Thailand: International tourist arrivals may decline 15-20 per cent

[baboon]

Tourists not big on military dictatorships, who`d have thought!?

Interestingly hotel prices are going up rather than down despite demand going down and supply going up. A couple of years back 1000 baht got you a decent 3* hotel in Bangkok whilst 2000 baht got you a 4* or even 5* hotel such as the Rembrandt where we always stay at when in town.

Looking at prices for our next trip the Rembrandt is 5000 baht a night!? Talk about making a bad situation worse! When we were last there is June there was about a dozen other customers.

This is the proof. Lower quantity but higher quality. I expect backpackers to hold their full moon parties elsewhere.

All those super high quality top notch & polite chinese group tours. Yeah, gonna be classy.

... Not to mention the Iranians and Nigerians. Don't leave them out...

[gopis108]

Yeah!!!!!Little wonder tourists are beginning to avoid the Country,besides all the political non-sense perhaps they are just a little tired of being targeted for, sometimes imagined offences while out riding on their rented scooters etc.etc.just like I was last weekend.I refused to pay the tea money and was given a ticket, while the Thai rider I had just followed through the intersection was immediately excused after she handed the good disgraceful Officer something.I went to the brass and guess what he said,although we give him credit that he did excuse my fine and returned my license,he complained that the tourists were renting scooters while not having international drivers licenses, and therefore were driving illegally and therefore open to being targeted.Dumbfounded I replied hey Mr.,what do the tourists know when they come here and rent a scooter,no agency ever mentions that they require an Int. drivers license and should wear a helmet etc.etc.That is the responsibility of the rental agency to check first that the foreign renter has the proper license before they give him the scooterReally friends -that is so Thai,this twisted thinking, and really unbelievable that a top official of the police could trot out such rot,that it is the tousrists fault,which justifies the Police to continue raking in the money by targeting the Foreigners whom they know will not have a int.license, because they were never asked to produce for one and also didnt know they needed one because they were never informed.And the Tourist agencies dumbly profess wondering why tourists are dumping THailand.The Tourists like myself will dump Thailand more and more until the non-sense stops and the Govt.begins taking responsibility for the corruption and non-sense that is perpetrated by the ROYAL Thai Police.I am c ertain that the King himself would not be be proud of his Royal Thai Police who constantly belittle themselves by shamelessly taking tea money and soft -targeting unsuspecting Tourists who are just following the Thais lead in many cases.Put That in your pipe and smoke it.

[Oziex1]

All the bad things about Thailand tourist areas were there before and are still there, only thing different in recent times is the Military coup.

How people see a threat is interesting I know people in Aus cancelling holidays abroad because our good government has raised the terror warning status to high. To me there is little difference in the risk of being caught up in terrorist activities today as there were 3 weeks ago or 3 years ago or 30 years ago for that matter.

[JoeLing]

You want to increase tourists you need to instill confidence. There are too many Thai low life's on the streets scamming, assaulting, robbing, raping and murdering tourists. I would like to see a mandatory one year jail time to any Thai who assaults a farang. The current 500 baht fine just don't build confidence that the government cares about the safety of it's tourists. Let the world know you are serious about crime and things are changing .... But do it and just don't say it !

What a stupid idea and bordering on being racist. So they should have a minimum of one-year jail for assaulting a white person, but what about assaulting other people? Are you saying that white people are better and need more protection? And what about a farang assaulting a Thai? Surely the same sentencing should apply to everyone. Also, your post is a more than a little hysterical. I suggest you stay away.

Bordering on being racist?

Just asked my Thai friends about racism.

​They don't see anything wrong with it.

So, what's your problem?

[Rimbuman]

Supawan Tanomkieatipume, vice president for marketing at Thai Hotels Association, said tourists in more than 40 countries were still worried about their security and safety under martial law...

...and because there are still murder/rapists on the loose with a penchant for foreigners....and because the police are blatantly complicit....and because your resort owner/bar owner might well have less than your best interests at heart....and because it would appear that Thailand's tourism front-men close ranks when it comes to protecting their own over the tourist who pays the bills.

I love Thailand and love living here....I just don't live in one of the tourist areas....

I totally agree. Thailands tourism farse of a ministry has no idea. Prices of hotels, taxi's, places to visit are going up and are no where cheap anymore. Either they start lowering costs for foreigners or they will just visit other countries. I feel Thailand has lost the appeal it once had as a place to go and relax. Now people are getting killed here and the lax ability of the police farce is in the spot-light of the world!! Thailand has entered its twilight years as a paradise destination!

Supawan Tanomkieatipume, vice president for marketing at Thai Hotel Assassinations

[nong38]

If you lot think this country is so bad, why don't you go live in one of the great countries you're always talking about? All mouth, no action.

No place is perfect but I think we all know a few ways that could make life better here without to much effort and not taking tourists for a ride is a good place to start, then they might return more often.

As far as we non-immigrants are concerned then I would start with what applies to us as well as tourists, the appalling driving standards and the apparrent lack to enforce the laws by the police, is that too much to ask? Probably, at the moment it will take time.

[ChrisY1]

But Chinese tourists numbers will increase!

[bartobar]

The humility and hospitality of thais towards foreigners is almost at 0 level. It wasn't the case nine or ten years back. The result is, foreigners turn to other SE Asia destinations. Thais who have never travelled to the west see their country with BANGKOK'S world class shopping malls, BTS sky train, MRT metro, BRT as a developed country.

[phanangpete]

Here we go again, inane bullshit, they said that the Russians were down by 30% a few months ago (that means atleast 50%) and they were becoming the largest visitors in the tourist sector !

A new TAT director , that would be fine if any of them new what a job discription was ..

Again they issue a coverup statement saying its because of martial law, nothing to do with the serious bad press youve been getting, nothing to do with a society gone off the rails, ill not mention in detail why, as this would take up about three pages and most areas of concern have been posted already on TV.

Time to grow up Thailand, ASEAN just round the corner and all the crap you spew out will be questioned then.

[Ulic]

Tourist rate down 15-20 %, maybe the most accurate forecast I have heard. They should forward this

report to the TAT.

[draftvader]

Supawan Tanomkieatipume, vice president for marketing at Thai Hotels Association, said tourists in more than 40 countries were still worried about their security and safety under martial law...

...and because there are still murder/rapists on the loose with a penchant for foreigners....and because the police are blatantly complicit....and because your resort owner/bar owner might well have less than your best interests at heart....and because it would appear that Thailand's tourism front-men close ranks when it comes to protecting their own over the tourist who pays the bills.

I love Thailand and love living here....I just don't live in one of the tourist areas....

Please tell me which country has no murders or rapes, a better police force or has to put up with unfair criticism from farang cynics.....if you love it? accept that good and bad exist. Thailand is more good than bad...and is a wonderful country and culture.

None. Just doing a search for the last Thai national brutally raped and murdered whilst on holiday in England.....I can guarantee that if they were their families could expect swift action and a just judgement.

I lived on Twickenham green. I was at home with my, now, wife in the bath when Amelie Delagrange was beaten to death with a hammer within 100m of where we were.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Am%C3%A9lie_Delagrange

What I do know is that the next morning I left home 10 minutes after my partner and was stopped at the top of my road by a police officer who knew me well (too many meetings at the local school with the residents to work on anti-social noise issues). Even though he knew me I was still questioned for 10 minutes as to my whereabouts. The next day a young blonde CID (plain clothes) officer came to my house to speak with my partner (also blonde) about her safety in the area. As you can see from the Wikipedia article above they arrested Levi Bellfield 2 years after the attack. What you don't know from this report is that Levi Bellfield was detained under the mental health act within a week. We know this because the same CID lady came back to our house to let my wife know that she was safe from this particular man.

There is 1 parallel here. Foreign national out drinking is attacked by national and dies. The rest does not read the same. They pursued this case because they did not want another crime of the same type. If the people responsible for the Koh Tao rape/murders are not charged then the authorities are giving the thumbs up for continuing danger to foreign nationals.

If you think it is OK for a foreign national to be murdered and nothing to happen then please do not leave your country. I am, however, pleased to tell you that if you visit my birth country and something nasty happens the police WILL pursue it even if it takes 20 years. They will NOT accept dubious payments, contaminate the crime scene and generally make an absolute farce out of it. They do their best to solve the crime due to the tax money I have paid into the system....you didn't pay a penny. Wouldn't it be nice to reciprocate?

I still love Thailand but your narrow minded post has my blood boiling. I know plenty of Thai nationals who are devastated about this crime.

Edited October 2, 2014 by draftvader

[khunpa]

The news of tourism falling dramatically is not a surprise. Just walk around in any tourist destination here and you can see it with your own eyes. You will have to be blind to not notice the fall.

Now it is just a matter of time, before the effect sets in and will effect everything like the unemployment rate, house prices etc.... even the crime rate. It will all get much worse.

The good thing, is that I am not here as a tourist and have also made no investments in this country so far. I however plan to invest her, but will be patient and let the system work to my future advantage. Thailand will soon become a great place for the foreigners living here with their families and having money to invest. The time is just not right yet.

So if you plan to live here, expect rise in crime, rise in unemployment - but also great investment opportunities, like e.g. very reduced house prices. 2-4 years more and the effects will show for real. Luckily, the weather and low-cost living will not change. So, I am actually happy the government is scaring away tourists. I hope the frighten them to death.

[heyexile]

Maybe time to look for a new TAT boss ???

NCPO underestimated importance of Ministry of Tourism. At the first reshuffle they can put in a General instead of a wealthy civilian friend. Or just blame TAT`s catchy new slogan and misunderstanding of the "Attitude Guidance Notes" memo. Obviously not enough generals dealing with tourism yet.

[heyexile]

Another ting , What they do about deny people from Africa come and spread the Ebola virus ???

They can come now. Thailand has the Ebola cure!

[jpeg]

No, I think I am right on track. Farang gets stabbed in Pattaya and the guy walks after a 500 baht fine. That is just crazy. It is like the courts don't care and we are the ones who are looked at as second class. Thais get away with doing what ever they want to us and get a slap on the wrist. This don't cut it in my book. When you assault a guest in your country who don't speak the language or know the lay of the land it is worst than assaulting a local. We see the effects now .... Stay away you say.... Just the same attitude that is hurting this country.

Oh I can't let this one slide. I knew a Thai guy working in a bar who suggested to some young German prat he go smoke his joint somewhere else. The German guy hit him so, not unreasonably, the Thai guy hit him back. He (the Thai) was arrested and spent a fortnight in the monkey house. True story.

I believe after trawling through more than a couple of pages of largely legitimate complaint as to how some tourists/expats are treated here, repeated in post after post ad nauseum, the 'Thai bashing' does appear to gain momentum and exaggeration coupled with disproportionate indignation starts creeping in and fact takes a holiday. Chill and remember the last time a local was nice to you. It was likely this very morning

Edited October 2, 2014 by jpeg

[Alwyn]

Got nothing to do with martial law, but people are getting fed up with the fake smiles, double-pricing, dangerous roads, a policeforce corrupt beyond belief and a in general quite violent society!!

Get your house in order, and people will come back!

I disagree. Thailand has always had the fake smiles, double pricing, corrupt police etc and always came in their droves so to say it's nothing to do with martial law is a strange thing to say. Travel insurance can't be got because of martial law so there's one area that martial law is impacting negatively. But it's not all to do with martial law, take into consideration the Koh Tao murders and subsequent farcical police actions, not to mention the dictators ridiculous comments which seemed to blame the victim because she wasn't ugly and things start to make other destinations look attractive. Plus the clean up on the beaches.. A lot of people loved coming to Thailand for the beaches, they'd find a favourite beach bar/restaurant with the facilities they enjoy, surf board hire, sunbeds with a shade, cheap and decent food and beverages.. a heck of a lot came for the beach clubs too. Now it's all gone. Add all of these thing together and you get your answers..

[SteveFong]

what does that mean, now they are all gone?

[Alwyn]

I have no idea why the tourists are staying away, now they can get tourist IDs you'd think the flights would be full!

[callaway]

With all the bullsh#t happening in Thailand now this is why people are keeping away. The hotel "jumpers", murders, rapes etc. TAT can come up for tours for the adventurous. "Come enjoy the frowns of the locals, Have a distinct chance of being raped, murdered or possibly even enjoy the feeling of flying off a balcony. You can choose assisted or non assisted. If you miss all these fantastic opportunities the we can at least guarantee you will be ripped off at every opportunity. Maybe even a better than 50-50 chance of being robbed. And insist you do not want to pay the same prices as a local. Insist on the double pricing available only to westerners. Be the lucky one. By the way we do have islands and beaches but unfortunately these are not safe but we will give you ankle bracelets so we can recover your body easily. We will ensure no locals will be involved in crime too. That you can be sure of. Have a great holiday ".

[SantiSuk]

I totally agree. Thailands tourism farse of a ministry has no idea. Prices of hotels, taxi's, places to visit are going up and are no where cheap anymore. Either they start lowering costs for foreigners or they will just visit other countries. I feel Thailand has lost the appeal it once had as a place to go and relax. Now people are getting killed here and the lax ability of the police farce is in the spot-light of the world!! Thailand has entered its twilight years as a paradise destination!

They are going up (inflation), but the differential with the rest of the world is the same. Thailand is still a bargain IMO. Probably at least a quarter the cost of a holiday in Europe once you have paid the flight. Try finding any kind of accommodation in London for less than 5,000 baht a night (OK - maybe a fleapit guest house or 10 km out you might find an OK promotion). Half hour taxi ride - Bangkok 100 baht; London 1,200 baht. Longer distance travel at similar differentials. Nice restaurant meal with wine - Bangkok 1,000 baht per head; London 2,000 baht. Beer in a basic bar - Bangkok 100 baht; London 220 baht (try Scandinavia for crazy prices)

Expats living here full time tend to benchmark current Thai prices against 5 year old plus western prices.

Also I doubt that the death of a couple of Brits played very long in countries other than the UK. Even in the UK there have been two high profile murders domestically since the Koh Tao deaths. I suspect martial law and it's reminders of previous political violence is far more detrimental than any of the other factors mentioned in your post Eddy.

[Thai at Heart]

I totally agree. Thailands tourism farse of a ministry has no idea. Prices of hotels, taxi's, places to visit are going up and are no where cheap anymore. Either they start lowering costs for foreigners or they will just visit other countries. I feel Thailand has lost the appeal it once had as a place to go and relax. Now people are getting killed here and the lax ability of the police farce is in the spot-light of the world!! Thailand has entered its twilight years as a paradise destination!

They are going up (inflation), but the differential with the rest of the world is the same. Thailand is still a bargain IMO. Probably at least a quarter the cost of a holiday in Europe once you have paid the flight. Try finding any kind of accommodation in London for less than 5,000 baht a night (OK - maybe a fleapit guest house or 10 km out you might find an OK promotion). Half hour taxi ride - Bangkok 100 baht; London 1,200 baht. Longer distance travel at similar differentials. Nice restaurant meal with wine - Bangkok 1,000 baht per head; London 2,000 baht. Beer in a basic bar - Bangkok 100 baht; London 220 baht (try Scandinavia for crazy prices)

Expats living here full time tend to benchmark current Thai prices against 5 year old plus western prices.

Also I doubt that the death of a couple of Brits played very long in countries other than the UK. Even in the UK there have been two high profile murders domestically since the Koh Tao deaths. I suspect martial law and it's reminders of previous political violence is far more detrimental than any of the other factors mentioned in your post Eddy.

London is not competing with Phuket for holidaymakers.

Last year London attracted 14mn visitors alone. Thailand is competing with other Asian beach destinations and European beaches too.

Thailand is not cheap for 4 and 5 star holidays any more. Don't beleive that this story about these murders hasn't been front and centre of the news for a while. You think mum and dad are going to be keen for the kids to take a gap year and travel through Thailand. No way Jose.

[marcusd]

I think numbers are also down due to poor economic factors overseas

[Tony125]

Drop off of tourism is for many reasons , martial law is still in affect and many USA tourist polices (insurance) will not cover you if your in an area whose Government has been taken over by a coup (non violent or otherwise) or is under martial law. They don't know about Thai nice coup. They hear about the curfue , unsolved rapes--murders of tourists, 13 year old thai girl killed by Thai on train,assults, jet ski scams, higher prices for everything and daily almost chaanges in visa rules and lowering of value our money not worth as much against the baht they look to go somewhere else safer, cleaner and less scaming.

I went to a street vendor in Pattaya a few weeks ago to get something, vendor wanted 200 baht more than what I paid earlier in year, why? Because with less tourists coming to buy stuff they jack the price up so they can make up for the lack of sales,same done by bar girls, hotels ect

If you want tourists and their money don't make it tuff or uncomfortable for them to stay here and take advantage of them , word spreads. And for the Thai guys on Thai visa that say "if you don't like thailand go home" well thats what this spread is about the farangs are staying home an tourism and the $$$ it brings in is suffering.

And I somewhat agree about crime going up because before going down say Walking Street a bar girl/lady boy could go up to a farang try to get money if the person not interested hey 4,000---5,000 others around will get another. now with much less chance to get a date they may resort to stealing or drugging a farang so as to get as much as they can instead of just the usual date price because with less tourist less chance to make a baht. Thhis in turn gets reported and less farangs come over.

[SteveFong]

the numbers are down because,

their unbridled crime eventually works its way from victim to friends of victims, to decisions to then not return

[joebrown]

You want to increase tourists you need to instill confidence. There are too many Thai low life's on the streets scamming, assaulting, robbing, raping and murdering tourists. I would like to see a mandatory one year jail time to any Thai who assaults a farang. The current 500 baht fine just don't build confidence that the government cares about the safety of it's tourists. Let the world know you are serious about crime and things are changing .... But do it and just don't say it !

What a stupid idea and bordering on being racist. So they should have a minimum of one-year jail for assaulting a white person, but what about assaulting other people? Are you saying that white people are better and need more protection? And what about a farang assaulting a Thai? Surely the same sentencing should apply to everyone. Also, your post is a more than a little hysterical. I suggest you stay away.

IMHO there was nothing racist (or hysterical) about the post when I first read it. However on reading reading yours I can see where you're coming from. The only change needed for it to be seemingly non-racist would be the substitution of "assaults to a farang" to "assaults to a tourist". Of course, the same rules should apply to Thais as well as foreigners. Are you really sure they do, as things stand today?? I'm sure the 'Moderators' will exercise their powers and ask the racist/hysterical poster to depart, should THEY feel it necessary. Otherwise, maybe it's time for you to exercise a modicum of tolerance!

[rickirs]

The decline is good news!

If growth had continued as expected in 2013 for 2014 there would have been a disaster at the International Terminal. The Junta had cut the original Yingluck 2014 budget for remodeling and upgrading the airport that was based on continued passenger increases. Now the airport facility will actually become underutilized. So getting less can be a good thing.

[Kabula]

If the Ebola numbers increase in the US, and Europe, air travel will retreat big time. Their stocks are already declining from the Ebola news in Texas.

Borders might even be shut down.

Tourism and travel worldwide will suffer greatly.

[Phuketboy]

5 or so years ago, I would get room bookings as early as June for my Phuket hotels, for the Christmas break. Customers booked early to ensure that they could get a room.

Over the past few years, peak season advanced bookings have tailed off, although the number of guests staying during the peak season has remained the same - people just leave it to the last minute to book, (I assume either because they think the hotels will not be booked out, or they wait until the last minute in case there is another coup/ghastly murder/ flood/ ebola etc etc in Thailand).

Not only that, there are so many hotels and rooms available now that people don't need to book early. This is the problem with continual building, and it's basic supply and demand. The other issue is that you can have more tourists here but there may still be hotels which are a long way off being at full capacity. This doesn't mean there is a decline in tourist numbers, it means the tourists are spreading out across the available accommodation.

[Phuketboy]

A couple of friends of mine who have hotels have said their bookings for this high season are actually better than the bookings they had last high season.

[Boatfreak]

... Just wait for the tourists reading about the wristband story, guess they'll be excited

Sick! why not just micro chip them all.

It is already happening if you visit Thailand by yacht you need an Automatic Identification System so that they know at all time where you are. This is only for yachts under foreign flags as they do not care where their own fishing boats are.