Thailand: Where are the Russian tourists?

[Songlaw]

Enter the Chinks.

An evolutionary "dead-ender" there, Cuch?

[janpharma]

Not only Russians disappear, also the Euro declined 23% in less than 7 months ... and prices in Thailand go up fast. The international war on currency will keep many farang away...

[cruisemonkey]

"Bottom end Chinese tourists..."

So, according to Global travel Industry News, Chinese are lower than Russians on the evolutionary scale?

[thaibeachlovers]

I and most of other farangs hopes that they NEVER come back To Thailand. I travelled a lot but I never saw in My Life SO unfriendly people. Ordinary thai People don't like them Too except business people.

The guys can stay home, but the wimmin are easy on the eye. Pity if they disappear too.

If all those horrid huge hotels they built in Naklua for the Russian trade go broke I''l be laughing- be a great outcome.

Might make them bring down the prices on Naklua beach too, which are presently outrageous.

[thaibeachlovers]

How did the market survive before the Russian flooded in?

Always goes in cycles. Do you remember when the English currency dropped ? Other emerging markets replaced them.

They are talking about 100K tourists not millions, I'm sure they will find someone to replace them, always the Chinese market to draw on.

Well the 100.000....I never believe these official numbers. Could be much more or less

actually there were about 2 000 000 russian tourists yearly. thousands russian bought condos and houses in Thailand.

About 100 000 were living in Thailand permanently, holding non-imm visa.

Hopefully it will cause a collapse in the condo market. It's getting out of control with the horrid things all over the place in Pattaya/ Jomptien.

[deepcell]

Read the "Currency Wars" by James Rickards and you will understand what is going on in Thailand right now!

[louse1953]

Probably in Russia

Not in Vietnam either,mate rekons he is missing the babes.

[Skywalker69]

Read the "Currency Wars" by James Rickards and you will understand what is going on in Thailand right now!

http://pro.moneymappress.com/MMRBSSH39PPM2/EMMRQCRD/?email=%7Bemailaddress%7D&referer=http%3a%2f%2fpro.moneymappress.com%2fMMRBSSH49%2fPMMRQ818%2f%3firis%3d252774%26h%3dtrue&effortId=270325&h=true

[mojorison]

Preparing for MAD (mutually assured destruction) one would suggest.

[Rocketsurgeon]

If you are in the inner circle, you'll do fine as any package mafia but if you are not, you won't have one Chinese banging on your hotel or GH for a room - or a meal or a activity or transport. A good package mafia will also drop them at the proscribed shop for kitch and trinkets.

So, in reality, Chinese are horrible for the Thai. Chinese hoteliers, restaurant owners, transport...not so much. Plus TAT will give free money to their friends for the "promotions".

They will go their entire holiday without stepping out of the bubble.

I detest package tourists, truly the definition of sheep.

[darrendsd]

How did the market survive before the Russian flooded in?

On the westerners which they have spent the last ten years chasing out. Said it before, say it again. Thai tourusm is doomed and Thailand can thank the upper eschelons of government for that since 2003.

All they will be left with is one week Chinese package tourist defacing the lovely Thai temples literally with excrement.

That aggressive, middle aged, sour woman shopkeeper will look back fondly on us white folk and our often overly polite manners.

Seems the Thais are already exausted of the rude, boorish and filthy Chinese. Not a week goes by and my wife has another...you are not going to believe this story (usually involving bodily waste).

Som nam nah eh?

Your first 2 paragraphs are the biggest load of rubbish I have ever read on here

[LuckyLew]

Rubble down

Goods in Thailand cost more

Russians cannot afford to travel

[Wat dee]

Far,far away!

[The Deerhunter]

I and most of other farangs hopes that they NEVER come back To Thailand. I travelled a lot but I never saw in My Life SO unfriendly people. Ordinary thai People don't like them Too except business people.

So are you talking about the Russians or the Chinese here?????? 555 Both are "quality tourist categories" with preferential visa conditions denied to uncouth Western Europeans.

Edited March 24, 2015 by The Deerhunter

[The Deerhunter]

This could bring down the future of Thailand tourism very quickly.

...and I thought that happened already tzzzzz

Depends on which Thai govt dept or which TVF poster you believe....................

BTW, to answer the question raised in the OP title: On the Crimean or Black Sea coasts where they can still get full value for their 40% devalued ruble.

Edited March 24, 2015 by The Deerhunter

[3NUMBAS]

theyve vanished from phuket ,only scammers and criminals left behind in patong and patters

[zydeco]

If the Chinese, according to the article, have "lowered the tourism bar," is TAT trying to claim that Russians "raise the bar." Oh, my. Damning with faint praise. BTW, wonder how long it takes TAT to blame this on America for reducing the Russian economy to shambles in a mere six months time?

[thrilled]

Putin has been blaming the U.S. since oil fell.The average russian don't have the money to visit Thailand as before.

Probably Thai's will have A better quality life because of it.

[redandyellow]

Many of the Russian tourists are stuck home, ruefully climbing out of bed as this is written, considering another bloody work day - with another world class hangover

signed,

the norm

[SantiSuk]

The comments about the possible impact of Chinese tourists reminds me of what happened to Spain when us Brits 'discovered' it in the 60s and 70s.

I could see it starting to happen in Koh Samet last month - some of the bamboo bars on that main beach have been turned into high volume/low quality dining halls that seemed to be a beach-bound equivalent of cheap concrete tower hotel dining 'rooms' in cheap Torremolinos.

[ttthailand]

Thai big businesses, Thai hotels, restaurants, entertainment venues are having a field day. All the Chinese tour groups book into these businesses which are owned by a few Thai families. They are the ones who really call the shots in government and control most of the country. The mom and pop shops, small hotels, farang bars, etc are having a down turn in business. It will only get worse as time goes on....

Thailand as most of us have known it for the last 20 or more years is changing fast. Some winners but many losers. Perhaps time for a change ..... ???

[jackted]

These are desperate times for anyone with a business dependent on tourism in Thailand, whether they rely on Chinese, Russian or any other tourist. The fact is ALL tourist numbers are down compared with previous years. It`s unfair to tarnish all Russians or Chinese with the same brush. But again, as other members have said, the majority of Chinese tourist are controlled where they stay, go and eat And if you aren`t part of that you won`t see their money. Most Russians are ignorant, rude etc etc. But their currency has crashed and they just aren`t here in their numbers.

Expat friends of mine who`ve been here for years say `teflon thailand`. It`s bounced back from coups, tsunamis, floods etc etc. But this time IS different. the military have been in power longer and tourism has been hit for well over a year now. And there is now light on the horizon that things will change.

If I didn`t have a business here i would say Thailand deserves everything it gets as far as tourism is concerned. But I do. And it`s a massive worry. Where is the light at the end of this dark tourism tunnel? As some of you know I have a business on Koh Chang. I haven`t spoken to one person who isn`t suffering. With clever minds thailand `could` recover.....but I fear Thailand as a horspot dsetination is and maybe finished....and as `coulda country

[jackted]

....didn`t quite finish.....I was going to say, as a country could implode.

[EyesWideOpen]

Given the mind boggling rudeness of the Russians, am happy to

see them go. The Chinese are at least amusing with their little

groups led by a guy with a flag. Well, as long as they are not

doing weird things in public like defacing stuff....

And as someone noted, soon Thais will speak wistfully of the good

old days with European and American tourists filling the bars. Plus

the knock on effect is going to be a LOT less money sent off to

support bar girl families in Isan.

Hard time are ahead...... Perhaps a good time to knock off the

scams that have hurt Thailand's image so much. That would help

tourism a bit. And drop the bar fines..... :-)

Edited March 24, 2015 by EyesWideOpen

[heybruce]

These are desperate times for anyone with a business dependent on tourism in Thailand, whether they rely on Chinese, Russian or any other tourist. The fact is ALL tourist numbers are down compared with previous years. It`s unfair to tarnish all Russians or Chinese with the same brush. But again, as other members have said, the majority of Chinese tourist are controlled where they stay, go and eat And if you aren`t part of that you won`t see their money. Most Russians are ignorant, rude etc etc. But their currency has crashed and they just aren`t here in their numbers.

Expat friends of mine who`ve been here for years say `teflon thailand`. It`s bounced back from coups, tsunamis, floods etc etc. But this time IS different. the military have been in power longer and tourism has been hit for well over a year now. And there is now light on the horizon that things will change.

If I didn`t have a business here i would say Thailand deserves everything it gets as far as tourism is concerned. But I do. And it`s a massive worry. Where is the light at the end of this dark tourism tunnel? As some of you know I have a business on Koh Chang. I haven`t spoken to one person who isn`t suffering. With clever minds thailand `could` recover.....but I fear Thailand as a horspot dsetination is and maybe finished....and as `coulda country

Are you telling us that there are no Russians or Chinese at Koh Chang? Clever marketing strategy.

How's the weather there?

[Howitzer]

How did the market survive before the Russian flooded in?

On the westerners which they have spent the last ten years chasing out. Said it before, say it again. Thai tourusm is doomed and Thailand can thank the upper eschelons of government for that since 2003.

All they will be left with is one week Chinese package tourist defacing the lovely Thai temples literally with excrement.

That aggressive, middle aged, sour woman shopkeeper will look back fondly on us white folk and our often overly polite manners.

Seems the Thais are already exausted of the rude, boorish and filthy Chinese. Not a week goes by and my wife has another...you are not going to believe this story (usually involving bodily waste).

Som nam nah eh?

Oh please? Western people with overly polite manners? Seriously why do farang always refuse to look at their own bad manners and negative points? At the end of the day money walk BS walks.

[JoeLing]

These are desperate times for anyone with a business dependent on tourism in Thailand, whether they rely on Chinese, Russian or any other tourist. The fact is ALL tourist numbers are down compared with previous years. It`s unfair to tarnish all Russians or Chinese with the same brush. But again, as other members have said, the majority of Chinese tourist are controlled where they stay, go and eat And if you aren`t part of that you won`t see their money. Most Russians are ignorant, rude etc etc. But their currency has crashed and they just aren`t here in their numbers.

Expat friends of mine who`ve been here for years say `teflon thailand`. It`s bounced back from coups, tsunamis, floods etc etc. But this time IS different. the military have been in power longer and tourism has been hit for well over a year now. And there is now light on the horizon that things will change.

If I didn`t have a business here i would say Thailand deserves everything it gets as far as tourism is concerned. But I do. And it`s a massive worry. Where is the light at the end of this dark tourism tunnel? As some of you know I have a business on Koh Chang. I haven`t spoken to one person who isn`t suffering. With clever minds thailand `could` recover.....but I fear Thailand as a horspot dsetination is and maybe finished....and as `coulda country

Yes sure, tourism will bounce back - eventually (took Sri Lanka just over 20 years to 'bounce back") but many of the small and medium businesses relying on tourism will not survive and a lot of the big businesses will covered their losses and move on the better places. The biggest loosers will be people employed in the tourist industry.

Looking at my own statistics and I don't care what government agencies say, it doesn't look to brilliant for the future.

Total Revenue from online bookings for the year 2014 compared to 2013, went down by 14.5%.

Total Revenue from direct bookings for the year 2014 compared to 2013, went up by 16.8%.

Total Revenue from all guests for the year 2014 compared to 2013, went down by 11.1%.

Although people have spend a bit more money on the rooms, there are less guests in the restaurant.

In 2014 the average daily spending per customer was down by just over 7% compared to 2013.

In 2014, only January and July where better than in 2013. Worst months in 2014 were September, October and November with a drop of nearly 40% on bookings compared to the same months in 2013 and due to constant visa changes, I had less long term customers.

There was no real change on returning guests this x-mas and new year and in the moment I'm fully booked until end of April which helped cushioning a bit of the loss in revenue last autumn but seams, it's not over yet as TAT wants us to believe.

Looking at just the first three months of the year 2015 it looks anything but rosy.

If I consider the first three months of 2013 as 100% occupancy and 100% revenue, during the same time in 2014 occupancy went up by 11% and revenue went up by 9% whilst in the same time this year, occupancy and revenue went down 46% compared to last year.

Now I believe I still belong to the lucky ones as I hardly had any Israeli, Russian or Chinese visitors in the past and don't really dependent on them like some of the big businesses.

Lucky I have a bit off a cushion under my bottom and don't have to rely entirely on my business here in Thailand to survive but those people who do not have a bit by the side for bad days, will sure need to start making contingency plans.

[moobie]

Tangentially and a tad random : Thailand has been getting increasing expensive for British folk like myself for some time now. The effect of the exchange rate and what seems like a far greater inflation rate than in the UK has curtailed the travel plans of a few regular travellers to Thailand who I know. These would often travel out there a couple/few times a year. I'm guessing that the Russians are indeed experiencing the same. Here in the UK the "Travel press attention" is being focused on the Eurozone as the GBP is riding quite high against the Euro. As most people only have a certain amount of hoildays to take in a year then a "cheaper" Europe may tempt them over a more expensive and longer distanced journey to Thailand. Perhaps, similar could be said for Americans who have previously put off travelling to Europe due to the envisaged expense?

But if this is not a cost issue then what?

Certainly, I'm seeing less sanook these days and I do not think that Thailand has grown or shown anything to reflect the increasing costs when weighted against expected quality. (My usual hotel, which I have used for some time now, on Sukhumvit's soi 11 is now on the agenda of flocks of Indian "bus" tourists to the point I'll not use it again until I hear of a change.) If it was not for the friends who I have made out there I doubt that Thailand would register on my future radar.

However, the question should be asked of all visitors "what does Thailand offer" nowadays that will tempt these visitors to return and perhaps recommend the place to others?

[NCC1701A]

they are too busy threatening NATO and the USA with their nuclear tipped city killer cruise missiles right now to go on vacation.

[Paul Henry]

Thainomics! I visit Pattaya 5-6 times a year,last month I was amazed at the increase in prices at various venues and hotels.Price up 20-30% and service down.I asked a number of owners/managers why the price increase only to be told business is down so we have to put up the prices.Basic business skills teach you that in a very tight competitive market you use every other tool in the marketing mix before increasing price and lowering service levels. I can see a lot more for sale signs going up on business if this mentality continues. Tourists and locals look for value for money.