Phuket tourism going down the pan just like Pattaya: Few tourists and much worse than last year

[glennb6]

2 minutes ago, Sparkles said:

What you say is correct but the rich and the power brokers love a high Thai baht it enables them to buy businesses, eg football clubs and real estate overseas at a lower. Dont discount either  the effect of lowering the baht would have on the "loss of face" factor

 

My bank bloke tells me household debt in Thailand has nver been higher and the closure rate of small businesses is growing

The thai banks and those that own the banks have and are pushing debt hard - it's their product and how they make money. NO WAY in a country who's average income is not even 15k/mth (google it) that people can afford brand new cars, expensive cell phones, and multi-million baht houses. Well the only way is to sucker them into going heavily into debt.

 

I wonder if many Thais have woken up to becoming debt slaves or if that notion hasn't gone ding in their heads yet?

[Assurancetourix]

4 hours ago, PatOngo said:

First it was Europeans, then Chinese, now Indians. Wait till they discover the potential of tourists from the north and south pole!

But do they know (thai) that these two continents exist?

to bring penguins and  polar bears  why not? 

[ZAKY]

5 hours ago, darksidedog said:

Chickens as they say, always come home to roost. Does the blame for dramatically lower numbers lie solely with the locals? You have to say yes. For too long Thailand has treated its tourists as little more than an ATM, to be taken for as much as possible, while giving as little as possible in return. Too many have gone home reporting bad experiences, and more than a few in a box, while the strength of the Baht makes it more and more an expensive option. I don't see any return to the glory days any time soon, as there are simply too many problems which the Thais seem incapable of addressing properly.

I cant forget the bad experience i have encountered with 30 immi police officers just like the gestapo stopped me for passport check in the lobby of my condo. It was a hard time since my passport wasnt in my possession. I was escorted like a criminal with 4 officers to my condo to check whether i am not a overstayer or not.  Being a thai elite member didnt change anything! Its that kind of witch hunting which is revolting and makes me not willing to return back there. 

[Scott CFC]

Rip off Phuket and with the Thai BAHT so strong Tourist's want value for money. My wife is Thai and there always trying to Rip her off as well.

Phuket is not the real Thailand - Nearby Krabi is so much better.

 

[thaibook]

There are still places where the locals are friendly, helpful however I agree these do not include Pattaya nd Phuket..

 

We drove to the south last year and stayed at a beautiful hotel in Pattani at a very reasonable rate with good food and excellent food and security.  Decided to stay a second night and were offered a 20% discount.  Nearly everyone in the hotel seemed to be a government official.  No group tours and probably not many other tourists.  Then went on through Yala and Narathiwat.  Local people on the whole happy and smiling although a few sour faces.  Dropped in to some of the military camps - some permanent some makeshift - for a chat and some coffee (my wife and I are just ordinary).  The chaps were friendly and happy to talk.  We dropped off some little goodies eg coffee/noodles/sweets and gave out similar items when going through check points.  Were once advised to avoid a road and generally to avoid driving in the dark.  Then on to Sotun where there were more tourists including a few Chinese but mainly Thais perhaps because the islands were closed for their annual regeneration period.

 

 

[Isaan sailor]

Vietnam economy will expand 12%.  Thai economy will contract by same amount.  Methinks BoT too cozy with Chinese inflows—enticed by strong interest rates.

[smudger1951]

5 hours ago, Pilotman said:

because the rich want to buy assets out of Thailand, the strong baht assists that.  I imagine that the elite are racking up a lot of property outside the country. 

Agreed, expect to see a lot more Mercedez and Bmw on the roads.

[robert888d]

Thailand is deteriorating.The Baht is way too high. Most Thais are making it obvious they don't like most foreigners.They moan about noisy ,food grabbing Chinese,dirty cheap Charlie Indians,look down on Cambodians and Burmese etc. Tourists don't feel so welcome as a few years ago.

[Vacuum]

33 minutes ago, glennb6 said:

even the school officials are corrupt

Nothing new here. They've been corrupt for decades.

[CeeGee]

15 years ago when I started coming to Thailand,I formulated a plan.When I retired,I would buy a house,settle down with my long term Thai partner and spend 3/6 months in Thailand and 3/6 months in the UK.

Over the years I have got to know Thailand better and each year the reasons to carry out my plan have got less and less.I cannot buy a house in my name,I cannot do part time work(to keep me occupied) and every year some new rule(or an old one ignored in the past but now enforced)puts additional pressure.When I retired,I wanted to sit back and relax.Not worry too much about the rules and regulations(as long as I am law abiding).

My biggest issue,is that in Thailand,the laws and regulations are not black or white,they are always some shade of grey ,interpretation dependant on who and where you are dealing with.This also applies to the poor tourist who have to deal with any Thai Official,police,local Government.Just look at the farce over having to carry your passport or not.

I do not want to spend my time trying to interpret the various regulations and at the same time wonder if I leave the country,will I get back in,due to some long forgotten clause in the regulations now being enforced.Or a new rule that I have to jump through in order to comply.

You only have to look at this forum.Each time a regulation is introduced(or enforced)there follows 20/30 pages of discussion as to how this should be interpreted and if you live here it means one thing but if you live there,it means some thing else.

Sorry Thailand you are not getting my money and I am sure many think the same.

Rant Over

 

[FritsSikkink]

5 hours ago, Joe Mcseismic said:

The strength of the Thai Baht is not "artificial".

The reason it is so high is because:-

Increasing foreign exchange reserves.

Low inflation rate.

Low unemployment.

Resilient economy.

Concern about European economies (their currencies losing value).

 

The Thai Central Bank has the same job as other Central banks; to keep inflation in check. This is why they have very limited options with regard to the exchange rate.

 

The foreign exchange market is far bigger than any single countries power to influence their own currency.

Britain tried to support Sterling in 1993, but, still crashed out of the ERM.

Thailand tried to do the same in 1997 and spent most of their foreign currency reserves.

In both cases, it was the foreign exchange market that determined the outcome.

This is far to logical for most posters here. It goes completely against their conspiracy theories.

[Joe Mcseismic]

Just now, FritsSikkink said:

This is far to logical for most posters here. It goes completely against their conspiracy theories.

Yes, have seen it over various threads. Some posters seem to think that the government can snap their fingers and can strengthen, or weaken their currency at will.

[marcusarelus]

25 minutes ago, Isaan sailor said:

Vietnam economy will expand 12%.  Thai economy will contract by same amount.  Methinks BoT too cozy with Chinese inflows—enticed by strong interest rates.

Half right.  Vietnam growth forecast up 6%  Thailand up 3%.

 

Tradingeconomics.com

[peter48]

The reason is the BAHT! Brits today are getting at best 38 baht if transferring ...from local places much less. Yes I know Brexit & Boris horror are causing markets to sell pound as UK will tank its economy if we have hard Brexit and cut off trade abruptedly and face WTO high tariffs with 27 EU countries and 70 other EU -treaty other countries. But its been a trend for farang to face a high Baht rate for years now and uncertainity, trade and prices globally are hitting tourists really hard now. The result is what you see now. 

[Jane Dough]

1 hour ago, RichardColeman said:

 

Thai national past time - blaming others rather than trying to solve an issue solved as simple as lowering your prices for a while

If you read the whole story you'll see that they are blaming themselves (re the uncertain political situation and lack of tourism policy) and are lowering prices by up to 50% compared to last year. 

 

Rooster

[jessebkk1]

Listen Up Dude! I know like 30 people who work in either Hong Kong, Singapore, the Gulf States who used to come to Thailand for R and R atleast once or twice in two months, and can no longer do it because of the visa regulations.

 

  Half my friends who lived in Bangkok had their children, family members, friends  and some grand children come to visit them once or twice a year, a lot of those guys are gone or leaving, so their kids are not coming here.

 

   Excessive policing of party venues, forcing all bars/discotechs to close at midnight or 1 am in bangkok/pattaya/phuket, why would a person skip all 24 hour first world cities and come  here to be told when to go to bed. Half the tourist I met on Khaosan in 2018 swore they'd never come back.

 

  Finally the word is slowly getting out on how horrible westerners are treated in thailand with regards to visa regulations for long stayers and repeat visitors at the airports. So these negative tourism numbers are just icing on the cake, bound to get worse - eventually it would become known. Since the thai people are not out on the streets asking for their government to stop the unnecessary harassment/clampdown on foreigners who live or visit here, soonest no one will come.

 

  So not it's not the strong baht, it's not the trade war with china, those from the west who have money to travel wouldnt mind all of that...it's the xenophobia and shitty tourism policy - Change the 2 times per year tourist visa policy and watch the numbers implode in the positive direction.

[marcusarelus]

49 minutes ago, Sparkles said:

What you say is correct but the rich and the power brokers love a high Thai baht it enables them to buy businesses, eg football clubs and real estate overseas at a lower. Dont discount either  the effect of lowering the baht would have on the "loss of face" factor

 

My bank bloke tells me household debt in Thailand has nver been higher and the closure rate of small businesses is growing

No.  Bank bloke is wrong.  Personal debt is down.  

[GeorgeCross]

1 hour ago, moe666 said:

You may want to blame your own government for a little thing called Brixet, I do not think the Thais had anything to do with that screw up. Go Boris

 

and who should the europeans blame? and the australians? and the russians? and now the americans? and of course don't forget the chinese!

 

should they all blame brexit as well??

 

 

[marcusarelus]

5 minutes ago, jessebkk1 said:

Finally the word is slowly getting out on how horrible westerners are treated in thailand with regards to visa regulations for long stayers and repeat visitors at the airports. So these negative tourism numbers are just icing on the cake, bound to get worse - eventually it would become known. Since the thai people are not out on the streets asking for their government to stop the unnecessary harassment/clampdown on foreigners who live or visit here, soonest no one will come.

 

  So not it's not the strong baht, it's not the trade war with china, those from the west who have money to travel wouldnt mind all of that...it's the xenophobia and shitty tourism policy - Change the 2 times per year tourist visa policy and watch the numbers implode in the positive direction.

1.  Tourists don't need a visa.  2. It's always the money after one stops getting an allowance from Dad.

[mike787]

5 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Yep, I stopped having holidays in Thailand a few years back. I spend the minimum possible money living here now, but so far this year I've had holidays in Saigon (x2), Phnom Penh and Da Nang. That was money I would have previously spent in Thai beach resorts.

 

As for prices, return flight CNX to Da Nang 2,300bht, bus from the airport to the town 25c, hotel 100m from the beach $15/night, the beach was clean, nobody selling, and the water was clear. Way cheaper than Phuket.

 

Me2...I totally agree!  And much safer on Vietnam roads.

[Joe Mcseismic]

11 minutes ago, GeorgeCross said:

 

and who should the europeans blame? and the australians? and the russians? and now the americans? and of course don't forget the chinese!

 

should they all blame brexit as well??

 

 

Why Americans? From 1984 to 1997 the Baht was pegged to the US$ at 25 to one. Before that it was 20 to one.

[ThomasThBKK]

9 minutes ago, marcusarelus said:

No.  Bank bloke is wrong.  Personal debt is down.  

That's obviously a percentage chart that shows fa.

SOURCE: https://www.bot.or.th/Thai/Statistics/Graph/Chart_Pack/Chart Pack.pdf 

BANK OF THAILAND.

Clearly shows a household debt of 13 Trillion baht, a number never seen before.

 

Quote

“I only believe in statistics that I doctored myself”
― Winston S. Churchill

 

[dave moir]

It's not just Phuket and Pattaya Chiang Mai is like a ghost town and has progressively gone down hill over the past 5 years very sad to see lots of people's livelihood disappearing.

[30la]

Up with the moral friends, the general always finds a solution! ????

Even if the mistakes made in the last few years will be difficult to remedy them in a short time.

[mikeymike100]

5 hours ago, BestB said:

I am a long term expat and I take frequent holidays to Jakarta to have fun instead of locally . 

 

Why?

 

Because I am tired of having to pay top money for crap service, put up with crap English and bad attitude.

 

In Jakarta , I pay less, female company speaks good enough English, no sisters or brothers calling for her to go fast, no mobile phone that she must play with , I do not hear sad stories about sick mother or father and I get exactly what we agreed.

 

Taxi, grab, dirt cheap. Food just as cheap, and no one annoying you to buy some crap while you out , no hassles with police and friendly immigration 

I totally agree with what you said about Jakarta!

Immigration and police, much much better. I spend about 50% of my time in Jakarta and the other 50% in Thailand. Jakarta, generally the food is good, people friendly, no police road blocks etc. Its not perfect either however, I would say that the traffic is bad, its pretty dirty, its noisy withe the mosques at prayer time and alcohol although readily available is more expensive!

[Swedenlars]

link to google maps please.

http://www.jakarta100bars.com/2011/06/blok-m-jalan-falatehan.html?m=1

Guess it is Blok M he is talking about. However, I do not share his enthusiasm about this place. It's not bad. But as in any red light district you have to be careful. The ladies are professionals and are having about the same behaviour and attitude as their sisters in Nana Plaza. Same same different. [emoji12]. BTW, beware of the taxi mafia in Blok M.

Gesendet von meinem SM-N950F mit Tapatalk

[nobodysfriend]

My thai wife and me have been living for 20 yrs in southern France . After arriving there she got her " carte de sejour " what is like an identity card . It is good for a five yrs stay without having to report anything in these five yrs . she had exactly the same rights as a french citizen . She could buy land , work , whatever , she felt welcomed .

In 2015 We moved back to Thailand because we are getting older and need to employ somebody helping us with the house and garden etc ... Too expensive in France .

But here I am an " alien " with basically no rights , but duties to report every move I make to the government , I do not feel welcome here .

 

If the Thais think that they can attract people to invest in their country ( even for a holiday ) with politics like this , they will need to damn wake up soon , because Thailands reputation has gone down too much .

 

What is needed here is a complete change of politics regarding foreigners , especially those who come here to live and invest . 

 

I can only hope that some Thai government members read this thread . There is a lot of infos here that explain correctly the decreasing numbers of foreigners wanting to stay here .

But probably they will not be able to understand ( english ) ...?

 

[habanero]

Just look at all the videos online, telling people to avoid Thailand and go elsewhere. They get pretty explicit about why. The video about the sewerage running down the beach in Puckett as example, was reason enough for someone to cancel vacation plans to Thailand. 

[marcusarelus]

4 minutes ago, ThomasThBKK said:

That's obviously a percentage chart that shows fa.

SOURCE: https://www.bot.or.th/Thai/Statistics/Graph/Chart_Pack/Chart Pack.pdf 

BANK OF THAILAND.

Clearly shows a household debt of 13 Trillion baht, a number never seen before.

 

 

Can't you read your own chart?  You said household debt was higher than it's ever been.  Take a look at your chart.????

[Autonuaq]

Thailand lost his attreactiveness.

Costs of things are the same or even more the on other areas and pricing makes feel ripped of due to the dual pricing system of Thai and foreigners. Food lost is taste in many areas. The Thai themselves changed and gove a feeling to foreigners they are not welcome.

 

The Thia have to get back the smile they lost so where in the past years.

Not complain and work hard as others in other areas do and with that out preform the Thai.

 

Learn to speak english in a decent way.

 

Many things in Thailand do cost the same or more then in even in the west.