Covid fears vs Starving to death? Tourism businesses give their verdict: Open up Thailand!

[Walter Travolta]

1 hour ago, Crusader said:

No sympathy from me for the two restaurant ladies mentioned...got no time for anyone who just tries to rip people off because they are not local (even if it it just a few baht).  Some locals just don't get it...if they treat us fairly (as many do) they sure get a lot of custom.  Popped down to Pattaya a couple of weeks ago and the same pint of beer was 100 baht more expensive than my regular pub in bangkok.

You obviously weren't on LK Metro then, there prices have dropped hugely. I saw some charging 39 for a small local beer. Usually on that strip you would be lucky to get one for less than 80 although Billabong and a couple of others are about 65

[apetryxx]

2 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

And you could die.

 

There are some that may go hungry at times but I honestly know of no one here that is literally starving to death.

 

PS:  she does not look like she has missed many meals.

 

Yeah well, one can die from a lot of things and mortality from WuFlu is actuarially insignificant. 

[Cake Monster]

2 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

And you could die

Or end up with some Cronic IIlness, that will leave you weak and defenseless against more attacks from another Virus, or Infection.

[sambum]

"They couldn't charge as much for Thais as they could do for foreigners, they lamented."

 

What a shame - my heart bleeds for these double pricers.

 

Suggestion for them -  as you have very few customers now, why not put your prices up AGAIN to make up the shortfall? That'sa bound to work!   

[Brickbat]

And who’s going to come? Or rather be allowed to leave by their own country ? If their country is responsible! 
as for the opening up idea, yeah! Bring in the virus. Already Thais are so complacent about mingling and masks. 

[yellowboat]

11 minutes ago, Walter Travolta said:

Again another comparison with other countries!!! 
Other countries are not at the same level as NO CASES FOR MONTHS
Something has gotta give soon . . . 

Vietnam has had almost 0 cases.   Masks are just for mass transit and to be polite in shops.  Why aren't the Thais trying to do a deal with Vietnam?   Not sure of Cambodia's numbers, but they are not that high it seems.  Why not open up there?  Other than being hugely desperate, Thailand is not special by any means.  

[barney42bb]

So during the times of "Greedocracy".. The Falsely High Baht... Discriminatory  pricing on the Tourists you now so desperately declare to rely on.

 

Karma kicks in... And The "Tomorrow Never Comes".... Fiscal Policy comes home to roost.

 

Suck it Up.

[paulikens]

2 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

And you could die.

 

There are some that may go hungry at times but I honestly know of no one here that is literally starving to death.

 

PS:  she does not look like she has missed many meals.

 

@bkk6060 and you could die crossing the road, what a ridiculous statement 

[Wildliferescue]

2 hours ago, yellowboat said:

You need to be vaccinated.  You need to quarantine for two weeks.  The rest of the world just is not ready.  Thailand is not the center of the universe.  Other countries do not seem to be in a hurry to open up.

Most other countries are not closed.

[soalbundy]

2 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

And you could die.

 

There are some that may go hungry at times but I honestly know of no one here that is literally starving to death.

 

PS:  she does not look like she has missed many meals.

 

bit of a mama san about her

[Surasak]

2 hours ago, hansnl said:

You do know, I hope, many earn a living in the tourist industry, possibly a million people lost their job?

Are their wishes also selfish?

You think only the business owners have problems?

And the government paying for all that might be difficult, less tax coming in, no income from tourism, less VAT incoming because people buy less (no money), and so on.

Isn't your answer slightly egoistic?

There you go. Damned if you do and damned if you don't. And your proposal is?

[soalbundy]

Then there is the problem of tourists having to quarantine back home. I don't know about other countries in Europe but one English newspaper reports that nearly 50% of families in the UK are in debt due to covid, probably much the same elsewhere, holidays aren't really on the agenda at the moment.

[Walter Travolta]

11 minutes ago, yellowboat said:

Vietnam has had almost 0 cases.   Masks are just for mass transit and to be polite in shops.  Why aren't the Thais trying to do a deal with Vietnam?   Not sure of Cambodia's numbers, but they are not that high it seems.  Why not open up there?  Other than being hugely desperate, Thailand is not special by any means.  

I think Vietnam, up until now has 60 deaths after having zero for so long, but yes I have been saying for ages that those countries without cases for months should open to each other. Cambodia has just implemented a 2 week quarantine, but there are several countries that could open to each other. We need to start getting through all this where we can. Who knows, maybe we will never see world again as we know it. If the 1%ers get their way because of all the sleeve rollers . . .  we're <deleted> basically

[hotchilli]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

There were few Thais wanting her service. She didn't know if she could last past the end of the year. 

Maybe the question she should be asking herself is why she cannot survive without international tourism and locals don't want to know her business?

Maybe a slight change in her model is required.

[mikeymike100]

3 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

And you could die.

 

There are some that may go hungry at times but I honestly know of no one here that is literally starving to death.

 

PS:  she does not look like she has missed many meals.

 

Yes you could die, but its  very small risk, of the people that get Covid 19, 80% have no effects at all, 99.8% survive after getting it. You have more chance of dying on the roads. If you thought of all the things that could kill you, you wouldn't get out of bed in the morning!

[miamiman123]

Open up or starve?
What’s a Thai massage lady to do? Change professions?

no that would be illegal.

 

[Olivie]

1 minute ago, hotchilli said:

Maybe the question she should be asking herself is why she cannot survive without international tourism and locals don't want to know her business?

Maybe a slight change in her model is required.

 

Businesses in Thailand are not the same when you have 40 millions tourists or not...
Without those tourists, a lot of businesses have to disapear

 

[AlexJohanson]

Imagine this. In the near future wealthy Thai equity funds will be able to purchase vast amount of hotel chains, buildings, land, property rights, deeds for upcoming projects, business, plots etc for 10c of the $1, probably even less. The same funds have influences on the countries politics. What we see now is shaping tomorrow. A cooperate elite owning and running everything. It’s an extreme unbalanced distribution of wealth creating a nation of slaves.

[Purdey]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

They couldn't charge as much for Thais as they could do for foreigners, they lamented. 

Well, that basically says we can rip off foreigners more than Thais.

[Mavideol]

they should be very careful and avoid any risky decisions, look at the Singapore-Hong Kong travel bubble

 

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/hong-kong-singapore-travel-bubble-000511401.html

The Hong Kong-Singapore Travel Bubble Has Burst

How much risk will a vital hub of global commerce entertain to open an important chunk of the economy? None, appears to be the answer, judging by the suspension of the Hong Kong-Singapore travel bubble on the eve of its debut.

 

[yellowboat]

1 hour ago, Wildliferescue said:

Most other countries are not closed.

Which countries are open without quarantine, crazy insurance requirements, health certificates and or proof of vaccination(future)?    Why aren't people flooding into Thailand then?

[Sean60]

9 months of border shutdown and finally the incompetent government starts  finally to get it.

The solution is not to just open the country. But it could help if they could give people a relief package. 

Not this government. 

Incompetency is their mark and the world laughs at them.

[Samui Fan]

People ARE without food, It's a fact. In Samui, a local farang-run non-profit, Sisters on Samui, set up a foodbank way back this year. They found communities of 30 people with one egg between them. They went down back streets and found people who had no food and no milk for their kids. I am aware of one, maybe two handouts from the government to help people on an island where virtually everyone has a link to tourism in some way...even the coconut lady.

It is REAL folks - people are suffering. And both locals and foreigners are helping those less fortunate. Having said that, these groups are also suffering. We have all lost our incomes too. 

So the sooner the govt opens up the country- of course with cautious steps in terms of Covid testing, tracking and tracing - the better for all concerned.

I have never seen such a c*ck up of the job the govt is doing by sending out totally conflicting messages as to what they should do next. "Minimum insurance, min bank account balance, medical tourism, elite tourists" - there is no strategy (BTW a couple I know have invested in Elite visas and cannot get in )  ----- all these things just make the govt look inept and disorganised. 

They need to work together on a safe and workable plan to re-open. If they don't then I fear Thailand is doomed as destination. 

 TBH other regional governments are handling the future much better.

 

Edited November 24, 2020 by Samui Fan

[mrfill]

1 hour ago, AlexJohanson said:

Imagine this. In the near future wealthy Thai equity funds will be able to purchase vast amount of hotel chains, buildings, land, property rights, deeds for upcoming projects, business, plots etc for 10c of the $1, probably even less. The same funds have influences on the countries politics. What we see now is shaping tomorrow. A cooperate elite owning and running everything. It’s an extreme unbalanced distribution of wealth creating a nation of slaves.

That's the joy of unfettered capitalism. Grab what you can, when you can.

[thaibeachlovers]

4 hours ago, honu said:

We just visited Pattaya this past weekend, for the second time in two months, and it is sad how that resort area is dying.  I don't think embracing experience of the pandemic is a good solution. 

 

It's sad but I also don't think the Thai government has it in them to put together any sort of a longer stay tourism plan, that stands any chance of working.  What that would've involved seemed clear enough; keep it simple, make it easy, don't rush to add charges at every step, eliminate risk by adding a quarantine demand.  Instead proposed plans changed every two weeks and no two government agencies were ever saying the same things.

 

The frustrating part is how marketable it would be to sell visiting a place where the cost of living is cheap, natural environment is beautiful, and there is a greatly reduced chance of dying.  Two week vacationers wouldn't be a candidate, but every single at-high-risk person in a country like the US, or most of Europe, or South America who has the means to not work, or could work online for half a year, should want a break from isolation.

While I can't speak from being there myself, from reading on Pattaya sub forum, outside the tourist areas things are not so bad, which makes sense, as that is the residential area.

Obviously any business reliant entirely on tourism is going to close, but any business reliant on Thais is apparently surviving.

 

Re the OP, do they not realise that they could open the border tomorrow, and as long as people have to isolate 2 weeks on arrival and probably same on returning home, tourists are not going to turn up in significant numbers, IMO. Many people working in the west only get 2 or three weeks holiday a year, not including public holidays.

[Elkski]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

 

They couldn't charge as much for Thais as they could do for foreigners, they lamented.

I wish USA businesses would start charging thai people more for . 

[thaibeachlovers]

43 minutes ago, Samui Fan said:

People ARE without food, It's a fact. In Samui, a local farang-run non-profit, Sisters on Samui, set up a foodbank way back this year. They found communities of 30 people with one egg between them. They went down back streets and found people who had no food and no milk for their kids. I am aware of one, maybe two handouts from the government to help people on an island where virtually everyone has a link to tourism in some way...even the coconut lady.

It is REAL folks - people are suffering. And both locals and foreigners are helping those less fortunate. Having said that, these groups are also suffering. We have all lost our incomes too. 

So the sooner the govt opens up the country- of course with cautious steps in terms of Covid testing, tracking and tracing - the better for all concerned.

I have never seen such a c*ck up of the job the govt is doing by sending out totally conflicting messages as to what they should do next. "Minimum insurance, min bank account balance, medical tourism, elite tourists" - there is no strategy (BTW a couple I know have invested in Elite visas and cannot get in )  ----- all these things just make the govt look inept and disorganised. 

They need to work together on a safe and workable plan to re-open. If they don't then I fear Thailand is doomed as destination. 

 TBH other regional governments are handling the future much better.

 

If I was still working in NZ and I went to Thailand  for a holiday I'd probably have to pay myself for 2 weeks quarantine on return. Even if I was allowed into Thailand without quarantine, that's most of my holiday in quarantine and thousands extra in quarantine costs, higher flight costs, higher insurance costs. It's just NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.

[moe666]

6 hours ago, CLW said:

I guess there has been something lost in translation.

The ingredients for foreign food are already more expensive, plus trained chef and some extra kitchen appliances.

Also many Thais probably don't like foreign food or willing to pay higher prices.

I don't know their business, but probably with more service and amenities therefore higher prices as any roadside stall.

Therefore mostly targeted to foreigners / tourists on holiday who don't have to look after each spent baht.

 Thais do eat farange food and they pay the price, Dukes in Chiang Mai has done ok over the years serving Thais and during the last few months there business is down but not to the extent many other businesses that serve farang food

[DogNo1]

Difficult as it may be, people who worked in the tourism industry should find a different way to make a living to survive.  It doesn't appear that tourism will come back soon and the numbers will never be what they were in years past.  The world has changed and travel will take a long time to recover, if it ever does.  With the huge loss in income world-wide, people will not be able to afford vacations in distant lands.

[Danny Crane]

Just today, the CEO of Qantas airlines of Australia has said that overseas travelers will need to have the vaccination before travelling. Australia has a VERY VERY low rate of covid and has cleared most states completely.

So why can't Thailand start a travel bubble with Australia and some other countries with low or no community transmission.  Australians are VERY keen to get back to the popular tourist spots and spend money.

 

Come on Thai govt...wake up and help the Thai people get back on their feet.