Special Report: Are Days Numbered For The Thai Tourist Industry?

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Special Report: Are Days Numbered For The Thai Tourist Industry?

Story by Albert Jack

 

'Bai Nai?'

 

BANGKOK: -- Chiang Mai has started a campaign to try and lure back Chinese tourists, whose visits have dropped significantly lately. The drop in visitor numbers is thought to be related to the Thais’ constant criticism of the Chinese on social media, causing the them to boycott Thailand.

 

And this is something like the reason the Americans stopped coming here in numbers a few years ago. And the British, Australians & Europeans. The attitude of the Thai authorities and, in some cases the population, towards their guests is driving people away.

 

The fifteen-year prosperity, thanks to the wealth Westerners brought in by the billion that looked, only a few years ago, as if it would never end, may well be ending.

 

Take a look at tourism over the last forty-years and a pattern emerges.

 

In the 1970’s the early package tours took wealth and prosperity to Spain’s, previously undeveloped, Costa del Sol region. The Coast of the Sun was cheap, easy to reach, beautiful, unspoiled and safe. The Spanish welcomed new customers to their bars, taverns, hotels & beaches by the million.

 

And, of course, the crooks moved in too. The pickpockets, the muggers, the taxi driver scams, the water-ski scammers (you damaged my ski, that’s $50, gracias). Waiters watered down wine, shops short-changed. Every non Spaniard was an opportunity and the Spanish police were bought and paid for. In on it – up to the nail-bag.

 

So were the authorities. Ugly hotels went up, the beautiful shoreline was ruined, the seawater polluted, condos were bought and never built. Now-famous time share scams were established. Golf club memberships, to courses that were never played, were sold. Nightmares were had and tears flowed. Greed flourished and wealth changed hands.

 

Then the foreign crooks all moved in and gun-fights were common. Taxi drivers cheated, robbed and raped. And the tourists were all chased out of town. People just stopped going there.

 

First the Americans left. Then the British and other Europeans. The Japanese, so affluent during the 1970’s & 80’s, stopped going. The Russians had a brief look around, after their borders opened in the 1990’s, but it was too late for Spain by then.

 

There was no way to change the attitudes of the people by that time. A whole generation had grown up thinking tourists in numbers had always been there, and always would be. But the Russians also found somewhere else to go before long. Spain then spent the next twenty-years with its collective arms out saying, ‘where you go, please come back handsome man.’

 

But no-one goes back there now. Not in any numbers anyway. Spain is broke. The money is gone. Buildings lay derelict and a decent condo can now be picked up from a bank for the price of a medium sized car.

 

And it serves them right.

 

Spain was onto a good thing in the 1980’s. And they thought it would last forever. But people who are abused, everywhere they go in a country, just stop going there.

 

The tourist dollar went to Greece instead during the 1990’s and exactly the same thing happen there too. Now their elderly scavenge for food in street bins and you can buy a decent apartment in Athens for pocket change. But, who would?

 

The gravy train pulled into Turkey next, for a brief while, until the same thing happened there and tourists were chased away by robbing, thieving locals who thought they knew a good thing when it walked past them at night.

 

Full story: http://pattayaone.net/pattaya-news/229173/special-report-days-numbered-thai-tourist-industry/

 

-- © Copyright Pattaya One 2016-08-03

[MyFrenU]

The Costa Del Crime (Sol) is a very apt comparison,resorts like Marbella,Calahonda,Fuengirola,Benalmadena have been dying slowly and painfully for years.Funnily enough the cheapest of the lot Torremolinos is thriving now mainly due to Spanish tourists from other parts of the country,who of course love the history of Malaga the Andalucian capital.
Other parts of Spain are thriving like Barcelona with the Catalans now complaining that the 10 Million per year visitors that descend on the city are too many!
The Canary Islands also Tenerife,Gran Canaria,Lanzarote and Fuengirola are in the enviable position of being just about the only place in Europe that can guarantee sunshine and good weather in the Winter.They will always be busy especially with Scandinavians that only holiday in Winter,they say Summer is beautiful at home so why bother?
It was only a matter of time before Thailand finally killed the Goose that lays the Golden Egg,you can only kill so many tourists and get away with it before people say enough is enough!

Edited August 2, 2016 by MyFrenU
Typos?

[MyFrenU]

Oh and Spain is broke because of the EU and the woeful single currency,plus the abysmal one-size-fits-all interest rate policy it's really very little to do with tourism.Same as Greece,Portugal and Italy who's banks are about to collapse!

[anotheruser]

The internet is contributing to this a bit. All of the scams and other delightful news from Thailand makes it to every corner of the world. Though for me the thing that is going to be the greatest factor in this is the state of the environment. Thailand has become one polluted mess. The time it took them to trash the entire country is shocking. 

 

The locals seem to have little to no awareness for the environment and all of the garbage everywhere. They simply think all foreigners find Thailand the best place in the world to vacation and don't understand that people are tired of holidaying in piles of trash while basking in the fumes of burning plastic. 

 

At least the sex tourists who are seemingly willing to put up with anything for some cheap ass will continue to come. Oh wait a minute...

 

 

[shirtless]

Thailands days are numbered mainly because they are unfriendly and  greedy with no moral compass , the word has spread .

[craigt3365]

Excellent report.  Thailand's environment is in a terrible state.  Really sad when you are afraid to swim in the sea due to pollution.  Or drive down back roads that are lined with trash.

[Andrew65]

17 minutes ago, shirtless said:

Thailands days are numbered mainly because they are unfriendly and  greedy with no moral compass , the word has spread .

I was first here in '85 and have lived here since '98.

 

Thailand just ain't that cheap any more, in comparison with the West or many alternative destinations.

 

Then there is: the strong Baht; political problems; and the fact the countries like Malaysia (90 days on arrival), and Vietnam & Indonesia, who are moving towards visa-free travel.

[ramrod711]

9 minutes ago, Andrew65 said:

I was first here in '85 and have lived here since '98.

 

Thailand just ain't that cheap any more, in comparison with the West or many alternative destinations.

 

Then there is: the strong Baht; political problems; and the fact the countries like Malaysia (90 days on arrival), and Vietnam & Indonesia, who are moving towards visa-free travel.

 

A good friend from Canada came to Chiang Mai on a 30 day visa, turned out that his return flight was in 33 days. I thought we would just pop in to immigration and get an extension rather than pay 3 days overstay at the airport, 4 hours to get the extension. My friend was livid and I was embarrassed, not sure we will see him in Thailand again.

[craigt3365]

2 minutes ago, ramrod711 said:

 

A good friend from Canada came to Chiang Mai on a 30 day visa, turned out that his return flight was in 33 days. I thought we would just pop in to immigration and get an extension rather than pay 3 days overstay at the airport, 4 hours to get the extension. My friend was livid and I was embarrassed, not sure we will see him in Thailand again.

Understood, but it is the law and it's clearly understood how this works.  He should have applied for a 60 day visa before coming here.  I just came back from a trip to several wonderful countries.  All visa on arrival, but all with a limited stay duration.  If I overstayed, I'd have to pay a fine.

 

4 hours time out of a 33 day holiday isn't too bad.

[kalbo123]

6 minutes ago, ramrod711 said:

 

A good friend from Canada came to Chiang Mai on a 30 day visa, turned out that his return flight was in 33 days. I thought we would just pop in to immigration and get an extension rather than pay 3 days overstay at the airport, 4 hours to get the extension. My friend was livid and I was embarrassed, not sure we will see him in Thailand again.

 

I suppose in Canada they would tread a tourist with a wrong booking like a King and give him priority service to make his mistake undone?

[Andrew65]

4 minutes ago, craigt3365 said:

Understood, but it is the law and it's clearly understood how this works.  He should have applied for a 60 day visa before coming here.  I just came back from a trip to several wonderful countries.  All visa on arrival, but all with a limited stay duration.  If I overstayed, I'd have to pay a fine.

 

4 hours time out of a 33 day holiday isn't too bad.

Yes, but Indonesia & Vietnam required a visa application before travel until quite recently, at least for many Western nationalities.

[anotheruser]

34 minutes ago, Andrew65 said:

I was first here in '85 and have lived here since '98.

 

Thailand just ain't that cheap any more, in comparison with the West or many alternative destinations.

 

Then there is: the strong Baht; political problems; and the fact the countries like Malaysia (90 days on arrival), and Vietnam & Indonesia, who are moving towards visa-free travel.

 

Last time I was in Bali you still needed a visa but it was included in the cost of the ticket. There was no need to stop at a separate desk to obtain it. 

So for all practical purposes at least in Bali it might as well be visa free now.

[craigt3365]

3 minutes ago, Andrew65 said:

Yes, but Indonesia & Vietnam required a visa application before travel until quite recently, at least for many Western nationalities.

Indonesia is also 30 days on arrival.  A 33 day trip would require a visit to the immigration office to apply for an extension.  If that's even possible there.  I don't know.

 

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

[Thian]

Actually it's quite simple: 

 

Name me a nice clean beach in Thailand which is perfect!

 

There's always something wrong, no shade, dirty water, overcrowded, annoying sales, no resorts, ladyboys, seaweed, glass, beachvendors...

 

It took a while but now the Europeans found better places for their holidays. Solly for thailand.

 

[linksman00]

54 minutes ago, Andrew65 said:

I was first here in '85 and have lived here since '98.

 

Thailand just ain't that cheap any more, in comparison with the West or many alternative destinations.

 

Then there is: the strong Baht; political problems; and the fact the countries like Malaysia (90 days on arrival), and Vietnam & Indonesia, who are moving towards visa-free travel.

Just wait for Burma, it will be the straw that broke the Camels back.   Burma has the potential to be what Thailand was 40 years ago, and now they finally have the government in place that can possibly do it.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

45 minutes ago, ramrod711 said:

 

A good friend from Canada came to Chiang Mai on a 30 day visa, turned out that his return flight was in 33 days. I thought we would just pop in to immigration and get an extension rather than pay 3 days overstay at the airport, 4 hours to get the extension.

 

My friend was livid and I was embarrassed, not sure we will see him in Thailand again.

 

Good!

 

(People who can't google basic visa requirements before flying off somewhere should really just stay home.   Maybe cross into the USA at Niagara Falls once, but really no further.)

[WinnieTheKhwai]

13 minutes ago, Thian said:

Actually it's quite simple: 

 

Name me a nice clean beach in Thailand which is perfect!

 

Ao Manao?  Don't tell anyone.   (It's a bit wide and long as I have a personal preference for small bays, but those don't really work as a mainstream tourist beach.  Ao Manao does, and lacks all of the BS.)

[poohy]

The guy was being perfectly law abiding personally would have just paid the 1500 baht fine rather than 1900 and 4 hours to extend a visa seems a bit much takes less than 10 minutes here although we are more rural than the metropolis of CNX (and here is infinitely more pleasant as ex wife resides in CNX)

[anotheruser]

2 minutes ago, WinnieTheKhwai said:

 

Ao Manao?  Don't tell anyone.   (It's a bit wide and long as I have a personal preference for small bays, but those don't really work as a mainstream tourist beach.  Ao Manao does, and lacks all of the BS.)

 

Don't you actually have to sign in with your passport to visit Ao Manao? I want to visit it some day but the thought of having to carry my passport with my PE visa in it sort of puts me off.

[taichiplanet]

preaching to the converted. what about doing the article in Thai and see what response (if any!) there is.

[koolkarl]

With many gangs of uneducated, dead beat Thais beating up old foreign tourists, word spreads quickly around the world.

Some Thais appear to be genuine but many are downright confrontational.

Any dispute with a Thai and they immediately threaten to call immigration, and they  remind me of the gestapo. 

I know of two cases where a foreigner was shot and killed by an off duty policeman.  In both cases, the police

delayed and delayed the trial  hoping the all would go away and in the end, justice was not served to the unarmed foreigners.

There has been no democracy here for a long time and the mere mention of a military gov. scares almost all foreigners.

 

[Thian]

10 minutes ago, WinnieTheKhwai said:

 

Ao Manao?  Don't tell anyone.   (It's a bit wide and long as I have a personal preference for small bays, but those don't really work as a mainstream tourist beach.  Ao Manao does, and lacks all of the BS.)

I never heard of that beach before so that means it must be very small and abandoned.

 

Perfect tourist beaches can attract thousands of tourists every day again, in Spain they are huge.

Thailand could be like that (or even better) if they just had a law and policemen to enforce it.

 

Bali would be perfect if they didn't have those very annoying salespeople everywhere. If Myanmar becomes a good holidaydestination than Thailands days are counted.

[anotheruser]

Ao Manao is a beach on a military base. It is actually quite large from what I gather. The reason it is clean is the military pick up the trash everyday. The reason there aren't hawkers is I don't think they let them in. I find it somewhat sad that a beach can only really be left in tact if it is protected by a base.

Edited August 3, 2016 by anotheruser

[mrmicbkktxl]

24 minutes ago, WinnieTheKhwai said:

 

Ao Manao?  Don't tell anyone.   (It's a bit wide and long as I have a personal preference for small bays, but those don't really work as a mainstream tourist beach.  Ao Manao does, and lacks all of the BS.)

Yeah and free jellyfish in the water,nice

[poohy]

Ao Manao is actually very popular full of refugees from chiang mai

As for passports hit and miss I have never been stopped and drive through daily A mate visiting a few weeks ago followed me on hired motorcycle and got pulled over...and never any checks entering from Klong wan entrance

[kartman]

Chinese don't come to Chiang Mai because they can't now drive their vehicles outside the province lift that and they will come back .

[Berty100]

3 minutes ago, anotheruser said:

Ao Manao is a beach on a military base. It is actually quite large from what I gather. The reason it is clean is the military pick up the trash everyday. The reason there aren't hawkers is I don't think they let them in. I find it somewhat sad that a beach can only really be left in tact if it is protected by a base.

 

From what I gather, is that same as, I never been there so just make a lot of ASSumptions in my post?

[craigt3365]

28 minutes ago, anotheruser said:

 

Don't you actually have to sign in with your passport to visit Ao Manao? I want to visit it some day but the thought of having to carry my passport with my PE visa in it sort of puts me off.

I didn't have to.  But I never leave home without my passport on me.  Especially these days! 555

[Agent Sumo]

People have been predicting the demise of the Thai tourism industry for years.

 

Hasn't happened and probably won't because the country offers so much and at prices people can still afford to pay.

 

Ignore the disgruntled long-stayers who complain about everything; their opinions are largely irrelevant

[worgeordie]

Burma is going to be the biggest threat to Thai tourism,and to a lesser

extent Cambodia and Laos,plus Vietnam also has a growing tourist 

sector. I just hope those countries dont go down the same road,and

by greed spoil the country and the people,Thailand should be an

example on how not how to run your tourist industry.

regards worgeordie