Virus shaving tourism in half, minister says

[impulse]

21 minutes ago, mrwinner said:

The average farang probably spends twice as much as the average Indian in Thailand- and that's being conservative.

 

The number of big spending farangs more than cancels out any big spending Indians.

 

You mean the falangs on here who gripe when beer goes up by 5 baht, or hookers go up by 100 baht, and ask for advice about how to save a little on the baht buses?

 

Edited February 13, 2020 by impulse

[saakura]

1 hour ago, CGW said:

Which village is missing it's idiot today? April, he is kidding himself at best! somehow I doubt the first thought for the Chinese, after being in quarantine for months and surviving will be a holiday in Thailand!

On the other hand, after being in quaratine for months, many may fancy a good holiday in Thailand!

[Lacessit]

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

Maybe they should stop giving tourists who 'come too often' a hard time at the airports.

And allow unlimited entry to those on VISA waivers.

And scrap the O-A VISA insurance scam.

Now you are being logical. That's a no-no here.

[BritManToo]

7 minutes ago, impulse said:

You mean the falangs on here who gripe when beer goes up by 5 baht, or hookers go up by 100 baht, and ask for advice about how to save a little on the baht buses?

You don't consider your thinking 'part of the problem'?

As far as I can see, at least we're still here buying the beer and the hookers.

(Although in reality I'm not one of those, I wait until I'm on holiday in Vietnam or Cambodia to indulge)

Edited February 13, 2020 by BritManToo

[Gweiloman]

4 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

You mean the falangs on here who gripe when beer goes up by 5 baht, or hookers go up by 100 baht, and ask for advice about how to save a little on the baht buses?

 

I think he means the genuine farang tourist, the ones that comes for a week or two, doesn’t worry about being rejected entry, doesn’t worry about TM’s. The ones that continue to come as they feel welcomed, enjoy top class service and goes home happy, like many of my friends. 
 

[nemo38]

I don't see much reaction from the Thai Baht. If the currency market was open I'd expect the Baht to be falling.

 

 

[GinBoy2]

5 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

You mean the falangs on here who gripe when beer goes up by 5 baht, or hookers go up by 100 baht, and ask for advice about how to save a little on the baht buses?

 

Don't confuse expats, who do often live on a shoestring, with tourists.

 

Tourists don't really care, or know, if the Thai Baht is 30, or 32/$, they just come for a good time.

 

Now they will go home with an impression of whether the country was good value for money, and whether or not they enjoyed the experience.

 

For next years vacation they look at that experience, and figure out. was last year worth the money.

 

Thats's what drives repeat tourism

[Lacessit]

8 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

You mean the falangs on here who gripe when beer goes up by 5 baht, or hookers go up by 100 baht, and ask for advice about how to save a little on the baht buses?

 

No, the ones who spend about 60,000 baht/month supporting themselves and their Thai families.

[madmitch]

Without coronavirus I'm pretty certain that overall tourist numbers would have been down so the fact they now have a perfect reason for the reduction in tourists has saved them from having to be over-creative with the figures.

 

What I do dislike is the way Pipat assumes that everything will be hunky dory again soon. After last week's prediction about Chinese numbers doubling he's now confidently stating that planeloads of Chinese will be filling the airports in just a few weeks time. He might be right but I very much doubt it; he'd be better off keeping hi mouth shut.

 

 

[saakura]

1 hour ago, BritManToo said:

Maybe they should stop giving tourists who 'come too often' a hard time at the airports.

And allow unlimited entry to those on VISA waivers.

And scrap the O-A VISA insurance scam.

And ban the Chinese, Indians, Arabs and other pests, devalue the currency against the pound/Euro/USD, keep gogo bars open 24hrs, respect the farangs!!!

[Gweiloman]

4 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

No, the ones who spend about 60,000 baht/month supporting themselves and their Thai families.

And these farangs are welcome to stay, as long as they comply with the rules and regulations of Thailand, which many of us do.

But when you look at the overall scheme of things, 60,000 baht per month is hardly a drop in the ocean. Sure, it may be higher than the average Thai salary but so what? If you’re a foreigner wishing to stay in another country, it is not unreasonable to expect a higher disposable income than the locals. In all the countries that I have lived in, I earned more than the average local salary in a similar position. 

[lkv]

Yeah well, the 10 baht bus farangs spent 10 baht more than the zero dollar tour Chinese.

[White Christmas13]

24 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

You mean the falangs on here who gripe when beer goes up by 5 baht, or hookers go up by 100 baht, and ask for advice about how to save a little on the baht buses?

 

Not all farangs drink, take baht buses or visit brothels.

[saakura]

16 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

No, the ones who spend about 60,000 baht/month supporting themselves and their Thai families.

It makes huge sense to replace each 60,000 Baht farang supporting 6 family members (10,000 Baht per person per month spending) with a potential 6000 Chinese & Indians spending the same 10,000 Baht in 4 days and go back home. 

[saengd]

4 minutes ago, saakura said:

It makes huge sense to replace each 60,000 Baht farang supporting 6 family members (10,000 Baht per person per month spending) with a potential 6000 Chinese & Indians spending the same 10,000 Baht in 4 days and go back home. 

I'm guessing there's less than 0.5% of all farang expats in that category, paying out 60k Baht a month to Thai family members, it just doesn't happen much at all.

[phetphet]

28 minutes ago, mfd101 said:

I doubt that big spenders of any kind come to Thailand any more ...

I don't know about that.  This yacht has been moored off of Samui  for the few days. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/starck-yacht-miami_n_3293429

 

and still private jets flying in.

 

But I have to agree with you. Thailand isn"t what it was. At least where I am.  Lack of maintenance, refuse, litter, dirty sea, heavy traffic, exchange rate. All negatives. And here, Chaweng is no picture postcard resort. Empty, and boarded up shops everywhere. 

[Soikhaonoiken]

TAT, you have no need to worry, in a well known news paper today an article from Kbank, stated the virus and the lack of tourist is having little affect on Thailand GDP, and if the situation last for more than 6 months it may have a slight effect, so what is it TAT..... make your minds up... 

[elliss]

1 hour ago, BobbyL said:

What about the rich Indians? 

 

     They are a legend in Pattaya , three in one .

 

 

[Lacessit]

28 minutes ago, Gweiloman said:

And these farangs are welcome to stay, as long as they comply with the rules and regulations of Thailand, which many of us do.

But when you look at the overall scheme of things, 60,000 baht per month is hardly a drop in the ocean. Sure, it may be higher than the average Thai salary but so what? If you’re a foreigner wishing to stay in another country, it is not unreasonable to expect a higher disposable income than the locals. In all the countries that I have lived in, I earned more than the average local salary in a similar position. 

I'm not so sure we are welcome to stay. Putting the 90 day and TM30 BS aside, I suspect the elite here don't like our presence because we may be giving average Thais unwelcome ideas.

[impulse]

41 minutes ago, Gweiloman said:

I think he means the genuine farang tourist, the ones that comes for a week or two, doesn’t worry about being rejected entry, doesn’t worry about TM’s. The ones that continue to come as they feel welcomed, enjoy top class service and goes home happy, like many of my friends. 

 

But it's funny how so many on here object to being lumped into an unsavory category, while blind to the irony of lumping Indian and Chinese tourists into similar categories. 

 

There's more millionaires in China and India than there are in the UK.  Not a higher percentage, but just on sheer weight of numbers. 

 

[Lacessit]

16 minutes ago, saengd said:

I'm guessing there's less than 0.5% of all farang expats in that category, paying out 60k Baht a month to Thai family members, it just doesn't happen much at all.

You may be right. However, I was referring to total spend, not how much went to the Thai members of the family.

A significant part of the spend will be on items such as Western foods, where the Thai government collects substantial taxes. Live exclusively on Thai cuisine, and the spend is much less.

 

[Lacessit]

29 minutes ago, saakura said:

It makes huge sense to replace each 60,000 Baht farang supporting 6 family members (10,000 Baht per person per month spending) with a potential 6000 Chinese & Indians spending the same 10,000 Baht in 4 days and go back home. 

Financially it does, socially and environmentally it doesn't. But most governments are focused on the bottom line.

If you want to see what mass tourism does, Halong Bay in Vietnam is a good example. One of the natural wonders of the world, and it looks like a junkyard.

[Gweiloman]

12 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

I'm not so sure we are welcome to stay. Putting the 90 day and TM30 BS aside, I suspect the elite here don't like our presence because we may be giving average Thais unwelcome ideas.

I’m not so sure if the average Thai is susceptible to our ideas or if they even care. 
What I do believe is that the authorities are well aware of the rubbish and Thai bashing going on here in this forum. It wouldn’t be so bad if it was true but the bulk of it is just absolute nonsense. It wouldn’t surprise me if immigration comes down progressively harder on the long stay expat like us. 
Contrary to what many on here claim, the typical tourist, Asian or otherwise face no issues coming here for a holiday. 

[saakura]

5 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Financially it does, socially and environmentally it doesn't. But most governments are focused on the bottom line.

If you want to see what mass tourism does, Halong Bay in Vietnam is a good example. One of the natural wonders of the world, and it looks like a junkyard.

Agree that unsustainable mass tourism fro m China, India etc have ruined the environment. Just as decades of farang sex tourists and sexpats have contributed to social ills.

[sammieuk1]

Minister start by shaving 50% off the 100% inflated baht???? 

[observer90210]

No problem if the few tourists who were comming have also become fewer in Thailand. He should fast impliment his special tourist extorsion tax and everything will be ok in 7 days, we vow

[saengd]

27 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

You may be right. However, I was referring to total spend, not how much went to the Thai members of the family.

A significant part of the spend will be on items such as Western foods, where the Thai government collects substantial taxes. Live exclusively on Thai cuisine, and the spend is much less.

 

A poster recently ran a thread about the financial impact of expats on the population and on GDP. The conclusion was that even with the most generous rate of giving, the impact on GDP if all farang expats left, was negligible, less than 1.5%

[saengd]

6 minutes ago, sammieuk1 said:

Minister start by shaving 50% off the 100% inflated baht???? 

The most severe estimates are that THB is over valued by just under 7%, you may as well get your head around that now because if you're looking for anything greater you're going to be very disappointed.

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, saakura said:

It makes huge sense to replace each 60,000 Baht farang supporting 6 family members (10,000 Baht per person per month spending) with a potential 6000 Chinese & Indians spending the same 10,000 Baht in 4 days and go back home. 

The 60k white guy is better than nothing.

And that's what they've got at the moment ......... nothing.

Edited February 13, 2020 by BritManToo

[BritManToo]

38 minutes ago, saakura said:

Just as decades of farang sex tourists and sexpats have contributed to social ills.

You're completely right, back to the paddy fields and sweatshop factories with all those girls.

If only they still had some water and some Chinese raw materials, they could work 12hrs/day in the hot sun growing rice and manufacturing stuff.

Edited February 13, 2020 by BritManToo