Thai tourism likely to hit rock bottom this year

[Dancbmac]

Shocking news 

[Martin]

TAT are comedy gold. They continually come out with nonsense, always ending it with " and it will generate xxx billion baht". 

Even if Thailand scrapped all the ludicrous entry rules for people they say they want to welcome to Thailand, it's still only half the job done. The other half would be to actually make tourists feel welcome when they are in Thailand. So put a stop to the scams, the price gouging, the two tier pricing. I could go on and on. 

If that happened, and it's a big if i grant you, there may be a chance of reviving some of the tourist industry. But there is zero sign of any acknowledgement that a change in tack is needed. 

Conclusion? Thai tourism is as good as dead for a very, very long time. It may eventually revive with a different administration, one who does not see "foreigners" as a threat. 

[HolyCowCm]

3 hours ago, NCC1701A said:

Good morning Colin. How are you today?

Speaking of beyond belief don't forget all the Thai women coming to visit me in Hua Hun are included in those domestic tourist numbers.    

I am just surprised there is no special eventful NCC SRT train loaded with them going to see you. The que to get on would probably huge enough to be seen from space.

[HolyCowCm]

Maybe hitting Bedrock would be a better term used.

[NCC1701A]

5 minutes ago, HolyCowCm said:

I am just surprised there is no special eventful NCC SRT train loaded with them going to see you. The que to get on would probably huge enough to be seen from space.

my front gate. 

[HolyCowCm]

5 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

my front gate. 

Nice! Is that price for admission?

[Bluesofa]

2 hours ago, gummy said:

What a Nokia 3310 , would get totally lost,

They're not all 'loose' women.

[gummy]

Just now, Bluesofa said:

They're not all 'loose' women.

Guess not sideways 

[longwood50]

3 hours ago, dmacarelli said:

One thing I continue to ask is what sacrifices is Thailand willing to make, to create the so called hub they are constantly referring to?

I would agree with the vast majority of what you said.  Thailand appears to be saying one thing and doing another.  While feigning to want tourists they are making living and visiting here increasingly difficult and expensive.  A business who wants customers offers it products or services at the best possible value for what is offered.  Right now Thailand as a destination is a damaged brand.  The government should recognize that and make things more attractive and easier to travel to.  The most stupid of the impediments is the quarantine for fully vaccinated tourists.  The person arriving has been tested prior to departing, had two vaccine doses, and tested again upon arrival.  The tourist is far more at risk in contracting Covid from a Thai who has not been tested and had no vaccines then the other way around. 

The one item I disagree with you on is foreign ownership of land.   I think that Thailand is smart to limit ownership to only Thai citizens.  Otherwise foreign money would flow in here to buy up the properties and soon the Thai's would find they no longer owned their own country.  Now could there be other ways such as the selling of 30 year leases on properties to facilitate a foreigner being allowed to reside in a single family residence versus a condo, yes. 

One thing is for sure.  It takes decades to build up a business and a healthy tourist inflow.  It takes only months to kill it.  Once tourists select other locations to travel to instead of Thailand they probably will change their habits for years to come maybe forever.  Also once the infrastructure such as the hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions are financially ravaged from lack of traffic, simply saying, OK you can now all open now won't happen.  Some will be closed for good, others lacking the money to keep their facilities refurbished and attractive.  None of that enhances the attractiveness of Thailand as a spot to vacation to. 

[dmacarelli]

1 hour ago, longwood50 said:

I would agree with the vast majority of what you said.  Thailand appears to be saying one thing and doing another.  While feigning to want tourists they are making living and visiting here increasingly difficult and expensive.  A business who wants customers offers it products or services at the best possible value for what is offered.  Right now Thailand as a destination is a damaged brand.  The government should recognize that and make things more attractive and easier to travel to.  The most stupid of the impediments is the quarantine for fully vaccinated tourists.  The person arriving has been tested prior to departing, had two vaccine doses, and tested again upon arrival.  The tourist is far more at risk in contracting Covid from a Thai who has not been tested and had no vaccines then the other way around. 

The one item I disagree with you on is foreign ownership of land.   I think that Thailand is smart to limit ownership to only Thai citizens.  Otherwise foreign money would flow in here to buy up the properties and soon the Thai's would find they no longer owned their own country.  Now could there be other ways such as the selling of 30 year leases on properties to facilitate a foreigner being allowed to reside in a single family residence versus a condo, yes. 

One thing is for sure.  It takes decades to build up a business and a healthy tourist inflow.  It takes only months to kill it.  Once tourists select other locations to travel to instead of Thailand they probably will change their habits for years to come maybe forever.  Also once the infrastructure such as the hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions are financially ravaged from lack of traffic, simply saying, OK you can now all open now won't happen.  Some will be closed for good, others lacking the money to keep their facilities refurbished and attractive.  None of that enhances the attractiveness of Thailand as a spot to vacation to. 

Spot on. The longer they wait, the less relevant Thailand becomes. It is already being forgotten by the world of tourism, as 60 or so nations are open for tourism, with no restrictions, other than proof of vaccination, and a Covid negative test. That is all Thailand should be requiring, as tourists are now the ones taking the risk, by coming here, not the other way around, as the ninnies believe. 

[TukTuk]

Shameful that the government cannot tell the truth in the worst of situations. They are falsely propping up the hopes of millions of people working in the tourism industry, when the fact is they should be working on a social welfare plan to help these working financially survive. There will not be any great number of tourists coming as the COVID news is getting worse by the day. Who could possible want to go to Thailand when COVID is out of control, curfews everywhere and majority of businesses closed in tourist areas. The sad thing, never an effort to help out the people out of work.

[JackIsAGoodBoy]

Pay $2000 to stay at your hotel and maybe visit the local 7-11 in Phuket!

[MikeTexas]

This was both the funniest and saddest thing I have read in a long time.

Yuthasak Supasorn from the TAT says the target of 3 million foreign arrivals is still in place but Thailand could see only a third of that figure, 

the TAT has set a minimum target of 10 million foreign arrivals and 122 million domestic trips. These targets presume that the global Covid-19 situation remains unstable and that countries will still have travel restrictions in place.

They seem to know where things are heading but willfully inflate not just the official figure but the reforecast as well.  This is seemingly done to bring people hope but instead it just erodes any remaining confidence in the TAT.  Why keep the 3M figure when you don't expect it at all?  How could the WORST possible scenario for next year include 10M foreigners when 1M is a stretch for this year?  Ridiculous and sad that they won't realistically set expectations for the country.  I understand trying to build hope.  However the more you build up peoples hopes only for them to come crashing down time and again just leads to a harder fall.  

[KaptainRob]

1 hour ago, MikeTexas said:

This was both the funniest and saddest thing I have read in a long time.

Yuthasak Supasorn from the TAT says the target of 3 million foreign arrivals is still in place but Thailand could see only a third of that figure, 

the TAT has set a minimum target of 10 million foreign arrivals and 122 million domestic trips. These targets presume that the global Covid-19 situation remains unstable and that countries will still have travel restrictions in place.

They seem to know where things are heading but willfully inflate not just the official figure but the reforecast as well.  This is seemingly done to bring people hope but instead it just erodes any remaining confidence in the TAT.  Why keep the 3M figure when you don't expect it at all?  How could the WORST possible scenario for next year include 10M foreigners when 1M is a stretch for this year?  Ridiculous and sad that they won't realistically set expectations for the country.  I understand trying to build hope.  However the more you build up peoples hopes only for them to come crashing down time and again just leads to a harder fall.  

It's part of the Thai psyche.  Like my neighbour who had his house on market for the past 12 years @ 55 mil bt, sold to Chinese just before covid @ 16mil.  A used car, say one year old and the ask is 'price paid + service costs/insurance/registration/wax & detailing'.  

One learns to ignore asking prices and Gov't estimates as wishful thinking aka propaganda.