Tourist numbers rise in Thailand amid growing concerns

[oxo1947]

"Never believe numbers you haven't falsified yourself".

I don't believe any numbers issued by TAT.

I was in BKK in early June. Khaosan Road was empty (during the anyways, didn't hang around long), Sukhumwit was pretty quiet and JJ Market had a good number of people, but most were locals and Chinese. Didn't see all those tourists TAT are claiming.

Seriously ---you do not believe the latest figures being put out by Master card/Visa etc on the amount of spending on their cards in certain parts of the world. You don't believe the World Tourism Organization

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Tourism_Organization

The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)

Headwaters in Spain has been monitoring tourism since 1957 (over half a century) , but you do believe there should be more people in your local bar------5 empty seats last week-----or when I walked down Sukhumvit it was pretty quite......not enough round eyes in JJ market.

And...to top it all off..."Didn't see all those tourists TAT are claiming."

Well that it then djayz.......if you done a head count & it didn't come to 25 million or so.....its so obvious we are all being conned .

What is it that scares some of the people on here that Thailand is going ahead--???----the whole SEA area Vietnam /Burma etc are going ahead, & most (non sex tourist) don't go to one without visiting the others......so Thailand will get an on flow as they progress.

Someone just give me one link that TAT figures are a plot-----this argument has been going on for years now, & I still haven't seen one------just these silly post about how quite it is in my bar / market....etc.....etc

Anyway, I'm off now to JJ market to do a head count----if I don't get to at least 2 million by lunch I'll pop back on and apologise to jjayz.

[chicowoodduck]

Just more smoke of the arse....?

[chainarong]

I flew with about fifty Thai valued tourists last Friday , the trip was only an 1hr international but I got the impression not everyone loves the value, I noticed they all got herded into the back of the plane and the curtains drawn, one came down our way with a thermos, for water, and was very abruptly told to go back and press the call button, along with a lot of waving of arms, at swampy there was lots of shouting and photo shoots then more increasing screaming, one sheila had a pitch of a Chinese opera singer , but hey they enjoyed themselves, value for nothing and the tricks are free. M.K. ....................................

[bluesofa]

Those who lies the best keep their jobs, those who tell the truth will receive an active post in the deep south as a human bomb detector. No bad news will be allowed, everyone will be happy, the economy will be growing and I will PM for life.

Those who lies the best keep their jobs.

What meaning of "lies" were you referring to there!

[chainarong]

"Never believe numbers you haven't falsified yourself".

I don't believe any numbers issued by TAT.

I was in BKK in early June. Khaosan Road was empty (during the anyways, didn't hang around long), Sukhumwit was pretty quiet and JJ Market had a good number of people, but most were locals and Chinese. Didn't see all those tourists TAT are claiming.

Seriously ---you do not believe the latest figures being put out by Master card/Visa etc on the amount of spending on their cards in certain parts of the world. You don't believe the World Tourism Organization

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Tourism_Organization

The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)

Headwaters in Spain has been monitoring tourism since 1957 (over half a century) , but you do believe there should be more people in your local bar------5 empty seats last week-----or when I walked down Sukhumvit it was pretty quite......not enough round eyes in JJ market.

And...to top it all off..."Didn't see all those tourists TAT are claiming."

Well that it then djayz.......if you done a head count & it didn't come to 25 million or so.....its so obvious we are all being conned .

What is it that scares some of the people on here that Thailand is going ahead--???----the whole SEA area Vietnam /Burma etc are going ahead, & most (non sex tourist) don't go to one without visiting the others......so Thailand will get an on flow as they progress.

Someone just give me one link that TAT figures are a plot-----this argument has been going on for years now, & I still haven't seen one------just these silly post about how quite it is in my bar / market....etc.....etc

Anyway, I'm off now to JJ market to do a head count----if I don't get to at least 2 million by lunch I'll pop back on and apologise to jjayz.

Well the figures for the half year were released two weeks back by the duke of TAT , and the half year hasn't ended yet , use that as a gage, they also seem to get the quarterly figures out a week after it has finished , to get all the figures in for that report period from everyone concerned , should take on near 9 months, rubbery figures, naaaa , just bouncy.

[Winniedapu]

"Based on the survey results, it is expected that 33.87 million tourists will visit the country this year, a rise of 13.35 percent from last year, with revenue from foreigners estimated at around 1.71 trillion Baht, a rise of 17.83 percent."

These numbers, seem a bit dream-like to me.

600 tourist-related businesses? 350 foreign tourists and 350 Thai tourists? The sample seems a bit small. What typee of tourist business? The tee--shiort stand in Nana? The tattoo parlour. I distrust the words 'tourist-related' in this context

Could someone please explain how Thai (internal) tourism generates revenue rather than redistributes revenue?

Winnie

Edited June 27, 2016 by Winniedapu

[Winniedapu]

"Never believe numbers you haven't falsified yourself".

I don't believe any numbers issued by TAT.

I was in BKK in early June. Khaosan Road was empty (during the anyways, didn't hang around long), Sukhumwit was pretty quiet and JJ Market had a good number of people, but most were locals and Chinese. Didn't see all those tourists TAT are claiming.

Why would I believe you based on your casual observations any more than TAT?

More to the point perhaps, given the reputation of Thailand for reliable numbers... why would you NOT?

W

Edited June 27, 2016 by Winniedapu

[Rancid]

Posting numbers doesn't reflect the reality. It is really about how long each tourist stays, and what their average daily spend is. Is the spending finding its way into the local economies or being vacuumed up by just a few operators and profits repatriated. That doesn't mean that sex tourism is a good long term model either. They've talked about targeting higher spend tourists but nothing has been done to achieve that, supposedly a press release is sufficient.

Huge numbers stretch resources and lead to degradation of popular areas, are those numbers spending in line with expectations, and how much money is being put back into areas to maintain them appropriately? Is there a balance?

I think we can guess the answers, Thailand talks about sufficiency economy, they should be talking about sufficiency tourism, before all popular areas are so degraded and filthy that no one, including low cost travelers, will want to go there. However long term strategies, here like in many countries, are not prioritized over short term gain for various influential stakeholders.

[DM07]

...but of course they do!

How could they not?

The sky's the limit for Thailand!

[Andrew65]

"Never believe numbers you haven't falsified yourself".

I don't believe any numbers issued by TAT.

I was in BKK in early June. Khaosan Road was empty (during the anyways, didn't hang around long), Sukhumwit was pretty quiet and JJ Market had a good number of people, but most were locals and Chinese. Didn't see all those tourists TAT are claiming.

It seems very quiet here in Pattaya too (even taking into account that it's Thai low season).

Although quite alot of Indian & Chinese tourists around.

I think things like: Burma opening up, and Vietnam & Indonesia going towards visa-free travel is bound to have hit tourist numbers for Thailand.

That what our taxi driver was saying the other day. The good time (sic !) when they were able to over charge falang who were taking a taxi straight from the airport to Pattaya is over. Nowadays it's mostly Chinese tourists traveling in group by bus. So the total number of tourists maybe up, and it's good for Thailand as a whole, but the small operators like the taxi drivers or small restaurant and guesthouse owners don't benefit from it, quite the opposite. It's now a business for big tour operators and big retailers like Duty Free.

Incidentally, I recently moved house (condo really) from Bangkok to Pattaya. The guy who moved my stuff said that recently most of his work involved moving people (expat falangs) who are leaving Thailand permanently.

[natway09]

The busloads are here alright. Chinese who devour the buffet at breakfast & spend little else. .

CP Group may get a bit through 7/11 Believe me I am very close to it & figures on average spending by Chinese is propaganda.

They overload all services without returning much.

Where is the plan to attract some teal tourists ..... shelved again

[colonialboy]

Thailand has lost millions of quality tourists bowing to the Chinese invasion.

Chinese on all inclusive packages . Don't spend any Baht

[worgeordie]

Teflon Thailand, no matter how bad things get here and in

the rest of the World,tourist numbers will always rise.......

well according to T.A.T., and they would not lie, would they.

regards Worgeordie

[jesimps]

"Never believe numbers you haven't falsified yourself".

I don't believe any numbers issued by TAT.

I was in BKK in early June. Khaosan Road was empty (during the anyways, didn't hang around long), Sukhumwit was pretty quiet and JJ Market had a good number of people, but most were locals and Chinese. Didn't see all those tourists TAT are claiming.

It seems very quiet here in Pattaya too (even taking into account that it's Thai low season).

Although quite alot of Indian & Chinese tourists around.

I think things like: Burma opening up, and Vietnam & Indonesia going towards visa-free travel is bound to have hit tourist numbers for Thailand.

The Chinese are doing a good job of blocking the entrance to Walking Street and the pavements leading to it. Also the entrances to Theprasit Market and the beer wagon. They also use the seats put out for the drinkers, without buying anything of course. The ladies behind the bar spend half their time chasing them.

From a selfish point of view I'd like to see the tourist numbers decrease, especially the MC variety.

[Brer Fox]

So they brag about the revenue from foreigners being at around 1.71 trillion baht.

Just to put that figure into some sort of context. The 2016 budget just handed down by PM Prayuth Thailand shows a deficit of 390 trillion baht which has to be borrowed just to balance the books. That gives an idea of what deep poo the Thai economy is in.

The other message in the story is that tourists are honing in of a few specific destinations. Pattaya, the sex hub of Asia, is sure to be one of those. Spare a thought of despair for Thailand's tourism and the economy without the illegal sex industry?

[Winniedapu]

imho, karma is just as much a myth to scare the children with as hell and purgatory.

Please God, if there is a God, save my soul, if I've got one...

Winnie

[Andrew65]

So they brag about the revenue from foreigners being at around 1.71 trillion baht.

Just to put that figure into some sort of context. The 2016 budget just handed down by PM Prayuth Thailand shows a deficit of 390 trillion baht which has to be borrowed just to balance the books. That gives an idea of what deep poo the Thai economy is in.

The other message in the story is that tourists are honing in of a few specific destinations. Pattaya, the sex hub of Asia, is sure to be one of those. Spare a thought of despair for Thailand's tourism and the economy without the illegal sex industry?

Well, if it's caucasian expat tourists you're talking about, they're conspicuous by their absence, as I said in an earlier post, lots of Indians & Chinese.

I just moved to Pattaya after 17 years of living in Bangkok, mainly because there's a lower cost of living here (nothing to do with sex, illicit or otherwise). Also I feel that Bangkok is becoming too busy & over-crowded.

[mikiea]

Wasn't TAT quoting only a month ago that they would meet or exceed 2.2 billion tourist dollars? With such a drastic loss in tourist dollars compared to previous years, can they really claim they now have their quality tourists. I guess all of those Chinese tourists just aren't spending what TAT expected.

the chicom tourists are mostly newly rich countryside people , they are tighter than the skinny jeans the gayish young Thai boys wear . most of the trips are sponsored and fare paid by the companies they work for . "newly rich" is a relative term as compared to their past . most are comfortable but find it difficult to spend money here on made in Yiwu China junk , plus the food is not to their taste and after you have seen 5 temples they all look alike . they spend much less than other foreigners .

Edited June 27, 2016 by mikiea

[Thunderbirds20]

I question those statistics. I see an increase in the number of tourists but the majority of them are Chinese and Russian. They spend very little money compared to the Western tourist and also have little or no respect for all things Thai, ... including the people, ..... which is no doubt why you only see them in the top tourist areas like Phuket, Pattaya, Hua Hin and Samui, ... you will never find a Russian anywhere but the beaches!

The Chinese are almost exclusively in prepaid tour groups. They look, take photos and get on their tour bus to go to the next point of interest.

I live in Jomtien Beach and have never seen so many businesses struggling and closing, so it is hard to imagine revenue from tourism is up!

[mikiea]

I thought YABA was illegal because those tourist predilections could only be in their minds when high. But, if they are counting the Chinese tourist who spent little money outside their tour package, again their imagination. I just came from Pattaya, the most empty beaches I've seen in 26 years and the bars, 15 Thai workers to 1 Farang.

wow.....i just think of how many bar girls will be calling me hansum man .................

[lizardofoz]

Wasn't TAT quoting only a month ago that they would meet or exceed 2.2 billion tourist dollars? With such a drastic loss in tourist dollars compared to previous years, can they really claim they now have their quality tourists. I guess all of those Chinese tourists just aren't spending what TAT expected.

I am in the tourism business with charter yachts and I have had to go with the flow which is Chinese and Korean tourists. The Chinese seem to be holding the tourism market together as the Russians have dropped out due their currency value dropping and other tourists are reducing due to deck chairs being removed from beaches in Phuket and other reasons. If it were not for the Chinese I personally would have problems. Regular bookings for yacht charters has dropped a lot. Chinese day trips are now soaking up nearly all the catamarans in Phuket and more are being bought to enter that day trip market

[Winniedapu]

"Never believe numbers you haven't falsified yourself".

I don't believe any numbers issued by TAT.

I was in BKK in early June. Khaosan Road was empty (during the anyways, didn't hang around long), Sukhumwit was pretty quiet and JJ Market had a good number of people, but most were locals and Chinese. Didn't see all those tourists TAT are claiming.

It seems very quiet here in Pattaya too (even taking into account that it's Thai low season).

Although quite alot of Indian & Chinese tourists around.

I think things like: Burma opening up, and Vietnam & Indonesia going towards visa-free travel is bound to have hit tourist numbers for Thailand.

That what our taxi driver was saying the other day. The good time (sic !) when they were able to over charge falang who were taking a taxi straight from the airport to Pattaya is over. Nowadays it's mostly Chinese tourists traveling in group by bus. So the total number of tourists maybe up, and it's good for Thailand as a whole, but the small operators like the taxi drivers or small restaurant and guesthouse owners don't benefit from it, quite the opposite. It's now a business for big tour operators and big retailers like Duty Free.

Incidentally, I recently moved house (condo really) from Bangkok to Pattaya. The guy who moved my stuff said that recently most of his work involved moving people (expat falangs) who are leaving Thailand permanently.

I'm sure there's a good few of those. I'm equally sure,that those numbers won't be featuring in any TAT numbers any time soon. Probably only chickenfeed anyway, though I imagine the cash injection into the Thai economy would be a bit.

Anyone know where they're going?

Winnie

[Srikcir]

While TAT is predicting higher revenues from foreign tourists, albeit debatable that more Chinese tourists will mean higher per capita revenue, domestic tourism appears to be substantially falling.

In June 2016 President of Domestic Tourism Business Association Yutthachai Sunthornrattanavech said that domestic tourism for the second half of the year will not be brisk as earlier predicted and revenue for the whole year is likely to fall short of the 800 billion baht target by up to 300 billion baht. It's going to take a lot more of Chinese tourusts to make up for that shortfall if the overall tourist revenue projection for 2016 of 2.41 trillion will be met.

[Mook23]

Bosses at T.A.T. hold their regular meetings, what can we come up with this time.

Tourist numbers up, more money coming in.

If we were to believe all the utter crap they keep spouting Thailand would not be able to cope with all the tourists.

My intel learns me they are considering changing the country's name into Tourismland...

[bbbbooboo]

".... the higher tourists numbers only applies to certain groups such as the Chinese" .Says it all really

[lensta]

Wasn't TAT quoting only a month ago that they would meet or exceed 2.2 billion tourist dollars? With such a drastic loss in tourist dollars compared to previous years, can they really claim they now have their quality tourists. I guess all of those Chinese tourists just aren't spending what TAT expected.

Today's prediction is 1.71 Trillion dollars. So how is that a drastic reduction from 2.2 billion??

What drugs have you been taking, it says 1.71 trillion Baht not dollars. Even with a little common sense you could work out that 1.71 trillion dollars would not be possible.

[SOUTHERNSTAR]

Those who lies the best keep their jobs, those who tell the truth will receive an active post in the deep south as a human bomb detector. No bad news will be allowed, everyone will be happy, the economy will be growing and I will PM for life.

Those who lies the best keep their jobs.

What meaning of "lies" were you referring to there!

If you look at the advise given to civil servant women after the attempted rape case, it refers to both (laying down and telling lies) if it depends on certain Thai men. You may recall that the dear great leader said they (women) should stay at home and be good wives.

[sahibji]

it is a good sign if the tourist numbers are rising.

instead of just being concerned do something to improve the

infrastructure and improve the shortcoming.

make into a win win situation for all.

[waldroj]

"...revenue from foreigners estimated at around 1.71 trillion Baht, a rise of 17.83 percent..."!

So, why are Thai's so hell bent on killing the golden goose?

[smotherb]

pointless b#llshit. why do i click on these stories full of lies?

I am sure you just want to reinforce your decision to come here and simply bathe in the fabrications of life.