TAT: New Year tourist number jumps across Thailand

[torpedo1970]

What a crock of shit ... who believes these numbers?

They do have a reputation for nonsense.

It did get busy around Christmas and has fallen off considerably in the last few days at the beaches. So much for high season.

I don't blame the coup as many do. If anything Thailand has never been more stable. I blame the world economy and specifically the Russian economy. Chickens coming home to roost for Putin, som nam na.

Well, the consensus amongst friends and family overseas that I've spoken to, is as follows:

1. It's far too expensive, even compared to as little as 4 or 5 years ago

2. They don't feel they will be "welcomed" or "accepted", other than as a source of cash, unlike say a decade ago

3. There's nothing here that they can't find in other Asian countries such as Laos, Cambodia or Vietnam for example, and those countries seem to welcome tourists much more and treat them better whilst there

4. The danger aspect, lots of foreigner deaths, suicides, accidents, and they just don't feel safe

5. Quality/standard of service (unless going very high end) is very low

Now, these are based on impressions they've received from news reporting, blogs, peoples personal experiences and actual trips here.

So, in summary, whatever Thailand "had", they've lost it.

It's TAT's lame attempt to counter the dismal news that was the lead item today on Thai tourism:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/789896-2014-tourist-arrivals-to-thailand-drop-by-66-percent/?utm_source=newsletter-20150108-0759&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=news

TIT and TAT

Off course TAT will have to "save face" by counter todays bad news cycle !

But i think that Tatsujin hit the nail on the head.... and the list is getting longer and longer.... i see many of my long term expat friends in Thailand packing up and moving to neighboring countries like Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

From a personal point, i have "only" been here 5 years, but i have seen a drastic decline in quality of life, cost of living have doubled, the friendliness is gone.... so only climate left... but that you also get in other countries too.

i know you guys will argue when i say cost of living have doubled.

i can agree that statistically prices has not gone up that much, but volume of what you get has gone down...

for example

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/783093-weekly-shopping-cost-per-person-thailand/?p=8842369

this shows some

[spidermike007]

What are we to believe? Here is another post on the same day-

New Year's Eve in Pattaya, a popular destination for Russian tourists that had a week turnout this year due to the fall of the ruble.

BANGKOK — The number of foreign tourists who visited Thailand in 2014 is down 6.6 percent from the previous year, a Thai government official confirmed.

"24.7 million tourists visited Thailand in the year 2014, which is a 6.6 percent decrease compared with 2013," said Kobkarn Wattanavarangkul, Minister of Tourism and Sports. "They generated 1.13 trillion baht in revenue, 5.8 percent less than [the previous year]."

The TAT just makes this stuff up, as they go. They have about as much credibility as the RTP. Which is zero. Especially after the series of Koh (death island) Tao murders.

[Jim walker]

six billion baht and that’s just the corrupt police cut must be boom time for the police for the shake down of tourists, is this tourist numbers total deductible from the 6.6% drop in tourists announced yesterday, or do we get the Friday total to be precise with the numbers.

[angiolo]

The value of the thb against the euro has gone into freefall. Thailand is too expensive and getting more so. My gbp /Thb is giving me concerns,maybe soon I must leave this expensive land. So TAT cannot expect increased tourism from Europe

[Johnny S]

"TAT: New Year tourist number jumps across country"

Off the balcony?

Balconies are sooo last year!!

2015 is the year of hospital roof tops!!

If its TAT jumping it must be "Mental Hospital" roof tops - no doubt the management in TAT are patients there