Thailand still expects 32.4 million tourist arrivals this year

[OMGImInPattaya]

4 hours ago, williamgeorgeallen said:

i came in last sunday and it was a good run. when the lines are long it tends to be because there are not enough officials checking passports, or most of them are on the lanes checking only thai passports.  2 hours is a disgraceful.

The report of 2 hours was hearsay...the verified report was one hour; and Ive spent that long in the citizens line when returning Stateside. Swampy is notorious for long lines...if these bother people, there are premium lane services available and there is always Business Class.

[craigt3365]

6 minutes ago, OMGImInPattaya said:

The report of 2 hours was hearsay...the verified report was one hour; and Ive spent that long in the citizens line when returning Stateside. Swampy is notorious for long lines...if these bother people, there are premium lane services available and there is always Business Class.

The 2 hours from from my driver who was there waiting for us for over an hour talking to the other drivers...who'd been waiting for up to 2 hours for their clients.  Yes, hearsay...

[JAG]

I went for a few beers in town (Chiang Rai) last night.
Chiang Rai is hardly sin city, but it does have a reasonable sized night bazaar and a road with about a dozen or so tourist oriented bars.
I have never seen it so dead. The night bazaar was empty, the associated open air beer garden and restaurant had two customers, and fully a quarter of the bars had closed up.

Our tourist population is largely made up of backpackers and older travellers of shall we say a more cultural bent. Any sex tourist would be very optimistic (and disappointed ). Everyone I spoke to, Thai and Westerner, agreed that the tourists are simply not coming.

[kalbo123]

2 hours ago, Yann55 said:

Hi Kalbo, you are working in the tourist industry in Chiangmai, so I'd really like to hear your informed opinion on the following points :

 

- When you say there is a significant drop, are you talking about Chinese tourists or all the tourists ?

 

- Has tourism in CM completely changed in the past 3/4 years, shifting rapidly from mostly European tourists to Chinese tourists, or is it just an urban legend ?

 

- If the answer to the second question is yes, then :

 

1/ do you feel that Chinese tourists have somehow 'chased' the other ones ?

2/ would you say that Chinese tourists spend as much as the others and in the same places ?

 

Thank you very much in advance for your input.

 

_ from my personal observations I would say it's a drop in numbers both Western, and Chinese.

I have contact with Chinese tour operators and they say they are down 30% compared to last year,

 

You are right to say that tourism has shifted from mainly farang to a lot of other Asian nationalities, not only Chinese.

 

You can divide Chinese tourists into 2 groups, the more affluent, they travel independently, they come mainly from the big cities like Hong Kong, Beijing, Shang Hai etc. And they have money and style. you can tell by their clothes, expensive cameras and behaviour.

 

Then there are the, I call them factory workers, they travel in groups, or with friends, they simply don't have a lot to spend. But they still spend as much as most foreign young backpackers.

 

I think it's a myth that Chinese don't spend anything in Thailand.

 

Anyway, I miss them.

 

[gandalf12]

Keep it a secret but rumour has it by 2020 there will be 7.5bn visitors a year to Thailand 

[sambum]

Oh, what a surprise!

[Tatsujin]

3 hours ago, NongKhaiKid said:

Isn't it amazing the approach to tourism when it suits ?

Sometimes it's all important but when there's any complaints the chest gets puffed out and the ' we don't rely on tourism ' response is trotted out.

 

Again, that's for domestic consumption, can't be beholden to those pesky foreigners after all.

[Linden]

7 hours ago, kalbo123 said:

Working in the tourism industry in Chiang Mai, I notice a significant drop in tourists and talking with my competitors they al say the same, worst then last year.

 

Its only numbers ...you get them free in calculators..

The difficult thing is calculating. The zero dollar tourists 

Even the so called cheap charlies that do back to back visa runs spend much moree than zero..

In fact beck to back visa guys probably spend more money than the so called expats on the Darkside or outlying districts that only sponser their entourage.

Back to Back runners pump the money into more locals. no pun intended

[OMGImInPattaya]

1 hour ago, craigt3365 said:

The 2 hours from from my driver who was there waiting for us for over an hour talking to the other drivers...who'd been waiting for up to 2 hours for their clients.  Yes, hearsay...

Maybe their flights were delayed...it doesn't make sense you would make it through immigration in an hour while their pickups were taking over twice as long. Were these other drivers waiting for passengers on your flight or others?

[wvavin]

Arrival is 32.4 million visitors but Departure is <32.4 million because some might have fallen from the balconies!

[harleyclarkey]

 

Who on earth would want to go to visit the island in the photo? 

 

Geez...what a mess. But then TAT just wants to pack 'em in and take their loot. 

 

Recent visits to Karon and Kata were devoid of tourists....like empty.

Living in Kata would maybe confirm this?

[craigt3365]

2 hours ago, OMGImInPattaya said:

Maybe their flights were delayed...it doesn't make sense you would make it through immigration in an hour while their pickups were taking over twice as long. Were these other drivers waiting for passengers on your flight or others?

You know how organized Thai government departments are.  Easy to believe they messed this up, just like the computers that have gone down a few times in various airports.  This driver is there every day.  Said it was terrible.  And felt bad for the tourists.  Hard not to believe him.  He's a guy we use on a regular basis, so know him fairly well.

[OMGImInPattaya]

1 hour ago, harleyclarkey said:

 

Who on earth would want to go to visit the island in the photo? 

 

Recent visits to Karon and Kata were devoid of tourists....like empty.

Living in Kata would maybe confirm this?

Most tourists don't visit the Andaman sea area resorts during monsoon season...check back in December.

[harleyclarkey]

38 minutes ago, OMGImInPattaya said:

Most tourists don't visit the Andaman sea area resorts during monsoon season...check back in December.

 

You are right OMG.....but even in December and January I saw for myself the places were empty. 

My pal lives in Phuket and has sent me photos of bars, sorry the bar AREA,  with the grand total of three customers.

[nong38]

I dont suppose that anyone checks the figures so you can what you like and some people will believe it especially if they want to, all we want is good news in lalaland/ I am guessing they probably count the number of planes at land in Thailand, yes internal as well, give each plane an average of 300 passengers and thats your total for by air, then add x for trains and y for buses and thats the target and we always beat our target, if anyone does not think we beat our target see you outside with a couple of the boys tell you how things work.

The truth is that the golden goose is on its way out, year after year of ripping tourists off results in them trying somewhere new and word gets around, there are other places to go if you donttake  care of your customers

[Jackin1960]

And I expect Clinton and Trump to kiss and make up then run together as joint Presidents.

[sawadee1947]

11 hours ago, masuk said:

Then Immigration Dept is going to have to sit up and start treating tourists and retirees as if we were welcome.  The long queues at international airports are ridiculous.

If Malaysia can process overseas passengers in less than half a minute, then Immigration officials should make a trip over the border and see how they do it.

 

I don't understand.......Are you in a hurry???

[performance]

Not tourists Chinese there not tourists. They are invaders.

[SOTIRIOS]

...that's the problem....'we' are insignificant with such numbers....

 

...quantity and profit.....

 

...but they demand 'quality tourists'......

 

...translation....the ones they can get maximum profit from....and those that demand nothing in return....???

 

 

[sambum]

3 hours ago, Jackin1960 said:

And I expect Clinton and Trump to kiss and make up then run together as joint Presidents.

 

Just about as near the truth as you can get! (Same, same!)

[Bob9]

Don't it always seem to go. That you don't know what you've got. Till it's gone. They paved paradise ...

 

 

Edited November 5, 2016 by Bob9
link

[OMGImInPattaya]

None of the doom and gloom posted here re the Thai tourism industry squares with the fact they are currently in the midst of doubling the size of Swampy Airport, or that AOT, the airport's operator, consistently sets new revenues and profit records. I mean, why let facts get in the way of slagging on Thailand ?

Edited November 5, 2016 by OMGImInPattaya

[kannot]

4 hours ago, sawadee1947 said:

 

I don't understand.......Are you in a hurry???

1  hour  at  immigration or  1  hour of  massage.............you  let  me  know

[kannot]

29 minutes ago, OMGImInPattaya said:

None of the doom and gloom posted here re the Thai tourism industry squares with the fact they are currently in the midst of doubling the size of Swampy Airport, or that AOT, the airport's operator, consistently sets new revenues and profit records. I mean, why let facts get in the way of slagging on Thailand ?

with  the  price  of  a  bottle  of  water at  Swampy  being  about 50   baht  inside and  7  baht outside.......im  not  surprised

[OMGImInPattaya]

2 minutes ago, kannot said:

with  the  price  of  a  bottle  of  water at  Swampy  being  about 50   baht  inside and  7  baht outside.......im  not  surprised

Concessions aren't run by AOT.

[sambum]

1 hour ago, OMGImInPattaya said:

None of the doom and gloom posted here re the Thai tourism industry squares with the fact they are currently in the midst of doubling the size of Swampy Airport, or that AOT, the airport's operator, consistently sets new revenues and profit records. I mean, why let facts get in the way of slagging on Thailand ?

 

Or even "slagging off Thailand"? I'm sorry, but I do get a bit cynical about "new revenues and profit records" when according to what I hear from "people on the ground" (i.e. Bar owners, hoteliers, and restauranteurs)  their  "revenues and profits" situation is exactly the opposite!

Edited November 5, 2016 by sambum

[OMGImInPattaya]

33 minutes ago, sambum said:

 

Or even "slagging off Thailand"? I'm sorry, but I do get a bit cynical about "new revenues and profit records" when according to what I hear from "people on the ground" (i.e. Bar owners, hoteliers, and restauranteurs)  their  "revenues and profits" situation is exactly the opposite!

It's funny, I feel the same way about bar owners; and I'd  say the quarterly reports of public companies are just a bit more reliable than the anecdotal reports of said owners ?

 

In addition, despite the fact there are record tourist numbers, as the figures suggest, it doesn't mean that the tourist service sector isn't over-built. I mean, how many bars, restos, and hotels does  a country need.

Edited November 5, 2016 by OMGImInPattaya

[Ulic]

While I do believe that the TAT numbers are accurate (very easy to measure at airports and land crossings)

they are not taken in proper context. Counting just numbers and measuring dollars per day spent does

not take into consideration the length of stay and total spent per visitor. Retirees/expats are your most

beneficial visitors. Tourists from Europe/Americas who travel to Thailand for 3-4 weeks on average are

the next. The Chinese who come for 3-4 day junkets may be big in number and even high in daily spending,

(contrary to popular Thai Visa belief) but there total spend while in Thailand is both low and focused

very narrowly on Chinese owned businesses. Thailand needs to market more to G20 countries and make

all visas simple, easy, and free.  Countries like Vietnam/Greece/Cuba will soon be big competitors for

Thailand. Just my opinion.

[NongKhaiKid]

Thailand ' expects ' and that will be realized when the minister announces the figures next year, in fact she could easily announce them now.

Does anyone really believe the lovely minister could ever admit that targets haven't been met if not actually exceeded ?

Edited November 5, 2016 by NongKhaiKid

[bandito]

Did my 90 days at Jomtien yesterday. Immigration Officers were twiddling their thumbs. Empty like a cathedral on a weekday.