News Forum - Tourism Authority of Thailand pushing for 150,000 Saudi tourists this year

[Rookiescot]

1 minute ago, TheDirtyDurian said:

From the article:

“Saudi Arabian tourists usually enter Thailand as couples. They also stay in luxury hotels and have high spending capacity, averaging around 100,000 baht per person on their short trips. This is an opportunity for Thailand to attract more of these high-value tourists.”

Try staying out the bars. 

Those are the Saudis already arriving. What TAT is trying to encourage is the cheap charlie ones. Who do not stay in luxury hotels and do not spend 100,000 baht.

This myth Saudis are rich is a total joke. I have been there and seen the place myself. Your average Saudi has far less disposable income than your average European or American.

They are also walking misogynists. 

[Rookiescot]

3 minutes ago, TheDirtyDurian said:

Salaries are tax free, with subsidized housing and energy costs.

Fortunately the hotels and costs here in Thailand are not subsidized which means their disposable income will not go far.

[TheDirtyDurian]

5 minutes ago, Rookiescot said:

It is a free market so dont get upset if bars refuse to serve Saudis because they are nothing but problems.

Of course at that point you will pull out the race card.

Demands for sharia law follow wherever Saudis turn up. Tell me something. How many Christian churches are there in Saudi Arabia? Or Buddhist temples? 

I think you're missing the point of why they're travelling in the first place...

 

 

[TheDirtyDurian]

2 minutes ago, Rookiescot said:

Fortunately the hotels and costs here in Thailand are not subsidized which means their disposable income will not go far.

Kind of disagree there. Hotels are much better for money in Thailand. 1000 baht gets you a decent enough room which it wouldn't in Saudi. 

I just recently returned from a trip to the red sea, and was quite disappointed with the hotels

[Rookiescot]

Just now, TheDirtyDurian said:

1000 baht gets you a decent enough room which it wouldn't in Saudi.

Thats not a luxury hotel though is it? So not the kind of place these "high spending" new Saudis will go to eh?

1 minute ago, TheDirtyDurian said:

I just recently returned from a trip to the red sea, and was quite disappointed with the hotels

Would have to agree with you there.

[Rookiescot]

6 minutes ago, TheDirtyDurian said:

I think you're missing the point of why they're travelling in the first place...

Is it to get away from sharia law?

[Faz]

51 minutes ago, TheDirtyDurian said:

None whatsoever. I was asking for the previous poster's opinion.

It was a question, not an opinion.

[TheDirtyDurian]

1 minute ago, Faz said:

It was a question, not an opinion.

Yeah, a question about his opinion. 

[TheDirtyDurian]

5 minutes ago, Rookiescot said:

Is it to get away from sharia law?

Like most people, I'm sure that Saudis travel for a multitude of reasons, one of which I'm sure is to experience different cultures and environments etc, whatever form that may take. 

[TheDirtyDurian]

18 minutes ago, Rookiescot said:

Thats not a luxury hotel though is it? So not the kind of place these "high spending" new Saudis will go to eh?

Would have to agree with you there.

High spending can take many forms. I was just pointing out that hotels in Thailand are excellent value compared to Saudi hotels. 

Which is a good thing as it will encourage more people to visit. 

Fred from Doncaster living off his government pension isn't exactly big spending either. 

So long as a visitor is respectful towards the country and its people it shouldn't matter how much money they have. 

But it's not unreasonable for a country to desire wealthier visitors. 

I believe the canaries recently said they didn't want British visitors and preferred Germans because they were better behaved and spent more. 

https://www-mirror-co-uk.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.mirror.co.uk/travel/europe/lanzarote-wants-higher-quality-tourists-29423278.amp?amp_gsa=1&amp_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQIUAKwASCAAgM%3D#amp_ct=1681294768279&amp_tf=From %1%24s&aoh=16812947424391&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mirror.co.uk%2Ftravel%2Feurope%2Flanzarote-wants-higher-quality-tourists-29423278

[Pinetree]

1 hour ago, TheDirtyDurian said:

For you. Yes. For the benefit of the hard working people of Thailand and her tourist industry. No. 

I doubt that, those numbers will add very little to the economy of Thailand and it aligns the country with unsavory regimes, not a good look to most right thinking people. However, I don't dismiss the UK, US and others in the West from the list of collaborates with that regime, they are also hypocrites, spouting human rights while simpering up to them.  They got the oil, which is the greatest evidence for there being no justice in this life. 

[TheDirtyDurian]

2 minutes ago, Pinetree said:

I doubt that, those numbers will add very little to the economy of Thailand and it aligns the country with unsavory regimes, not a good look to most right thinking people. However, I don't dismiss the UK, US and others in the West from the list of collaborates with that regime, they are also hypocrites, spouting human rights while simpering up to them.  They got the oil, which is the greatest evidence for there being no justice in this life. 

In the grand scheme of things a drop in the ocean relative to the great Thai economy, but on an individual level it could make a difference to quite a few people. Tourist workers aren't high flyers so why begrudge them some extra baht. Can't fault Thai tourist authorities for trying to do what they think is best by the Thai people. 

It's their country after all. 

[Marc26]

If you don't like Saudis it is pretty easy to not ever interact with them in Thailand

Not that I dislike them, I take people one on one as I meet them

 

We went to Patong one night and my wife absolutely hated it, with all the Indians and Middle Eastern

 

I didn't like the vibe myself, they just have a different view of holiday, but nothing really against them

So we would avoid Patong

 

 

But if someone thinks Thai workers on a whole would be happy with so many Middle Eastern and Indian cusotmers, they don't know Thais all that well

 

Thais don't care for those demographics all that much, that is the honest truth

 

 

PS.....Just anectodal, I ate at a small Thai restaurant in the middle of nowhere, it was an older Indian gentleman and his Thai wife. Can't say I have ever seen that match in a couple, and they were as pleasant as good be. Made my day, actually......

[BigHewer]

I’ve never had any issues with Saudis. They’re polite and quiet and keep to themselves. 

Had a memorable night out in Manila in 2019. Met a group of Saudi execs at the Handlebar Bar and Grill in Makati. They’d flown out for three days just to watch Premier League games in bars. What a great idea, I thought. We hit it off, they took me on board as a guest, wouldn’t let me pay for anything. Three games watched, three bars, the staff rolled out the red carpet everywhere we went, wasn’t their first time. They all changed jerseys for each game. Good fun. All I had to do in return was comment on the games and provide a bit of punditry (hopefully they didn’t listen too much). 

If some of the 150,000 are just like them, I’m all for it ️

[Guest1]

6 hours ago, Rookiescot said:

Does Thailand never think of trying to encourage people from countries with good records on human rights?

Nope, b/c they do look for money tourists!

[Guest1]

6 hours ago, TheDirtyDurian said:

Such as? 

Most of them only "send" backpackers with tight pockets. Often the "last generation", who is trying to save the climate. Ehm, in the home countries, but not on the holiday trip ;-)

[Guest1]

23 hours ago, TheDirtyDurian said:

[...] I like Saudis, that's why I live in Saudi Arabia. If I didn't like them I would avoid places where they might be. 

150k this year, maybe 300k next year!

Lets hope, it is your salary in US$ 

Not the amount of them, coming to Thailand. ;-)

 

Edited April 13, 2023 by Faz
Image in breach of FG's removed.

[Guest1]

4 hours ago, TheDirtyDurian said:

Hmmm. Bars turning away high spending tourists... Let me think about that! 

Saudis, publicly in a bar with lots of alcohol? Let me think about that!

[Marc26]

58 minutes ago, BigHewer said:

I’ve never had any issues with Saudis. They’re polite and quiet and keep to themselves. 

Had a memorable night out in Manila in 2019. Met a group of Saudi execs at the Handlebar Bar and Grill in Makati. They’d flown out for three days just to watch Premier League games in bars. What a great idea, I thought. We hit it off, they took me on board as a guest, wouldn’t let me pay for anything. Three games watched, three bars, the staff rolled out the red carpet everywhere we went, wasn’t their first time. They all changed jerseys for each game. Good fun. All I had to do in return was comment on the games and provide a bit of punditry (hopefully they didn’t listen too much). 

If some of the 150,000 are just like them, I’m all for it ️

I went to a small college in NYC, not exactly diverse

 

My buddy and I had a computer class and there as a Saudi kid in it

No one talked to him but my buddy and I, he was a nice, "quiet" kid

 

He said he was going to DC for a weekend and invited us, so we went

He said he took care of the hotel, don't worry about it

 

We figured 3 of us in a 2 queen room, all good

 

 

 

 

Presidential Suite, Hookers, Blow.........the whole works!!

I was 21yrs old

 

 

Pays to be nice to people   :)

 

 

[TheDirtyDurian]

6 hours ago, Marc26 said:

If you don't like Saudis it is pretty easy to not ever interact with them in Thailand

Not that I dislike them, I take people one on one as I meet them

We went to Patong one night and my wife absolutely hated it, with all the Indians and Middle Eastern

I didn't like the vibe myself, they just have a different view of holiday, but nothing really against them

So we would avoid Patong

But if someone thinks Thai workers on a whole would be happy with so many Middle Eastern and Indian cusotmers, they don't know Thais all that well

Thais don't care for those demographics all that much, that is the honest truth

PS.....Just anectodal, I ate at a small Thai restaurant in the middle of nowhere, it was an older Indian gentleman and his Thai wife. Can't say I have ever seen that match in a couple, and they were as pleasant as good be. Made my day, actually......

Exactly. I'm pretty sure all the haters out there could quite easily do their daily stuff without ever seeing a Saudi, and even if they did how would they know. It's not like they're waving national flags around. 

Some are as black as africans and others are very white, and anything in between. 

I'm a big believer in giving people a chance until they mess up with me. A little bit of openmind can go a long way. 

Saudis are some of the friendliest people you can meet, just like all Arabs. 

There's a reason Arab hospitality is famous worldwide. 

[TheDirtyDurian]

5 hours ago, Guest1 said:

Saudis, publicly in a bar with lots of alcohol? Let me think about that!

Spent many a night in Bahrain witnessing exactly that...

[TheDirtyDurian]

5 hours ago, Marc26 said:

I went to a small college in NYC, not exactly diverse

My buddy and I had a computer class and there as a Saudi kid in it

No one talked to him but my buddy and I, he was a nice, "quiet" kid

He said he was going to DC for a weekend and invited us, so we went

He said he took care of the hotel, don't worry about it

We figured 3 of us in a 2 queen room, all good

Presidential Suite, Hookers, Blow.........the whole works!!

I was 21yrs old

Pays to be nice to people   :)

It's always the quiet ones...

Sounds like a good night! 

[Thommo]

Hope they are all smokers 

[TheDirtyDurian]

3 hours ago, Thommo said:

Hope they are all smokers 

Hashish is very popular if that's the kind of smoking you mean... 

[Saunk]

On 4/12/2023 at 12:45 AM, Rookiescot said:

Does Thailand never think of trying to encourage people from countries with good records on human rights?

Why are the citizens responsible for their government?

Racist much?