..'now' looks for? haha I was hearing this way back in the 90s and ever since then..

Long read, so quoting part only.

‘High quality’ tourism target

Like the Indonesian government with Bali, the pandemic has prompted a re-think in Thailand about what kind of tourists it wants to attract.

‘Less is more’ is now the prevailing wisdom, so long as their pockets are stuffed with Thai baht. The backpacker on a shoestring budget does not feature highly on the most-wanted list.

“We need tourism with high quality,” says Suthiphong, the Thai Travel Agents’ Association head. “The government is planning already to grab the tourists from middle class up to upper class. We are concerned for [budget travellers] but we don’t pay for advertising for this group.”

“For the backpackers I have to confess to you that the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the government, the Ministry of Tourism, they don’t give so much interest for this kind of group. But we have a lot of one-star and two-star hotels, they still need these [tourists]. We are private sector; we try to request the government maintain [backpackers] but maybe we have to educate all of them, when you come to Thailand you have to come to help us to keep the nature, not destroy the nature.”

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s government’s pitch for the top end has been evident in the incentives it has provided to elevate domestic tourism. A government support package has offered Thai tourists 40 per cent off hotel stays, but only at lodgings where the room rate is at least 3000 baht ($125) per night.

Australian business owners in Phuket have been lobbying Qantas to launch direct flights to the resort island, believing that business-class travellers are less inclined to make the trip with Jetstar, which currently operates that route.

Siripakorn Cheawsamoot, deputy governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age that all visitors would be embraced, but it is clear a particular category with deeper pockets are being prioritised.

“Every international tourist I welcome to Thailand, but at this moment we are seeing a lot of potential for quality tourists,” he says.

“I just got back from Phuket yesterday and I’ve seen a lot of families and groups of active seniors coming to Thailand. They are seeking a safe destination. But those in the leisure or mass market [category] are still welcome to Thailand.”

Siripakorn says Thailand hopes to return this year to half of its pre-pandemic tourism revenue - international arrivals spent $80 billion in 2019.

The question, even with a focus on big spenders from abroad, is how they can do that.

Chinese travellers, who previously accounted for more than a quarter of all foreign tourists in Thailand, aren’t coming back in a meaningful capacity yet because of hard border rules in their country.

Now, as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, another major overseas market for Thailand is in danger of being obliterated. More Russians flew to Thailand in February, but many are now feeling the impact of international financial sanctions. About 6500 Russians were stranded in Phuket, Surat Thani, Krabi and Pattaya without access to cash, according to Thai authorities this week, and with flights also being cancelled, few more are expected to arrive any time soon.

Full: https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/world/ ... 5a1kt.html

They can look for whatever they want, but they'll never be able to get it in even remotely the numbers they dream up. Pipe dreams as per usual.

Please guys, you can't possibly expect anything serious from a clown no?

It was around 2013 when I decided that I was going to retire in Thailand. Love it there, the food, the people, how easy it is to get around. But then, I guess it was around 2018 that I read about Cambodia and the ER extension. Didn’t think much about it as I still wanted to retire in Thailand.

Fast forward a few years and I see how much of Thailand’s attitude has changed, government wise. It is bad enough with the reporting every 3 months, 800,000 baht in the bank, the paperwork needed for the yearly renewal, and the mandatory health insurance on the OA visa, now they want it for the tourist visa, which I doubt will ever go away and some day might be extended to the non-immigrant O visas. I was even considering paying 1 million baht for the 20-year Elite Visa, but found out health insurance was mandatory because it is a long-stay tourist visa.

Then I started looking into the Cambodia ER Visa more since the pandemic and decided, even though I had never been there, that Cambodia was where I was going to go. The simplicity of the visa and the Thai government’s uncertainty was my reasoning for changing my mind.

No disrespect to the Thai government, it is their country and they can add, change, enforce, the rules for long stay visitors, and now even for the simple tourist, but it is going to hurt their economy more than it will help in my opinion.

I love Thailand but I never felt really "welcome".

It looks like that 11:00 pm closing time isn’t going away any time soon. Might be ok with the “high-end” individuals they are trying to attract, but not for the ones who who aren’t staying in high end villas eating lobster and caviar.

I’m easy, give me a LEO, some papaya salad, sticky rice, and some jerky and I’m in heaven.

jaynewcastle wrote: ↑Sun Mar 20, 2022 12:36 am

Kenr wrote: ↑Sat Mar 19, 2022 11:46 pm It looks like that 11:00 pm closing time isn’t going away any time soon. Might be ok with the “high-end” individuals they are trying to attract, but not for the ones who who aren’t staying in high end villas eating lobster and caviar.

I’m easy, give me a LEO, some papaya salad, sticky rice, and some jerky and I’m in heaven.

The only people who can't find anywhere to drink after 11pm, are the ones still sitting at home complaining about all the rules & restrictions & haven't actually been to Thailand in at least 2 years

As to the main story, I'm sure virtually all countries want to attract high-spending tourists, its quite normal. It doesn't mean that they don't want any other tourists to come as well

And many have been arrested the past 2 years for doing exactly that.