70.1 per cent of foreign tourists unperturbed by martial law

[Mister Fixit]

I'll believe that when I see it, and the hordes are in queues 200 yards long outside Swampy.

[bongoz]

Sounds fair enough - it's not like it's going to affect them much, after all.

Impressive display of miserable replies already though. Well done chaps. Your crown as 'most depressing forum on the internet' is surely safe for another year.

Have you never heard of 440 in Cambodia?

[draftvader]

Just rode past the Khao San at 2pm. Granted we are still only mid November but it is still quieter than I've ever seen it and cars are being driven up and down it quite freely. Not a perfect survey but a pretty good litmus test. I remember 3 years ago before Christmas having to move over to the right hand side of the road to pass the people thronging out into the street either end. Now I could pull a wheelie down the full length of it.

[simondan]

'Marital' law?

What marital law is that then?

Its hardly surprising that tourists arent concerned about marriage laws.

Well they did say martial law, but you bring up a good point, who does care about marital law?

"BANGKOK: -- In an opinion survey undertaken by Bangkok University, 70. 1 per cent of foreign tourists said marital law did not affect their decision to choose to visit Thailand..."

On reflection, there are many similarities between marital law and martial law. Just ask my ex-wife!

Edited November 18, 2014 by simondan

[ramrod711]

Its funny that Thais love to look down on their Cambodian neighbours as coarse peasants, but on the whole, Cambodians in tourist areas in Cambodia speak much better English.

Thailand, time to get serious. In this day and age, if you cant (or as is often the case here, wont) speak at least basic English, you just arent going to remain competitive. Even the Cambodians are outpacing you.

Siam Reap!

Chula relaxes English proficiency score for engineering programme

Obviously Thais have heard you loud and clear, and they're on the job.

[Kerryd]

Martial Law ? What Martial Law ? All I see (and hear) is "business as per normal" (normal being - no mass protests in the streets, no shooting/bombing opposition protesters, no airport takeovers, etc).

Most tourists probably have no idea at all that Martial Law is (or ever has been) in effect. I've travelled in/out of Thailand a few times since Khun Prayuth overthrew the government. Haven't noticed a single thing (other than the lack of chaos noted above).

No travel agent warnings. No airline advisories. Nothing on TV (the "tele" one, not that "forum" one). To the majority of tourists, everything is probably just the way they'd expect it to be.

And judging from the Immigration queues I had to endure (no thanks to you Thai and Philippines Air ) there are no shortage of tourists visiting the Kingdom currently.

I must say though, that despite getting to the.........ugh........cattle class Immigration lanes and finding them full to the beginning of the "zig-zags", things sped along quite nicely. Both times I was forced to endure the horror it only took 30ish minutes until I was through, and the Immigration guys in those lanes were much nicer about giving me 90 (or more) days on my entry stamp when they saw the Retirement Visa and Multi-Entry permit. (OK, OK. The "Extension Of Stay" and Multi-Entry Permit. Settle down !)

The few expats I associate with are pretty much of the "meh, what martial law ?" mentality. They aren't hearing about it, it's not affecting their day-to-day routine and probably not going to affect their long-term plans so why be arsed about it ?

[ramrod711]

'Marital' law?

What marital law is that then?

Its hardly surprising that tourists arent concerned about marriage laws.

Well they did say martial law, but you bring up a good point, who does care about marital law?

"BANGKOK: -- In an opinion survey undertaken by Bangkok University, 70. 1 per cent of foreign tourists said marital law did not affect their decision to choose to visit Thailand..."

On reflection, there are many similarities between marital law and martial law. Just ask my ex-wife!

You are correct sir, I missed the smaller type mistake, it was overshadowed by this.

70.1 per cent of foreign tourists unperturbed by martial law

[Baerboxer]

hmm obviously they didnt survey the longer term residents who have to trek to immigration and wait hours in line to report their address within 24 hours of every time changing. yes and to do that you need full details of the owner with id and signature or immigration wont accept the address change. try that when you have a cross cultural language barrier.

immigration "you have lots of time for us to waste so come back again tomorrow" you "ok i'll ring you from cambodia/malaysia with the details, see ya"

did i say snot? oh there is some snot in there somewhere. put it where you think possible not limited to one place of course.

The survey was about tourists. Not about long term expats who chose to live here.

Guess why they didn't survey the latter?

[Baerboxer]

The figures are clearly a crock of sh!t..... I leave it at that.

I'm in a rush, as I need to go to fill in a survey, which has already been completed, asking for me to add my name to the 99,3% currently agreeing that everybody in Thailand is happy. The survey will conclude that farang adore Prayuth in all he says about farang and the attitudes of the British Government ,and all other European and American countries also agree and concur with his public statements.

Once the gun has been removed from my head, I'll send an update.

Who are you to make such comments? What qualifies you to make attacks on the integrity and methodology of this survey?

This was conducted by a private university not a government agency.

Your attempt at presenting a cartoon image of Thailand in words is more like a crock of shit.

[phutoie2]

hmm obviously they didnt survey the longer term residents who have to trek to immigration and wait hours in line to report their address within 24 hours of every time changing. yes and to do that you need full details of the owner with id and signature or immigration wont accept the address change. try that when you have a cross cultural language barrier.

immigration "you have lots of time for us to waste so come back again tomorrow" you "ok i'll ring you from cambodia/malaysia with the details, see ya"

did i say snot? oh there is some snot in there somewhere. put it where you think possible not limited to one place of course.

The survey was about tourists. Not about long term expats who chose to live here.

Guess why they didn't survey the latter?

I'll answer that, just spend a few hours reading general.

[simondan]

'Marital' law?

What marital law is that then?

Its hardly surprising that tourists arent concerned about marriage laws.

Well they did say martial law, but you bring up a good point, who does care about marital law?

"BANGKOK: -- In an opinion survey undertaken by Bangkok University, 70. 1 per cent of foreign tourists said marital law did not affect their decision to choose to visit Thailand..."

On reflection, there are many similarities between marital law and martial law. Just ask my ex-wife!

You are correct sir, I missed the smaller type mistake, it was overshadowed by this.

70.1 per cent of foreign tourists unperturbed by martial law

Details, details!

My dsylexia led me right to it!

But I concede, 1 out of 2 aint bad.

Edited November 18, 2014 by simondan

[mojorison]

Admittedly I could not be bothered reading the article, but the headline if put into perspective, means 30% are perturbed. If you were to survey travellers to a thousand other destinations of similar or greater development and attributes as Thailand, the issue of government probably would not even crack a mention. So 30% dissatisfaction (?) is astronomical in this category.

[RustBucket]

How did I know all this bullcrap was going to come out today to counteract the news on the release of a book naming Thailand as probably the world's most dangerous destination for tourists.

The real startling fact here is that 30% think it IS DANGEROUS!!

So stop crowing on about the 70%.... those lot were not asked about all the other dangers lurking other than the stupid martial law.

Truth is.... 30% is bloody bad. Had you asked about all the combined dangers it would have been more like 80% perturbed, the other 20% would have been far too pissed to care about their p[personal safety.

Thailand is not a place I will allow my kids from the UK to come and visit..... not now. I will fly there to see them instead.

I no longer trust this place. It is full of ruthless people, stupid people and people who do idiotically dangerous things for kicks.

[wabothai]

Poll done by who? And did they speak English? And are non English speakint tourists being questioned? Etc.

[mikemac]

I was not aware there was Martial Law in place until the posters on TV told me about it.

Most tourists are either not affected by it or don't care.

I bet the posters who harp on about it on TV are not affected either but it gives them something to write about.

And since the junta stepped in the senseless killings by the ThaiRouge has stopped, that's got to be a plus tourism wise.

[EnglishJohn]

I wonder if these tourist realise that ML makes their travel insurance invalid?

You should be sure of your facts before posting stuff like that on a forum.

Mine is valid as long as there is no government advisory 'against all travel'

[wooloomooloo]

So why are the numbers dropping then? Duh?

Please quote your survey of a drop in tourism numbers, thanks.

[Thai at Heart]

So why are the numbers dropping then? Duh?

Please quote your survey of a drop in tourism numbers, thanks.

The number of tourists in Thailand in the first 7 months of the year from January to July 2014 reached 13,626,929, a reduction of 10.47% compared to the same time last year.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/751969-tourist-numbers-in-thailand-increase-by-227-in-july/

And the trend is holding. don't you read anything in the news?

[mikemac]

How did I know all this bullcrap was going to come out today to counteract the news on the release of a book naming Thailand as probably the world's most dangerous destination for tourists.

The real startling fact here is that 30% think it IS DANGEROUS!!

So stop crowing on about the 70%.... those lot were not asked about all the other dangers lurking other than the stupid martial law.

Truth is.... 30% is bloody bad. Had you asked about all the combined dangers it would have been more like 80% perturbed, the other 20% would have been far too pissed to care about their p[personal safety.

Thailand is not a place I will allow my kids from the UK to come and visit..... not now. I will fly there to see them instead.

I no longer trust this place. It is full of ruthless people, stupid people and people who do idiotically dangerous things for kicks.

What is the name of this book and who wrote it, one of the TVF posters ? I would love to read it, sounds fascinating.

I could/would not stay in a place for one minute if I thought of it the way you wrote in your last two sentences.

[emilymat]

I was not aware there was Martial Law in place until the posters on TV told me about it.

Most tourists are either not affected by it or don't care.

I bet the posters who harp on about it on TV are not affected either but it gives them something to write about.

And since the junta stepped in the senseless killings by the ThaiRouge has stopped, that's got to be a plus tourism wise.

Not aware.....Well, for someone who has over 2000 posts on this forum, you must have been asleep for the last 8 months or leading a very sheltered life somewhere, perhaps in one of those walled villages, where it seems to me that the reality of life in Thailand is excluded..

I'm not trying to be objectionable, but to say you were not aware of martial law seems quite absurd.

[peptidebomber]

How did I know all this bullcrap was going to come out today to counteract the news on the release of a book naming Thailand as probably the world's most dangerous destination for tourists.

The real startling fact here is that 30% think it IS DANGEROUS!!

So stop crowing on about the 70%.... those lot were not asked about all the other dangers lurking other than the stupid martial law.

Truth is.... 30% is bloody bad. Had you asked about all the combined dangers it would have been more like 80% perturbed, the other 20% would have been far too pissed to care about their p[personal safety.

Thailand is not a place I will allow my kids from the UK to come and visit..... not now. I will fly there to see them instead.

I no longer trust this place. It is full of ruthless people, stupid people and people who do idiotically dangerous things for kicks.

I understand people are concerned about martial law, but I think you're a not really reading the article.

30% don't think it's dangerous, it was just a factor in deciding to come. It is no more dangerous than this time last year, if not safer and I still recommend to my family and friends that it safe to visit.

But I do agree that it has had a huge affect on tourism, crap surveys won't fix it, they need to find a solution to the problem but that ain't going to happen anytime soon.

[Emster23]

I can imagine how a survey might be put together:

Please rank in order how much these issues might perturb you

a. Martial law

b. Murder of tourists with impunity

c. rip offs and scams done with police involvement

d. It's much hotter here than back home

Easy to see that martial law might come in last, hence it is not a problem. End of story.

[MexicanFarang]

I'm starting to get the impression that the majority of tourists to the LOS will never win a Nobel prize.

[wooloomooloo]

So why are the numbers dropping then? Duh?

Please quote your survey of a drop in tourism numbers, thanks.

The number of tourists in Thailand in the first 7 months of the year from January to July 2014 reached 13,626,929, a reduction of 10.47% compared to the same time last year.[/size]

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/751969-tourist-numbers-in-thailand-increase-by-227-in-july/

And the trend is holding. don't you read anything in the news?

Sorry that I don't live up to your exacting standards of reading every questionable survey ever published. I will now beat myself with a stick.

Notwithstanding, the survey you link to, with no obvious analytics, is for the period to July 2014 which would obviously include the period of introduction of martial law. Jeez.

[marcusd]

Bull crap. Ask the airlines. Many international flights now cancelled to Chiang Mai. Empty airport now at night and before full.

And you should see the planes flying to Thailand from oz. Today a 777 had 57 passengers Melbourne to Bangkok. I will try to upload pic.

[marcusd]

Thai plane today

[brucec64]

I wonder if these tourist realise that ML makes their travel insurance invalid?

You should be sure of your facts before posting stuff like that on a forum.

Mine is valid as long as there is no government advisory 'against all travel'

It all depends on the underwriter, but in a lot of cases day to day incidents are covered, but incidents related to martial law are not.

Here is an explanation from Nomad:

Now’s the time to go and read your policy documents because it depends on where you're from and which underwriter covers you (sorry, it's complicated). However, generally - Military coups are a general exclusion (we'll explain that below) – which means anything that happens to you because of the coup IS NOT COVERED, but everything else IS as normal.

So, fall over and break a leg – you’re covered. Miss a flight because the public transport system is closed – sorry, not covered.

Your bag gets stolen from your hotel – no change to your cover. Your hotel is locked down by the military and you have to pay to move to a new one – again, not covered.

http://www.worldnomads.com/travel-safety/thailand/travel-warnings-and-updates

[OZEMADE]

I can imagine how a survey might be put together:

Please rank in order how much these issues might perturb you

a. Martial law

b. Murder of tourists with impunity

c. rip offs and scams done with police involvement

d. It's much hotter here than back home

Easy to see that martial law might come in last, hence it is not a problem. End of story.

Maby the University should have asked the tourists about all of the above and now added about the three drunken Thai's at Ubon Thani ,that that wanted to imitate the murders at Koh Tao, by bashing a German over the head with a hoe just for kicks and admitted it. Survey on Martial Law, what a joke.

[rametindallas]

This survey exhibits survivorship bias because they only interviewed foreign tourists who decided to come to Thailand in spite of martial law and excluded tourists who cancelled or decided not to book at all due to martial law. So it is completely skewed and useless. It is not going to influence any foreign tourists anyway. It just makes Thais feel better for while until the harsh reality kicks in again.

I'm curious as to how any poll could find out about those that canceled or decided not to book.

[rametindallas]

"And 12.7 per cent said Thais should improve the English speaking skills to communicate with foreign tourists."

Just as they learn a variety of foreign languages at home for all visitors to their own fair lands.

I read it as - "And 12.7 per cent were arrogant <deleted> who look down their noses at Thai people".

Much like some of the Thai bashers who haunt TVF.

Here's me thinking that they just wanted to communicate with their hosts, how naive of me.

As a visitor to Paris and being an American, I found it difficult to find any French people who would deign to speak to me in English. In Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands,and Denmark I could easily find a local to assist me in English. In Florence, even at the information booth at the railway station, I never found even one English speaker. Why is it so odd that Thais wouldn't speak English? Try visiting Mexico and see how much English is used.