Tell me - Why should Thailand make it safer for Tourists?

[canathai8]

Why? Tourist deaths in the LOS are as bad as ever, but tourist numbers are up from 25 million ( in 2014 ), to 30 million ( in 2015 ), to a projected 33 million this year.

So why would T.A.T. care? Outside of the financial bottom line? As long as tourist numbers keep rising, there is little incentive to do anything, except pay lip-service to say Australia or Britain from time to time..

It is an abysmally cynical syndrome, but there it is ladies and gentlemen, the bald facts.

Tourists don't generally care or give a black toss (and this plays very well into T.A.T's hands!) - unless it happens to them or their loved ones. It's Tourist Entitlement 101 - on a grand scale.

The perfect storm

[Jingthing]

Dark but truthy.

[canathai8]

Don't you see the disconnect??

I suspect you do..

[canathai8]

Dark but truthy.

The "truthy" always hurts, especially when the parents have to go collect their son or daughter from the LOS in a black body bag.

I know one of them..Australian folks..

Needless to say - they never go back to Thailand after the real-life, horrible nightmare "collection process"..

[cyberfarang]

Because the dangers lurking around tourists in Thailand is not emphasized enough. Tourists prefer to believe in the widely publicised glossy brochures and travel agent websites, the majority will not read the posts on these forums and the news reports are sporadic to say the least. Thailand has been given an international reputation as being the land of smiles, welcoming, foot loose and fancy free, wonderful beaches, forests and culture, everything going for bargain rates, with an abundance of beautiful Asian girls that fancy and fall head over heals for any men with white skin, no matter how old or how disarranged their features and it`s stuck.

The truth is that when first time tourists visit Thailand can find themselves getting into situations that go way above their heads, often ending in disaster because they think the standards here compares with those of their own countries and the Thais believe it`s up to them to step over into their world and not the other way around. For these reasons tourists will not be catered for or their safety guaranteed as in first world countries.

[PattayaAl]

Not too sure how old you are OP but just because TAT says numbers are up it does not actually mean it's true.

If numbers were as much as you seem to believe , TAT would not need to waste millions if not billions on new campaigns.

[chowny77]

Not too sure how old you are OP but just because TAT says numbers are up it does not actually mean it's true.

If numbers were as much as you seem to believe , TAT would not need to waste millions if not billions on new campaigns.

I have to agree with PattayaAl on this one. In one breathe the T.A.T are whinging that tourism in Thailand has dropped and within a few days they realise a press letter saying how tourist numbers arriving have gone up. If one is true the other must be a lie and vise-versa. This is pretty much across the board with all government agencies, they say one thing and then they contradict themselves within a very short period of time. What about the rice escapade............... no need to say more really.

[sunnyjim5]

The "truth" is many tourists invite their own trouble. Like the damaged tourist I spoke to last evening.

Covered in grazes and bandages this idiot admitted to attempting to ride a 125cc "scooter" having never ridden a motorbike before.

I have zero sympathy with these people and told my new "friend" he was lucky to be alive.

[canathai8]

Not too sure how old you are OP but just because TAT says numbers are up it does not actually mean it's true.

If numbers were as much as you seem to believe , TAT would not need to waste millions if not billions on new campaigns.

Point taken Al.

After all, Mark Twain said there are "lies, damn lies and statistics.."

But I believe that tourist numbers are going up, so I may be deluded there, much like the Jews and their friends the Palestinians..

NOTE: Reports say that 8 million Chinese visited Thailand in 2015 - and T.A.T. indicates it's looking for 10 million Chinese in 2016 (I saw about 5 million of them in Phuket alone..)

[PattayaAl]

Not too sure how old you are OP but just because TAT says numbers are up it does not actually mean it's true.

If numbers were as much as you seem to believe , TAT would not need to waste millions if not billions on new campaigns.

Point taken Al.

After all, Mark Twain said there are "lies, damn lies and statistics.."

But I believe that tourist numbers are going up, so I may be deluded there, much like the Jews and their friends the Palestinians..

NOTE: Reports say that 8 million Chinese visited Thailand in 2015 - and T.A.T. indicates it's looking for 10 million Chinese in 2016 (I saw about 5 million of them in Phuket alone..)

Yes i am sure reports say many things, yet other reports show Phuket is a ghost town, bars and retail daily intakes are 1/3 of of what it use to be.

Same reports applied to Pattaya, where in the peak of high season there was no problem getting a room, even on New Year Eve plenty of rooms across all star hotels.

Really unsure on relevance or even how appropriate your comment are regarding jews and palis, , but let you carry on with your statistics

PS. May be time to cut back on whatever it is you taking, seeing 5 million yourself would be a good sign of overdoze

Edited February 25, 2016 by PattayaAl

[sunnyjim5]

Not too sure how old you are OP but just because TAT says numbers are up it does not actually mean it's true.

If numbers were as much as you seem to believe , TAT would not need to waste millions if not billions on new campaigns.

Point taken Al.

After all, Mark Twain said there are "lies, damn lies and statistics.."

But I believe that tourist numbers are going up, so I may be deluded there, much like the Jews and their friends the Palestinians..

NOTE: Reports say that 8 million Chinese visited Thailand in 2015 - and T.A.T. indicates it's looking for 10 million Chinese in 2016 (I saw about 5 million of them in Phuket alone..)

A bus load of Chinese people crashed into a power pole near where I live last Monday.

There were more people on that bus than there were seats. Thankfully the injuries were minor excepting those of the driver who died.

The tourist demographic has changed and we now see many more people from China, Taiwan and South Korea than we do Westerners whose numbers have declined, much to the dismay of bar owners and pimps .

[BudRight]

The "truth" is many tourists invite their own trouble. Like the damaged tourist I spoke to last evening.

Covered in grazes and bandages this idiot admitted to attempting to ride a 125cc "scooter" having never ridden a motorbike before.

I have zero sympathy with these people and told my new "friend" he was lucky to be alive.

What do you suppose he should have practiced with, a bicycle?

What about the Swedish boy electrocuted on the beach on Samui yesterday? Was it his fault too?

[canathai8]

Not too sure how old you are OP but just because TAT says numbers are up it does not actually mean it's true.

If numbers were as much as you seem to believe , TAT would not need to waste millions if not billions on new campaigns.

Point taken Al.

After all, Mark Twain said there are "lies, damn lies and statistics.."

But I believe that tourist numbers are going up, so I may be deluded there, much like the Jews and their friends the Palestinians..

NOTE: Reports say that 8 million Chinese visited Thailand in 2015 - and T.A.T. indicates it's looking for 10 million Chinese in 2016 (I saw about 5 million of them in Phuket alone..)

Yes i am sure reports say many things, yet other reports show Phuket is a ghost town, bars and retail daily intakes are 1/3 of of what it use to be.

Same reports applied to Pattaya, where in the peak of high season there was no problem getting a room, even on New Year Eve plenty of rooms across all star hotels.

Really unsure on relevance or even how appropriate your comment are regarding jews and palis, , but let you carry on with your statistics

PS. May be time to cut back on whatever it is you taking, seeing 5 million yourself would be a good sign of overdoze

I will infer that you own a bar. Those expat farang that drink daily in Pattaya bars like yours assume the lifestyle and go all in. It's a tough go, and a slowly vanishing breed. As you well know, many of the old hands checked out long ago, and I notice young tourists aren't getting as shiiiit faced as say 10 years ago..so it's all around - a trend - not just in your undoubtedly fine establishment..

Disclaimer: I threw both groups (Jewish folks and Palestinian folks) in together so as to not favor one side or the other. I'll stay on the fence on that conflict, a 2,000 plus year old conflict and counting. It won't end in our lifetime.

Everyday on the way home from the gym I would see up to twenty tourist buses, all Chinese tourists packed in like sardines, the buses parked at one very lucky restaurant near Phuket City. I wish they drank more Heinekin beer too Al..strictly for your sake.

Best

[uthaithanirules]

Im not surprised if the Thai authorities would rather spend money, you know, looking after Thai people

[kannot]

Because the dangers lurking around tourists in Thailand is not emphasized enough. Tourists prefer to believe in the widely publicised glossy brochures and travel agent websites, the majority will not read the posts on these forums and the news reports are sporadic to say the least. Thailand has been given an international reputation as being the land of smiles, welcoming, foot loose and fancy free, wonderful beaches, forests and culture, everything going for bargain rates, with an abundance of beautiful Asian girls that fancy and fall head over heals for any men with white skin, no matter how old or how disarranged their features and it`s stuck.

The truth is that when first time tourists visit Thailand can find themselves getting into situations that go way above their heads, often ending in disaster because they think the standards here compares with those of their own countries and the Thais believe it`s up to them to step over into their world and not the other way around. For these reasons tourists will not be catered for or their safety guaranteed as in first world countries.

good sum up but they should stress more that "your" life has little to no value to them at all.

[chiang mai]

What a load of cr ap, tourist deaths as a percentage of total visitors is a very small number. Older foreign residents die of old age here, younger tourists engage in high risk activities and die here, normal tourists take long bus rides and rent motorbikes whilst not wearing helmets and not being equipped to drive and die here, scuba divers die here, people on zip lines have accidents and die here, tourists sometimes, very rarely, get attacked and die here, suicide attempts are typically successful and as a result, people die here. As for the remaining 99.999%, they have a pleasant stay here and then go home and die at home.

Perfect storm, rubbish, more like a light sprinkling of rain.

[slerickson]

Not too sure how old you are OP but just because TAT says numbers are up it does not actually mean it's true.

If numbers were as much as you seem to believe , TAT would not need to waste millions if not billions on new campaigns.

Point taken Al.

After all, Mark Twain said there are "lies, damn lies and statistics.."

But I believe that tourist numbers are going up, so I may be deluded there, much like the Jews and their friends the Palestinians..

NOTE: Reports say that 8 million Chinese visited Thailand in 2015 - and T.A.T. indicates it's looking for 10 million Chinese in 2016 (I saw about 5 million of them in Phuket alone..)

Yes i am sure reports say many things, yet other reports show Phuket is a ghost town, bars and retail daily intakes are 1/3 of of what it use to be.

Same reports applied to Pattaya, where in the peak of high season there was no problem getting a room, even on New Year Eve plenty of rooms across all star hotels.

Really unsure on relevance or even how appropriate your comment are regarding jews and palis, , but let you carry on with your statistics

PS. May be time to cut back on whatever it is you taking, seeing 5 million yourself would be a good sign of overdoze

I will infer that you own a bar. Those expat farang that drink daily in Pattaya bars like yours assume the lifestyle and go all in. It's a tough go, and a slowly vanishing breed. As you well know, many of the old hands checked out long ago, and I notice young tourists aren't getting as shiiiit faced as say 10 years ago..so it's all around - a trend - not just in your undoubtedly fine establishment..

Disclaimer: I threw both groups (Jewish folks and Palestinian folks) in together so as to not favor one side or the other. I'll stay on the fence on that conflict, a 2,000 plus year old conflict and counting. It won't end in our lifetime.

Everyday on the way home from the gym I would see up to twenty tourist buses, all Chinese tourists packed in like sardines, the buses parked at one very lucky restaurant near Phuket City. I wish they drank more Heinekin beer too Al..strictly for your sake.

Best

Ah it's not a 2000 year old conflict. The conflict stems from the Balfour declaration in which the Brits unilaterally stole the land from Palestine to payoff the Zionists who delivered the US into WWI. Dated 2 November 1917.

But I digress from topic of the OP and apologize.

[maewang99]

tourism is precious, not just in Thailand. it's part of why the China slowdown makes certain folks gasp. the system needs to see growth growth growth... to the horizons.... you could just as readily ask why aviation had to be special handled at COP21? it was completely off the table in Paris. that has implications a lot bigger than this silly stuff.

Edited February 26, 2016 by maewang99

[PattayaAl]

Not too sure how old you are OP but just because TAT says numbers are up it does not actually mean it's true.

If numbers were as much as you seem to believe , TAT would not need to waste millions if not billions on new campaigns.

Point taken Al.

After all, Mark Twain said there are "lies, damn lies and statistics.."

But I believe that tourist numbers are going up, so I may be deluded there, much like the Jews and their friends the Palestinians..

NOTE: Reports say that 8 million Chinese visited Thailand in 2015 - and T.A.T. indicates it's looking for 10 million Chinese in 2016 (I saw about 5 million of them in Phuket alone..)

Yes i am sure reports say many things, yet other reports show Phuket is a ghost town, bars and retail daily intakes are 1/3 of of what it use to be.

Same reports applied to Pattaya, where in the peak of high season there was no problem getting a room, even on New Year Eve plenty of rooms across all star hotels.

Really unsure on relevance or even how appropriate your comment are regarding jews and palis, , but let you carry on with your statistics

PS. May be time to cut back on whatever it is you taking, seeing 5 million yourself would be a good sign of overdoze

I will infer that you own a bar. Those expat farang that drink daily in Pattaya bars like yours assume the lifestyle and go all in. It's a tough go, and a slowly vanishing breed. As you well know, many of the old hands checked out long ago, and I notice young tourists aren't getting as shiiiit faced as say 10 years ago..so it's all around - a trend - not just in your undoubtedly fine establishment..

Disclaimer: I threw both groups (Jewish folks and Palestinian folks) in together so as to not favor one side or the other. I'll stay on the fence on that conflict, a 2,000 plus year old conflict and counting. It won't end in our lifetime.

Everyday on the way home from the gym I would see up to twenty tourist buses, all Chinese tourists packed in like sardines, the buses parked at one very lucky restaurant near Phuket City. I wish they drank more Heinekin beer too Al..strictly for your sake.

Best

You should not infer anything as i do NOT own a bar and never had owned in in Thailand.

So by your logical rational, because you see on the way home up to 20 buses, you have counted 5 million

As i said, time to get off the meds or spend little more time concentrating on training then counting the buses and how many could be inside

[canathai8]

Take it easy Al. You're okay.

I come here not to argue or create pissssing contests where there isn't one, just like you, one could presume.

But I better not presume anything

Sorry for thinking you ran a bar. Consider moving on from that very minor faux pas..

but that's totally up to you

all the best

[PT4]

So why would T.A.T. care? Outside of the financial bottom line? As long as tourist numbers keep rising, there is little incentive to do anything...

"canathai8" understands the workings of the oriental mind. Useful "food for thought". Thank you for posting.

[georgemandm]

Why? Tourist deaths in the LOS are as bad as ever, but tourist numbers are up from 25 million ( in 2014 ), to 30 million ( in 2015 ), to a projected 33 million this year.

So why would T.A.T. care? Outside of the financial bottom line? As long as tourist numbers keep rising, there is little incentive to do anything, except pay lip-service to say Australia or Britain from time to time..

It is an abysmally cynical syndrome, but there it is ladies and gentlemen, the bald facts.

Tourists don't generally care or give a black toss (and this plays very well into T.A.T's hands!) - unless it happens to them or their loved ones. It's Tourist Entitlement 101 - on a grand scale.

The perfect storm

Tell me what are you ?.

Are you not a tourist , you can't be thai can you so you are like me a tourist who comes and go's , or who lives here on a visas .

You are not thai .

It is the thai government responsibility to take care of you and me and Thais .

[eldragon]

Thailand is not a safe place. For starters, gun violence is pretty high, so that tells you what's really going on behind all those smiles. Prostitution is obviously a big industry here, as is drugs. Both of those tend to invite dangerous individuals. Then you have motor vehicle and sanitation issues. And countless other ways people can get sick, severely injured, or killed here simply b/c Thais are pretty lax when it comes to safety standards.

Anyway, I'm not sure how it's TAT's job to address these things. Seems like they're all the responsibility of law enforcement and public health agencies. Best thing TAT can do is bother them to do their jobs.

[ThaiKneeTim]

Not too sure how old you are OP but just because TAT says numbers are up it does not actually mean it's true.

If numbers were as much as you seem to believe , TAT would not need to waste millions if not billions on new campaigns.

Point taken Al.

After all, Mark Twain said there are "lies, damn lies and statistics.."

But I believe that tourist numbers are going up, so I may be deluded there, much like the Jews and their friends the Palestinians..

NOTE: Reports say that 8 million Chinese visited Thailand in 2015 - and T.A.T. indicates it's looking for 10 million Chinese in 2016 (I saw about 5 million of them in Phuket alone..)

Yes i am sure reports say many things, yet other reports show Phuket is a ghost town, bars and retail daily intakes are 1/3 of of what it use to be.

Same reports applied to Pattaya, where in the peak of high season there was no problem getting a room, even on New Year Eve plenty of rooms across all star hotels.

Really unsure on relevance or even how appropriate your comment are regarding jews and palis, , but let you carry on with your statistics

PS. May be time to cut back on whatever it is you taking, seeing 5 million yourself would be a good sign of overdoze

Could it possibly be that there is more to Thailand than Phuket or Pattaya?

There will always be a market for the fun-in-the-sun tourists, but from what I've seen there had been a shift to the Nouveau riche from China and destinations other than the coast.

Perhaps the chavs are finding other countries while the cultural tourists are more interested in seeing the antiquities further up country!

It could be that the TAT statistics are correct but fail to indicate a change in trends!

Hell, there are many variations and permutations beyond a drop in chavs in Phuket or Pattaya.

[RawboneFunksta]

It can be very boring to listen to those Thai apologists that like the " Last Samurai" Tom Cruise have dicarded their own culture as evil and become more Thai than Thai.

Thailand is beautiful and dangerous like an undrugged Tiger.

9 times out of 10 tourists are perfectly safe but 1 time in 10, very real danger comes out of a very insignificant incident.

A Thai person in the UK can own property and go about their business without censure but if they are troubled by violence the Police/government don't tend to hush it up or blame other immigrants.

Pattaya is 'death city', lots of druggings and balcony divings under suspicious circumstances.

Lots of swimming and diving accidents with speedboats because everything is unregulated here.

We expats probably love the freedoms afforded us here but tourists have no idea of the appalling trouble they can get into at the hands of vendors, taxi drivers, boat handlers etc . .

Just a few days ago I listened as the Asiatique boat "handler"? shouted and pushed tourists onto an already crowded boat, 'come on bufalloes, come on you . . . . the Thai people most of whom are decent were and are appalled at this kind of dangerous service.

My girlfriend told him to behave himself and give a good service and he held the boat up for 5 minutes arguing with her. He lost.

[chiang mai]

As soon as I read the words "Thai apologist" in a post I stop reading and put that poster on ignore, simply, there can't be anything worth reading in the rest of the post.

[GuestHouse]

The abysmally cynical syndrome of which the OP speaks is actually his own.

Thailand is a developing nation, public safety is an area in which Thailand is developing and the beneficiaries of improvements in safety are both tourists and Thai people alike.

There is a great deal of research into how and why public opinion changes and how public policy adapts to public opinion. High on the list are intergovernment discourse, inter government agency exchanges and perhaps most significant of all, informal social discourse and person to person exchanges of ideas.

Ten or twenty years ago the idea of Thailand bringing in seat belt laws, drink driving laws, or enforcing these laws was beyond imagination. Expats then predicted,trained abulance crews will never happen, fire inspections will never happen, trauma teams in public hospitals, never happen - the list goes on - and the improvements are happening.

Yes there is a lot more to do, but there is nothing unique about Thai people that says they don't want their loved ones killed or injured nor that they are indifferent to others being killed or injured.

Thailand is improving public safety and everyone who asks for improvements or points oit and discusses problems is helping build the necessary change in public opinion and policy.

[ozyjon]

So on the news the Australian government issues another travel warning

for Bali, does anyone care, the flights are full and so are the hotels.

[asdecas]

The abysmally cynical syndrome of which the OP speaks is actually his own.

Thailand is a developing nation, public safety is an area in which Thailand is developing and the beneficiaries of improvements in safety are both tourists and Thai people alike.

There is a great deal of research into how and why public opinion changes and how public policy adapts to public opinion. High on the list are intergovernment discourse, inter government agency exchanges and perhaps most significant of all, informal social discourse and person to person exchanges of ideas.

Ten or twenty years ago the idea of Thailand bringing in seat belt laws, drink driving laws, or enforcing these laws was beyond imagination. Expats then predicted,trained abulance crews will never happen, fire inspections will never happen, trauma teams in public hospitals, never happen - the list goes on - and the improvements are happening.

Yes there is a lot more to do, but there is nothing unique about Thai people that says they don't want their loved ones killed or injured nor that they are indifferent to others being killed or injured.

Thailand is improving public safety and everyone who asks for improvements or points oit and discusses problems is helping build the necessary change in public opinion and policy.

Thank you for a measured, informed and rational response to the OP. No doubt you are right and Thailand is following and will increasingly follow Western standards.

The complaints will then become more and more of the order of, "why is Thailand no different from my home country any longer? XX years ago it was exotic, free and you could behave exactly as you pleased. Now it is just like XXXXX (insert name of home town) with fish sauce".

Such is the way of the modern world.

[NoshowJones]

Dark but truthy.

The "truthy" always hurts, especially when the parents have to go collect their son or daughter from the LOS in a black body bag.

I know one of them..Australian folks..

Needless to say - they never go back to Thailand after the real-life, horrible nightmare "collection process"..

People should stop blaming Thailand all the time and look more at the people who get involved in accidents etc.

If most of them would do without getting drunk, there would be a lot less deaths, and accidents.