Thailand tourist number take a hit

Thailand is Cambodia's neighbor to the West, and this forum is dedicated to Thai news, stories, reviews, blogs, videos, Thai people and anything else related to the country. A lot of expats have both lived and worked in Cambodia and Thailand, and this area is a place to discuss all aspects of life in Thailand and what's going on there. Most topics are about Bangkok and Pattaya because of their larger populations of expatriates and tourists in those cities, but this is for all things Thai.
User avatar
Satiated Parrot
Expatriate
Posts: 549
Joined: Tue May 13, 2014 7:25 am
Reputation: 38
Armenia

Re: Thailand tourist number take a hit

Post by Satiated Parrot »

I agree with phuket. As I get older, I also enjoy Thailand because of its better infrastructure, malls, etc. There are a ton of places which you can get to via a budget airline. There are a great number of places which you can choose from. Just in terms of beach resorts, you have phuket, hua hin, krabi, phi phi, phangan, koh chang, samui. The list goes on. Burma and Cambodia are cool but they just can't compete.
Drifter
Expatriate
Posts: 434
Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2014 2:21 pm
Reputation: 0

Re: Thailand tourist number take a hit

Post by Drifter »

phuketrichard wrote:Myanmar will not replace Thailand / Laos/ Cambodia at least for the back packer/youth crowd

reasons;
Unlike where they congregate in Vang Vieng, Ko Samui, Koh Phangna, SR, Shinoukville

there are no bars, no places to hang out, no places that cater to youth, no raves, no parties, NO cheap drinks ( except Mandalay beer) no drugs, no bar girls, NO places (yet ) owned by westerners at all,
High season its expensive an travel is difficult, ( overbooked)

and no i dont think that will change at least anytime soon. The government has seen what happens around them and i feel, an talking with locals an people that live there, they don't want it to go that way. They will develop, but it will be very slow as the government wants total control right now and it is very expensive to do anything there.

I did really enjoy traveling there and will head back but than i love travel and photography. :-)
at the moment Burma attracts a more cultural tourism than Thailand, i've seen tons of backpackers actually but they were not the usual bunch of chavs you see in Thailand or Snooky and this was a very positive thing in my opinion.

actually you can find discos, clubs, and bars in the major burmese towns but they're really nothing to write home about, there's some prostitution and massages in Yangon but then again it's not cheap, Myanmar is not a sex destination despite Mandalay being famous for that during the colonial times.

beer is not expensive but neither a bargain, the wine instead is surprisingly good !
the biggest issue i faced was the lack of decent accomodation, even the filthiest guesthouses were expensive and this 4 yrs ago.
transportation was a mess and as slow as in Laos.

said that, there's a great vibe there and the locals are genuinely friendly unlike in Thailand, and on top of this yes it's not cheap but there are things to see that are worth every penny, again unlike in Thailand.

in conclusion, it's not yet a place for everybody nor for mass tourism but if one day their government finally opens up the country a bit more it will become instantly THE destination for south east asia, there's everything there ... art, history, culture, mountains, lakes, cities, exoticness, unspoiled beaches and virgin islands, really they could make billions if they wanted ... thailand is no match for Burma !
Drifter
Expatriate
Posts: 434
Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2014 2:21 pm
Reputation: 0

Re: Thailand tourist number take a hit

Post by Drifter »

frank lee bent wrote:yes, no infrastructure now to cope with demand- but all these places grew big starting with bamboo huts- like bali in the 1970's.
As for Vietnam they're ruled by an elite that see foreign tourism as a nuisance to deal with, all we can do is accept the situation and who knows maybe things will change sooner or later.

As i always said Thailand had its boom not because it's the best place but just because its neighbours were a mess or involved in civil wars or for whatever reason they were unable to organzize themselves into a tourist hub.

Just look at Malaysia, there's not a single place which is touristically impressive and yet they have more than 20 millions arrivals per year.

Bamboo huts come and go and they never last long ... 20-30 yrs from now the entire south east asia will be unrecognizeable and i think nothing of what we see now will last.
Drifter
Expatriate
Posts: 434
Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2014 2:21 pm
Reputation: 0

Re: Thailand tourist number take a hit

Post by Drifter »

Satiated Parrot wrote:I agree with phuket. As I get older, I also enjoy Thailand because of its better infrastructure, malls, etc. There are a ton of places which you can get to via a budget airline. There are a great number of places which you can choose from. Just in terms of beach resorts, you have phuket, hua hin, krabi, phi phi, phangan, koh chang, samui. The list goes on. Burma and Cambodia are cool but they just can't compete.
I'm getting a bit sick of hearing about the so called "good infrastructures" in Thailand.

I've recently been across south east asia and Korea, you won't see anything remotely on par with Korea's standards in Thailand, and once you cross the border to enter Malaysia you immediatly get the feeling of going back to civilization ... clean roads, no electric cables hanging everywhere, no shit, no bad smells, no rubbish on the sidewalks, no tuktuks, no loud music ...

Thailand is just a step above the Philippines, totally overrated and still popular just because of the bargirls.
Drifter
Expatriate
Posts: 434
Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2014 2:21 pm
Reputation: 0

Re: Thailand tourist number take a hit

Post by Drifter »

phuketrichard wrote:sorry;
i disagree with ur assessment an that comes from living here for 30 years
Boracay was great in the 80's now its a shit hole
Palawan i am sure is beautiful but it will cost ya an arm an a leg to get there. Ever dove in the Similans or the Burma banks?

tourism was up in 2013 over 2012.
and it is already making a come back over May an June.

I was just in Myanamr last month, Cambodia in April, Malaysia in June, no way is Thailand 30-50% more for anything.

Thailand has gone up for sure in prices ( an not just for tourists but for Thai's as well) BUT coming just from Mandalay an Bagan, i can say u can get the same room ( even larger ) for less here in Phuket than there. Better food and same price. There is nothing but train travel cheap in Myanmar ( even renting a motorcycle is 2x more than here)

So many downplay Thailand but tourism continues to grow year in, year out even with all the troubles the have gone thru.

AS to the new visa rules ( not really new at all ,only now being enforced)
the in out rule will not affect any TOURIST, it will affect those that have been living here/working here without the correct visas ( Russians are already packing up and leaving, cause they no longer can get their 90 day visa exempts)

I guess we will agree to disagree
Yes, we disagree but that's not a problem at all, i like to here opposing views.

Booting out the russians will be a giant mistake, as always in Thailand they will realize it when it's too late, a few years from now.

Thailand tourism is not increasing now, this is confirmed even by the TAT ... of course they blame the military coup, so they have a good excuse to cover their ass.

Fully agree on the bad accomodations in Myanmar but as long as they have the actual junta in power there can't be any radical change, the whole country is kept in "stand-by mode", and foreign investors are kept by the balls and scammed at every opportunity, rental prices in Yangon for foreigners are exploding, the ruling elite is de facto an enemy of the people, Burma could be the richest and most successful country in SEA without this anachronistic bunch of incompetent assholes in power.

I'm not advocating a regime change, not all, but as much as i'm pro-junta for political reasons it's a fact they reduced the entire place to a shithole, it says it all that the best buildings in Yangon belong to colonial times, what the fuck have they done in the last 60 yrs ? what about the trains, electricity, and pretty much anything else, nothing is ever working in Burma and now they refuse chinese help and investments and chinese high speed trains, WTF ?

As i said before, with competitors like this Thailand has got an easy job becoming a tourist hub ... but it can't last forever.

Boracay a shithole ? you must have "phuket goggles" ...

Palawan : it's served by AirAsia in Puerto Princesa .. you can fly from Kuala for 60-70$ if you book early, there's also Cebu Pacific doing many routes.
User avatar
Satiated Parrot
Expatriate
Posts: 549
Joined: Tue May 13, 2014 7:25 am
Reputation: 38
Armenia

Re: Thailand tourist number take a hit

Post by Satiated Parrot »

Drifter wrote:
Satiated Parrot wrote:I agree with phuket. As I get older, I also enjoy Thailand because of its better infrastructure, malls, etc. There are a ton of places which you can get to via a budget airline. There are a great number of places which you can choose from. Just in terms of beach resorts, you have phuket, hua hin, krabi, phi phi, phangan, koh chang, samui. The list goes on. Burma and Cambodia are cool but they just can't compete.
I'm getting a bit sick of hearing about the so called "good infrastructures" in Thailand.

I've recently been across south east asia and Korea, you won't see anything remotely on par with Korea's standards in Thailand, and once you cross the border to enter Malaysia you immediatly get the feeling of going back to civilization ... clean roads, no electric cables hanging everywhere, no shit, no bad smells, no rubbish on the sidewalks, no tuktuks, no loud music ...

Thailand is just a step above the Philippines, totally overrated and still popular just because of the bargirls.
Yeah, you don't get the same level of infrastructure in Thailand as you do in Korea or malaysia. But I thought we were comparing Burma, Cambodia and Thailand. In any event, Korea hardly offers decent beach holidays (Jeju doesn't count). Malaysia has such, but they're expensive and boring.
Drifter
Expatriate
Posts: 434
Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2014 2:21 pm
Reputation: 0

Re: Thailand tourist number take a hit

Post by Drifter »

Satiated Parrot wrote:Yeah, you don't get the same level of infrastructure in Thailand as you do in Korea or malaysia. But I thought we were comparing Burma, Cambodia and Thailand. In any event, Korea hardly offers decent beach holidays (Jeju doesn't count). Malaysia has such, but they're expensive and boring.
yes but also Thailand would be utterly boring without the bargirls.

Malaysia is not so expensive as they all say especially if we talk about the cost of living in Bangkok.
OrangeDragon
Site Admin
Posts: 4193
Joined: Fri May 02, 2014 8:05 pm
Reputation: 17
United States of America

Re: Thailand tourist number take a hit

Post by OrangeDragon »

i wonder if this is why we've seen such a tourism increase in s'ville this low season. we had dinner on the beach last night and i was blown away by how many people there were... when last year at this time it was maybe a fraction of this many.

and the island boats are still regularly leaving people on the docks they're so busy.
Drifter
Expatriate
Posts: 434
Joined: Sun Aug 10, 2014 2:21 pm
Reputation: 0

Re: Thailand tourist number take a hit

Post by Drifter »

OrangeDragon wrote:i wonder if this is why we've seen such a tourism increase in s'ville this low season. we had dinner on the beach last night and i was blown away by how many people there were... when last year at this time it was maybe a fraction of this many.

and the island boats are still regularly leaving people on the docks they're so busy.
rationally, there are many ways to analyze the situation.

first of all, is this a trend ?

i was in SR last month and it was packed, no matter the rains and the low season.
can't explain.

snooky : do you know if these were cheap ass tourists or a mix of well off, backpackers, cheapskates, and anything in between ?
it could be that now the target is divided among those going just in the islands (well off and tour groups) and the usual crowd of hippies, drunks, and mongers sleeping 5$/night guesthouses in occheuteal.

since people in the west has less money than before the ongoing economic crisis it makes sense for them to travel in low season and to target cheap countries like Cambo and snooky in particular as thailand has had the military coup and can cost almost double.

on top of this a vietnam visa now costs 70$ bucks and vietnam is losing tourists every year so it's obvious they're going somewhere else.

but i don't believe for a second they're coming for the wonderful pristine white crystal clear waters of snooky ...
OrangeDragon
Site Admin
Posts: 4193
Joined: Fri May 02, 2014 8:05 pm
Reputation: 17
United States of America

Re: Thailand tourist number take a hit

Post by OrangeDragon »

even people filling up $5 a night places are putting money into the local economy. cheap people are less profit, but still profit.

though more than a few were full families. i suspect low travel prices are a factor... but it still stands that everyone who has been here a while is in shock at how busy it is. a number of people with higher priced places have been full up off and on so far this low season. a good thing, considering many of them generally sit mostly empty and are living off of what they made in high season.

i'd suspect your reasoning on the visas holds true, as well as the general uncertainty about thailand and the coup, mixed in with people who tried s'ville out after that "top 10 cheap travel destinations" piece telling their friends about it and it growing in word of mouth popularity.
Post Reply Previous topicNext topic
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: jaynewcastle and 213 guests