Thai tourism industry: 'Martial law killing arrivals'

[balford]

And what guage did they use to determine that martial law was killing tourism? Did they conduct any polls or issue questionnaires? Or is just another of TAT's daily press releases saying nothing, but issued because...well, that's what they do.

And silly me - I thought martial law was another of TAT's brillant ideas to bring tourists in. Sigh.

Bob A. Relaxed in Lampang

[Denim]

'Martial law killing arrivals'

Hey , you were successful in extinguishing democracy .................. suck it up and stop complaining.

Should have looked at how the Burmese tourism industry fared while Aung San Su Chi was under house arrest before having your coup.

[Fred Flinstone]

you gotta love the bullsh*t these people come up with while trying to cover up the fact that it is everything else happening that is actually killing it off. I have spoken to several people that have just visited and are going to visit, martial law has nothing to do with it, they say it makes them feel safer but what did worry them was all the crime, rales, killings, muggings, the taxi/tuk tuk mafia etc. They are more concerned with locals ripping them off than anything else and now with all the actual stories of what they are doing here in the news it is adding fuel to the fire. Thailand is a great country but their are too many corrupt people, when tourists know that they are going to be targeted simply because they are not locals they tend to back off, having to pay many times more for admission to several places, having to pay bribes etc to police for made up infractions, police backing the rip offs by the local taxi/tuk tuk/motor bike/jet ski hire places, then the rapes and murders that the police simply refuse to investigate properly or at all or blame the tourist seeing no thai would ever do anything that. They want to sort it out they need to stop all the corruption, tourists are awake to all the sh*t they are peddling now, thainess has been seen for what it is, a load of crap.

Yes some people work on the idea that tourism grew dramatically over the last ten years there , to mean the trend will continue?

However, i disagree for the above reasons .

India and China grew along with Russia so people from those regions spiked for a while.

Bad press on scams and social media talk of rapes and robberies and common scams backed by daily cops have even found their way onto Travel advice from no less than UK government.

The natural changes are the illusion it once was is evaporated for many-

Social media has reinforced the experiences.

So once good , could now be bad.

People see it on instagram, Facebook , etc

"I just got ripped off by a jet ski dude and cops made me pay up"

34,000 friends read it and some go to Laos instead (as an example)

Indians murdered , Australians , japanese , Chinese < germans , American , Italian ..some mysteriously - over many years cycles change-

Throw in improving competition , higher costs , and the reality the place isn't as smooth as silk , but has issues.

Then political unrest and finally a Coup and law changes- Visa changes - curfews and uncertainty .

People were rethinking plans before more shocking murders.

A few weeks ago before David and Hannahs murders two headless sailors were located in Pattaya , and their yacht ransacked , they were westerners murdered.

Police accused the fish of eating their heads off , but few bought that.

It was a grizzly murder.

The deaths there are more shared more noted - the cover ups less effective than ten years ago .

Social media is in a large way a part of the story.

Economics another-

But the Thai experiment and love affair is now having its ugly morning after.

And it aint pretty.

[captspectre]

This discover "thainess" should turn the corner on this problem. Discover Thainess would be a huge seller among foreigners.

the european murders at phuket and other areas of thailand do NOTHING for "thainess" the european papers are full of thelatest murders and the thai "Poilice" handling of the case.

[seancbk]

Come On, 99% of tourists don't know there is Martial law in effect in Thailand

What effect has it had on your life in the last , say month living here in Thailand.

What if you've come on holiday and find that all the clubs and bars are closing at 2am?

What if you have friends who either live here or just came and they tell you don't bother coming to Bangkok at the moment, you can't go out at night and have fun.

I admit that might not be a huge number of people not coming but each drip out of the bucket empties it a bit more and I know a lot of people in Hong Kong and Singapore who cancelled planned trips to Bangkok because of the closing times.

Don't forget also that the fewer people coming to party in Bangkok and the early closing times for people here, means the clubs are not making as much money. How soon before some close their doors? Then you have a situation where Bangkok as a holiday weekend destination for the party crowd loses its appeal and people stop coming.... vicious cycle of declining numbers, declining choices, further declining numbers....

[belg]

all they have to do is ... RAISE THE PRICES

for fix the problem

low demand = raise prices

high demand = increase the raised prices

thai economics

[ParadiseLost]

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Edited October 14, 2014 by ParadiseLost

[OPG]

Martial Law has nothing to do with the drop in tourism. Solve the KT tragedy honestly and openly and you'll see tourism bounce back, but until that happens, it will make no difference to lift Martial Law. As a matter of fact, lifting Martial Law will only make matters worst in the country, since this will then open the red shirt flood gates.

The more I read statements being issued by departments of the Thai Government, the more I want a job. You get a great salary+bonuses to come up with the most idiotic ideas that can help deter the economy from bouncing back. Talking about a non stressful job.

BTW, Martial Law only affects areas outside of the tourist spots; Phuket, Samui, Pattaya, Hua Hin, Bangkok etc...(tourist areas) are not affected by Martial Law, so what other excuses can they come up with... I'm telling you, I WANT A JOB to come up with crap like this.

Edited October 14, 2014 by OPG

[squis1961]

I have been going to Thailand for the last 10 years and I have had it now with all the scams that's been going on and the killing off the 2 British and all the bull shit the Thai police are coming out with and all I can see is that Thailand will keep going down. So I am off to Cambodia and vitamin ???. ✈️✈️✈️ ??? so good bye Thailand

Edited October 14, 2014 by squis1961

[Thai at Heart]

It will be much worse if the police and government don't do the right thing on the Koh Tao investigation. If they proceed down the present course, tourists will have a good chance of having a drink sitting next to a murdering rapist as they will still be on the loose.

I absolutely agree. There is another case that came to light about a British tourist being fitted up in Pattaya and doing jail time for absolutely nothing other than getting the police to right a report that he refused to pay for.

It is coming to a point, that the only way to completely safe way to have a holiday in Thailand is to go to hotel resort, and never leave. Don't venture outside, don't eat outside, don't party outside, don't shop outside your main hotel resort. That said, there is always balcony jumping and suicide by shooting oneself 3 or 4 times that is very common inside the hotels themselves.

Several people have asked me if it is safe to go to the islands, and hand on my heart, is it, in comparison with the Mediterannean or other cheapish holidays.

[matoind]

In my last holiday to Thailand, I was fed up of all the constant haggling. You have to bargain all throughout the place or else pay the double. I remember that I asked a tourist from UK about the place she bought an item from. She told me the place along with the advise I should bargain hard starting from half the quoted price and then move up.

Also last year I went to a cruise trip starting from Singapore. It also had a brief stopover at Phuket. We were given tips about how to bargain in Thailand in suggested tips about the area.

[SiggiCM]

how you can believe any statistic, do you realy think that nay number published by TAT or THA are real, they published what they want to .....

thai tourist bussiness is near to collaps, tussian rubel went down 20 % in the last 10 month, world economic everywhere, but prices in thailand went up, holiday in Phuket, Bkk, Samui costs you more that the same level in Europe, double pricing everywhere, no respect of customers and their needs, and more than 40% of holiday bussines was built up in the last 10 years, so more competition and higher risk in bankrupt, if there will be a bad season there is no back up, a lot of people will loose everything, I live in Chiang Mai, and i have the time for make every month some days holiday, but if 4 days in Phuket or Samui costs me more than a flight to Europe than for sure I wont, CM to Koh Samui return flight with Bkk airways, 48000 Baht for 3 people, to Europe 60000 Baht for 3 people,

[DrTuner]

The thing that will hit tourism the hardest in the coming years is modernization. Many people come to Thailand because it offers a glimpse into the past and is an adventure and cheap. Much of this is going away fairly rapidly. Be it police, Taxis, hotels, night life and so on, as laws and higher standards are enforced then costs and freedoms you can't experience at home will be less attractive. I expect neighboring countries will continue to steal these types of tourists away as Thailand continues to try to move toward more quality (higher spending) tourists while trying not to completely forget the nightlife and backpacking crowd.

Yeah, why fly to a semi-modernized country when you could simply pick a modernized one, for the same price or less. The "exotic" Thailand is turning into a concrete bunker ghetto with fake shows for tourists.

[Equalizer]

The figures are flawed. The place is dead and it will continue through the high season. Even free flights wouldn't bring in the masses here the way things are. They are in shit street and they know it.

So many problems, ample time and opportunity to have done something about it. Just a complete lack of any desire by anyone to actually do anything about the problems. Nothing but contempt for any non-Thai.

I hope the numbers of visitors and the money they spend are massively decreased for a while. Perhaps then the message may get across.

SOM NAM NA.

They are expecting a huge influx of Chinese tourists. Should i or you tell them the average hourly wage in China is 33 baht!!!

[jollyman]

No they come for the Cheap B and B,, Booze and Bonking

[Thomas Hannah]

Its the normal crap,,That you get in every country in the world,,Tourism,is not down ,,because of martial law,,Any body,,can play with certain facts,,To make them add up to what they want,,If anything,,tourists are comming,,Because,they feel thailand is a safer place to visit,,If martial law ,had not been introduced,,We would be now talking much bigger numbers,,The mafia and so called corrupt cival servants,,Will say that martial law,is the problem,,They want there control,,the same ,as before,,The fact about thailand is,,Its not the same as it was 7 years ago ,,Were we got better exchange rates ,,and everything much cheaper,,And to be honest,,Farangs are getting angry ,at thailands attitude,,I am one ,,of many hundreds ,,who do not come anymore,,To the small area that i stayed in pattaya..Thailand ,,will never talk the truth about themselves,,And that is ,,they are stupid in there thinking,,ie,,Less come ,,put the prices up ,,means less come,,put the prices up again,,Thailand is now expencive to visit,,People who are thinking of going,,who ask me about prices,,There first words are,,I THOUGHT THAILAND WAS SUPOSSED TO BE CHEAP,,The Headlines should read,,Thailand is now expencive to visit ,,and the attitude by thais,,Has driven hundreds of thousands of tourists from not comming,,And the long term stayers ,,Bit by Bit,,are leaving and not comming back..WE NEED TO CHANGE ARE ATTITUDE,,

[KhnomKhnom]

they forgot to add the visa crackdown for long term tourists ...which is one of the reasons like it or not

OMG, Thailand will go bankrupt without the pitances these foreigners spend here ... these visa runners are law dodgers living on the margin and thus not really what the nation will benefit from having. Get more Thai Elite Card members and sweep the other trash on out.

[max72]

they forgot to add the visa crackdown for long term tourists ...which is one of the reasons like it or not

yes, lots of genuine tourists who like to spend dozens of thousands of euros in the winter months (Nov-March) are turned away and send to any other neighbour country which will welcome them, while the criminals and scammers from Russia, Nigeria, Ghana etc are still there, protected and untouchable. Thailand has clearly spoken its voice: we hate genuine tourists, the richest they are, the more we hate them. We welcome indeed the international crooks, fugitives, pedophiles, mafiosos ,etc...

[max72]

they forgot to add the visa crackdown for long term tourists ...which is one of the reasons like it or not

OMG, Thailand will go bankrupt without the pitances these foreigners spend here ... these visa runners are law dodgers living on the margin and thus not really what the nation will benefit from having. Get more Thai Elite Card members and sweep the other trash on out.

Poor you. I am a long term tourist not a visa runner and my budget is 500 to 1000 USD a day. Since I have been 7 months in thailand in 2 years I don t want to be threated like a criminal in the inmigration or turned away (like it happened to others rich tourists) because I have spent more than 6 months every 2 year. Any other country in the world will welcome high budget tourists.

Russian and Nigerian mafia will indeed be safe and sound in Thailand and Russians are allowed to do visa runs for the rest of their lives , while the cheat and rob tourists as way of living (a friend of mine was just cheated by 30K dollars)

[kaobang]

they forgot to add the visa crackdown for long term tourists ...which is one of the reasons like it or not

OMG, Thailand will go bankrupt without the pitances these foreigners spend here ... these visa runners are law dodgers living on the margin and thus not really what the nation will benefit from having. Get more Thai Elite Card members and sweep the other trash on out.

so you call trash who cant afford a thai elite card?you are rotten to the bones

[retsdon]

As someone up the thread pointed out, modernization is a kicker. Too much traffic, too much pollution, first world prices - but third world standards. Tacky is the adjective which springs to mind.

[Lozza]

Tourism in Thailand is going to keep going up. As always there is going to be occasional yearly dips be it Political, Tsunami or Sars but last year still saw almost 3 times the number of arrivals than 10 Years ago. Tourism makes up about 9% of GDP and near 30% of this is from domestic tourism. While numbers dropped earlier this year, I would not expect much if any of a drop the rest of the year making foreign tourism down just a couple percentage points over the record high previous year. For sure the sky is not falling nor is tourism dying in Thailand as so many here have been predicting for at least the last 10 years.

The thing that will hit tourism the hardest in the coming years is modernization. Many people come to Thailand because it offers a glimpse into the past and is an adventure and cheap. Much of this is going away fairly rapidly. Be it police, Taxis, hotels, night life and so on, as laws and higher standards are enforced then costs and freedoms you can't experience at home will be less attractive. I expect neighboring countries will continue to steal these types of tourists away as Thailand continues to try to move toward more quality (higher spending) tourists while trying not to completely forget the nightlife and backpacking crowd.

You say tourism isn't dying there and put a "good Junta boy " twist on things-

But few here buy that-

Its very clear the message is people are consciously voting to boycott the place in far larger numbers.

Its silly to suggest hotels half empty all year are now in for a bumper recovery.

When the opposite is true

Doom and gloomers have been saying this for so long as tourism and arrivals continue to increase and most of them who say this are right here in Thailand and don't leave (sadly). As I said, there are down times like this year but the trend is has and will continue to go up as it has for decades.

JTJ...I notice your absence from the Koh Tao opinion pieces recently, as the torture accusations and other unsavoury aspects of the case emerge..Now, diplomats seem to be getting involved. Again, no comments from you on that post. You seem to think that anybody with a negative view on ANY aspect of Thailand should leave, as they spoil your view of Thailand as Paradise with perfect and angelic police, politicians, jetski owners, scammers, criminals.

Tourist arrivals have dropped. Fact. No tourist destination can post growth increases forever..Not even this perfect country...The truth is that tourists have a multitude of options, and will take the option that is best for them..

Try to be objective occasionally. You might feel good about yourself.

JTJ..is no longer talking at us on the khao tao forum. He's very concerned the junta will track him via his ISP causing huge issues for him when he pops into immigration to renew his retirement .extension.

JTJ just pin a not to your shirt that says 'it wasn't me' in thai.

[brewsterbudgen]

I have been going to Thailand for the last 10 years and I have had it now with all the scams that's been going on and the killing off the 2 British and all the bull shit the Thai police are coming out with and all I can see is that Thailand will keep going down. So I am off to Cambodia and vitamin ???. ✈️✈️✈️ ??? so good bye Thailand

So you think Cambodia is crime free and has no scams???

[spud1]

Come On, 99% of tourists don't know there is Martial law in effect in Thailand

What effect has it had on your life in the last , say month living here in Thailand.

You will find out in minutes that your holiday destination is under martial law, but it will take hours to find out if that will affect your holiday experience and insurance coverage.

Bottom line is that scares people away, no matter if it has a real impact.

You wouldn't care to tell us how much the insurance cost has gone up because of Martial law would you. Here today October 14, 2014?

It would be nice to see the degree of validity to your statement.

My money says it has gone down since Martial law was introduced.

You will find that it costs nothing for travel insurance Has no companies will write a policy for persons entering junta lead Thailand under martial law.Get it!

[Trouble]

I often think the numbers quoted which show arrivals can be very misleading. Surely it is a gauge of what is going on but many people who travel to Southeast Asia must use Bangkok as a transfer point. Many may spend a few days in Bangkok or other destinations in Thailand but move on to their final destination outside of Thailand. A more realistic approach to determine the real numbers are the average number of days tourists spend in Thailand not the number of arrivals at the airport.

[icare999]

so much better when red thugs were roaming around wasn't it. Thailand will be fine dont worry and with luck once and fro all get rid of Shinawati cancer. Compare here with food stamps in USA food handouts in UK and rest and problems here are minor. People here are not yet so pathetic to have to live of government handouts as in west and this country has plenty of food, no problem with unemployment but new debt is a sign of real problems to come. Thais are very fortunate at all levels and IMO being poor here is much much better than being poor in west

[englishoak]

so much better when red thugs were roaming around wasn't it. Thailand will be fine dont worry and with luck once and fro all get rid of Shinawati cancer. Compare here with food stamps in USA food handouts in UK and rest and problems here are minor. People here are not yet so pathetic to have to live of government handouts as in west and this country has plenty of food, no problem with unemployment but new debt is a sign of real problems to come. Thais are very fortunate at all levels and IMO being poor here is much much better than being poor in west

and stupid

[tonbridgebrit]

so much better when red thugs were roaming around wasn't it. Thailand will be fine dont worry and with luck once and fro all get rid of Shinawati cancer. Compare here with food stamps in USA food handouts in UK and rest and problems here are minor. People here are not yet so pathetic to have to live of government handouts as in west and this country has plenty of food, no problem with unemployment but new debt is a sign of real problems to come. Thais are very fortunate at all levels and IMO being poor here is much much better than being poor in west

What, so we might see Americans and Brits trying to flee to Thailand ? How about foreigners turning up in Thailand, and over-staying their visas, living here illegally ??

I mean, two thousand pounds is over a hundred thousand baht, a 'poor' Thai can live on that for a whole year, that's what the poor ones get paid over a year.

Actually, is that what we're seeing ??

[JohnThailandJohn]

Lawyer Aung Myo Thant said the pair, Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun, both 21, from the Arakanese town of Kyaukphyu, told a Burmese embassy legal team they had murdered English tourists Hannah Witheridge and David Miller by bludgeoning them to death with a hoe on 15 September. However, he said, their stories were “somewhat inconsistent” and “their faces portrayed fear”.

https://www.dvb.no/news/koh-tao-murderers-were-tortured-says-burmese-embassy-lawyer-burma-myanmar/44781

Same guy that later supposedly told a Myranmar reporter they recanted their confession at this meeting.

Another person at the same meeting stated....

Speaking to DVB on Monday, Kyaw Thaung, a representative of the Myanmar Association in Thailand, who attended the interview with the defendants, said, “We went to the prison [on Koh Samui] and were allowed to meet with the two freely. They confessed to committing the crime under the influence of alcohol.

Edited October 14, 2014 by JohnThailandJohn

[Tokay]

This discover "thainess" should turn the corner on this problem. Discover Thainess would be a huge seller among foreigners.

Discover Thainess

With a photo of a dark brown hand with filthy fingernails holding a machete.