to effect, other countries in the region, such as Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam would be picked as destinations instead of Thailand, the letter reportedly warned.

Source: http://www.khaosod.co.th/en/view_newsonline.php?newsid=TVRNNE5EazFPREV3TXc9PQ==

-- KHAOSOD English 2013-11-21

[waza]

First the Chinese and now the Russians are turning on the TAT, but don't worry tourist number will still be up this year.

[FarangTalk]

It would seem likely that Thailand is now one of the most dangerous tourism destinations for Russians.

It is already the most dangerous tourism destination for Britons, Australians and Swedes, as has been documented in numerous articles on this forum.

The RUTI also reportedly demanded the Thai government to solve these issues within the end of November, otherwise it will consider responses necessary to maintain the safety of Russian citizens by canceling all scheduled charter flights from Russia throughout the period of December 2013 - March 2014. If the cancellation indeed came to effect, other countries in the region, such as Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam would be picked as destinations instead of Thailand, the letter reportedly warned.

That's how you get things done.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Russian Tourism Group Threatens Thailand Boycott

You don't normally open up Thaivisa.com expecting to find good news, but, my goodness.. Jackpot this morning!

[BMF1960]

Some good news for once!

[Songhua]

Seems they'll be going elsewhere then. There's no way on earth Thailand would have even ONE driver retrained within two weeks let alone all of them ... in addition to roads resurfaced, maintenance conducted on every vehicle and a complete overhaul of road safety & regulations.

Mind, that probably won't stop the ministry and TAT claiming in their return correspondence in a few days' time that it has been done and it's therefore safe for the Russians to continue coming.

[rametindallas]

Please, please, dear Russians, do boycott Thailand.

[Thainy Tim]

There is no point even trying to improve anything here, as soon as money is made available for anything here, most of it is stolen and the job is left half done.

How do they expect to train drivers to not fall asleep? Surely that is the unwritten rule behind the wheel of any vehicle.

You couldn't make it up.

5000 business groups and state agencies. That will hit the numbers for sure, Patts will be a ghost town overnight.

[rainwater]

If they stop coming (I hope this good news is true) it should also affect the already over saturated holiday property condo market, as this house of cards will soon come tumbling down! more good news!

[mrtoad]

This is one boycott that I fully support. Long may it continue.

[jackr]

Won't make a blind bit of difference whatever the Ruskies do; it'll take at least a couple generations as there are inept perps all around the buses, too. If you want to make a point, start sending them to Burma and Cam, that'll really pee them off (the Thais... and the Russians )!

[lemoncake]

Good, stay away. Too many dubious Russians here already.

So you prefer others to continue to be killed by reckless driving and lack of rules ?

[rainwater]

Good, stay away. Too many dubious Russians here already.

So you prefer others to continue to be killed by reckless driving and lack of rules ?

Do you seriously think Thailand will make any changes because of this? LOL, dream on...

[Somtamnication]

Wish the Brits, Aussies and Merkins will do the same. Pressure, something Thais understand.

[draftvader]

This is the kind of positive action that more countries should be willing to take to protect their people. The threat of a HUGE percentage of their tourist market being warned off by their country's government.

I have lived here for 6 years and this stuff is every day. You work your life around it and eventually find yourself well away from it in a lovely piece of normal Thailand. You work your transportation options around it as best you can, etc. The problem is that the average tourist is being led and everybody is looking for a margin so you end up with 30 people being driven on a bus by somebody's "cousin" who turns out to be a dim-witted drug abusing f-tard with zero common-sense....but he was cheap!

Until TAT understands its true raison d'etre these problems will continue and Thailand will see the revenue streams from tourism continuing their steady marginalisation. This year alone we have had incidents with tourists including:

Train crashes

Bus crashes

Plane crashes

Political unrest including roads seized next to THE biggest tourist ghetto

Drugged tourists

Robbed tourists

Murdered tourists

Scammed tourists

Oil slicks

Flooding

and so many more that I can't be bothered to research right now that have all made news outside of the Kingdom.

It is not a pretty picture and people ARE wising up. Time will come when Thailand will start asking the question "where did the money go?". By then this will be too late. The normal people of Thailand should be aware of how important tourism is to this country not just for the obvious "heads in beds" equation but also people experiencing the country and deciding this is the life of them, moving their money and starting new businesses. Visitors to the kingdom are NOT 1 dimensional.

[gemini81]

Boycotting is something we have used as a tool to get results abroad for a long time; don't see it used here by the locals other than strikes or protests; usually complaining and still buying the particular product or using that service.Hope this yields some results, even just by getting the ball rolling and getting other agencies to follow suit, so it does have an impact.

[PeterSmiles]

The RUTI also reportedly demanded the Thai government to solve these issues within the end of November, otherwise it will consider responses necessary to maintain the safety of Russian citizens by canceling all scheduled charter flights from Russia throughout the period of December 2013 - March 2014.

Have they considered how the Thai government gonna solve a serious issue like this within the next 2 weeks.

I guess we may expect a statement from the Thai government soon, similar to the one they made some time ago, that Russian and other tourists have to adjust to Thai road behavior.

Case closed.

Oh, I forgot, they can announce a crack down, we haven't had that in the last 2 days.

[angiud]

Is not funny hope that Russian tourists disappear from Thailand. This kind of posts show clearly the low quality kind of posters, au contraire thinking to be superior of another country people.

[angiud]

Few posts deleted

[BrooklynNY]

"The Russian Union of Travel Industry (RUTI) has urged the Thai authorities to improve safety for Russian tourists in Thailand or face a boycott from its members."

It's not going to happen.

[richard_smith237]

It does seem rather hypocritical that its Russian Tourism that's threatening with a boycott due to unsafe roads.

Russia would be in my Top Trumps pack for its unsafe driving conditions...

That said: Anyone or any Nation taking a stance and attempting to 'force' Thailand to care about its issues such as this is a good thing.

[Lupatria]

Finally one organisation understood if you don't hit them where it hurts, they don't give a rats a#*.

[Lupatria]

The RUTI also reportedly demanded the Thai government to solve these issues within the end of November, otherwise it will consider responses necessary to maintain the safety of Russian citizens by canceling all scheduled charter flights from Russia throughout the period of December 2013 - March 2014.

Have they considered how the Thai government gonna solve a serious issue like this within the next 2 weeks.

I guess we may expect a statement from the Thai government soon, similar to the one they made some time ago, that Russian and other tourists have to adjust to Thai road behavior.

Case closed.

Oh, I forgot, they can announce a crack down, we haven't had that in the last 2 days.

So, where is Mr. I-fix-it-in-90-days when they really need him?

[smedly]

Simple solution - just charge all Russians and extra 1000baht each entering the Kingdom to ensure they get free hospital treatment because they're costing Thailand almost as much as the Chinese in medical bills - now who would have thought of that

[mangi1]

That's ripe...Russians complaining about safety! I guess they prefer it when they drink themselves silly and cause the accidents.

[deecee10]

Can't imagine much will happen to reduce the road carnage. There needs to be a totally different mind set about road safety amongst the Thai population.

[technologybytes]

Well, it's actually naive think that Thailand may improve it's road safety because of threats from tourists or tour groups.

I expect the best that Thailand could do would be to pass laws that require higher standards on tour buses that carry tourists, that would do nothing for driving standards in general. Next they could require all tourists to ONLY travel in special buses that adhere to these higher standards, which will mean a fragmentation of pricing and result in higher prices for bus tickets for foreigners compared to Thais.. but with the (possibly illusion, possibly real) benefit of better safety.

[GeorgeO]

It would seem likely that Thailand is now one of the most dangerous tourism destinations for Russians.

It is already the most dangerous tourism destination for Britons, Australians and Swedes, as has been documented in numerous articles on this forum.

The RUTI also reportedly demanded the Thai government to solve these issues within the end of November, otherwise it will consider responses necessary to maintain the safety of Russian citizens by canceling all scheduled charter flights from Russia throughout the period of December 2013 - March 2014. If the cancellation indeed came to effect, other countries in the region, such as Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam would be picked as destinations instead of Thailand, the letter reportedly warned.

That's how you get things done.

But like everything else, will it simply fall on deaf ears...?!

[laurentbkk]

If they stop coming (I hope this good news is true) it should also affect the already over saturated holiday property condo market, as this house of cards will soon come tumbling down! more good news!

do you have problem with Russians tourists coming to Thailand ? oh its only another kind of bashing ...

[laurentbkk]

That's ripe...Russians complaining about safety! I guess they prefer it when they drink themselves silly and cause the accidents.

yeah you right , aussies , brits and other nationalities dont drink and drive ..... where are you from by the way ?