Thailand tourism tumbles under blanket of smog, fat baht

[greeneking]

1 hour ago, P100 said:

Make life more attractive for long staying people

 Why is there still no real retirement visa and residence permit for those who have given up their lives in their home countries to settle down in Thailand. It is almost unbelievable that Thais let these people stay only on one-year-to-one-year permits while rules are all the time changing. Settle down in Thailand is risky and no possibility to plan the rest of your life. Do you wang to have to leave your new home with 75 just because a moron has changed the immigration rules over night ??

 

They don't get that expats need security to be able to plan. And they don't get that expats bring money into Thailand and advertise for this country for free if they are treated well. 

 

 

Yes, lots more Chinese and Indians with no visa checks required.  After 16 years here I will soon be 90 day reporting again so they can confirm I am still not 'mafia.'

[NB1986]

I talked with various people who went to Thailand for holidays, most of them complained bout rip off taxis and tuk tuk...also not clean beaches, amd many stuff.. Most of them were after asking me... How did you mange to stay there so long... Also what bothers me is when they catch foreigner they put photos everywhere in news... But what about Thais who commit crime i dont see much of that stuff online... Even on TV mostly i saw how Prayut was saying 2015-2020 Thailand prosperity well here we are in 2020 5 years from that advert i saw it... Half of that isnt acomplished. I believe in Germany or any other country in Europe which is in Schengen area they catch alot foreigners on overstay and they dont put them on news in Police station, no wonder why than Thai people see all of us "bad guys" because they show only bad things about foriegners in their news every day. They post this number call if u see foreigner overstay, is like opning hunt season on even normal people. 

Edited January 24, 2020 by NB1986

[Metapod]

I'm in Da Nang right now and a beachside hotel with a Seaview room is costing me just 250 thb a night.

 

Beers is around 25-40 thb depending where you go.

 

Thailand is pricing itself out of the market and other alternatives are becoming more attractive

[Metapod]

Also you should see how clean the beach is..

 

It's absolutely gorgeous

[Sametboy2019]

1 hour ago, Metapod said:

I'm in Da Nang right now and a beachside hotel with a Seaview room is costing me just 250 thb a night.

 

Beers is around 25-40 thb depending where you go.

 

Thailand is pricing itself out of the market and other alternatives are becoming more attractive

What's the name of the hotel?

[realenglish1]

I am reading this story and it seems the government is blaming the private sector for the number or tourists coming.

The Thai baht plays little if anything on a travelers decision if it is within a 10% range The real reason is the smog No one

wants to go to a smog filled venue. Its time the government took strong action against smog by passing some serious legislation with regard to this issue. Otherwise the cleaner venues will win out big time Yes environment is a big issue with travelers 

 

 After all if they can ban plastic bags so fast then Smog should not be a real issue because it results in sickness and lost

productivity

Edited January 24, 2020 by realenglish1
making a point

[Isaan sailor]

No doubt, the high Baht, putrid air, and Chinese Coronavirus puts off potential tourists.  When you read about the changeover to hoards of Chinese and Indian tourists coming—it’s the final nail in Thailand’s coffin.

[noone223]

when you claim to be a buddhist country but keep forgetting what karma means.

that is exactly what happens. som nam na.

[HeyHeyHey]

6 hours ago, pdtokyo said:

I'm heading off from Sydney to Bangkok at end of month and i'm quite looking forward to a breath of fresher air ...

 

Sydney now 81 straight days of nasty air ...

 

https://www.smh.com.au/national/new-situation-record-81-days-of-bad-air-quality-in-sydney-20200123-p53u1e.html

 

... and from the normally pristine country town Parkes, a few hundred kilometres west of Sydney, this interesting drone footage ...

 

 

 

Shut up your filthy lying mouth

 

 

 

And on top of that stop the BS of comparing once in 50+ years natural catastrophy to yearly retardation.

[neeray]

4 hours ago, Metapod said:

I'm in Da Nang right now and a beachside hotel with a Seaview room is costing me just 250 thb a night.

 

Beers is around 25-40 thb depending where you go.

 

Thailand is pricing itself out of the market and other alternatives are becoming more attractive

I find your post quite contradictory. Your first two sentences sound positive (especially the first sentence). The third reverses your positive.

[thisisrascal]

9 minutes ago, neeray said:

I find your post quite contradictory. Your first two sentences sound positive (especially the first sentence). The third reverses your positive.

Reads perfectly fine to me. 

 

The poster is saying that Thailand is pricing itself out of the market compared to other destinations such as Da Nang (Vietnam) 

Edited January 24, 2020 by thisisrascal

[Soikhaonoiken]

On 1/23/2020 at 8:10 AM, Hayduke said:

 

Fewer tourists? No problem...just raise the rates for hotels, goods, and services to make up the difference.

 

 

As they normally do when things are not going there way, got to make ep the Baht from some where. 

[Roy Baht]

13 hours ago, Torrens54 said:

 

Not only will the Tourists find better alternatives, but so will the much maligned Expats, who pour Massive amounts of Money Monthly, into the Thai economy.

 

[DaRoadrunner]

On 1/23/2020 at 6:15 PM, CGW said:

They did ban the traffic cops from wearing masks a few years back as it created a "bad image", what a horrible job that is, bet they don't have long lives!

The way they get to be a traffic cop is either by failing to collect enough brown envelopes or as punishment for being honest!

 

18 hours ago, impulse said:

To be fair, when you go for "good guys in, bad guys out" after decades of catering to the bad guys, there's going to be a reckoning.

Yeah... there won’t be anyone left here.

[Inn Between]

I just wanted to congratulate TVF on creating on what must be its 1000th thread about Thailand tourism. I guess it's just one of those hot topics of which nobody can get enough. ????

 

[PhonThong]

On 1/23/2020 at 3:10 PM, Hayduke said:

 

Fewer tourists? No problem...just raise the rates for hotels, goods, and services to make up the difference.

 

 

The Chinese ain't coming!

40 million people have been quarantined ahead of the Lunar New Year, a time when many Chinese would otherwise be traveling.

[SpanishExpat]

7 hours ago, Metapod said:

Also you should see how clean the beach is..

 

It's absolutely gorgeous

That doesn’t mean it will always stay like that. Thai beaches also were a paradise in the past, but too many brainless and greedy people in charge chose quantity over quality tourism. Rememeber in the mid 1990s when I travelled with my parents to Thailand. I was an exotic heaven, no dumped flight-tickets, no low-cost Airlines. 

 

So Da Nang is not like that because they do it better than LOS, but because the mass tourism is yet to come. 

[morrobay]

13 hours ago, Metapod said:

I'm in Da Nang right now and a beachside hotel with a Seaview room is costing me just 250 thb a night.

 

Beers is around 25-40 thb depending where you go.

 

Thailand is pricing itself out of the market and other alternatives are becoming more attractive

Any chance on a few hotel/sea view photos? 

[mikebell]

On 1/23/2020 at 5:57 PM, elephant45 said:

Ban tourists from China. Good Idea.

Strong Government in China has banned flights/tours for the foreseeable future to prevent the spread of the killer virus - so one more thing to hit TAT numbers.  Meanwhile, in Bangkok, Nero fiddles whilst Thais are dying of respiratory diseases.  If ever numbers are released, I'll be more die from bad air here, then the Chinese virus.

[Sunderland]

As soon as the number of virus cases starts doubling on a daily bases in other big cities like Guangzhou and Shanghai, what we have seen in Wuhan will be applied to those cities - possibly by the first week of February, if not before.

Thailand is going to take a hit from all the lost Chinese tourists, but that's nothing in comparison to what will happen when we start seeing multiple cases of the coronavirus currently plaguing China in Thailand by the middle of February. Add to that a government who can't get its immediate hands on this year's budget and you have all the ingredients for a messy 2020.

The smog will be long forgotten by the time the virus dominates local and international news headlines.

If China is struggling, imagine the chaos here when the virus really takes hold in Bangkok, and for obvious reasons Chiang Mai, Pattaya, Phuket, etc. won't be spared either.

Edited January 25, 2020 by Sunderland

[brucec64]

23 hours ago, Gecko123 said:

The junta is tone deaf and only understands the language of money. Foreigners should stop spending money and boycott Thailand until they get the message. The government needs to start treating people with dignity and respect, and stop scapegoating foreigners for every ill. Get rid of the oppressive TM-30 reporting requirement. These comments are directed at the military government, not the Thai people who I still love and respect. I just had my visa photos taken for my upcoming renewal, and compared them to last year's photos. Unmistakable note of sadness in my eyes, almost all of which I would attribute to having my freedom of movement restricted through the TM-30 and the sense of impermanence and being unwelcome which immigration has instilled in me.

 

90+% of tourists are not impacted by the TM30. It would only be an issue if you are planning to extend a 30 day on arrival stamp. It only impacts longer term stayers and is easily submitted through the website. To say your freedom of movement is restricted is a little dramatic. You obviously have a phone and an internet connection and submitting a TM30 takes about the same amount of time as it did for you to submit your post.

[BritManToo]

3 minutes ago, brucec64 said:

90+% of tourists are not impacted by the TM30. It would only be an issue if you are planning to extend a 30 day on arrival stamp. It only impacts longer term stayers and is easily submitted through the website. To say your freedom of movement is restricted is a little dramatic. You obviously have a phone and an internet connection and submitting a TM30 takes about the same amount of time as it did for you to submit your post.

To be fair, you'd need some house documents to be able to do a TM30, before they let you do online reporting.

If it's a foreign landlord, immigration might just say no.

If it's a Thai landlord not reporting the rent to the tax man, landlord might just say no.

 

 

[Hanuman2547]

I know that I for one didn't come to Thailand this year.  Last year I spent seven weeks over Christmas and New Years and the smog and particulate matter was bad.  I think maybe this year was worse so I just went elsewhere instead.  

[Don Aleman]

What Thai travel " EXPERTS " fail to recognize is that tourists aren't staying home, they are going elsewhere, any " elsewhere" & finidng it more fills their need for a happy/unencumbered holiday then " cheaper " Thailand & many/most ?, won't be back !

[BigC]

On 1/23/2020 at 3:22 PM, Beggar said:

"It’s been report that the Malaysian government has already waived visas for Chinese and Indian tourists. If that’s true, Thailand will lose an enormous amount of income because the Chinese are our main customers.”

 

"If that's true"

 

Is it so hard to find this out?

Loads of Indians  already in Malaysia 

[BigC]

Only 1 reason why tourism is declining  and expats are leaving  and i hate to say it but the country  is politically  instable

 

The election results were very non transparent 

 

 

[JDJBali]

This down turn is not due to the strong baht when you have the following : December had more days over 100 than it did under 100 and January by the 20 had 17 days over 100 on the air quality index level in Chiang Mai. No it is not due to neighboring countries it is due to surround and southerly provinces that are unwilling to enforce the no burning of the sugar can fields clear and simple. Best idea educate the areas that do the burning and if required subsidize them so that not all their citizens life expectancy is reduced due to this simple control problem. 

 

????

[BigC]

Soldiers are experts  in war

 

Politicans  specially  businessmen  politicans  are experts in boosting economies  and making majorty  of people happier

 

If they are un happy they  should  get a chance to change at next election 

 

 

[Mike Teavee]

Just entered the MRT station at Lumpini & the police were giving free masks away outside the entrance.

 

 

[observer90210]

In Thailand, tourists love to shop, booze and f*3k ok not all, but most..????... who will want to visit a Bangkok mall where brand items cost more then back home ? add a overcharged THB that yields very few per unit of western currency, soapys and hookers tourist guides charging perhaps more then in Europe...c'mon gentlemen...no need to go to Harvard to understand why....