Ministry now aims to roll out travel promotions for expats in Thailand

[SymS]

3 minutes ago, Keesters said:

Why even a card. A pulse should be enough to get everyone the same price. 

That's one way to look at it. But in many places in the world, people who live "here" often get a different price. I remember when I worked in Bath, UK. I got free entry to a museum even as a foreigner because I lived there, whereas people outside of Bath would have to pay an entry fee regardless of their nationality.

So I'm fine with having different price for locals (I consider myself a local since I live here) and "tourists" for tourist attractions. Dual-pricing for food and/or hotel is a different matter, but you can also patronize a business that does not practise dual pricing.

[OJAS]

19 hours ago, webfact said:

Ministry now aims to roll out travel promotions for expats in Thailand

A crucially integral part of which will no doubt involve one-way flights out of BKK.

 

[Tchooptip]

Are they going to ask  Anutin Charnvirakul to reconsider his words?

 

"Writing in two Twitter posts , which were later deleted, the account said farangs – a slang for Caucasians – “never shower” and pose health risks to Thai population.

“It’s winter right now in Europe so these people are fleeing the cold in Thailand. Many are dressed dirtily and never shower. As hosts, we have to be careful. Even they don’t want to mingle with each other, closing their borders,” the post said.

“Today I’m in Chiang Mai. There’s pretty much no more Chinese tourists, only farangs. More than 90% of Thais wear masks, but not a single farang has one. This is why there’re so many infections in their countries,” another tweet from Anutin said. “We have to be more careful of Westerners than Asians.”

[4MyEgo]

19 hours ago, webfact said:

Governor Yuthasak Supasorn

I like his way of thinking, perhaps he should run for PM

[George Aylesham]

Will expats settled here be able to use the pink Thai i.d. card issued by the the Thai government?

[holy cow cm]

17 hours ago, thequietman said:

First, you need a yellow book. Then a signed note from you wife with her ID attached, that you are allowed to go.

 

Then you must go to your local immigration to ask if it's OK to travel out of the province. They will tell you yes - but you mustn't believe them, cause they will want numerous forms on your return.

 

Contact the Puu Yai in your village and give him/her a urine, poo and sperm sample (if you like, just give a pair of your underpants) and then get a receipt saying that you have informed them.

 

Whilst doing the above 3 things, wear a mask at all times, even though none of them will have one on.

 

Once you have done the above, you are free to get your 'Special' ID card, just as soon as you get all the above forms translated into English and back to Thai again. You will also need to get your passport authenticated by your embassy at a cost of 1000 baht.

 

Deposit 100,000 baht into a bank account in order to prove that you can afford to go on vacation in Thailand, and take out an insurance policy to protect you for the duration. A specific company has been chosen for you to provide 3,000 baht of cover at a cost to you of 40,000 baht.

 

Have fun. ????

Sounds pretty easy. Funnest part would be giving a sperm sample to the Pu Yai bahn's geek. 

[Almer]

There seems to be good days and bad days for expats in Los, a suggestion would be to free up money tucked away for visa renewals, free'd up this could go straight into the economy.

[crazykopite]

Thanks but No Thanks I’m staying put I’m not taking any risks .

[spidermike007]

3 hours ago, bluesea said:

Signs of a desperate Government with no Money, Now they want the Expats to be there best friend,IO think they will have to go back to the Drawing Board and think again, Equality will never happen in Thailand you will always have 2 tier Pricing.

TOT do something absolutely Amazing to bring in those Dollars like offer all expats Permanent Residence now that Equality.

 

Neither the TAT nor this heinous and toxic administration has ever done anything beneficial for ex-pats here. Ever. We are completely taken for granted, no matter how much we spend. Forgive my skepticism on this proposal. My guess is that it will be about as hard to access, as the 5,000 baht subsidy that 84% of Thais were turned down for. 

 

And if it is accessible, it will be something like Bangkok Airways resident card program. You jump through hoops to pay a fee for a card. Then, you get a discount on the highest price the airline charges for a sector. 

 

Immigration has all of our residence info. If they are serious, just send us cards and instructions on where they can be used. And if not, stop playing games and feeding us poor and inaccurate information constantly. I truly wish the ministries here were run by competent adults. 

[crazykopite]

4 minutes ago, George Aylesham said:

Will expats settled here be able to use the pink Thai i.d. card issued by the the Thai government?

I already use mine to get discount on my local ferry boat

[digger70]

 

19 hours ago, webfact said:

Governor Yuthasak Supasorn said TAT would issue special cards to expats to show at accommodations and attractions so they can avail of discounted prices.

The ministry will also discuss with the prime minister the need to reduce ticket prices for expat

will discuss the issue with hotel operators this week.

Isn't that nice ,Jacking up the prices first then tell the people : Now Special price the PM said so. 

Pull the other one hey.  ???? ????

[Tarteso]

[Logosone]

32 minutes ago, Grusa said:

Not everyone is as lucky as you. Those of us on retirement pensions mostly can survive here better than in our home countries. I have had to survive six years supporting my wife until her pension clicked in, no way could I do that in UK. Even now we are  nowhere near 10x 25,000/month, and most of our friends, with notable exceptions, are the same.

I made 250,000 Baht in a single day last September. 

 

Happy time.

[Xonax]

1 hour ago, HTC said:

The Thai national version of this was a complete failure.

 

My wife attempted to get her discount. Got on the list, but there were about 3 hotels in the country signed up.

 

No doubt this one will go the same way.

I also tried to let my wife sign up for this, but the hotels we were interested in, had all been closed until the high season. ????????????

[Jen65]

Since Thai Immigration have labelled me as "1 year tourist", I'm not really encouraged to support anything government related unless they start to treat me as a resident

[bipper]

Extra showers and all for Ai Farangs?

[JaneM]

They can pretty much kiss my behind. For years and years the officials in Thailand treated me (and other Farang) like dirty Soi dogs and now they want me to help? No chance in hell!

 

And yes I understand there are good Thai people too. I know a lot of them.

[Foghorn]

1 hour ago, Grusa said:

Not everyone is as lucky as you. Those of us on retirement pensions mostly can survive here better than in our home countries. I have had to survive six years supporting my wife until her pension clicked in, no way could I do that in UK. Even now we are  nowhere near 10x 25,000/month, and most of our friends, with notable exceptions, are the same.

Some people like to pretend , I bet he’s an ex navy seal and handsome man and his girlfriend loves him not the money

[J Town]

So NOW they find us valuable citizens.

[RocketDog]

2 hours ago, Baggy said:

A very enjoyable read, i had a good laugh, thank you.

Yeah, me too. But my salacious mind immediately asked whether a semen sample would also be required from female expats. An egg sample perhaps and who would collect that, etc. 

Inquiring minds want to know. 

 

I know :  Sad. 

[holy cow cm]

54 minutes ago, Jen65 said:

Since Thai Immigration have labelled me as "1 year tourist", I'm not really encouraged to support anything government related unless they start to treat me as a resident

Not treat but to actually make easy and give us PR. Ofcourse not to every Tom-Dick and Harry who has a girlfriend or just newly married and just passed the honey moon stage, but one's with realistic time here with family and or being a retiree with a condo and a certain amount of time of years spent in country.. So I tend to agree with you for the most part. what they are asking for are all of us as the 3rd class expats to support them more with our money but have no better guarantee from them of supporting us to stay here. Sort of like they are asking us fools to part with our money to support them and their xenophobic ways and terrible management, to in the end after recovery only to shun us again and throw out the welcome red carpet to the Chinese again.

 

But if there are some good deals I am ok to use them on some fun times.

Edited August 6, 2020 by holy cow cm

[Eddy Ozark]

Will the discounts exceed the promotional prices already here? Guesthouses in Pattaya now offering fully furnished nice air con rooms for 200 to 300 baht a night seems to me as low as it can go.

[Benmart]

1 hour ago, Kerryd said:

Most of you wouldn't take advantage of anything other than a discount on the price of the cheapest draft beer at your local bar anyways.

Personally, I travel around the country a fair bit to visit various sites or attend functions. I'll wait to see what is actually being offered and what the actual requirements will be (to prove one is an "expat") before making judgement.

It could be that it won't make any difference at all or it could mean trying something, or staying somewhere, that I wouldn't have normally chosen. 

I doubt it will have much effect though, as most places I go to, with the exception of National Parks, don't have dual pricing to begin with, especially outside of Pattaya. 

And I doubt it will affect many of the people on this forum either, as most of you are no where near as rich as you pretend to be every year at Immigration. If you were, the Thai visas, residency and work permits forum would be the least visited of all the forums here.

As such, you probably wouldn't take advantage of any price reductions/promotions anyways, regardless of the criteria (or lack thereof).
 

Your post, which has some merit, is peppered with assumptions and generalizations.

 

My large circle of non-drinking, self-supporting, legal expats tend to contribute time and money towards giving back to the Pattaya/Jomtien community.

 

I have no clue as to how much money someone makes or how they spend their time as it is not my business.

 

What is my business is trying to comply with the requirements to legally live here and to avoid people, places and things that are dark, negative and poisonous.

[Dialemco]

Doubt if many long stay Foreigners have any desire to travel around Thailand as they would have either already be well travelled or now working and do not have the free time keeping any spare money for holidays back to their home countries. Any way good luck but this does not solve the problem of the unemployed who rely on tourist income. Some arrangements must be made for short stay tourists to safely enter the country with a package easily obtainable including quarantine in their home countries

[RichardColeman]

Looks like he is trying to squeeze the last little bit of watery finance out of the ex-pat sponge to me 

[Borzandy]

21 hours ago, webfact said:

Ministry now aims to roll out travel promotions for expats in Thailand

Does the Ministry has discovered a lot of buffaloes became sick.

[kentrot]

21 hours ago, webfact said:

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) expects the tourism sector to benefit to the tune of Bt10 billion from this expat travel package.

Well - I can throw in Bt2Billion or Bt3Billion but that's the best I can do on short notice and especially after being called "unclean" etc etc.  !

 

[Don Mega]

Good timing, Ive 6 weeks annual leave to use up before the end of the year so I can see lots of domestic tourism coming up for me !!

[Pedrogaz]

Somehow I am not tempted....it's a fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me situation.

I am pleased perhaps to be recognised for the contribution we seemingly hated expats might make to the economy, but I'm sure that if I go to my favourite hotel with my 60% off card, I will find the hotel rates have gone up by 100%. I don't want to go through all the aggravation of getting a card (I'm sure it will be a hassle to get one) and then find it to be of absolutely no use.

I guess if the government can trick enough expats then it will be worth it for the economy, which to be fair, does need a boost. 

 

 

[NoshowJones]

19 hours ago, DrTuner said:

Maybe now it's the time to remember we're just guests, not expats. <self-censored> you.

 

How about "hey you on the chained temporary of stay permit, today a special offer, instead of the usual us trying to kick you out, you can stay now as long as you keep spending - same as before, eh?"

"Maybe now it's the time to remember we're just guests".  Guests???? Do you really believe that?