As Ruble plunges, so does Russian tourism in Thailand

[Laughing Gravy]

I would be interested to know how much money they actually spend here in Thailand and not just how many visitors come here. From my observations I find the Russians extremely frugal or tighter than a ducks ass. I just don't understand when on holiday you would refuse to pay 100 baht for a deck chair or buy a water or beer from a vendor, instead walking to the Mini Mart or 7-11 saving 1 or 2 baht.

You seem to forget, that the among the most popular threads on Thaivisa are:

"My favorite gourmet-meal a 7-11"

or

"The validity of the 7-11 rebate coupons ?"

It is not only the Russians!!

JOC when a thread goes up about those going to 7-11 I will be ready and post. I actually agree with you that it is not just the Russians and I am sure there are some really nice, big spenders out there. Just I haven't seen many though.

[Srikcir]

At the rate foreign tourists are not returning to Thailand for vacation, Chinese aside, it will be the expat communities that begin to make themselves felt by their daily injections into the Thai economy. TAT and the government has begun to focus on encouraging Thai domestic vacations by offering various incentives available only to Thai nationals.

It might be a good time for TAT to examine the potential for increasing revenues from the expat communities that form a sustainable economic source. One obvious approach is to treat, for the purposes of tourism, expats as Thai nationals by eliminating dual pricing, provide enhanced residential ownership rights, and create special events attractive to expats than those geared towards backpackers and short-term party goers.

[lvr181]

The rouble is rubble? And that is (t)rouble for Russians.

[butch333]

the russians now , and the européans ,soon . the bath is too high but they don't want to do something . they make promotions for the chinese , the best tourists for thailand , quite no return for the thai population ( chinese airplane , chinese guide , chinese operator , chinese hotel and restaurant , chinese invest ) wonderfull ... they don't want to do something for the expats just good to spend their money here , and shut the month . but it's normal , thailand is number one in the world , have nothing after thailand . they have nothing to learn from the others , they know everything already . world business yes , but only one way in thailand .

[elgordo38]

The eurozone will leave to , euro down to 34 .

Many retired people will not be able to extend there longterm visa , income dropped by 25% .

I am happy to be 77 as the finish line of life is fast approaching. I am tired of watching the currency manipulators destroy my currency as well as other world wide currency sufferers. They are ruining our retirement (Golden Years) here in Thailand. I worked hard and saved hard all my life(listened to all that government clap trap about saving for retirement) only to watch my currency being destroyed by a bunch of greedy banksters and also governments that have mismanaged their affairs (covers about all of them) I cannot believe how big business is thumbing their nose at governments and doing pretty much as they please legal and illegal. They are doing this because most politicians are in their hip pocket doing their bidding. I watched the Goldman Sachs-Paulson-Lehman Bros story on Aljizeera the other night (stayed up till 3.30 in the morning way past my bedtime) and it was just disgusting. Apparently when "Hank" Paulson sold his Goldman Sachs shares (even though I felt his aligence was still with them) before starting to work for the government he apparently pocketed 200 million dollars profit without paying a cent in tax plus he was one of the players that helped destroyed Lehman Bros. a competitor of GS. As one member of congress stated he should have precluded himself from taking the government job in finance. These people have no shame or scruples.

[Bullie]

At the rate it is going expat communities will also reconsider. Me and my family are seriously considering Spain, it having a better climate, friendlier people, affordable health insurance, and generally quite a bit cheaper then Thailand at the moment, thanks.

Apart from that I love the spanish cuisine - I'll bring some chilli and basil for the missus.

[FredNL]

"There were 46% fewer Russian arrivals in Thailand in January 2015 than the year before"

How many have left since January 2014 ???

[fey]

I would be interested to know how much money they actually spend here in Thailand and not just how many visitors come here. From my observations I find the Russians extremely frugal or tighter than a ducks ass. I just don't understand when on holiday you would refuse to pay 100 baht for a deck chair or buy a water or beer from a vendor, instead walking to the Mini Mart or 7-11 saving 1 or 2 baht.

same reason i walk rather then take a taxi

[robertson468]

Baht should crash. Only US dollar strong now.

Are you another one of these Americans that knows nothing other than USA? The £ sterling is also very strong - wake-up!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[stoffel45]

Ex-Belgium - have noted a fall in most airfares to Thailand for the July - August period.

Just finished booking an orchestra of 72 people - for New Year - thought seats would be a problem - plenty of seats.

Seems only Etihad are OK for passengers - but then with their early bird bookings they tend to fill up sooner. Actually now one of the most expensive to Thailand.

Drop in Russians - I think very welcome from point of view of tourists having to share with them. But now many not so well off and poorly behaved Indians flooding what were the Russian hotels.

The euro is dropping and accelerating. The now clearly forced exit of Greece is likely to take the euro to below par with the dollar - so down +40% too.

But these drops and all the financial uncertainty associated with the euro may force the Thai baht down - certainly looking at all the massive property speculative building it's looking a lot like 1997 - any ideas?

Floating around the Hotel Bookings sites - I don't see any savings to be made - much the same as last year - in Thai baht.

[Nuddy]

I do not see the Thai Baht going down

Being an Aussie I have seen the A$ drop significantly recently

There does not seem to be any reason for the Thai Baht to drop and I would advise players waiting for it to do so to give up.

Regards

[The Deerhunter]

The eurozone will leave to , euro down to 34 .

Many retired people will not be able to extend there longterm visa , income dropped by 25% .

I am happy to be 77 as the finish line of life is fast approaching. I am tired of watching the currency manipulators destroy my currency as well as other world wide currency sufferers. They are ruining our retirement (Golden Years) here in Thailand. I worked hard and saved hard all my life(listened to all that government clap trap about saving for retirement) only to watch my currency being destroyed by a bunch of greedy banksters and also governments that have mismanaged their affairs (covers about all of them) I cannot believe how big business is thumbing their nose at governments and doing pretty much as they please legal and illegal. They are doing this because most politicians are in their hip pocket doing their bidding. I watched the Goldman Sachs-Paulson-Lehman Bros story on Aljizeera the other night (stayed up till 3.30 in the morning way past my bedtime) and it was just disgusting. Apparently when "Hank" Paulson sold his Goldman Sachs shares (even though I felt his aligence was still with them) before starting to work for the government he apparently pocketed 200 million dollars profit without paying a cent in tax plus he was one of the players that helped destroyed Lehman Bros. a competitor of GS. As one member of congress stated he should have precluded himself from taking the government job in finance. These people have no shame or scruples.

Watch the movie "Inside Job" about the same event. I think it is on U-Tube & probably on one of the P2P networks. Yes it is on U-Tube.

Edited March 26, 2015 by The Deerhunter

[zaZa9]

I know that the Russians who bought up a lot of property here 4 or 5 years back will be rubbing their hands now. If they cash in their chips now they will double their money. That's what i would be doing considering the only reason all this is happening is purely down to political sanctions and oil prices. When these sanctions are lifted the currency will return to stability.

But who will want to buy them with the vast majority of currencies down against the baht?

[hanstunholmer]

That makes a lot nice Pattaya for the rest of us. Although there some nice Russians, most are demonstrating ignorance and arrogance when (and IF) they interact with other people. The usual form of interaction is that the barge right in front of you when you are looking at something at the market, or simply hijack the vendor you are engaged with dealing with, and of course......sorry or excuse me is not something they do. Bon Voyage and thank you Putin for making life difficult for you

[RubbaJohnny]

Posted on the day Ruble appreciated against the greenback !

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/24/russia-crisis-markets-rouble-idUSL6N0WQ0SB20150324

Maybe our up to the minute reporter is still reading Volkischer Beobachter or Prussia Today?

[bartender100]

I remember the days when I got 78 baht to the pound sterling. When I left Thailand it was down to 49. Certainly I feel sorry for any retiree trying to live off a state pension as prices continue to increase along with the rise of the baht.

And here is further bad news. The UK's public debt is still at £78,000 per citizen. Another few rounds of QE may bring it down to 36.

This is not a knock at your post, but does the national debt affect anyone in reality? UK is booming, zero inflation, lowest unemployment for for decades, my brothers both have small business's and say they have never been busier.

Every country has a national debt clock even China

http://www.nationaldebtclocks.org/debtclock/china

[bartender100]

That makes a lot nice Pattaya for the rest of us. Although there some nice Russians, most are demonstrating ignorance and arrogance when (and IF) they interact with other people. The usual form of interaction is that the barge right in front of you when you are looking at something at the market, or simply hijack the vendor you are engaged with dealing with, and of course......sorry or excuse me is not something they do. Bon Voyage and thank you Putin for making life difficult for you

Have you not come across the Chinese yet, they make the Russians seem polite, and they are pouring into Pattaya these day, I prefer the Russians to these people anyday

[NanLaew]

I would be interested to know how much money they actually spend here in Thailand and not just how many visitors come here. From my observations I find the Russians extremely frugal or tighter than a ducks ass. I just don't understand when on holiday you would refuse to pay 100 baht for a deck chair or buy a water or beer from a vendor, instead walking to the Mini Mart or 7-11 saving 1 or 2 baht.

Maybe if your home currency or the currency you get paid in tanked like the ruble, maybe your ring piece would be a tad puckered as well.

Edited March 26, 2015 by NanLaew

[moobie]

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Ex-Belgium - have noted a fall in most airfares to Thailand for the July - August period.

Just finished booking an orchestra of 72 people - for New Year - thought seats would be a problem - plenty of seats.

Seems only Etihad are OK for passengers - but then with their early bird bookings they tend to fill up sooner. Actually now one of the most expensive to Thailand.

Drop in Russians - I think very welcome from point of view of tourists having to share with them. But now many not so well off and poorly behaved Indians flooding what were the Russian hotels.

The euro is dropping and accelerating. The now clearly forced exit of Greece is likely to take the euro to below par with the dollar - so down +40% too.

But these drops and all the financial uncertainty associated with the euro may force the Thai baht down - certainly looking at all the massive property speculative building it's looking a lot like 1997 - any ideas?

Floating around the Hotel Bookings sites - I don't see any savings to be made - much the same as last year - in Thai baht.

With regards to your last sentence, aren't the powers that be trying to eradicate "non-registered" hotels? I believe that this Forum mentioned action may be taken over the Summer period, if so costs and availability may shift detrimentally for us travellers.

I remember the days when I got 78 baht to the pound sterling. When I left Thailand it was down to 49. Certainly I feel sorry for any retiree trying to live off a state pension as prices continue to increase along with the rise of the baht.

And here is further bad news. The UK's public debt is still at £78,000 per citizen. Another few rounds of QE may bring it down to 36.

This is not a knock at your post, but does the national debt affect anyone in reality? UK is booming, zero inflation, lowest unemployment for for decades, my brothers both have small business's and say they have never been busier.

Every country has a national debt clock even China

http://www.nationaldebtclocks.org/debtclock/china

Not doubting your brothers, but I guess that depends where you are in the UK. I'm in the NE England and as one of those Engineering-types who has and does work around the oil and gas industry I can tell you things are not overly great in that sector. I've just agreed to take a contract role on a third less than I was on prior to Christmas. Thankfully, this is still a decent enough rate. The UK stats are skewed by zero-hour contracts, job-centre Sanctions and part-time work. Fortunately, I've a decent cushion of savings to survive on but the past 3 months have allowed me to glimpse behind the "smoke and mirrors" of the Election year figures. It was both revealing and educational.

[2alex4alex]

I know that the Russians who bought up a lot of property here 4 or 5 years back will be rubbing their hands now. If they cash in their chips now they will double their money. That's what i would be doing considering the only reason all this is happening is purely down to political sanctions and oil prices. When these sanctions are lifted the currency will return to stability.

They could just have kept their money in USD and still double it...

It's exactly that the most of Russians do.They don't believe Russians banks.

[siam2007]

No more Russians, less Euro-Landers - why should Thailand care ?

every single one of them is replaced by five "quality" - tourists from mainland China....

the times they are a-changing......

[IsaanUSA]

I know this is a Thai website, but here are the numbers for Vietnam.

The number of Chinese tourists visiting Vietnam in the first two months of this year dropped 40.3 percent from a year earlier, while the respective plunges of the Hong Kong and Russia markets were 51 percent and 25.7 percent.

http://tuoitrenews.vn/business/26571/vietnams-international-arrivals-fall-10-on-drops-from-china-russia

[TomJoad]

The US Federal reserve is currently trying to slow the dollar's increasing value by putting off raising interest rates, which is why the Euro is still worth slightly more than the $ at the moment. Maybe that will stabilize things for a while..?

[Dannyboy666]

Baht should crash. Only US dollar strong now.

Are you another one of these Americans that knows nothing other than USA? The £ sterling is also very strong - wake-up!!!!!!!!!!!!!

. Are you onna those Brits that JUMP on every American Reply, Now shut your Pie Hole and Blast your Own...

[Cake Monster]

With the Thai Baht holding strong, and many other currencies around the world getting weaker against the US Dollar, there will not only be a decline in the number of Russian Tourists to Thailand, but also tourists from many other areas of the world, such as the Euro Zone.

This will not be a huge problem to the Thai tourist sector, as there will be an increase in culturally aware, well mannered, polite, and high spending Chinese to replace these tourists.

[NanLaew]

I know this is a Thai website, but here are the numbers for Vietnam.

The number of Chinese tourists visiting Vietnam in the first two months of this year dropped 40.3 percent from a year earlier, while the respective plunges of the Hong Kong and Russia markets were 51 percent and 25.7 percent.

http://tuoitrenews.vn/business/26571/vietnams-international-arrivals-fall-10-on-drops-from-china-russia

Good post! Reaffirms what I have seen with less Russians in Saigon and Nha Trang compared with the same time last year.

I assume a fair amount of Chinese visit Vietnam by land, so maybe the Chinese tour operators are doing the same as the Russians did and are selling financed, all-inclusive package tours to Thailand by air? Hence the drop in numbers going into Vietnam and the increase in flights full of Chinese visiting Thailand.

Interesting to read in that article about a surge in certain European nationalities visiting Vietnam.

[Sandman77]

Today I ask my self , what all expats here can do to weaken the Thai Bhat , could a mass of people copy the ecb sheme ?

What would happens with the pounds when uk exit the euro zone ,? All talk about only the Greek exit!

Yes and i Not bleibe that chinese Yuan hold Long Time String chinese goverment plan also next Year Same Strategy to weaken the currency!

And I also not belive Bhat hold strong any longer!

The crisis come back soon , because all the expensive hotels on beaches looks like ghosts town!

Something must happen to clear up the overpriced money adicted hotel owners that the begin thinking and reduce prices to win tourists back!

[jpeg]

No more Russians, less Euro-Landers - why should Thailand care ?

every single one of them is replaced by five "quality" - tourists from mainland China....

the times they are a-changing......

More to the point. Why should YOU care, you being presumably farang and all. Or are you merely one of those adding to the problem insofar as 'WELCOME RUSKIES! YOU HAVE MONEEEEE!" Or just flapping your gums here on this haha illustrious forum? Do tell.

[jpeg]

I know this is a Thai website, but here are the numbers for Vietnam.

The number of Chinese tourists visiting Vietnam in the first two months of this year dropped 40.3 percent from a year earlier, while the respective plunges of the Hong Kong and Russia markets were 51 percent and 25.7 percent.

http://tuoitrenews.vn/business/26571/vietnams-international-arrivals-fall-10-on-drops-from-china-russia

Good post! Reaffirms what I have seen with less Russians in Saigon and Nha Trang compared with the same time last year.

I assume a fair amount of Chinese visit Vietnam by land, so maybe the Chinese tour operators are doing the same as the Russians did and are selling financed, all-inclusive package tours to Thailand by air? Hence the drop in numbers going into Vietnam and the increase in flights full of Chinese visiting Thailand.

Interesting to read in that article about a surge in certain European nationalities visiting Vietnam.

So let us all name one good thing the Russians and the Chinese have done to contribute to Thailand. Other than it's tourism coffers, proceeds of which go directly to the treasury/trough. ONE thing. I've never heard of any philanthropy from either group. It simply isn't in their cultural makeup, much like the Thais. With exception of the Thai Muslims who I today saw raising a big fundraiser at one of the mosques here on Phuket, for the out of work.

Edited March 27, 2015 by jpeg

[Sandman77]

Koreans just banned air asia x to let fly Thailand airplanes to there country and back!

Because of low international security flying standarts!

When other country follow this , Thai air company will be blacklisted in other country's also and then I see more dark for the future!