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.
Soi Dog
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Re: Thailand tourist number take a hit

Post by Soi Dog »

Tourist numbers in Thailand, like everywhere else, will always fluctuate based on current events and the global economy. But to anyone who thinks Thailand tourism has "had it's day" - meaning on the steady decline, is grasping at straws. As a tourist destination Thailand has so much to offer, and people from all over the globe will continue to visit there in overall increasing numbers, despite the occasional dip.
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Re: Thailand tourist number take a hit

Post by Drifter »

if they come in snooky because they've read it's a cheap ass place then it's good !
because in that case they know what to expect and they will enjoy the place a lot more.

the problem is with the well off tourists landing in SR and going to snooky expecting a sort of Samui or Hua Hin ... then writing bad reviews everywhere or getting robbed by night ....

low season vs high season : the hotels can only blame themselves for this, they're the ones tripling prices on high season, the obvious domino effect is tourists will not play their rigged game, after all many don't give a shit about the beach or the weather and they just wanna relax and drink and fuck.

in my recent trip across south east asia i've met heavy rains everywhere and yet most of the places were packed, in one case i had to ask a taxi to find me a place to sleep and once there they gave the last room they had, even in Manila many places had the "full" sign hanging at the reception, no idea why even the hotel managers were clueless.

the only explanation is the chinese tourist boom is real and they're flooding the whole asia with millions of fresh tourists.

on top of this what i'm seeing now is that barangs are no more walking around with the Lonely Planet guide, they've all tablets and smartphone and now they're used to everything online, 100% ... they're unafraid of booking in fucked up places like snooky, they totally downplay the risks involved, in any case it takes a few clicks for them to pick up a destination and a cheap hotel based on price and reviews, sites like Booking.com or Tripadvisor totally changed the game and the same can be said for restaurants and attractions, now if you don't rank well on tripadvisor you're fucked.

the exception is for hostess bars, they're not reviewed in general, but you can see the Walkabout on Tripadvisor with terrible reviews, believe it or not there must have been a few idiots sleeping there thinking it was just a normal hotel hahaha :)
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Re: Thailand tourist number take a hit

Post by Drifter »

Soi Dog wrote:Tourist numbers in Thailand, like everywhere else, will always fluctuate based on current events and the global economy. But to anyone who thinks Thailand tourism has "had it's day" - meaning on the steady decline, is grasping at straws. As a tourist destination Thailand has so much to offer, and people from all over the globe will continue to visit there in overall increasing numbers, despite the occasional dip.
Yes the tourism industry in thailand had its day and without the russians and chinese coming in droves they would be already in deep shit.

People will still come, of course, but the demography has changed, they're not getting rich with chinese tour groups, nor with the russians drinking beers at 7-eleven ... the farangs were high spenders, and the backpackers were going in remote areas totally off the radar of the mainstream tourism.

Now the cheapskates go in Cambo and Indonesia while the farangs are seeing less and less reason to stick with Thailand in general considering the costs involved, the mongers too are realizing they can fuck for similar prices in Berlin without flying 10000km away.

There's no turning back for Thailand, prices will never go down, the inflation is out of control no matter if the junta now is trying to fix the prices of rice etc, it won't work and tourists will be always ripped off with the double pricing.

What's cheap for a tourist in Thailand ? maybe the 30 baht rice on the street stalls .. ok .. what else ? not much else ... i've been back to europe months ago and i was shocked to see the prices of food, basically just a little more expensive than here but not too much especially if you shop at ALDI or LIDL .. certainly on par with Big C and Tesco in many ways, especially beef, pork, chicken, oil, bread, cheese, etc
and wine is so cheap in europe i've seen bottles of crap wine for 1 euro and cheap beers for 0.15$/can ! that's even cheaper than here in cambo actually.

Maybe the actual "deflation" in europe is to blame but that's what i've seen, and a fast food meal is 6-7$ so not a big deal compared to the 3-4 or 5 bucks they ask in thailand, not to mention a lady drink in pattaya can cost you 5-6$ now so where's the bargain ?
You will save on the hotel and transportation but for anything else you can pretty much spend like in Spain or Greece.

As i said before, the ONLY reason left to go in Thai is for the bargirls, nobody is going to fly 12 hrs to see Chiang Mai or Ayutthaya.
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Re: Thailand tourist number take a hit

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Drifter wrote: Yes the tourism industry in thailand had its day and without the russians and chinese coming in droves they would be already in deep shit.

People will still come, of course, but the demography has changed, they're not getting rich with chinese tour groups, nor with the russians drinking beers at 7-eleven ... the farangs were high spenders, and the backpackers were going in remote areas totally off the radar of the mainstream tourism.

Now the cheapskates go in Cambo and Indonesia while the farangs are seeing less and less reason to stick with Thailand in general considering the costs involved, the mongers too are realizing they can fuck for similar prices in Berlin without flying 10000km away.
You think whoremongering is still the reason so many millions of people travel to Thailand? That is preposterous. Speak for yourself. Most others go for the weather, beaches, shopping and the relaxed atmosphere...among other things. If you think the majority of Russians only swill beer outside of a 7-Eleven, then your view must be based upon the street corner view from your 300 Baht per day rental room in Pattaya and nothing else. Both the Russians and Chinese spend vast amounts of money there. The Asian trade in goods and tourism will soon dwarf what the Europeans/Yanks/Aussies combined have ever produced. That trend is unstoppable.
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Re: Thailand tourist number take a hit

Post by sigmoid »

Well, Forbes certainly agrees with you:

Why You Should Visit Thailand Right Now
http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestrave ... right-now/

Some of their thoughts on the matter:

1) Score The Best Hotel Rooms

"Use this lull to nab one of Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok’s popular and individually designed, author-inspired suites, which pay homage to past literary guests. ...our favorite is the stunning Somerset Maugham Suite, named for the Of Human Bondage author. A frequent backdrop for photo shoots, the suite has a dark, sumptuous bedroom with burgundy Art Deco-patterned wallpaper, side-by-side four-poster teak beds with bold gold accents and a dark red chaise lounge (though you’ll want to spread out in the marble-and-wood-filled bathroom’s clawfoot tub instead)."

2) Get Access To Exclusive Activities

"During this low-tourism time, get a reprieve from the lines at the major wats (or temples), like Wat Phra That Doi Suthep, the most well known in Chiang Mai. Sitting on a hill 3,520 feet above sea level, the golden temple’s terrace gives you a scenic panorama of the area. Also worth a visit is Wat Phra Singh. You’ll marvel at the buildings’ ornate façades, which have details like Lanna-style tiered roofs and spike-toothed gold dragons with jade-colored scales slithering along the entryway banisters. Inside, you’ll find one of the religion’s most sacred images, Phra Singh, or the Lion Buddha. In Bangkok, visit Wat Pho to see the larger-than-life Reclining Buddha. The more than 150-foot-long golden statue is stretched on its side, with its hand propping up its head. Take a closer look at Buddha’s feet; the sizable soles are lined with mother-of-pearl."

3) Have Your Pick Of Beaches

"For an ultra-exclusive beach getaway, book accommodations at Phulay Bay, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve. It won’t be hard to pry your eyes off the beach when you’re surrounded by a dazzling design that mixes contemporary Thai with Moroccan elements. Entering the luxury hotel is an experience unto itself: A narrow path between high, deep-purple walls (the hue, which represents wellness, dominates the color palette of the entire property) leads you to an infinity pool fronting the welcome pavilion, an open-air structure that looks like a Thai temple. To give it a double dose of ambience, plum walls holding more than 2,000 lights surround it all and booming Thai Enya-like music fills the air."

Wowie zowie! When I get there, I'll be there! Who's in?
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but at least I'm enjoying the ride.
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Cowshed Cowboy
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Re: Thailand tourist number take a hit

Post by Cowshed Cowboy »

I'm split on this one. I think Thailand offers a good product in many respects and has benefited from having poor competition from its neighbours, but become complacent by taking its customers for granted and refused to act to address the negative aspects experienced by many tourists, beach scamming, poor safety standards etc. Its fortunate that developing new mass markets such as China, Russia and India can fill the void but whether this is the desirable high end tourists they so desperately crave is open to question. If it's bums on seats you want fair enough the numbers go up, but are cheap package tourists the way forward ? I recognise there are big spending segments of Russians but not so sure they are anywhere near the majority. They are not popular with the Thais from what I've seen and we've seen the govt specifically mention their citizens in the visa crackdown, so I'm not sure how that will all play out over the next few years tourism wise. Thailand still offers something for everyone but I'm not sure other than Sukothai and Ayuttaya whether their tourist attractions are that noteworthy, and beaches are either a poor standard, polluted or where nice are in the resorts where crime, scams and corruption have unfortunately become a lot more prevalent.
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Re: Thailand tourist number take a hit

Post by Cowshed Cowboy »

Sad to read today that a middle aged German bar owner who got into an argument with 3 young Thais who were sitting on his bike drinking beer, was stabbed to death with their broken beer bottles. Chaweng, Koh Samui was my first ever port of call 20 years ago and these sort of incidents don't seem out of the ordinary in the resorts these days.
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Re: Thailand tourist number take a hit

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Come on. Tourism numbers couldn't rise 26% year over year forever. This is just a temporary blip.
Bangkokpost.com wrote:Thai unrest hits Cambodia tourism
Published: 20 Aug 2014

Cambodia's tourism industry, which for years has seen double-digit growth, is now showing signs of slowing down as Thai visitors to the kingdom decline, according to the latest government data.


A cyclo driver waits for costumers near a group of morning exercisers in front of the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh. Cambodia's tourism sector is showing signs of slowing down as visitors from Thailand drop. (AP photo)

The latest half-yearly report from the Tourism Ministry shows arrivals totalled 2.2 million between January and June this year, up 5% from the same period last year, the Phnom Penh Post reported on Wednesday.

But the marginal rise bucks a year-on-year trend of increases ranging between 13 and 26% as seen at the halfway point of every year from 2010 to 2013.

Kong Sophearak, director of the ministry’s statistics department, said the dampened growth has primarily stemmed from a decline in overland arrivals from Thailand over the past six months.

“Since the end of the global financial crisis, Cambodia has seen consistent double-digit increases in arrivals. But so far this year, that figure has fallen due to less people arriving from Thailand through the border gates,” the Phnom Penh Post quoted him as saying.

According to Mr Sophearak, overland arrivals from Thailand to Cambodia through the Poipet border gate declined 23% during the first half of the year, while air travel between the two nations continued to grow. In total, the number of Thai arrivals to Cambodia equalled 106,000, down more than 4% from the same period last year.

“The political situation has dampened outward tourism to Cambodia. But from this point, I believe we will see tourism figures as a whole steady out to an end-of-year growth average of 8%.”

Earlier this month, during a press tour of Thailand, Thawatchai Arunyik, the governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand told the Phnom Penh Post that the long-standing political turmoil in Thailand had had an impact on the country’s tourism industry especially with regards to travellers venturing to Cambodia.

“We have to promote it together as we are neighbours,” he said.

“In the past, we promoted the two kingdoms as one destination. People who come to Thailand, they don’t just stop in Thailand, they go on to visit Cambodia too.”

Ho Vandy, co-chair of the Private and Public Sector Working Group, said he was confident tourism figures would recover in the second half of the year as Thailand recoups its own numbers, as Cambodia’s peak tourist season returns in October and as direct flights to Japan become available.

“This mid-year figure is not definitive of the end-of-year result. We have just been through the low season,” Mr Vandy said, adding that direct flights to Japan from Cambodia were planned to start as early as next month.

The Japanese tourism market, meanwhile, was among the larger vistor number increases during the first six months of this year, according to the government’s data, with arrivals to the kingdom reaching more than 107,000, up 12% compared to the same six-month period last year.
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Re: Thailand tourist number take a hit

Post by phuketrichard »

tourists will come as they love Thailand.

the ones that come for the girls are a very small minority
here in Phuket many Arabs, Indians, Russians Families an couples
not the single guys looking for a "date"

Those that come to Thailand will, they will not switch to Cambodia, which is an add on country- not a destination, so can see numbers there dropping
As to the thai's, with uncertainty about the future, they are holding on to their $$ and not spending it

As for the german guy, he should have know better than to go at three thai kids late at night. ( Not saying it was his fault)
Anyone that believes the myth that Thai's are Jai Yen ( cool heart) has never been to Thailand.

Thailand has bounced back from;

SARS
Bird Flue
Tsunami
Countless coups
this will pass as well an in fact its better/safer now than pre coup
In a nation run by swine, all pigs are upward-mobile and the rest of us are fucked until we can put our acts together: not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely. HST
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Re: Thailand tourist number take a hit

Post by Satiated Parrot »

Drifter wrote:
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.
Nonsense. I go to Thailand with my wife regularly and don't go near the bargirls and still have a good time.

Hotels in Malaysia are relatively expensive, drinks are expensive, local food is good and cheap but the western food sucks and is overpriced, and the places have no vibe whatsoever. Penang, even the tourist beaches, closes down at about 8.
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