Small businesses fear Phuket Sandbox will leave them behind

[Thaiger]

With the Phuket Sandbox reopening just hours away, many businesses in the tourist-reliant province hopefully await the return of foreign travellers and the restart of the economy. But while businesses that had the financial means to weather the long-term closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic prepare excitedly, many smaller businesses that lacked the funding to revive themselves are not nearly as enthused. While government agencies and flight statistics squabble over how many travellers will be returning over how long a period, smaller businesses don’t expect to see much benefit from the slow creeping return of tourism. They feel they’ve been […]

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[Scott]

As a member of DePaul University’s “1995 Southeast Asia Business Study Tour,” I remember visiting businesses including the Dusit Thani Bangkok, Coca Cola, the former Volvo factory, TOA Paint, Stock Exchange of Thailand, UB Hayworth Furniture Co, Leo Burnett, Lever Brothers, the American Chamber of Commerce, and a few others to study business practices in Thailand.  As a student, I listened very, very carefully.  I learned a great deal back in December of 1995 and the economy was roaring in Bangkok.  At least for some.  I remember seeing a record number of Mercedes being driven down Sukhumvit prior to the completion of the BTS Skytrain.  Construction cranes were everywhere and progress was being made.  A year and-a-half later, the Asian Economic Crisis hit with the strength of a punch from a young Mike Tyson in his prime.  For Thailand, it was an absolute economic disaster of tremendous proportions.  Not even that monumental economic crisis could even remotely compare to the economic Armageddon that this worldwide Pandemic has had upon Thailand and those small businesses on the island of Phuket.  It’s a nightmare reality that unfortunately isn’t a dream but a reality.  My heart and very best wishes goes out to those small business owners and workers!

[JamesE]

19 minutes ago, Scott said:

As a member of DePaul University’s “1995 Southeast Asia Business Study Tour,” I remember visiting businesses including the Dusit Thani Bangkok, Coca Cola, the former Volvo factory, TOA Paint, Stock Exchange of Thailand, UB Hayworth Furniture Co, Leo Burnett, Lever Brothers, the American Chamber of Commerce, and a few others to study business practices in Thailand.  As a student, I listened very, very carefully.  I learned a great deal back in December of 1995 and the economy was roaring in Bangkok.  At least for some.  I remember seeing a record number of Mercedes being driven down Sukhumvit prior to the completion of the BTS Skytrain.  Construction cranes were everywhere and progress was being made.  A year and-a-half later, the Asian Economic Crisis hit with the strength of a punch from a young Mike Tyson in his prime.  For Thailand, it was an absolute economic disaster of tremendous proportions.  Not even that monumental economic crisis could even remotely compare to the economic Armageddon that this worldwide Pandemic has had upon Thailand and those small businesses on the island of Phuket.  It’s a nightmare reality that unfortunately isn’t a dream but a reality.  My heart and very best wishes goes out to those small business owners and workers!

This hits quite near the mark. As in all capitalist economies (and hybrids like China's) Thailand's economic underpinnings resides at the bottom tier. The small businesses provide the foundations that larger companies can be built upon. For every  Four Seasons or Six Senses there are four or six hundred local businesses that are failing. It's easy to place blame on succumbing to the siren call of easy tourist dollars, an economic sector always teetering on the brink, but jobs go where the money is and when the jobs leave there are actual people - not hotels, bars, and restaurants - left hanging out to dry. The US was lucky in it was able to buy a bit of time to try and restart the economy before the house of cards collapses. Thailand had neither the will nor the resources to do the same. I hope people will return to Thailand, but Thailand is not alone in its need to get its tourism restarted. And the tourists will always follow the best deal. Interesting times, these.

[Scott]

Very insightful and articulated comment.  My heart goes out to the every day, “common” worker throughout all of Thailand in the hospitality industry and all of the supporting jobs accompanying that industry.  This catastrophic Pandemic has really highlighted just how interconnected so, so many things actually are in Thailand and also throughout the world.

[BIGGLES]

All these small businesses lamenting the lack of tourist money, interesting!

Valid points,  with  regard to staffing issues, and the lack of vaccines for people travelling back to Phuket, from their home province.

A lot of these businesses I feel, will never reopen in the short to medium term.

This situation, may be an opportunity for the Thai's to rethink how they value the tourist. For example:

No double pricing, get the tuk-tuk and taxi mafia put back in the box and bars stop over charging for a beer. "Happy hour promo 80 baht" for a small bottle of beer,  not even half a pint. At todays exchange rate  44 baht that would be nearly £2 for not quite a half. 

So I personally never ever pay these kind of prices,  as I don't  frequent those bars.

I use a very good little bar restaurant where, for 500 baht approx, I can get a starter,  main meal and five beers.

I can remember the days of a motorbike taxi costing 20 baht and a tuk-tuk costing 50 baht and for that money, they would take you anywhere you wanted to go on the island.

Could be a golden opportunity to reset the clock. Farangs can help themselves,  by refusing to pay first world country prices in a third world country.

The Thai government could help by de valuing  the over priced Baht.

Once again I have been coming to Thailand long enough to  remember  80 baht plus for a pound. 

Happy  days, they may well return.

 

 

[JamesE]

 

26 minutes ago, BIGGLES said:

All these small businesses lamenting the lack of tourist money, interesting!

Valid points,  with  regard to staffing issues, and the lack of vaccines for people travelling back to Phuket, from their home province.

A lot of these businesses I feel, will never reopen in the short to medium term.

This situation, may be an opportunity for the Thai's to rethink how they value the tourist. For example:

No double pricing, get the tuk-tuk and taxi mafia put back in the box and bars stop over charging for a beer. "Happy hour promo 80 baht" for a small bottle of beer,  not even half a pint. At todays exchange rate  44 baht that would be nearly £2 for not quite a half. 

So I personally never ever pay these kind of prices,  as I don't  frequent those bars.

I use a very good little bar restaurant where, for 500 baht approx, I can get a starter,  main meal and five beers.

I can remember the days of a motorbike taxi costing 20 baht and a tuk-tuk costing 50 baht and for that money, they would take you anywhere you wanted to go on the island.

Could be a golden opportunity to reset the clock. Farangs can help themselves,  by refusing to pay first world country prices in a third world country.

The Thai government could help by de valuing  the over priced Baht.

Once again I have been coming to Thailand long enough to  remember  80 baht plus for a pound. 

Happy  days, they may well return.

The problem is that since those heady days of your youth things haven't stayed the same. Phones, cars, motorcyles are all expensive. Food is not cheap. Rents are more. Everything has gone up. Including the clueless tourists who support the prices. 300 Baht for a taxi? Climb in kids you only live once! 1,000 for a cheeseburger? That's okay, we're on vacation! Take away those tourists and prices don't just automatically reset themselves. Sure, as you point out, you can still find reasonably priced places, but those will be outside of the tourist areas. The Thai businesses are only charging what the market will bear, pinned by what it takes them to stay in business. The "organized" taxi services you mention are probably *not* charging those rates to locals but if you're wearing the target with the big T for tourist in the middle, you're fair game.

The Baht thing is a whole different kettle of fish. Thailand would really like the Baht to soften but they can't "devalue" it because they floated it back in the 90s. What's keeping it strong is that investors really like it and think it makes an excellent regional reserve currency. Unless the whole place tanks (which, other than tourism, is not happening) look for the Baht to remain strong.

[Thaimania]

I will be surprised if there are any tourists arriving for a while with all the hoops you need to go though to get a "Certificate of Entry". I was forced into postponing my trip and I was scheduled to arrive on the 4th. Now I won't be arriving until the 23rd due to the fact that I could not get a COE. 

[Blogosopher]

Maybe as the tourist start returning the locals will have arrived at a different attitude towards visitors and just how important they are to their livelihoods. Except for the most abhorrent tourists, which no one should tolerate, most tourists should be held in much higher esteem than before the virus hit. Tourists were taken for granted and were often targets of scams and exorbitant pricing. Thais are much better than that, I saw it 20 years ago. Hopefully it will change.

[tron]

Great time to swoop in and get prime real estate. With chaos comes opportunity. 

[Stonker]

6 hours ago, JamesE said:

The problem is that since those heady days of your youth things haven't stayed the same. Phones, cars, motorcyles are all expensive. Food is not cheap. Rents are more. Everything has gone up. Including the clueless tourists who support the prices. 300 Baht for a taxi? Climb in kids you only live once! 1,000 for a cheeseburger? That's okay, we're on vacation! Take away those tourists and prices don't just automatically reset themselves. Sure, as you point out, you can still find reasonably priced places, but those will be outside of the tourist areas. The Thai businesses are only charging what the market will bear, pinned by what it takes them to stay in business. The "organized" taxi services you mention are probably *not* charging those rates to locals but if you're wearing the target with the big T for tourist in the middle, you're fair game.

The Baht thing is a whole different kettle of fish. Thailand would really like the Baht to soften but they can't "devalue" it because they floated it back in the 90s. What's keeping it strong is that investors really like it and think it makes an excellent regional reserve currency. Unless the whole place tanks (which, other than tourism, is not happening) look for the Baht to remain strong.

Agreed.

 

The problem's clear but there is no solution beyond the baht collapsing, and the sooner reality hits and people realise and are told that sh1t happens, as they have been elsewhere, the sooner they can rebuild.

 

The idea that the heady days of 3 or 4 decades ago are going to return as if by magic, or that Thais are going to be happy to say "hello hansum man" for a ten baht tip is living in la-la land when even Thais pay more and tip more than farangs used to in the "good old days".

[Objectivance]

11 hours ago, tron said:

Great time to swoop in and get prime real estate. With chaos comes opportunity. 

Not unless you're Thai, or Chinese. Nice thought, though.

[tron]

My wife and kid are