Thai tourism: Boom time for hotels, airlines

[Suffinator]

Considering the issues with Thai airline safety, or rather the severe lack of it, I wouldn't have used the word BOOM in the article.

[Johnny S]

Another TAT-fairytale

[Phuketboy]

More lies and bullshit. Yes the planes are full but nobody is spending money, just need to look at local businesses and how quiet they are to work that one out. The only tourists that are coming here are useless tight <deleted> that don't help anyone out. They may as well just stay home.

[pmugghc]

And an alternate newspaper suggests that Songkran spending will see the lowest increase in 5 years because people are being cautious with their budgets and are concerned about economic conditions . They can't both be telling the truth.

Yes they can. The other newspaper talks about the INCREASE rate being lower than before. So it can still be a record.

[PatOngo]

I have Thais knocking on my door asking if I can put them up for a few days as all the hotels are full. So far I have 15 staying in my spare room, 5 on the lounge room floor and am busy clearing the laundry to take in more. Between them, they have 7 dogs, 35 mobile phones all playing different songs and they all seem to have bought a durian and a water pistol with them........looking forward to great fun in the next few days.

[wotsdermatter]

HELP. Have I been in Thailand too long? Arrived 1994 and apart from 3 years in China and a couple of years in Canada for joint replacement operations, have lived mainly in BKK. Sometimes, I have a problem with some of the mathematics we are presented with in Thailand and that leads to difficulties understanding some of the information we are given. Please reread and let me know if I am wrong. According to the piece of script we read, it states, "... generate tourism revenue of more than Bt44 billion, of which Bt42 billion would be from the domestic market." If there will be 400,000 tourists arrive from China over the next days, how can they predict that tourist will spend Bt44 billion and Bt42 billion will be presumably from Thais - "domestic market"? So, does that mean Thais are spending Bt42 billion and the influx of tourists only Bt2 billion. Is this a case of confusion reigned and we all got wet? Just curious as to who writes most of the what we read.

[bongoz]

Ittirit Kinglake, president of the Tourism Council of Thailand, just pulls numbers from his ass. That's his job.

Is that like reading tea leaves, except he reads the sh*t smears on his hand?

[Mickeem]

Ive been on Holiday around Thailand for the last 3 weeks, Pattaya , Ko chang and my mate shot over to Samui. Pattaya and Ko Chang are empty as is Samui according to my mates feed back. So where are all theses tourists going ? .

I'm staying in Bangkok next week for 2 days , so lets see if this hoard is there

Things seem eerily quiet to me, very strange abit like a Thai , 28 Days later

All the chinesse are being herded around in the tourist buses

Not spending any more than they paid in advance for their discounted package tour

400 000 chinesse = extra income generated on their spending = zero

Plenty of Chinese tourists here in Chiang Mai and Pai travelling individually

Still a quite a few blue plated Chinese reg vehicles around as well

[djjamie]

Goodness me…Even when looking at graphs that I have posted continually showing tourist arrivals…Graphs presented by entities that have no connection to the Junta show the tourists have arrived in recod numbers with December, 2014 showing the highest intake of tourist numbers on record. The highest.

Yet we still get the typical "All the Thai people I know defense" in the form of Expratts wonderful analysis (Beliefs) that apparently overrides international statistics (Facts) in the form of "Ive been on Holiday around Thailand for the last 3 weeks, Pattaya , Ko chang and my mate shot over to Samui. Pattaya and Ko Chang are empty as is Samui according to my mates feed back. So where are all theses tourists going?" WOW, Expratt…you must be right because you have been on holiday and your friends have stated they have not seen tourists. Your beliefs must override all the facts then..Typical UDD ethos my friend and I pity it.

The fact is tourist numbers are up and this must hurt the agenda of the UDD. I would not be surprised if the UDD blow something up to feebly try to create fear to reduce tourist numbers…I would not be surprised. That is what the UDD specialize in.

[konying]

Can not help but wonder who is the idiot who wrote this piece ?

What hotels are booked? Chinese owned ones? Or the ones catering to Chinese groups?what airlines are full? The charter ones catering to Chinese groups?

Yes, thailand will be packed out with Chinese in the busses blocking the streets , how exactly would it benefit restaurants? Bars? Shopping malls or markets?

[adammike]

Bustling, flocking, throngs - HAHAHA. I am at Khao Lak (Bang Niang Beach) and a better descriptive term would be ghost town.

where are you staying? i stayed at the amsterdam resort about 3 years, ago it was pretty quite then.

[djjamie]

Can not help but wonder who is the idiot who wrote this piece ?

What hotels are booked? Chinese owned ones? Or the ones catering to Chinese groups?what airlines are full? The charter ones catering to Chinese groups?

Yes, thailand will be packed out with Chinese in the busses blocking the streets , how exactly would it benefit restaurants? Bars? Shopping malls or markets?

Bank of Thailand is in on the conspiracy too then heay?

So now we have World bank, Moody's, UNHCR, Human Rights Watch, the Environmentalists, the corn farmer, rubber farmers, rice farmers, medical association, rural teachers, academics, Supa, global economists, IMF, private banks, GSB, the EC, AoT, the courts, military, bangkok middle class, business owner, state enterprise staff, Buddhist monks, civil servants, labor unions, Green Politics group, Thai Constitution Protection Association, The Thai press, NIDA poll and Bangkok Pol AND the Bank of Thailand now...

Beliefs over facts again heay. You must support the UDD?

Looking at the two graphs even February is looking positive. But then they are facts that must simply be dismissed because they go against the agenda.

The UDD will have to do something about that if it goes against their agenda…And yours apparently!

[BSJ]

When I read posts like this it reminds me of the Bobby Darin song "Dream Lover"!

'I want a dream lover

So I don't have to dream alone

Please don't make me dream alone
I beg you don't make me dream alone'

It's an insult to my (our) intelligence to write articles which lie about the situation on the ground.

[Toknarok]

Once the word gets out about the car bomb that went off in Koh Samui yesterday and possibly another in in Surat Thani then I think a serious revision of tourist numbers will have to be undertaken. If the Muslim seperatists should start a series of these incidents in tourist spots then I think Thailand will have a serous problem in attracting visitors.

[Orac]

Once the word gets out about the car bomb that went off in Koh Samui yesterday and possibly another in in Surat Thani then I think a serious revision of tourist numbers will have to be undertaken. If the Muslim seperatists should start a series of these incidents in tourist spots then I think Thailand will have a serous problem in attracting visitors.

At least they will be able to reuse the headline of this article.

[Oziex1]

Once the word gets out about the car bomb that went off in Koh Samui yesterday and possibly another in in Surat Thani then I think a serious revision of tourist numbers will have to be undertaken. If the Muslim seperatists should start a series of these incidents in tourist spots then I think Thailand will have a serous problem in attracting visitors.

The problems in Bangkok didn't seem to have a big influence on tourism, maybe i'm wrong?

[Toknarok]

Once the word gets out about the car bomb that went off in Koh Samui yesterday and possibly another in in Surat Thani then I think a serious revision of tourist numbers will have to be undertaken. If the Muslim seperatists should start a series of these incidents in tourist spots then I think Thailand will have a serous problem in attracting visitors.

The problems in Bangkok didn't seem to have a big influence on tourism, maybe i'm wrong?

According to the Tourst Authority numbers the Bangkok bombs don't seem to have made any difference to tourist numbers, but can you trust their figures? When the IRA had their bombing spree in London in the early 90's the UK authorities stated that the campain didn't have much effect on tourist numbers. One major difference is that the IRA generally gave a warning about a bomb, these Muslim terrorists don't.

One thing the IRA campain did cause was the astronomical cost incured by the British authorities in increased security. It cost the British taxpayer billions. If the Muslim terrorists should mount a concerted campain against Thai Thai tourist spots I wonder I the Thais could afford the expense of keeping tourists safe, and what's more to the point whether they are capable of doing so.

[Echo Tango]

Ive been on Holiday around Thailand for the last 3 weeks, Pattaya , Ko chang and my mate shot over to Samui. Pattaya and Ko Chang are empty as is Samui according to my mates feed back. So where are all theses tourists going ? .

I'm staying in Bangkok next week for 2 days , so lets see if this hoard is there

Things seem eerily quiet to me, very strange abit like a Thai , 28 Days later

I agree. I was just in Phuket for 8 days. The foot traffic on Bangla St. Was low with a lot of half-filled bars and pubs. Tiger Club was full of local girls and Gulf-Nationals. When I was there in 2011, I could barely walk down the street because there were so many people.

[Echo Tango]

Curious why there's no news stories on TV about the bombing in Samui? It's on all the newscasts from Australia to the U.S. This isn't good for tourism, that's for sure.

[Toknarok]

Curious why there's no news stories on TV about the bombing in Samui? It's on all the newscasts from Australia to the U.S. This isn't good for tourism, that's for sure.

It's in the Samui local forum.

[Echo Tango]

Curious why there's no news stories on TV about the bombing in Samui? It's on all the newscasts from Australia to the U.S. This isn't good for tourism, that's for sure.

It's in the Samui local forum.

I found it, thanks.

[Anthony5]

How will 42 billion baht be generated fro the domestic market when the locals go home for the holidays ? They will not be flying home when they can drive , they will not be staying in hotels as the family accommodates them .

Ever considered that car body repairs, hospital and funeral costs can quickly add up?

[evadgib]

Unfortunate choice of headline, given events in Samui last night.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32259612

[Familyonthemove]

Thai Airways still has seats available today for domestic flights Krabi, Samui and CM - but that's because their service is so bad people avoid them even on the busiest day of the year.

[simon43]

I just got back from Rassada Pier (the ferry port in Phuket to travel to Phi-Phi).

The port was virtually deserted, almost no tourists taking the ferries. Very quiet when compared to a few months ago.

[evadgib]

Thai Airways still has seats available today for domestic flights Krabi, Samui and CM - but that's because their service is so bad people avoid them even on the busiest day of the year.

A friend flew to Samui yesterday on a plane with just 18 other passengers.

[lewy67]

Can not help but wonder who is the idiot who wrote this piece ?

What hotels are booked? Chinese owned ones? Or the ones catering to Chinese groups?what airlines are full? The charter ones catering to Chinese groups?

Yes, thailand will be packed out with Chinese in the busses blocking the streets , how exactly would it benefit restaurants? Bars? Shopping malls or markets?

Bank of Thailand is in on the conspiracy too then heay?

So now we have World bank, Moody's, UNHCR, Human Rights Watch, the Environmentalists, the corn farmer, rubber farmers, rice farmers, medical association, rural teachers, academics, Supa, global economists, IMF, private banks, GSB, the EC, AoT, the courts, military, bangkok middle class, business owner, state enterprise staff, Buddhist monks, civil servants, labor unions, Green Politics group, Thai Constitution Protection Association, The Thai press, NIDA poll and Bangkok Pol AND the Bank of Thailand now...

Beliefs over facts again heay. You must support the UDD?

Looking at the two graphs even February is looking positive. But then they are facts that must simply be dismissed because they go against the agenda.

The UDD will have to do something about that if it goes against their agenda…And yours apparently!

There is no reason to doubt the raw data from the BOT but I'd like to see a further breakdown of the numbers along the lines of spending totals, destinations of the tourists and nationality of those arriving. If the jump in numbers is a consequence of a massive increase in Chinese tourists on package holidays that would explain the large amount of anecdotal evidence, from posters without an agenda, that suggests that Patong, Samui, Pattaya and Koh Chang are bereft of tourists when compared to the past.

[Robby nz]

Tried to get some (tourist) friends on a train to the south, when I called and tried to book around the middle of last month I was told all trains to anywhere in Thailand were booked solid for the whole month of April other than a few third class seats.

[Fat Haggis]

So, has the 400,000 Chinese cheapskates arrived yet? Nobody passing through swampy to confirm this?

[konying]

So, has the 400,000 Chinese cheapskates arrived yet? Nobody passing through swampy to confirm this?

Pattaya roads are chocker blocked full of them in buses, while markets, restaurants, shopping malls and bars remain empty.

Some people do not grasp the concept of quantity versus quality.

I would much rather own a bar that has only 10 patrons, who are drinking, then own a bar which is packed, yet no one is drinking anything.

Though for the onlookers, the full bar looks great and fun, yet i am the one making the money in the end of the day