webfact Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 Thailand’s Amazing Tourism An Amazing Mess: New Minister By Teeranai Charuvastra, Staff Reporter Sports and Tourism Minister Weerasak Kowsurat tours a forest Jan. 19 in Ubon Ratchathani province. Photo: Weerasak Kowsurat / Courtesy BANGKOK — Thailand’s tourism boom is causing serious problems and the bureaucracy is ill-equipped to fix them. That no-punches spared assessment comes from none other than its new tourism minister, Weerasak Kowsurat. Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/business/2018/01/31/thailands-amazing-tourism-amazing-mess-new-minister/ -- © Copyright Khaosod English 2018-01-31 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxLee Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 Careful Mr. Weerasak, that certain INTERNAL influential forces in the current regime don't hunt you down in secret for the well known attitude adjustment...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darcula Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 11 minutes ago, webfact said: Thailand’s Amazing Tourism An Amazing Mess Nothing that an all expenses paid study trip to Europe this spring with a delegation of 130 cannot solve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatOngo Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 Thailand’s Amazing Tourism An Amazing Mess Just what 35 million tourists come here to see.....Amazing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chang_paarp Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 After reading the complete article, this bloke speaks a lot of sense, unlike his predecessor. 6 minutes ago, Darcula said: Nothing that an all expenses paid study trip to Europe this spring with a delegation of 130 cannot solve. That would be the entire tourism bureaucracy according to the minister. If they all went there would be no one to approve foreign movies, approve tour operators and guides and inspect tourism site. from the article Quote These 130 Bangkok-based bureaucrats – who don’t have professional backgrounds in tourism – have to perform a variety of tasks which would be better compartmentalized. Quote “The problems have been swept under the rug for 30 years now. At this time, it’s being lifted up a little,” the 52-year-old Harvard law school graduate said in an interview. “I don’t have enough time to change the rug. What I will do is pull the corners. You can show what’s under the rug if you grab the right corner.” Unlike the predecessor he replaced in November, Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, a media-savvy figure known for her always-rosy take on Thai tourism – Weerasak is a policy pedant with a gloomier take on it’s mismanagement. I hope he can do some good. At least he looks at the job with a big dose of realism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darcula Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 2 minutes ago, Chang_paarp said: After reading the complete article, this bloke speaks a lot of sense, unlike his predecessor. I quite liked the idea of tying a toshiba toaster on every tourist's ankle to prevent them from jumping off balconies though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiSoLowSoNoSo Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 "The other 19 ministries don’t know what’s happening here." Isn't that comment Thailand in a nutshell? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YetAnother Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 11 minutes ago, HiSoLowSoNoSo said: "The other 19 ministries don’t know what’s happening here." Isn't that comment Thailand in a nutshell? what could possibly be their motivation for wanting to know?; they want paychecks and ghost jobs for their friends and relatives; no real mystery as to why the country is dysfunctional Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxLee Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 13 minutes ago, HiSoLowSoNoSo said: "The other 19 ministries don’t know what’s happening here." Isn't that comment Thailand in a nutshell? "The other 19 ministries don't give a ****** what's happening here." corrected it for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaoboi Bebobp Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 A breath of fresh air. The problem is he has to deal with the heavily entrenched apparatchiks in his and other ministries. But it's a good sign the junta decision makers are going with someone who can stir the pot, after dismissing the previous boss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallGuyJohninBKK Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 Quote These 130 Bangkok-based bureaucrats – who don’t have professional backgrounds in tourism – have to perform a variety of tasks which would be better compartmentalized. ,,,, “They aren’t trained to deal with these tasks. I don’t even call it a job,” Weerasak said. “And no one has ever presented this fact to the public or the bureaucracy. Even the bureaucracy itself is not aware of this. The other 19 ministries don’t know what’s happening here.” Wow! That's a new one on me.. Never heard that detail before, but somehow, don't find it surprising. But at the same time, I think one of the main problems here is his Ministry doesn't really have the power or authority to fix a lot of the things he calls out as being problems, and other things that he neglected to mention: --Lack of professional law enforcement and lack of any recourse when encountering unprofessional law enforcement or law breaking conduct. --The portion of Thai tourism workers, whatever that portion is, that decide to rip off and otherwise abuse tourists, like criminal taxi drivers, violent bar bouncers, unscrupulous tour operators, etc etc. --The serious lack of safety and professionalism in a lot of the tourist-related businesses such as jet skis, tour boats, interprovince buses, tour buses, zip line operators, etc etc. --The infrastructure (and lack of infrastructure) problems he pointed out, including flooding, lack of sanitation, lack of sewage treatment, lack of refuse disposal, traffic congestion problems, lack of pedestrian safety, etc etc. A lot of these things come down to the regular police and the tourist police, who basically fail to seriously deal with all the tourism related law breaking that occurs, and the national and local governments, which have failed to use the resources they receive from tourism to invest in the infrastructure that is needed to support it. Does his ministry have any ability to remedy those failings or get them remedied? I don't think so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HiSoLowSoNoSo Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 22 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said: These 130 Bangkok-based bureaucrats – who don’t have professional backgrounds in tourism – Wow!!! and an estimated 17% of the GNP comes from tourism. Is this gross mismanagement or what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trainman34014 Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 No big surprise is it; they are all ill-equipped to cope with anything other than looking after their own bolstered bank accounts, dysfunctional from top to bottom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misterwhisper Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 Wow, amazing chap! He finally speaks out aloud what everyone with eyes to see has known for a long time and seems tyo have a rather bright head on his shoulders. This country needs more government leaders of his sort - and apart from tourism in pretty much every economic and social sector. Unfortunately, Weerasak also is all too aware that his tenure is most likely short-lived and that he won't be able to move, change and rehabilitate much. Too bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEVUP Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 The taxi bit prior reminds me a bit of Auss Come back through International side & try & get a taxi to hotel at the official taxi rank (they pretty well know your a local ). Only to be told of that it's only worth $15 or $20 bucks, go & get one of the drop of pass through ones, was the reply. I didn't need to get into an argument at that time. The silly bit is I don't know how they make money as they even stated they had been waiting hrs at the rank, maybe for that one time elusive $100 fare Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1happykamper Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 Am I dreaming? Three years living in Thailand and I am hearing common sense and honest observations from a thai government official? Amazing Thailand! Yehhhhhhhh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammieuk1 Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 Yes maybe start with some bigger prisons to lock up the expected hordes of beach smokers vapour's and porn watcher's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackh Posted February 1, 2018 Share Posted February 1, 2018 ALl talk, no action. TIT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emster23 Posted February 1, 2018 Share Posted February 1, 2018 Seven labors of Hercules would seem like a weekend DIY project by comparison. Attended Harvard law and was a high school exchange student: clearly polluted by those foreign concepts like responsibility, competence, etc. " To his surprise, nine years after he was last on the job, the same problems still exist. " I'm surprised he is surprised. A leaky roof doesn't fix itself. I wish him all the best. He will need it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1337markus Posted February 1, 2018 Share Posted February 1, 2018 Pineapple eyes will never forgive him for this expect another flood of tears. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
connda Posted February 1, 2018 Share Posted February 1, 2018 Sounds like they need a few hundred more like him, and perhaps the ingrained paper-shuffling, talk-but-no-action bureaucracies may start to reform. Nice thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curmudgeon1 Posted February 1, 2018 Share Posted February 1, 2018 18 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said: Wow! That's a new one on me.. Never heard that detail before, but somehow, don't find it surprising. But at the same time, I think one of the main problems here is his Ministry doesn't really have the power or authority to fix a lot of the things he calls out as being problems, and other things that he neglected to mention: --Lack of professional law enforcement and lack of any recourse when encountering unprofessional law enforcement or law breaking conduct. --The portion of Thai tourism workers, whatever that portion is, that decide to rip off and otherwise abuse tourists, like criminal taxi drivers, violent bar bouncers, unscrupulous tour operators, etc etc. --The serious lack of safety and professionalism in a lot of the tourist-related businesses such as jet skis, tour boats, interprovince buses, tour buses, zip line operators, etc etc. --The infrastructure (and lack of infrastructure) problems he pointed out, including flooding, lack of sanitation, lack of sewage treatment, lack of refuse disposal, traffic congestion problems, lack of pedestrian safety, etc etc. A lot of these things come down to the regular police and the tourist police, who basically fail to seriously deal with all the tourism related law breaking that occurs, and the national and local governments, which have failed to use the resources they receive from tourism to invest in the infrastructure that is needed to support it. Does his ministry have any ability to remedy those failings or get them remedied? I don't think so. You've nailed it. With no enforcement of "paper laws" on every level, a solution is impossible for poor Thailand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farcanell Posted February 1, 2018 Share Posted February 1, 2018 See something, say something... join the minister in jail to face defamation charges... yea... sounds great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juan B Tong Posted February 1, 2018 Share Posted February 1, 2018 Wow, what a creative way to indirectly ask to be replaced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertson468 Posted February 1, 2018 Share Posted February 1, 2018 19 hours ago, PatOngo said: Thailand’s Amazing Tourism An Amazing Mess Just what 35 million tourists come here to see.....Amazing! You are spending too much time behind your computer. Time you got out a bit. There are lots and lots of things to be seen and experienced in Thailand. I have been here only 12 years and am still discovering new places to visit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Srikcir Posted February 1, 2018 Share Posted February 1, 2018 "... Phuket and its outer islands are now dangerously overcrowded, plagued by waste issues and running short of fresh water. They have seen no major infrastructure overhauls in over a decade ..." Prayut has focused on national-pride type infrastructure expenditures such as high speed rail. Will Weerasak have the will to tell Prayut that sustainable tourism requires redirection of some of Prayut's infrastructure priorities? And if Weerasak does so, will Prayut do so? Which is sexier - a wastewater treatment plant or a bullet train? I doubt that Prayut's highest priority is to "cut the ribbon" for a wastewater treatment plant or garbage incinerator energy plant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatOngo Posted February 1, 2018 Share Posted February 1, 2018 1 hour ago, robertson468 said: You are spending too much time behind your computer. Time you got out a bit. There are lots and lots of things to be seen and experienced in Thailand. I have been here only 12 years and am still discovering new places to visit. Thanks acharn. It is a bit dark under this rock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heybruce Posted February 1, 2018 Share Posted February 1, 2018 " Ever-growing hordes of tourists trampling sensitive beaches, cities and towns that never get their share and a bureaucracy that doesn’t know how to fix such problems. " " Destinations that tout “sea, sand and sun” such as Phuket and its outer islands are now dangerously overcrowded, plagued by waste issues and running short of fresh water. They have seen no major infrastructure overhauls in over a decade, he said." On the bright side, the bureaucracy gets fatter and the landlords get richer. Isn't that the purpose of government? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natway09 Posted February 1, 2018 Share Posted February 1, 2018 A dose of realism & common sense,,,,,,, he will not last Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retiredandhappyhere Posted February 2, 2018 Share Posted February 2, 2018 In my 14 years here, that is the first really honest and realistic assessment by a top official of some of the problems in the tourist industry. Of course, there are many more problems, but at least he has highlighted some of them, which is massively more than his predecessor ever did, and recognizing the problems can at least be a step towards solving them, IF he is allowed to do so. As a previous poster said, if only other Government departments were to have similarly-minded, qualified, people in their top positions, Thailand might indeed start to move forward. Time will tell whether or not this guy is permitted to make any major changes. We can but hope! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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