400,000 tourists cancel travels to Thailand

[waza]

"More strange numbers, the president of the Association of Domestic Travel ( Yoothachai Sunthornratanavej) says tourists have now dropped by over 20%....or up to 400,000 have cancelled travels to Thailand."

That would indicate that 2,000,000 overseas tourist were expected

However, he reports in the Jakarta Post that......."The tourism industry has felt the pinch of the protests since last month. The number of foreign arrivals between the end of November and mid-December was 400,000 short of the normal figure for this time of year. Normally, the monthly arrival figures are about 2.5 million during this period."

Then we have this media release from TAT..........."Sugree Sithivanich, deputy governor for marketing communications at the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), said its overseas offices had reported no trip cancellations to Thailand, though offices in Europe have yet to send their reports."

Seems one hand doesn't know what the other hand is doing......... well I will be there I have ben going to thailand from 2007 to present I just wont be stoping in bbk this trip. and thats sad I really like bangkok I like to spend at least 3 days there before going to pattaya. I have to say this EVERY TIME before my trips there its all ways some shit going on over there. where it threaten the trip but things get worked out at the last min. Iam not leaving till 1/6 2014 but this thing looks like its going to drag on.

Nana Hotel doesn't increase its prices in high season that's why its fully booked.

[tom21]

Just wait till Myanmar is discovered, unspoilt beaches!

... and poor roads, dodgy airlines, unreliable electricity, expensive accommodation, rampant corruption, dual pricing, military oppression, antiquated banking system &c. &c..

And that's overlooking moral issues such as slavery, oppression of minority groups, and the fact that much of your money ends up in the hands of the military elite and their chums.

Much as I love Burma and its people, I think it's going to be a long time before it's going to represent a significant threat to Thailand's tourist industry.

thought you were talking about Thailand till I read the past paragraph

[EyesWideOpen]

This is great news. Thailand is way too overcrowded with tourists during high season,

so if a few are winnowed out by the protesters that is fine. If this winnowing process has a

greater effect on Chinese tourists, even better !!!!!

[NoshowJones]

Just wait till Myanmar is discovered, unspoilt beaches!

... and poor roads, dodgy airlines, unreliable electricity, expensive accommodation, rampant corruption, dual pricing, military oppression, antiquated banking system &c. &c..

And that's overlooking moral issues such as slavery, oppression of minority groups, and the fact that much of your money ends up in the hands of the military elite and their chums.

Much as I love Burma and its people, I think it's going to be a long time before it's going to represent a significant threat to Thailand's tourist industry.

Unreliable electricity. That's Thailand in the sticks to a T, as is poor roads.

As someone who also lives in the sticks, I have to say you never said a truer word.

[meatboy]

if this keeps up just have a thought for those poor guys .the tuk tuk mafia and the jet ski gang ,all together now,

haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa didums.

[boomerangutang]

Build the Bt.2.2 trillion speedo train from Bangkok up toward the Chinese border, and we'll get more Chinese tourists.

[Credo]

always been an avid believer that thaland has so much to offer and would eventually see a reasonable level of common sense and less short sighted and greedy but starting to think otherwise.. What's Vietnam like????

Well, unlike Thailand, the war in Vietnam is over.

[Cleveland]

Maybe they heard of Bali.

or Vietnam.

Having been a regular, twice a year, visitor to Phuket since 1996 I gave up on the place three years ago and am so glad I did.

For a city break Saigon beats Bangkok hands down with amazing architecture and some of the best and reasonably priced French resteraunts ever, and the beaches around Da Nang area are hastle free and beautiful.

Another major advantage is an hours less flying from HK.

[IAMSOBAD]

Land of Smiles is run by crooks or crooks trying to run it or by crooks in jail or by crooks in Dubai or by crooks in police uniforms or crooks driving Bentley's or by crooks telling lies or by crooks calling the opposition crooks or by crooks in training or by sisters of crooks...DID I MENTION CROOKS? Take your family where you have a chance of coming home in a seat on the plane and not in a box in the cargo hold. Chances of dying in a traffic accident or being poisoned are greater here than anywhere on the planet.

Crooks love your money but not you.

Sent from my not so smart phone

[MobileContent]

Many hotels on Sukhumvit have a drop in numbers mainly from Europe and East Asia but even countries like Indonesia, Singapore and India warned their citizens not to travel to Bangkok. I talked to several GM's and owners of the those properties and many mentioned they will try to wait it out before the unpaid leave starts or they will start retrench workers.

[oogster8]

Well as TAT have said in another thread they are still confident of meeting their target and smashing records again this year. Just need 200+ extra tourists per week on top for the rest of the yeah.

Nothing to worry about TAT always reach their objective without fail.

P.S TAT, Tourists haven't simply put of their travels to Thailand, they have gone elsewhere in S/E Asia and it's a growing trend with cleaner beaches, less assaults and scams etc.

always been an avid believer that thaland has so much to offer and would eventually see a reasonable level of common sense and less short sighted and greedy but starting to think otherwise.. What's Vietnam like????

vietnam is light years behind thailand. 2-3 days there youll be wishing u were in bangkok again.

Edited December 14, 2013 by oogster8

[stoli]

I love when officials just pick a number out of the thin air to cover the mistakes in their previous forecasts. When it is exactly 20%, you know they pulled it out of the air. If they said 11.73% it might sound more believable.

With airfares today being permanent once paid for, or huge penalties to change, I think I would still fly into Syria rather than lose my money. Maybe that is just me. If protests changed people's travel plans, no one would ever go to Berkeley, California, or Washington D.C.

Went to immigration in Jontiem last week. Trust me, the high season is here. They have come....

[stoli]

the biggest threat to tourism in Thailand is thai people themselves... because once you know them

Then you do not know many Thai people

My thoughts also. I know many, and find them to be genuine, hard-working, and honest. A pleasure to spend time with. Leave the beer bar for a few days and visit the small towns. You will meet many nice people.

[waza]

Maybe they heard of Bali.

or Vietnam.

Having been a regular, twice a year, visitor to Phuket since 1996 I gave up on the place three years ago and am so glad I did.

For a city break Saigon beats Bangkok hands down with amazing architecture and some of the best and reasonably priced French resteraunts ever, and the beaches around Da Nang area are hastle free and beautiful.

Another major advantage is an hours less flying from HK.

Da Nang beach....

The view from my 500 baht per night suite

[stoli]

Well as TAT have said in another thread they are still confident of meeting their target and smashing records again this year. Just need 200+ extra tourists per week on top for the rest of the yeah.

Nothing to worry about TAT always reach their objective without fail.

P.S TAT, Tourists haven't simply put of their travels to Thailand, they have gone elsewhere in S/E Asia and it's a growing trend with cleaner beaches, less assaults and scams etc.

always been an avid believer that thaland has so much to offer and would eventually see a reasonable level of common sense and less short sighted and greedy but starting to think otherwise.. What's Vietnam like????

vietnam is light years behind thailand. 2-3 days there youll be wishing u were in bangkok again.

Interesting. I have been to both Hanoi and Saigon, and would pick either as more enjoyable than Bangkok. Plenty to see and do, and the food is so much better than Thai food. When the French colonized Vietnam, they did teach them how to cook. This is not a bash on Bangkok, which I enjoy in small batches, but just to say everyone should visit Vietnam before the tourists find out about it.

[tragickingdom]

The use of teargas really? What about the use of snipers in 2010 and life firing zones or attracted those measures survival tourists? Only the mentioning of the use of teargas is ridicule. It is used everywhere. The chairman should simply say what everybody knows. Suthep is a thug and he is as predictable as the leader of North Korea. Tourists could easily be banned from leaving again. A man with such imbecile demands will also block porta and airports.

[Joe Mamma]

The prices are down and the place looks like it did 10 years ago. Traffic and lines are gone and stores are vacant. Must be the same feeling Thais and expats had before i arrived in 99.

[Mr Brown]

Just wait till Myanmar is discovered, unspoilt beaches!

Ssssshhhhh! Don't tell the Russians.

[bunuel]

This is a no-brainer.

Rule#1: Political instability and turmoil drives tourists away from any country, since they have other options.

Rule#2: Political instability and turmoil drives investment away, since investors want to know what they are getting into.

This madness has been very damaging for the long term image of Thailand. All one has to do is read The Economist, Asia Times, NY Times, and statements by US, Russian and European foreign ministries.

Suggestion:Mr. Suthep and Mr. Abhisit and their wealthy backers should be forced to finance a massive PR camoaign to rehabilitate the tattered image of the country as a public service and not utter a word in public for next decade in lieu of going to jail for their various misdeeds.

Caveat: This PR campaign should be run by foreign professionals, and not by TAT!

approaching 2% of the annual travelers. Just a drop in a bucket.

This could easily be recovered but offering specials and discounts in the following periods.

A prolonged situation could be damaging tho.

[mikemac]

"More strange numbers, the president of the Association of Domestic Travel ( Yoothachai Sunthornratanavej) says tourists have now dropped by over 20%....or up to 400,000 have cancelled travels to Thailand."

That would indicate that 2,000,000 overseas tourist were expected

However, he reports in the Jakarta Post that......."The tourism industry has felt the pinch of the protests since last month. The number of foreign arrivals between the end of November and mid-December was 400,000 short of the normal figure for this time of year. Normally, the monthly arrival figures are about 2.5 million during this period."

Then we have this media release from TAT..........."Sugree Sithivanich, deputy governor for marketing communications at the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), said its overseas offices had reported no trip cancellations to Thailand, though offices in Europe have yet to send their reports."

Seems one hand doesn't know what the other hand is doing.

I don't think the finger knows what the fingers either side of it are doing !

Edited December 14, 2013 by mikemac

[Jing Joe]

the biggest threat to tourism in Thailand is thai people themselves... because once you know them

Then you do not know many Thai people

My thoughts also. I know many, and find them to be genuine, hard-working, and honest. A pleasure to spend time with. Leave the beer bar for a few days and visit the small towns. You will meet many nice people.

My thoughts also. Lovely people. Cross sections of communities have those individuals to avoid. Probably less in Thailand from my experience.

[Dork]

Every December I attend a trade exhibition in Shanghai. The flights between Bangkok and Shanghai are always jam packed in early December which makes it difficult to change flights or get seats at short notice. Not so this year. There were at least 100 empty seats both ways.

[Baerboxer]

Just wait till Myanmar is discovered, unspoilt beaches!

... and poor roads, dodgy airlines, unreliable electricity, expensive accommodation, rampant corruption, dual pricing, military oppression, antiquated banking system &c. &c..

And that's overlooking moral issues such as slavery, oppression of minority groups, and the fact that much of your money ends up in the hands of the military elite and their chums.

Much as I love Burma and its people, I think it's going to be a long time before it's going to represent a significant threat to Thailand's tourist industry.

Thought you were describing Thailand ! Oh no, the money ends in the pockets of politicians and their criminal boss here rather than the military.

[Lockheed]

From Oz, Thailand is cheaper than Bali to get too plus it's a launch point into other countries so I always stay a few days in Bangkok before my adventures start. I suppose it's the package tourists that will cancel their trips whereas the others will just come as normal. Burma is a bit like Laos was many years ago, give it a few years and it'll be fine, it's moving forward slowly, they opened up the borders to cyclists a few weeks back so that's progress.

[Zolt]

With any luck his "imbecile demands" will also include the deportation of all the trolls and chronic Thai bashers who infest this forum. I would vote for him if he did that.

How very mature, have people deported because they do not share your opinions. The Stalinist in me approves.

[belg]

the hardcore pattaya & phuket red light visitors are here for another purpose and even a firestorm would not stop them from CUMMING here

[lostmebike]

As the Thais like to say, 'Som nom na!'

[Rinrada]

Came through Suwanna on Thursday night from the Dam via Abu D and it was "Chocker" both the aircraft and the Airport and noticed that a large number of visitors appeared to be western families...so much for the troubles.

Now all we need is AOT to rip out the RIP OFF Bank ATMs and replace them with EAONs and we might be able to re introduce the motto LOS again.

Went up to arrivals as usual to get a taxi but noticed that "they" have installed one way revolving gates.

Didnt stop wife however and she even got the security guy to help hoist the luggage over the barriers...then we climbed over...all Smiles...NICE to be back....

[darren84310]

Quote:

BANGKOK: -- The number of foreign-tourist arrivals is projected to remain unchanged at about 26 million - and revenue at around Bt1.2 trillion - next year if the political tension continues through to March, Tourism and Sports Ministry permanent secretary Suwat Sitthilor said yesterday.

That's an average spend of about 45,000 baht per person.... obviously not attracting the quality tourist they want.

[phitsanulokjohn]

Can have little sympathy with the Thai's at this time,and certainly can't blame the tourists for being frightened off.Maybe when it starts costing lots of baht,then maybe they'll learn to adopt a more mature attitude regarding their politics,for the good of the country,but maybe i'm just dreaming.