70.1 per cent of foreign tourists unperturbed by martial law

[Chris Lawrence]

More propaganda?

Nothing said about the lower number of visits from tourists.

What they need to do is take a survey in another country of people wanting to plan a holiday in overseas country. Otherwise a bias can easily develop on home soil.

This government appears to need a lot of reassurance by way of opinion surveys?

[chooka]

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 ?

travel agents do warn tourists that they don't have travel insurance if they go to Thailand and this does deter a lot from travelling. They warn them to cover thier own backsides.

This 70% figure is rubbish and doesn't represent those who decided not to go to Thailand because of martial law. What if 90% choose different locations to holiday that would leave the remains 10% arriving in Thailand and a small percentage of these are surveyed.

[chooka]

"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.

When I go home to Melbourne I have the same problem. Ever tried to communicate to a taxi driver give them directions it is impossible or speak to a customer service officer. I think there are more English speaking people in Thailand than Australia.

[Cake Monster]

Of those Tourists surveyed, the vast majority of them would have booked and paid for their package holiday deals many, many months ago from their own home countries, and really had no alternative other than to accept the terms of the deal.

The package deal would have meant non-refundable monies, so it was a take it or leave it situation for these people.

Then there would have been the " beer and women " tourists, who really dont care about a lot, as long as the beer is cold and cheap.

And finally, there would have been a small minority of tourists that " just decided to go on the spur of the moment for a holiday "

If the same survey is conducted in about 6 to 8 months time, the results will be quite different.

[mikemac]

"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.

As against the 97.3 percent of Thais who look down on falang, while of course aspiring to their wealth, knowledge and advanced culture and industry,

..............."As against the 97.3 percent of Thais who look down on falang, while of course aspiring to their wealth, knowledge and advanced culture and industry"..........................

Perhaps you feel that way but don't include me in your invented figures.

A lot of Thai people have contempt for farangs but not for the reasons you quoted. Arrogance, bad manners, attitude towards Thais, and rudeness come to mind.

[mikemac]

Anyone who thinks Thais should speak English just to make it more "convenient" for the tourist is really show how ignorant they are.

Many of these people come from poor backgrounds and being able to attend English language classes is a luxury.

And don't even bother saying they can learn it for free at school as the standards of English teaching in Thai schools is very poor, ie. Thai teachers with a poor grasp of English themselves.

[mojorison]

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

This is a very under-rated post. This is at the heart of many of the woes facing Thailand society, and tourism on the whole. Is it asking too much, that Thailand produces what may be called a bona-fide family friendly environment? I am not high and mighty, nor self-righteous or straight laced. Quite the opposite. I just happen to recognize that some things should be kept away from the mainstream. Like hookers flashing their beavers in the morning when you're driving the kids to school... and stuff like that. I doubt that there is one destination in Thailand that has this wholesome, earnest, sincere desire to present tranquility, integrity and virtuousness. And that is a major shame. You go to any temple you'll see the dark side. You go down any street, you may be hit on, or your kids propositioned by some scraggly street walker. Whatever happened to zoning, and licensing laws, and public lewdness laws? It is the Thai's morally bankrupt ways that serve up this crap... not ours.

[wooloomooloo]

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

Strange. My wife and I arrived at Suvarnabhumi last Sunday and it was heaving at arrivals and departures. The taxi queues were at least an hour and half wait. I've honestly never seen it so busy.

Surveys aside, and I've arrived and departed LOS many a time in high season, why is Swampy the busiest I've ever witnessed?

[mojorison]

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

Strange. My wife and I arrived at Suvarnabhumi last Sunday and it was heaving at arrivals and departures. The taxi queues were at least an hour and half wait. I've honestly never seen it so busy.

Surveys aside, and I've arrived and departed LOS many a time in high season, why is Swampy the busiest I've ever witnessed?

Because it is grossly undersized... it was not future proofed. It can't handle International and domestic demand simultaneously. It is nothing more than a regional airport, that's why it appears "bustling".

[wooloomooloo]

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

Strange. My wife and I arrived at Suvarnabhumi last Sunday and it was heaving at arrivals and departures. The taxi queues were at least an hour and half wait. I've honestly never seen it so busy.

Surveys aside, and I've arrived and departed LOS many a time in high season, why is Swampy the busiest I've ever witnessed?

Because it is grossly undersized... it was not future proofed. It can't handle International and domestic demand simultaneously. It is nothing more than a regional airport, that's why it appears "bustling".

So, we both agree that it's an extremely busy high season this year. It wasn't this busy at the same point last November. Taking into account that the majority of domestic flights depart and arrive from Don Mueang.

My wife and I arrived on a direct flight from LHR and it was full to capacity.

Further, my wife and I caught a domestic flight from DMK at 0700h on Monday, 17 November, and the place was bustling, like we've never seen before.

Let's face it, LOS remains a major international tourist destination.

[mikemac]

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

Strange. My wife and I arrived at Suvarnabhumi last Sunday and it was heaving at arrivals and departures. The taxi queues were at least an hour and half wait. I've honestly never seen it so busy.

Surveys aside, and I've arrived and departed LOS many a time in high season, why is Swampy the busiest I've ever witnessed?

Because it is grossly undersized... it was not future proofed. It can't handle International and domestic demand simultaneously. It is nothing more than a regional airport, that's why it appears "bustling".

Because it is grossly undersized... it was not future proofed. It can't handle International and domestic demand simultaneously. It is nothing more than a regional airport, that's why it appears "bustling".

What a ridiculous statement ! So even when it is busy, and handling lots of travelers, it only "appears" to be busy ????

Straight out of the "Let's bag Thailand" textbook.................................zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[MobileContent]

They should have polled the hotels and tour operators in Bangkok and 70% would say that Martial law has negative effects on inbound tourism.

The high season has started already.

[heybruce]

I think this topic has been eclipsed by this one: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/777690-foreign-tourist-arrivals-in-thailand-drop-in-october/

Bottom line--8.7% drop in tourist arrivals from October 2013. The drop in westerns tourists was larger, but partially offset by a big increase in Chinese tourists. This can't be blamed on protests; both months were peaceful, or the global economy; the economy was better in some places this October, and worse in others, but overall globally about the same.

I'm only speculating, but maybe some people don't want to vacation in a place under military government and martial law.

Edited November 19, 2014 by heybruce

[manarak]

"Asked if martial law in Thailand influenced their decision to visit the country, 70.1 per cent said it did not and 29.9 per cent said it did."

Did they ask the 29.9% how exactly it influenced them?

I mean they're here, so........

yeah, I'm scratching my head on this one too.

I'm even surprised the number of people bothered by martial law is so large, I clearly underestimated the impact of that kayword on the Western Pavlov-conditioned brains.