News Forum - Pheu Thai Party wants to reform tourism, cut red tape

[Thaiger]

The Pheu Thai Party is calling for reform of the way Thailand approaches tourism, though its focus seems to be the same as the ruling party’s. The opposition party held a brainstorming session on Friday to discuss how to improve tourism in Thailand. They stressed branching out and eliminating outdated red tape, but also put their hope squarely on medical tourism. Paetongtarn Shinawatra, the daughter of former prime minister Thaksin, current head of the Pheu Thai Party, and popular candidate for a possible prime minister run posted on Facebook about the future of tourism in the country. She says the […]

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[Soidog]

She calls for a broadening of appeal to cover science exploration trips, medical health, nature, and more underappreciated advantages Thailand has to offer.
 

More underappreciated advantages? Well I clearly underappreciate them as I can’t think of any I don’t already appreciate? Anyone any ideas? 

[JJJ]

If you want to talk about medical tourism you also have to talk about reforming the retirement visa system.

A simple clear long-term retirement program could be a real boon to the economy and medical care.

But so many are wedded to pointless paperwork that this seems unlikely. 
 

[Pinga]

They don't ever seem to get it. Tourists come to Thailand because of the wild parties and anything-goes atmosphere - not nature exploration. Medical tourism is nice but it's a small portion of the pie. The grand majority of tourists are looking for fun and nightlife.

Want more tourism? get rid of the wet blanket 2am curfew. That is the single biggest factor in why less tourists are coming to Bangkok where this is enforced. It's high season and most nightlife venues in Bangkok are half empty. Tourists either don't come at all, or go to Phuket where places are open all night.

[Pinetree]

13 minutes ago, Pinga said:

They don't ever seem to get it. Tourists come to Thailand because of the wild parties and anything-goes atmosphere - not nature exploration. Medical tourism is nice but it's a small portion of the pie. The grand majority of tourists are looking for fun and nightlife.

Want more tourism? get rid of the wet blanket 2am curfew. That is the single biggest factor in why less tourists are coming to Bangkok where this is enforced. It's high season and most nightlife venues in Bangkok are half empty. Tourists either don't come at all, or go to Phuket where places are open all night.

You are mistaken.  Google lists many reviews and surveys that show just how mistaken you are.  I only put one link here, there are dozens of others. 

https://madmonkeyhostels.com/h2o_blog/why-visit-thailand/

 

[Soidog]

4 hours ago, Pinga said:

Tourists either don't come at all, or go to Phuket where places are open all night.

The answer is simple enough. 10 million tourists this year compared to 40 million 2019. Even if it rises to 20 million next year, that’s still 50% down. Tourists just aren’t coming in the same numbers as before and it’s not difficult out to understand why not.

[Marc26]

5 hours ago, Pinga said:

They don't ever seem to get it. Tourists come to Thailand because of the wild parties and anything-goes atmosphere - not nature exploration. Medical tourism is nice but it's a small portion of the pie. The grand majority of tourists are looking for fun and nightlife.

Want more tourism? get rid of the wet blanket 2am curfew. That is the single biggest factor in why less tourists are coming to Bangkok where this is enforced. It's high season and most nightlife venues in Bangkok are half empty. Tourists either don't come at all, or go to Phuket where places are open all night.

I think you wildly overestimate how many % of people that come to Thailand are looking to party at all, let alone all night

 

Sure, there is a segment that are looking for that, but there are way more that don't.............

 

 

And I do think they should open until 4am..........

[Marc26]

27 minutes ago, Soidog said:

The answer is simple enough. 10 million tourists this year compared to 40 million 2019. Even if it rises to 20 million next year, that’s still 50% down. Tourists just aren’t coming in the same numbers as before and it’s not difficult out to understand why not.

What is your thoughts why?

 

I think it's simply people still aren't up for a big travel holiday

 

They got used to going to places a bit closer to home, for the most part

 

And high fares

[Vigo]

6 hours ago, Pinga said:

They don't ever seem to get it. Tourists come to Thailand because of the wild parties and anything-goes atmosphere - not nature exploration. Medical tourism is nice but it's a small portion of the pie. The grand majority of tourists are looking for fun and nightlife.

Want more tourism? get rid of the wet blanket 2am curfew. That is the single biggest factor in why less tourists are coming to Bangkok where this is enforced. It's high season and most nightlife venues in Bangkok are half empty. Tourists either don't come at all, or go to Phuket where places are open all night.

Medical tourism was reported to provide in excess of US $3 billion (and that was data from 2015).  Thai PBS says the  revenue is coming back post Covid.  https://www.thaipbsworld.com/thai-medical-tourism-sector-is-roaring-back-from-covid-19-pandemic-analysts-say/     All this to say that the only wet blanket here is your claim that  wild parties and anything goes is what drives tourism.  The socially irresponsible and environmentally destructive activity you  champion is neither wanted by the Thai population as a whole, nor most tourists nor a significant revenue driver.  The north Asian golfers and visitors from Japan, South Korea and Taiwan blow your segment of selfish hedonists out of the revenue zone. Once the Chinese come back, they too will generate more than the doped up  drunks that need to drink till they puke. Over the past decade, Thailan's tourim has slowly changed. It's all about families and older couples now. Look at the Chinese tourists (pre Covid) - they were not in Thailand for sex/drunken  junkets.

[Soidog]

2 hours ago, Marc26 said:

What is your thoughts why?

I think it's simply people still aren't up for a big travel holiday

They got used to going to places a bit closer to home, for the most part

And high fares

I think you hit a few things on the head.
 

In no particular priority I would say the following keep people away from travel to Thailand:

High airfares. Certainly from Europe, they have increased 30-50% for economy and as much as 60-80% for Premium/Business.

Concerns about inflation and the economy back home. People are waiting to see what happens with their job and interest rates on mortgages. 

Thailand made it too difficult to travel in the recent past and people found alternatives. 

Thailand is not as good value for money it once was.

Thailand has changed a lot in the past 10 years for US/Aussie/European travellers and I think it was a market already in decline  Covid just accelerated that decline and replaced it with Chinese, and other Asian markets. Obviously with China locked down then numbers will remain low. 
 

The higher airfares should be the real concern for Thailand. In my view, this is unlikely to change for at least the next two years. By which time, countries in Europe and Australia/NZ will have introduced more stringent environmental policies which will deter long haul travel through higher airfare taxes and carbon penalties. 

[Marc26]

20 minutes ago, Soidog said:

I think you hit a few things on the head.
 

In no particular priority I would say the following keep people away from travel to Thailand:

High airfares. Certainly from Europe, they have increased 30-50% for economy and as much as 60-80% for Premium/Business.

Concerns about inflation and the economy back home. People are waiting to see what happens with their job and interest rates on mortgages. 

Thailand made it too difficult to travel in the recent past and people found alternatives. 

Thailand is not as good value for money it once was.

Thailand has changed a lot in the past 10 years for US/Aussie/European travellers and I think it was a market already in decline  Covid just accelerated that decline and replaced it with Chinese, and other Asian markets. Obviously with China locked down then numbers will remain low. 
 

The higher airfares should be the real concern for Thailand. In my view, this is unlikely to change for at least the next two years. By which time, countries in Europe and Australia/NZ will have introduced more stringent environmental policies which will deter long haul travel through higher airfare taxes and carbon penalties. 

I think high airfares will keep 1st time and occasional visitors away

 

if you are a long time frequent visitor I just look at it as an average

 

In 18 years it has been all over the map, from high's in $1800-2000 to lows to $800 range

And been up and down al; throughout

 

Had been real cheap for a long time(never paying over $1k)

 

So this trip now at $2k isn't ideal but I just average it in...............

[Soidog]

17 minutes ago, Marc26 said:

I think high airfares will keep 1st time and occasional visitors away

if you are a long time frequent visitor I just look at it as an average

In 18 years it has been all over the map, from high's in $1800-2000 to lows to $800 range

And been up and down al; throughout

Had been real cheap for a long time(never paying over $1k)

So this trip now at $2k isn't ideal but I just average it in...............

Well I view it the same. Although not in the average basis you have experienced. In the 20+ years I’ve been going to Thailand, fares increase with time, but never went significantly up or down. Average economy tickets over the years have been in the £300-£500 range. Now they are at £700-£1,000. 
 

I only make 2 or 3 trips a year and so it is what it is. If I didn’t have so many connections with Thailand I certainly wouldn’t look to travel there. 

[yselmike]

The once a year visitor like me will suck up the rise in air fares,it is significant though.As for last minute or a month before you fly out the fares are outrageous.A basic ticket with only a carry on bag and no choice of seats booked six months in advance was ok last time I looked,everything else comes at a price.Ladydrink prices are on the rise in the gogo's.plenty of bars that sell beer in the 50-60 baht range so there's plenty of drinking opportunitys.The online tourist visa system sucks unless you have a PC or a laptop,I'm in pattaya and it's as scruffy and run down as ever, combined with traffic and pollution it's not healthy.The pavements are a serious danger to health.The beach is ok not too much garbage,problem is it's a bit like walking in a ashtray with the amount of cigarette butts everywhere.Lots of girls in the bars and massage places around Buakhao and LK metro, definitely falang central.If I could find the warm sunny weather in the December - February period nearer to home I would probably give it a try.As it is for a retired single 70+ year old pensioner, the price of everything going up is the only thing that will stop me coming to pattaya.Will spend 3 nights in Bangkok when I leave,I read that prices there have risen significantly!