Hotels hope for increase in foreign tourists to offset slump in domestic demand

[Thaiger]

Hotels in Thailand’s normally busy tourist hotspots are hoping that a further re-opening to foreign travellers will offset the drop in domestic demand. The Bangkok Post reports that travel curbs have decimated domestic tourism in places like Phuket, Krabi, and Phang Nga. Kongsak Khoopongsakorn from the Thai Hotels Association says the Phuket sandbox scheme welcomed around 10,000 tourists in its first month, but the southern island has 30,000 hotel rooms to fill. He adds that a new rule that allows sandbox travellers to visit other islands once they’ve spent 7 days on Phuket may lure more visitors. “If the re-opening […]

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[Morpheus]

Would be good to see tourist back, but I think for next 6 months unlikely. Government here lost the plot months ago.

[Stardust]

Who wants tourists has to be friendly! 

[Rudolf]

Qarantine for fully vaccinated people - will not work!

 

[TonyToneToni]

Well, more tourists will come when the people in power make sure the vaccines are available to the public and restrictions are eased. It’s as simple as that. I don’t understand why the idiots in charge don’t see that. 

[Pompies]

There is not a hope in hell of there being any improvement for the tourism industry this year and well into next year. Delta is rampant in the US and new infections are going through the roof, similarly in Europe and other countries. So tourists from these places will be few and far between. Add to that the accurate media coverage of Thailand as a basket case clearly shows that coming here is taking ridiculous risks. Any tourism official who sees anything different is either in denial or is disasterously ill informed.

[Poolie]

10 minutes ago, Pompies said:

There is not a hope in hell of there being any improvement for the tourism industry this year and well into next year. Delta is rampant in the US and new infections are going through the roof, similarly in Europe and other countries. So tourists from these places will be few and far between. Add to that the accurate media coverage of Thailand as a basket case clearly shows that coming here is taking ridiculous risks. Any tourism official who sees anything different is either in denial or is disasterously ill informed.

Accurate media? Another pipe dream.

[dmacarelli]

Tourism is not returning to Thailand anytime soon. I predict the industry is essential finished here. Way too much sabotage. One industry can only handle so much self imposed destruction.

Is Thailand making any effort, on any level to address the issues that were present, pre-Covid? Traffic and public safety, air quality, road congestion, luxury taxes, wine taxes, jet ski scams?

I could go on all day. My guess is nothing is being done to address anything, and every issue they currently face is being blamed on Covid. Now, they have a real scapegoat, and looking within for the source of any of the problems is less likely than ever.

I truly believe, that 20 or 30 years from now, in tourism, business and sociology classes, at the uni level, there will be tours of these hollowed out shells, of huge hotels that were built, and could neither find guests to stay, nor even a market for condo conversions, and ended up abandoned, after buyers could not be found, or owners refused to accept 20% of the land and construction costs, as a sales price. 
 
That is where I see the future of Thai tourism. 
 
One must always remember, there were countless issues plaguing the industry, years before Covid, and NONE of them were ever addressed by the lathargic ones. And there were countless other countries with alot of appeal, who were and are trying much harder. 
 

[Abertillery]

It wont be top of the list for tourists anymore, its finished

[TobyAndrews]

As long as they keep imposing the same unjustified conditions and greedy costs, the tourists will not arrive.

For instance B8000 for three covid tests! Ridiculously expensive. 

The Thais as is their habit exploit any requirement a foreigner has to pay for profit.

There is a test approved in Singapore that costs $10 - B329.50. The Thai will not approve it - of course not. 

How will they make money on their B2666 a test? How will they justify their B2666 price?

Hubbly bubbly pipes are banned in Thailand. Why, because the Thais do not want any competition to their monopoly of tobacco.

Like Humpty Dumpty, Thai greed will cause their fall.

[gummy]

2 minutes ago, whitesnake said:

Amazingly, these RETARDS simply don't get this! ARE THE THAI PEOPLE REALLY THAT THICK OR JUST IN DENIAL??? 

Be fair. the normal Thai people with access to the internet are not in denial and are fully aware that the cancer called the Thai Elite needs to be removed. Its just the fact when will it have the opportunity to do so.

[Soidog]

1 hour ago, whitesnake said:

Darlings... which bit of "no foreigners want to go to Thailand" don't you understand!? Tourism in your country has ceased....over...that's your lot!  Stop dreaming and just get on with getting your citizens safe. F@#$%^& stupid or what??!!!!!

And you could ask …. Which bit of “you are making it far to difficult for fully vaccinated foreigners to go on holiday to your country” don’t you understand? 

[dmacarelli]

6 minutes ago, whitesnake said:

Amazingly, these RETARDS simply don't get this! ARE THE THAI PEOPLE REALLY THAT THICK OR JUST IN DENIAL??? 

Well, nearly everyone in power here is very thick. There is a tendency to always choose from the bottom or the barrel, and always appoint based on cronyism, with no regard to merit or experience. So, what do you end up with? Very, very low quality, and very, very rich men, who are completely insulated from the masses, and have little idea what is really going on. An ivory tower can be a terrible thing. So, there is a combination of ignorance, stupidity, arrogance, denial, and lies. 

I think alot of Thais get it. But the industry fools do not. They still do not seem to understand that tourism here is finished. Dead in it's tracks. DOA. Gone. Trillions of dollars of tourism infrastructure, completely sabotaged.

[Soidog]

56 minutes ago, dmacarelli said:

Tourism is not returning to Thailand anytime soon. I predict the industry is essential finished here. Way too much sabotage. One industry can only handle so much self imposed destruction.

Is Thailand making any effort, on any level to address the issues that were present, pre-Covid? Traffic and public safety, air quality, road congestion, luxury taxes, wine taxes, jet ski scams?

I could go on all day. My guess is nothing is being done to address anything, and every issue they currently face is being blamed on Covid. Now, they have a real scapegoat, and looking within for the source of any of the problems is less likely than ever.

I truly believe, that 20 or 30 years from now, in tourism, business and sociology classes, at the uni level, there will be tours of these hollowed out shells, of huge hotels that were built, and could neither find guests to stay, nor even a market for condo conversions, and ended up abandoned, after buyers could not be found, or owners refused to accept 20% of the land and construction costs, as a sales price. 
 
That is where I see the future of Thai tourism. 
 
One must always remember, there were countless issues plaguing the industry, years before Covid, and NONE of them were ever addressed by the lathargic ones. And there were countless other countries with alot of appeal, who were and are trying much harder. 
 

Apocalyptic images for sure. It would be amazing to have pictures pre-pandemic taken from the same angle to compare. Your comments about them learning nothing and improving things is also striking. If anything, I think we will see the worst behaviours amplified when things open. Instead of learning the real value of tourism and nurturing the industry, places will hike prices, scams will be at an all time high. Police corruption will be rampant.
I fear this will be a step change in the wrong direction for Thai tourism. The smart ones will open with discounted prices and offers to attract tourists to their business. So that’s none of them then!  

[Soidog]

37 minutes ago, gummy said:

Be fair. the normal Thai people with access to the internet are not in denial and are fully aware that the cancer called the Thai Elite needs to be removed. Its just the fact when will it have the opportunity to do so.

Yes I think the Thai people know it’s wrong, they just don’t know how to change it, or have sufficient drive to change it.  Most people won’t risk their life in revolution if they have food on the table and can sleep at night. Once the basics of life are no longer being met, risking your life is less of a problem. Clever authoritarian governments don’t let it get to that stage. 

[TobyAndrews]

1 hour ago, whitesnake said:

Amazingly, these RETARDS simply don't get this! ARE THE THAI PEOPLE REALLY THAT THICK OR JUST IN DENIAL??? 

In denial that they are thick.

[dmacarelli]

2 hours ago, Soidog said:

Yes I think the Thai people know it’s wrong, they just don’t know how to change it, or have sufficient drive to change it.  Most people won’t risk their life in revolution if they have food on the table and can sleep at night. Once the basics of life are no longer being met, risking your life is less of a problem. Clever authoritarian governments don’t let it get to that stage. 

You hit the nail on the head. And since suicides are mounting, with alot of families that cannot put food on the table, the perfect storm may be approaching quickly. The people have to be hungry enough, angry enough, and disappointed enough. Then change may come. 

[gummy]

8 minutes ago, dmacarelli said:

You hit the nail on the head. And since suicides are mounting, with alot of families that cannot put food on the table, the perfect storm may be approaching quickly. The people have to be hungry enough, angry enough, and disappointed enough. Then change may come. 

And however possible they deserve our support

[Poolie]

10 minutes ago, whitesnake said:

yes, agree Gummy! So many foreigners claim that one is simply a guest when you're an ex-pat. To some extent...yes.. but, not when it affects "your' life too! If you work and pay tax in a country you have the right to comment, criticise and support change! 

If you mean as a naturalised citizen then yes, otherwise no. No vote, no say.

[Bangkok_Gary]

“If the re-opening plan moves forward and [if] the country can control the outbreak more effectively, leading the EU to place Thailand back on the safe travel list, we can expect a surge in demand of 20 – 30% at the end of the year.”

Ha ha ha. Too funny. ROTFLMAO. Ha ha ha.

[vlad]

Correct Soidog they don't understand to drop prices brings the punters in. There thinking is ok Falang have big money we can make big money.I can remember going to Patong pre pandemic. The bar girls were demanding not asking for lady drinks 500tbt plus, then asking 4-5 k for short time lol.

[EdwardV]

9 hours ago, Soidog said:

And you could ask …. Which bit of “you are making it far to difficult for fully vaccinated foreigners to go on holiday to your country” don’t you understand? 

Spot on. It’s too easy to just go somewhere else. One of the big draws of Thailand pre pandemic was it’s easy and cheap. Both of those are gone, one before Covid and the other after. If they want to rebuild the industry with something more than token numbers they need to bring back both again.

[TobyAndrews]

6 hours ago, gummy said:

And however possible they deserve our support

They would receive our support if they allowed us in without all the jumping through hoops and high expense of entry. 

our money spent would provide support

[TobyAndrews]

49 minutes ago, vlad said:

Correct Soidog they don't understand to drop prices brings the punters in. There thinking is ok Falang have big money we can make big money.I can remember going to Patong pre pandemic. The bar girls were demanding not asking for lady drinks 500tbt plus, then asking 4-5 k for short time lol.

They were charging you that? They were charging me B800 short time, and B60 lady drinks.

[Soidog]

21 minutes ago, EdwardV said:

Spot on. It’s too easy to just go somewhere else. One of the big draws of Thailand pre pandemic was it’s easy and cheap. Both of those are gone, one before Covid and the other after. If they want to rebuild the industry with something more than token numbers they need to bring back both again.

Totally agree. If not then it will just become a place for Chinese and Indian visitors. Hardly big spenders. They need to control the value of the baht. That will help with exports as well as tourism. They also need to stop crazy prices in some restaurants and bars and provide more in the way for tourists to do. And they need to make a rapid flow test on arrival the only test for Covid for fully vaccinated people. If you test positive, you stay in your hotel room and test again on day 5 and each day thereafter with a rapid flow test. Better still, scrap the tests all together for fully vaccinated people. The virus is in the community anyway so what is the point? I could understand if the local cases were Zero.