Thailand: Where are the Russian tourists?

[kingalfred]

Unpleasant arrogant lot. As shown with their former KGB and Oligarch leader a shining example!

[kingalfred]

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.

you must be new here! Thai's always put their prices up when there is a reduction in sales. Business natural thought process in Thailand.

[50baht]

GOOD.

[phuketandsee]

Who care where they are as long as they are not here?

[marko kok prong]

Really a choice between the devil and the deep blue sea,arrogant rude russians,or sheeplike chinese spitting,and defacating everywhere.

[NanLaew]

The Russians that are still in Thailand are not 'tourists' the same way as most of the members of this fine forum are not tourists either. This time last year, the streets were full of buses full of Russian tourists doing the touristy stuff. The malls and beach road were full of young Russian tourists swilling large bottles of beer or lao khao. The Russians you see shopping in Villa and Central today, the ones living in condo's and rentals in Naklua, Jomtien and the 'dark side' are not tourists. They are older, usually family groups, have money and are riding out the Russian financial crisis outside Russia. The regular beer-swilling tourist of yore is stuck IN Russia probably selling body parts to pay the installments on the Thailand vacation they had last year. At least two major Russian tour operators have gone tits-up in the past 6 months.

Someone said that they have all gone to Vietnam. I am in Vietnam now and can confirm there are more Russian tourists here right now than in Thailand. However, I was in Vietnam the same time last year and there was easily twice as many Russian tourists here back then. There are no profit margins for the tour operators in Thailand so they focused on Vietnam that has been a traditional vacation spot for Russians. There's less and less Russians with liquidity and solvency so there's less and less of them everywhere. The tour company profit margins will disappear in Vietnam and eventually, they will dry up in Vietnam as well.

Regards those Russians on ED visas and doing 'internet business' here, Russia has digital pikeys too you know!

[useronthenet]

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?

I think Teflon Thailand will bounce back. The biggest tourists are yet to come, Indians. The fast growing economy in the world with plenty of money, and they are already starting to increase in numbers.

[Rogergreybeard]

Gradually having their illegal businesses closed,Mmm,wonder how they operated for the last few years???

[NanLaew]

Gradually having their illegal businesses closed,Mmm,wonder how they operated for the last few years???

The same way as the other farang shonky businesses operated.

You haven't worked that out yet?

Edited March 25, 2015 by NanLaew

[thaibeachlovers]

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

I have been saying since the 07 crash that I hoped it would be the end of the mass western tourist market in LOS, as that would be the only thing to save the beaches from rampant overdevelopment. Unhappily it didn't even slow it down and now most of the decent beaches are ruined.

However, there is still hope that the present level of tourism will be dealt a savage kick in the pants.

The suffering that you describe could be the best thing that has happened in a long time with the big businessmen deserting beaches and prices falling to reasonable levels again. Paying over 800 baht for a beach hut is outrageous price gouging and I for one will be happy to see it fall.

As for Koh Chang. It is probably the poster child for ruination of Thai beaches, post Thaksin ( and caused by him ).

[thaibeachlovers]

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?

I think Teflon Thailand will bounce back. The biggest tourists are yet to come, Indians. The fast growing economy in the world with plenty of money, and they are already starting to increase in numbers.

Good luck hoping that Indians will "save" tourism in Thailand.

In Pattaya they even haggle over the 10 baht baht bus fare, and are not to be seen in the bars, prefering to get "cheapies" on the Beach Rd walkway.

[CapeThai]

The Russian men can stay home and only send over there girlfriends to come and entertain us here...???

[CapeThai]

I couldnt give a flying <deleted>. Less Russians = less rudeness and ignorance.

Yeah...they can pack their garbage bags and &lt;deleted&gt; off back to Russia but their more then welcome to leave their 25 year old woman behind..???

[Thai at Heart]

At home in the cold burning the piano....

[Tomtomtom69]

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.

Which country has preferential visa conditions for Russians and Chinese compared to western Europeans? Certainly not Thailand!

Chinese need a visa just to enter Thailand. If the Chinese airport authorities will allow them to fly without a visa (until recently this wasn't possible) the Thais will issue them with a just 15-day visa on arrival upon payment of 1000 Baht, proof of sufficient funds and a return or onward plane ticket. Meanwhile west Europeans get a 30-day visa free stamp issued on arrival almost always without needing any proof of onward travel or proof of funds. The 15-day visa on arrival can not be extended under any circumstances, while the 30 day visa free stamp can be extended for another 30 days at immigration upon payment of a 1900 Baht application fee.

At most land borders, Chinese will need to arrive with a pre-arranged visa, whereas west Europeans can get a 15-30 day visa free stay, which is again extendable for a further 30 day stay at immigration.

Chinese will also find that they can generally not get more than a single entry 60-day tourist visa issued at Thai consular offices abroad, which can only be extended for a further 7 days at immigration in Thailand. Chinese can generally not apply for any sort of Thai visa outside of their own country either. West Europeans can not only get a 30 day extension on their tourist visas which they can apply for in most Thai visa offices abroad, but even double and triple entry are available from some locations meaning an extra 30 days added to EACH stay.

Russians meanwhile receive similar privileges to west Europeans with the only difference being that they receive these privileges based upon a bilateral agreement with Thailand that allows Thai citizens the same when visiting Russia. However, apparently Russians can in some cases only receive single entry Thai tourist visas.

So in conclusion, it's quite clear that anyone who knows anything about Thai visas will realise that west Europeans have always had an easier time entering Thailand than Chinese and to some extent even Russians, who only gained these privileges in the last few years.

[Robbie Dye]

The Krimlin?

[Tomtomtom69]

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

The Chinese tour groups are not just amusing but can be very, very rude. Ever encountered 10 screaming, pushing and shoving and Chinese speaking Chinese to the clerks (like they would be able to understand) inside a 7-11 store? Now that's what I call hell! I have never met any rude Russian tourists but any group of travellers together in large numbers can be rude. Even when I lived in Nha Trang, Vietnam, a city which has always had far more Russians than anywhere in Thailand, judging by the number of Russian language signs and menus everywhere in that city and the dominance of their people compared to other nationalities, the only rude Russians I found were Russian business owners, including one lady who got upset about me parking my scooter in front of her shop.

While Russian tourist numbers may be down, most predictions still claim there will be more than a million Russians visiting Thailand this year, so they are still a big force to be reckoned with. Who knows, if their economy picks up by next year it could be business as usual.

In the meantime, ever increasing numbers of Chinese and even Indian tour groups are descending on Thailand's major tourism hotspots.

Westerners are still here as they've always been, it's just that they are looking less visible in the big tourism centers because you tend to have 50 package group tourists for every 1 westerner, who generally prefers something more authentic than some over-hyped destination like Phuket or Phi Phi, already overdeveloped long ago and with prices that no individual tourist wants to pay when there are so many better alternatives around. Not to mention the poor quality of the product such as that dreadful Thai-Chinese or Indian food they serve you if you come off a day trip cruise with 200-300 other "quality" tourists haha. Talk about low quality...if you want better quality, think southern Myanmar, with it's USD800 or whatever it is entry fee is surely not going to attract any cheap charlies.

[tonbridgebrit]

The Thai government brags about the increase in Chinese tourists, and the full article states:

"Hotels and tourism businesses hoping to offset occupancy losses of upwards of 80% must avoid the possible terminal decision to fill beds with low spending Chinese tourists.

Bottom end Chinese tourists are lowering the bar and creating a serious situation affecting all other associated tourism.

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

So, how do you stop a load of Chinese tourists turning up to fill the space vacated by the Russians ? Right, all the Chinese tourists must fill in a visa application before their holiday in Thailand. And basically, you reject one third or half of those applications. That way, you prevent a big flood of Chinese tourists.

Or you could make it so that they must purchase 14,000 baht cash before their 14 day holiday, and they're not allowed to take any of that 14,000 baht out of Thailand. And that 14,000 baht is not for hotel accomadation, hotel accomadation must be paid for seperately, before the holiday. That should reduce the number of Chinese tourists !

Who thinks they should do this ??

[insiket]

No russian tourists..7/11 beer sales will be way down