PM Prayut orders clampdown on 'zero-coin' tours

[webfact]

PM Prayut orders clampdown on 'zero-coin' tours

 

  

BANGKOK, 29 August 2016 — The Prime Minister has ordered a total clampdown on “zero-coin” tours for their adverse impact on Thailand’s tourism industry. 

Maj. Gen. Sunsern Kaewkumnerd, spokesman of the Prime Minister’s Office, said that after PM Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha had instructed the Tourism Ministry, the Tourist Police and related agencies to join forces to find firm solutions to the problem of “zero-coin” tours, there have been arrests of owners of at least two travel companies involved in such a business practice. 

Maj. Gen. Sunsern said that both companies have allegedly brought in travelers but all revenue had been sent back to China through their proxies and they are facing legal action for using Thai I.D. cards in registering their business licenses while being involved in mafia activities. 

He added that authorities have also been tracking the origins of a “zero-coin” tour company, which has been registered as a Thai entity and owns over 3,000 buses, a jewelery business, a leather business, a food business, a food supplement business and food stores. 

Maj. Gen. Sunsern said that this company has been working with Chinese agencies to bring travelers to its businesses while charging additional costs of around 35% on their travel package prices — all of which does not lead to accurate tax payments. 

He stated that the government will always support legitimate travel businesses but won't tolerate any activities, which cause economic damage.

 

-- nnt 2016-08-29

[Plutojames88]

Feeling the pinch ?

[ukrules]

Chickens coming home to roost....

[NongKhaiKid]

Lights,   camera,   cue Minister of Tourism dialogue.

[Cockwomble]

Getting what they asked for

[Thechook]

Ouch someone else has their snout in the Thai trough.  Get away it's mine all mine, tourists belong to Thailand and their money is all ours.

[piersbeckett]

1 hour ago, ukrules said:

Chickens coming home to roost....

Give them an inch and they'll take a mile

[BigBadGeordie]

"No, honestly, it was this big. But it got away.

 

[AlphMichaels]

Dangerous double decker buses..., 3,000 of them..., a good start.  Selling over-priced, low quality BS supplements..., another.  Controlling the gem trade.., generations of that so good luck.  Want to see how the entrenched power brokers of non-origin descent deal with this one if enforced which it likely won't be. Purveyors of poison, deceit and graft - it's about time they fall under the lens.  More than likely someone's drumming up serious hush money ATM.

[NongKhaiKid]

20 minutes ago, BigBadGeordie said:

"No, honestly, it was this big. But it got away.

 

The biggest brown envelope I've even seen   !   Damn.

[Clamhua]

Now they want to tell tourists how to spend their money...this guy is clueless

[NongKhaiKid]

1 minute ago, Clamhua said:

Now they want to tell tourists how to spend their money...this guy is clueless

What's next,   the imposition of a daily minimum spending level   ?

[taichiplanet]

sounds like it is not clamping down on zero-coin operators but only those that are dodging taxes, especially the taxes handed in envelopes!

[dcnx]

It must be just a big misunderstanding. A week or two as a monk will fix everything right up for this Thai entity,  if he/she even exists at all.

[craigt3365]

They've been talking about this for years.  TAT loves them as it gets their tourist numbers up.  And some big wigs here get a lot of cash for this.

 

It'd be great to see 3000 less big buses on the roads and jam packing tourist attractions.

[williamgeorgeallen]

well there have been numerous crack downs on this issue for many years now. even if the good general uses his magic 44 powers (which i am starting to suspect are not actually magical at all) only 1 of  2 things will happen. firstly and most likely nothing will happen, or secondly tourist numbers will drop as they will go elsewhere.

[madmitch]

There's no such thing as a "zero-coin" or "zero baht" tour. Unless the 7-Eleven franchises have been taken over by the Chinese!

[tifino]

 

Doh! misterP - it's called 'pre-paid' tours 

 

It is an Art, 

 

and the Chinese have perfected it

 

 

555     pre-paid BYO souvenirs too!

 

 

Edited August 29, 2016 by tifino

[craigt3365]

13 minutes ago, madmitch said:

There's no such thing as a "zero-coin" or "zero baht" tour. Unless the 7-Eleven franchises have been taken over by the Chinese!

 

There are not actually zero cost tours, but tours that charge a price that's less that what it would actually cost.  They make all their money from places they take you that offer highly marked up stuff.  It's been around a long time in China.  Sadly, I did one in Xian many years ago.  No fun.

 

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-11/09/content_728303.htm

 

Quote

In short, a zero-fee tour is a cut-rate package tour that charges the tourists less than the basic cost of transport, accommodation and attraction tickets.

 

[MobileContent]

Quote

He added that authorities have also been tracking the origins of a “zero-coin” tour company, which has been registered as a Thai entity and owns over 3,000 buses, a jewelery business, a leather business, a food business, a food supplement business and food stores. 

 

I would call that a jewelry store business but those Thai entity is not sending money back overseas. All those zero Baht tours are controlled by the Thais and not the Chinese or Russian tour companies.

 

Its the Thais that offer the tours for free to their overseas operator.

 

Example:

1000 Chinese get a package tour for 3 days to Bangkok

Flights: 6.5 million Baht (New Gen Airways (Thai owned) and offers charter flights from 23 destinations in China to Thailand)
Hotel: 1.7 million Baht

Transportation: Free
Food: Paid extra
Total cost: 8,3 Million Baht

Shopping:

80% might be forced to buy some jewelries from Thai companies
500 USD x 800 = ca 13,2 Million Baht
(The value might be just 50 USD per item)
80% might buy some clothes or souvenirsfrom Thai companies
100 USD x 800 = 2,5 Million Baht
The value might be just 10 USD per item

Meals from Thai restaurants: 5 Meals @ 100 Baht x 1000 tourists = 500,000 Baht

Then their are optional forced tours at 600 Baht to see Chinatown. Every Chinese that visits Bangkok will at least once go to Chinatown Yawarrat. Bus is provided free of charge and the tour guides have direct commission deals with every shop (Thai Chinese) they send the tourists to. 
 

All in all its the Thai's that make the money out of it. The snakeheads in China that recommend the tours might just get 50-100 USD per tourist as a fixed price. (Between 50-100,000 USD) and the rest is sucked away by Thai's from flights, hotels, food, jewelry and clothes.

 

 

 

 

[xineohp]

Thailand is not alone in this area of tourism.  Australia, and to some extent New Zealand, has been experiencing zero-coin tours by Chinese tourists for many years.  To its shame, Australia does not appear to have done much to correct the issue.  To rub salt into the wound, should one enter a souvenir shop to buy a toy kangaroo or koala, one can guarantee the toy will have been made in China.    

[Pib]

Such a quaint little country where the govt's top guy, the PM, has to get involved in tour program management.   Standby for a Section 44 issuance to solve this problem of national importance (it must be national security related in some way, right?).

[craigt3365]

The Chinese are coming here and using Thais as proxies to setup companies.  The Thai gets a bit of money up front, but only a bit.  All the rest goes to the Chinese owners.

 

I stayed at a hotel in Bangkok a few months ago that was just bought out by the Chinese.  Front desk and restaurant staff all spoke Chinese.  Tour buses outside, chaos at breakfast.  It was terrible.

 

Here in Pattaya, the Chinese tour buses go to a set number of restaurants.  Owned by Chinese.  Staff make small money.  The big bucks go to the Chinese owners.  No Thai owners involved, only proxies.

 

I've got no problems with this, except it is against the law here.  And zero cost tours aren't normally a good thing for anybody other than the owners.

[mesterm]

44 minutes ago, MobileContent said:

Then their are optional forced tours at 600 Baht to see Chinatown.

 

"optional forced" 

[mesterm]

44 minutes ago, MobileContent said:

All in all its the Thai's that make the money out of it.

 

So why is the government claiming otherwise and ordering a clampdown?

[hansnl]

57 minutes ago, MobileContent said:

 

I would call that a jewelry store business but those Thai entity is not sending money back overseas. All those zero Baht tours are controlled by the Thais and not the Chinese or Russian tour companies.

 

Its the Thais that offer the tours for free to their overseas operator.

 

Example:

1000 Chinese get a package tour for 3 days to Bangkok

Flights: 6.5 million Baht (New Gen Airways (Thai owned) and offers charter flights from 23 destinations in China to Thailand)
Hotel: 1.7 million Baht

Transportation: Free
Food: Paid extra
Total cost: 8,3 Million Baht

Shopping:

80% might be forced to buy some jewelries from Thai companies
500 USD x 800 = ca 13,2 Million Baht
(The value might be just 50 USD per item)
80% might buy some clothes or souvenirsfrom Thai companies
100 USD x 800 = 2,5 Million Baht
The value might be just 10 USD per item

Meals from Thai restaurants: 5 Meals @ 100 Baht x 1000 tourists = 500,000 Baht

Then their are optional forced tours at 600 Baht to see Chinatown. Every Chinese that visits Bangkok will at least once go to Chinatown Yawarrat. Bus is provided free of charge and the tour guides have direct commission deals with every shop (Thai Chinese) they send the tourists to. 
 

All in all its the Thai's that make the money out of it. The snakeheads in China that recommend the tours might just get 50-100 USD per tourist as a fixed price. (Between 50-100,000 USD) and the rest is sucked away by Thai's from flights, hotels, food, jewelry and clothes.

 

 

 

 

In dealing with Chinese comoanies

 

13 minutes ago, mesterm said:

 

So why is the government claiming otherwise and ordering a clampdown?

Because it is not the Thai that get the bulk of the money but the Chinese companies.

[teacherpaul]

56 minutes ago, mesterm said:

 

So why is the government claiming otherwise and ordering a clampdown?

Because MobileContent got it wrong. It's the Chinese who make most of the money.

[oldsailor35]

5 hours ago, Clamhua said:

Now they want to tell tourists how to spend their money...this guy is clueless

No!  its about time they made this move on Thailand's "quality" tourists

[louse1953]

6 hours ago, Clamhua said:

Now they want to tell tourists how to spend their money...this guy is clueless

Rubbish.It is about where they spend it.This is typical Chinese,Korean,Russian and Japanese mass tourism.Keep all the money in home country and if you have to shop,only at our shops.What's the good of any tourists if you can't glean a bit of money off of them.

[Pattaya28]

So these droves of "High-Volume" "High-Quality" Chinese tourists aren't "High-Quality" after all. 

Though "High-Volume" they certainly are.