30 million and counting: Tourist arrival into the Kingdom of Thailand

[webfact]

30 million and counting: Tourist arrival into the Kingdom of Thailand

 

BANGKOK: -- Thailand has welcomed its 30 millionth visitor for 2016, breaking tourist records. The “Thailand’s Luckiest Visitor – The Amazing, Smashing Success” was Ms. Huang Junyi who flew in to Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport from Guangzhou, China on the auspicious date of 5 December, 2016.

 

Mr. Yuthasak Supasorn, Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) said, “This has been an amazing year for tourism in amazing Thailand as shown by the huge numbers of visitors. We have reached 30 million and the high season has only just kicked off. We know that more people will be coming to enjoy the cool weather and holiday festivities. Thailand has so much to offer the world and we know that the Thai people make every visitor feel as welcome as we made Ms. Huang Junyi feel today.

 

Ms. Huang Junyi,“Thailand’s Luckiest Visitor – The Amazing, Smashing Success”, was greeted at Suvarnabhumi Airport with a fantastic welcoming ceremony co-hosted by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Thai Airways International and True Corporation.

 

Ms. Huang’s prize will be two economy-class return tickets to Thailand from her original destination, which are valid for a year. She will also be given a voucher for a five-night stay in one of Thailand’s luxury hotels in Bangkok, Pattaya or Hua Hin as well as a mobile phone with a 4G sim card and seven days of Internet usage and a certificate naming her as “Thailand’s Luckiest Visitor – The Amazing, Smashing Success” so that she can remember this day forever. The lucky 30 millionth visitor was also given an exclusive limousine transfer from the Airport to her accommodation in Bangkok.

 

Full story: http://www.eturbonews.com/76079/30-million-and-counting-tourist-arrival-kingdom-thailand

 

-- eTN 2016-12-06

 

[SaintLouisBlues]

30 millionth visitor and on 5 December. What a coincidence?

[graemeaylward]

And we are expected to believe this nonsense! That means that in the 340 days since Jan 1st 88,235 tourists per day arrived in Thailand, or the equivalent of 252 planes holding 350 non Thai passengers each.

[maewang99]

what happens when they are not just tourists? 

https://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/2016/12/arctic-and-antarctic-at-record-low-levels/

[NongKhaiKid]

8 minutes ago, graemeaylward said:

And we are expected to believe this nonsense! That means that in the 340 days since Jan 1st 88,235 tourists per day arrived in Thailand, or the equivalent of 252 planes holding 350 non Thai passengers each.

Thank goodness they didn't get up to their usual trick of exaggeration,    

 I'd hate to think what figures would have been pulled out of thin air !

 

[Sphere]

17 hours ago, webfact said:

Ms. Huang Junyi, “Thailand’s Luckiest Visitor – The Amazing, Smashing Success”

 

Hmmmm.....does it beat getting back 4 trillion baht that you left behind in a taxi? 

[kannot]

maybe theyve put in aturnstile  which counts them in  but it revolves 4  times

9 minutes ago, NongKhaiKid said:

Thank goodness they didn't get up to their usual trick of exaggeration,    

 I'd hate to think what figures would have been pulled out of thin air !

 

"Thai air"  different

[grumbleweed]

The ministry of truth strikes again

This is what happens when Thais put their massaging skills to use on numbers

[worgeordie]

TAT always puts good numbers out,and thats why they have canceled

Visa fee's for the high season,things are soooo busy,next they will be

starting the Chinese zero Baht tours again.

regards worgeordie
 

[BSJ]

Damn!  I am arriving back in LOS on the 20th, I was hoping I would be the 30 millionth visitor.  

 

Hey,  maybe I'll be the lucky 40th millionth! 

[overherebc]

If a 'tourist' arrives from Europe and enters Thailand at Swampy stays a few days then visits Cambodia, returns to Thailand on their Multi E visa, leaves again for a few days in Myanmar and again returns to Thailand for a few days, throw in Vietnam, Laos and Malaysia is that one tourist or 6?

[anon467848]

TAT only offer an economy ticket for the prize winner, pathetic. I bet all the TAT executives fly first/business class on all their flights..

 

Was it just a coincidence that the lucky winner was Chinese..

[Soitis]

Next to the Visa scanner there is a counting device for people but unfortunately it also count the officials walking back and forwards. Real counts are 15 mill tourists and 15 mill officials.

[mduras01]

If a 'tourist' arrives from Europe and enters Thailand at Swampy stays a few days then visits Cambodia, returns to Thailand on their Multi E visa, leaves again for a few days in Myanmar and again returns to Thailand for a few days, throw in Vietnam, Laos and Malaysia is that one tourist or 6?

That's 24


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[daveAustin]

13 minutes ago, overherebc said:

If a 'tourist' arrives from Europe and enters Thailand at Swampy stays a few days then visits Cambodia, returns to Thailand on their Multi E visa, leaves again for a few days in Myanmar and again returns to Thailand for a few days, throw in Vietnam, Laos and Malaysia is that one tourist or 6?

 

60 if you're a TAT official.

[colinneil]

Keep it up TAT, get my daily laughs from your pathetic quotes.

30 million on the 5th of december, and the lucky person is Chinese  

Sad thing is the silly buggers believe all the crap they put out.

Who ever comes up with all this TAT nonsense must be in the running for the idiot of the year award.

[daveAustin]

Real figure is 10-20M, somewhere in there.

[MichaelJohn]

A tourist, by Thai definition, is anyone who enters the country.

So, a Thai going out the country on holiday or for business and returning is a "tourist".

A foreigner taking a short trip to Cambodia, Laos, or Vietnam and returning is a tourist.

Every time I leave and return from a holiday I'm a tourist; my Thai wife the same.

Therefore, my wife and I account for 10 "tourists" this year.

Now the figures are beginning to make sense :-)

[tails]

LOL it was 32 million back in October

[madmitch]

Nobody outside the Immigration Department probably has any idea how they ascertain these numbers but they possibly include the following:

 

Visa runners (each entry);

Offshore workers (each entry);

Foreigners with Non-Imm visas (each entry);

Transit passengers that fill in an immigration card;

Tourists visiting several countries with a number of returns to Thailand.

 

Add to that the Chinese, especially those on the now allegedly defunct zero baht tours, who only stay a four or five days at a time, Malays who hop over for a day or two and you can see where the figures come from and I have no reason to disbelieve them.

 

But if they counted hotel nights then we would see a very different picture. Tourism is down in reality, despite the arrival figures. I can only talk about Phuket but I haven't seen December so quiet for a very long time.

 

 

[Retiredandhappyhere]

If we are to believe the shop owners. and Guest house and hotel keepers who occasionally report on here, then millions of these "tourists" must be staying in tents and living on food etc that they brought with them.  

 

is just conceivable that TAT's numbers are correct but that they do not in fact relate to true tourists, as they include, as some posters have pointed out, people in transit and also Thais and others leaving the country for business or holidays and then returning, in some cases several times a year, which of course inflates the numbers, to TAT's obvious satisfaction.

 

If world-wide travel increases next year, TAT will no doubt be able to report even higher numbers passing through Thailand's airports, whereas businesses over here will probably still be lamenting the loss of billions of bahts in tourist areas, without being able to fully understand why.  TAT needs to modify the way it counts "tourists" by ignoring passengers in transit,  ignoring Thais travelling within the country and returning from trips abroad and, (this is a bigie!), avoiding any exaggeration in the slimmed down numbers in its misguided attempt to boost the economy and promote happiness and well-being across the Nation in accoradance with directives from above.

[Caveat Emptor]

Already this is a guarantee that next year's figures will be even higher as that horrible word ' decrease ' can never be used !

[madmitch]

The arrival figures don't include Thai citizens. 

 

Somewhere on the internet there is a site with a full breakdown of nationalities and Thais do not feature. I've linked to it in the past but can't find it now.

 

I bet they somehow make it into the domestic tourism statistics though.

[thurien]

1 hour ago, overherebc said:

If a 'tourist' arrives from Europe and enters Thailand at Swampy stays a few days then visits Cambodia, returns to Thailand on their Multi E visa, leaves again for a few days in Myanmar and again returns to Thailand for a few days, throw in Vietnam, Laos and Malaysia is that one tourist or 6?

 

that would make 60...!

[NoshowJones]

1 hour ago, overherebc said:

If a 'tourist' arrives from Europe and enters Thailand at Swampy stays a few days then visits Cambodia, returns to Thailand on their Multi E visa, leaves again for a few days in Myanmar and again returns to Thailand for a few days, throw in Vietnam, Laos and Malaysia is that one tourist or 6?

I would have said six, but going by the OP, (opening piece) you cannot expect good mathematical skills

Edited December 7, 2016 by possum1931
Made adjustment.

[digibum]

Edited For Truth:

 

Ms. Huang’s prize will be two economy-class return tickets to Thailand from her original destination, which are valid for a year. She will also be given a voucher [THAT WILL ONLY BE HONORED AT A DISCOUNTED RATE REQUIRING HOLDER TO PONY UP THE DIFFERENCE] for a five-night stay in one of Thailand’s luxury hotels in Bangkok, Pattaya or Hua Hin as well as a mobile phone with a 4G sim card [NEW TOURIST SIM CARD WITH HANDY GPS MONITORING BY THE THAI POLICE] and seven days of Internet usage [BUT ONLY 5 NIGHTS HOTEL] and a certificate naming her as “Thailand’s Luckiest Visitor – The Amazing, Smashing Success” so that she can remember this day forever [THAT AND 99 BAHT WILL GET HER A DTAC SIM AT THE AIRPORT]. The lucky 30 millionth visitor was also given an exclusive limousine transfer [TOYOTA COROLLA] from the Airport to her accommodation in Bangkok.

[Tompa]

some interesting numbers from the association of thai travel agents

http://www.atta.or.th/?p=4019

[Scabo]

Wasn't there an article last week about TAT worried by the large drop in Chinese tourist numbers?

Now this week TAT is breaking records ?

[British Bulldog]

I wonder if these figures take into account the 100,000's of Farangs and Falangs, that cross the borders between Lao and Thailand and Thailand and Lao, that simply go shopping, visit a hospital, visit the wife's relatives and attend festive occasions, weddings, funerals and alike .... not to mention other neighboring Countries where I guess the same thing happens, there's no box to tick for a 'Social Visit' ... so we all become 'Tourist' statistics ???

[baboon]

3 minutes ago, British Bulldog said:

I wonder if these figures take into account the 100,000's of Farangs and Falangs, that cross the borders between Lao and Thailand and Thailand and Lao, that simply go shopping, visit a hospital, visit the wife's relatives and attend festive occasions, weddings, funerals and alike .... not to mention other neighboring Countries where I guess the same thing happens, there's no box to tick for a 'Social Visit' ... so we all become 'Tourist' statistics ???

I imagine you would be counted - Surely an arrival is an arrival?

I am also under the impression that those simply changing planes in Bangkok are counted too, though I am willing to stand corrected.