‘Thailand’s tourism industry doomed if we don’t embrace nature’, Bensley tells TTF 2020

[Grumpy John]

23 hours ago, dallen52 said:

Good on you.

Looks like you have a keeper. 

I thought that too.

But almost 7 years later.

And going from 33 to the Aussie $ in 2009 and a six figure salary. 

Now on a reasonable pension and 20 baht to the Aussie $, she pulled up stumps. 

Took the chanote for the land, about 40k of loose change, the gold, and trundled off to her village. 

 

Thai women eh!!

Gotta love them.

 

(She cannot get her head around the almost 20k a month less I now get, mainly because of the exchange)

 

Nothing is going to push it up to the halcyon days we once enjoyed here...

 

Not a nice girl doing that!  That's why I didn't get hitched up to one of the cute little spinners I  had the good fortune to play with in Pattaya.  Part of my success with avoiding a future disaster was to be tight with money.   I didn't work my Rs off to waste it on some flibbedy jibbet who only saw a walking ATM!  They came and went.  My wife wasn't young when we met, mid 30's.  After 11 years together I  have to right one for me.  She was a manicurist and I never saw her till a friend recommended her salon.  After that we have been rarely apart!

Married 7 years........seems like yesterday we tied the knot!  Now I  live up country.....and there are so many sweet young things for some young lad (young of heart) to play with I  really don't see why so many go to Pattaya???  

[Yadon Toploy]

On 1/22/2020 at 10:26 AM, Jack Cook said:

Over priced and overhyped. Why why why why why would any sane rational person even consider holidaying anymore in the land of false smiles scams and rip offs. For people interested in visiting SEA Cambodia and Vietnam and Laos offer huge amounts more for a lot less. Too late for Thailand now, the tourism sector is getting exactly what it deserves. Leave it for the Chinese and Indians to weakly prop up for a couple of years, then watch it slide into the black hole.

Lol, I love the place and have been visiting since 1998 but Cambodia is 10x worse than Thailand for filth and pollution. 

[trainman34014]

23 hours ago, natway09 said:

Some 23 years ago I said : put in very good infrastructure & stop chasing numbers,

stop building cheap hotels & concentrate on looking after the "better tourists" by minimising rip offs & scams

Nothing !!!

They've had multiple Committee's and Panel's to consider all this but they are still working on it !

Edited January 24, 2020 by trainman34014

[overherebc]

On 1/22/2020 at 6:34 AM, Destiny1990 said:

Don’t worry the Chinese are coming to make up thIs high season.

What? Wuhan flue?

Happy Chinsneeze New Year.

[Misab]

Mr Bensley is absolutely right. Thailand has to protect is beautiful nature, it has to fight climate change, fight plastic and other garbage in the rivers and, sorry to say, on the road sides too. Thailand has to stop farmers and others from burning so people living here can breathe clean air.

Today almost anyone has an app there can tell air quality, do you honestly think tourist will return to aqi 150 or above? It is hazzard air to breathe. 

[Maestro]

Removed an off-topic post.

[berrec]

How about TAT and the rest of the Thai service industries starts seriously looking after tourists and not treat them as ATM's or Cash-cows.

 

It starts at long Immigration arrival queues and ends at long immigration departure queues and everything in between is fair game for the Thias to rip the ass out of tourists with scams and overpricing.

 

Taxis being the biggest offenders here!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Tulak]

On 1/22/2020 at 10:45 AM, yellowboat said:

Stop pumping raw, untreated sewage into the ocean would be a wonderful start.   It is important to do more than talk, to do more than tell the concerned agencies to cooperate with one another, and to do more than wave one's hand majestically with a serene, but powerful look on one's face.  The white elephant known as the EEC can wait a few months.

I think what you say makes sense, but do you seriously think the top shots are ready to face the truth? Can they handle the truth?

[DrTuner]

19 minutes ago, Tulak said:

I think what you say makes sense, but do you seriously think the top shots are ready to face the truth? Can they handle the truth?

 

[Tulak]

3 minutes ago, DrTuner said:

 

Yep, that's the one.

[cheshiremusicman]

On 1/24/2020 at 8:44 AM, Yadon Toploy said:

Lol, I love the place and have been visiting since 1998 but Cambodia is 10x worse than Thailand for filth and pollution. 

Good god. I was thinking of doing a trip to Cambodia, but on the basis of your comment I will give it a miss thank you!

It seems to me, that if the ultimate person at the top of the tree in Thailand just came out and decreed that he wanted to have a competition for the cleanest kept village/town in Thailand; which would receive a 'Special Prize', one for the best village and one for the best town donated by same very rich person to be spent on infrastructure of said village/town, then I reckon that a good 90%+ of Thai's would change their ways and comply willingly. Also (said same person) would instruct (NO demand) that Thai people should be taught in school NOT to shame Thailand by leaving rubbish around and to pass this 'instruction' on at home to their parents because said same top of the tree person told them to do so! It wouldn't take much money - far less than a Chinese submarine to provide flip top bins for the disposal of rubbish in around the whole of Thailand, and make these compulsory in all towns and villages. Make the 'Award of the Best Kept/Cleanest Village/Town' very prominent in the media and place lots of pictures of the awarded places. Also 'Shame' some of the worst places they have seen - nothing I believe scares the sh2t out of the Thai's more than loosing face.

I suppose, the above is just a pipe dream if the truth be known; but this is what I would start with if it was upto me- which sadly it isn't! Start with the simple things, and build on them in the coming years. There IS a way 'back', but it needs leadership from the very top and I don't mean any politician or military personage! 

[Jimbo2014]

The future of Thai tourism pictured below.  

[CGW]

On 1/22/2020 at 7:16 AM, MasterBaker said:

bring bang bang back and they will come. forget this family tourism

You reckon they can replace 800,000 Chinese with "sex tourists"? when Thailand was at its peak as a P4P destination tourism was about 1/5 of what it is now or used to be ????

Which was about right for the country and infrastructure, unfortunately never going to go back to "the good old days!" too much greed now!

[CGW]

1 hour ago, cheshiremusicman said:

I suppose, the above is just a pipe dream if the truth be known;

Sadly it is! it would be a good start, but they have long been indoctrinating the folks to be subservient and used to being kept in filth and poverty, why would they want to change the status quo? It wouldn't be in "there" best interest!