High Season Tourist Arrivals In Thailand Disappointing

[thepanom]

Now hear is a surprise. Lower? No shyt.

But no mention of the two real main reasons - the recession in Europe and the rise in the THB. Still in denial!

Thank you, these are the only reasons

[BusyBee123]

The rise in the thai baht makes no difference to me so it costs a bit more so what. If I average the baht value over the last 10 years worth of holidays 4 times a year I've got bloody good value for my money. In a 3-4 years it will go back up there are no ifs and buts about it(albeit never the heady heights of the 65-70 i'm very very happy in the 55-60 range). In the mean time i'll carry on enjoying my time and stay away from euro peasants as usual.

[MAJIC]

If its really true?

The only thing that surprises me,is that 14,000,000 Tourists are still expected?

[stoffel45]

Now hear is a surprise. Lower? No shyt.

But no mention of the two real main reasons - the recession in Europe and the rise in the THB. Still in denial!

Snow is falling hard as I write. Corruption on an EU scale dwarfs the almost petty theft of Thai administrators. The euro is on its last legs and we join hundreds of thousands of others putting their savings in Swiss banks in Swiss francs. For many years we have spent Christmas and New Year in Thailand. The euro is way down and heading into a black hole. The Thai baht is strong and healthy. We know Thailand too well to worry about a few yokels in red shirts and truly reckon that Thailand is heading out of its decades of morass on to firmer, better ground. Not so Europe as the French try and rip off the Germans of everyone else's share. Thailand is a good place to be.

You all know the value of TAT figures - so don't worry about that.

At Easter we will exchange Belgium's grey, dreich drear for sunny Thai skies. So many of you who complain on this excellent forum forget just how lucky you are. Good luck to you all.

[MJP]

Thailand has just gone full circle is all. When I first came it was dangerous ,lots of scams,corrupt etc. But people started coming because it was cheap. The Thais saw money coming. So they put on the smile and took the money. Corruption not only kept up with the new cash flow it out distanced it. So we went back to where it was years ago, dangerous and the wild wild east. The last 20 years here was a tourist smoke and mirrors now Thailand is getting back to normal. Now in Thailand everywhere is dangerous if it is an area where there is easy tourist money. People will come get robbed ,hurt and scammed indiscriminately. The tourist numbers may drop who knows but the crime will keep increasing.

Really do agree with this.

Been here nine years, two years full time in the sticks and have to say it's got an edgy feel about it at the moment, which was absent last year. Not sure what the crack is, but you could cut the atmosphere with a dull spoon. Feeling a bit 'falang' again. Neighbours popped round tonight, lovely folks. But the emphasis of the conversation was on my home here and how I am Issanese, if you like. How they'd rather I stay put than Bai Angkrit. One gets the feeling they know I know somethings not quite right. Other Thai friends seem to be jumping to my defense more and more, much questioning of what I'm doing here and why, some mildly heated exchanges. I believe that was some low level local government bod, visas mentioned, happened twice in the last week.

Add to this. Family members, fluent in English, wish to depart Thailand urgently taking young family members with them, i.e., our kid, now six and half. Even Godzilla (ex-wife) was round tonight, discussing our kids' move to Blighty, the conversation hinting at the way of life in this area not suitable etc (which is pretty feral to be honest, but I always felt it had been improving over the last 5 or so years).

Friends on a completely unrelated forum who have been here many times avoid it now, reckon it's gone pear shaped (personal experiences of jet ski scams recounted in hilarious detail, with much running to airports and 'Phew, that was exciting, we escaped death!') and there's other destinations, many much nicer, friendlier and closer to home . . . like Devon for example. Or even Dorset, that's an oft forgotten gem.

[teddy_bare]

Since this story now seems to be an anti Thai rant, lovemoney.com just reported Thailand as being the number one retirement destination. This survey was voted by the respondants not the website. seems like a lot of sour people out there. I found I didnt like the UK so I moved. It you don't like something do sonething about it. Everyone has the choice, few have the bottle by the sounds of it

[KeyserSoze01]

It all boils down to this:

[KeyserSoze01]

Since this story now seems to be an anti Thai rant, lovemoney.com just reported Thailand as being the number one retirement destination. This survey was voted by the respondants not the website. seems like a lot of sour people out there. I found I didnt like the UK so I moved. It you don't like something do sonething about it. Everyone has the choice, few have the bottle by the sounds of it

I think you will find that many here actually live in Thailand, used to live in Thailand, have spent considerable time in the Kingdom or have a vested interest in the country. So they have already had 'the bottle' to make changes in their lives and relocate to another country or spend time outside their own country.

Long term visitors and residents are the one's who see beyond the smile and see the country for what it is becoming... The anecdotes conveyed throughout this thread are mostly true with respect to scams, cheats, political unrest, dual pricing, danger, etc. If you have not been exposed to this yet, you will or you must live waaaayyyyy up country.

[Ulysses G.]

Thailand has just gone full circle is all. When I first came it was dangerous ,lots of scams,corrupt etc. But people started coming because it was cheap.

Thailand has always been a shady place for shady people, but many Westerners love it anyway... and of course the surrounding countries are often much more so, which has always been Thailand's saving grace.

Why would anyone move here "to save money" and not realize this is beyond me.

[artinamerica]

slowly.. they are getting the idea... but still in denial.

most of my friends are closing their business in Thailand and moving to neighbor countries...

Sorry Thailand but it is not just the floods or unrest... all your racist policies have paid... good job... the farangs are gone... guess u r happy with that... now have fun with middle east tourists...

You hit the nail right on the head!

[jackr]

Although dodgy politics, rioting, scamming has bearing (it always has, there's been loads of coups over the years), it's all about the recessions elsewhere, the high baht, and Muang Thai just not being great value for money any more.

[Bagwan]

Now hear is a surprise. Lower?  No shyt.

But no mention of the two real main reasons - the recession in Europe and the rise in the THB. Still in denial!

Of course not. Every Thai knows that ALL farangs are millionaires. 

[Ulysses G.]

Although dodgy politics, rioting, scamming has bearing (it always has, there's been loads of coups over the years), it's all about the recessions elsewhere, the high baht, and Muang Thai just not being great value for money any more.

Nobody was complaining about any of that stuff when the economy collapsed in 1997 and the baht was 60 to the dollar.

[Bagwan]

I have resided in Thailand for 13 years and have been in the tourism business for all of that time. i have noticed only one year that we did not have some problem that was reported internationally. From scams and ripoffs to Sars, chicken flu and violent politics this country is determined to destroy itself. Corruption is more prevalent than before and I personally have watched as  the police will not help law abiding citizens and they police kowtow to "influential people" who are ripping off everyone including Thais. If the good people of this country don't stand up and fight back soon then visitors are going to shy away from here and go to other east Asian countries.

You have hit it in one. It is a 4th world country "if that" and there is none so blind as those that do not wanrt to see. The reasons are all there staring them in the face and they either don't want to or ignore them.

It's always easier to blame things like currency rates or recessions elsewhere rather than face the problems that are all home grown.

Wonder if any influential  government persons ever read these posts. If they do I don't suppose it alters anything and often wonder why so much time and energy is put into writing them. Guess its just a way of releasing frustration...any way we are here and presume no where else to go so best just to get on with life. C'est la vie monsieur.!!

If anybody of importance does read the farrago of messages here I suggest that their attitude would be 'what do these ting tong farangs know about Thailand? They are guests here, why don't they keep quiet? Hardly surprising when it is probable that most posters think some of the other posters are out of their tiny minds.  

Given the tendency of Thais to not look into the future and to make appropriate plans, nor to attempt to close stable doors before the horses have bolted,  my guess is that they will have to learn the hard way. As a long tern ex-pat most of Thailand's 'events' pass me by leaving me unscathed. For others it may well be a case of getting on dealing with the crap handed out. C'est la guerre might be more accurate..   

[moetownblues]

Now hear is a surprise. Lower? No shyt.

But no mention of the two real main reasons - the recession in Europe and the rise in the THB. Still in denial!

And the scams, the murders, the double pricing, the dishonest touts, the airport taxi scams, the world at large is realizing that the realm is no what it was, what it ever claimed to be. 99% of Thai's give the rest a bad name.

99% of Thais are wonderful people and the vast majority of the country is wonderful. There is only place that projects the evil side of Thailand to the world and it is a shame that one city alone can tarnish the image of a great country.

[Ulysses G.]

Koh San Road?

[TheWhiteFella]

Now hear is a surprise. Lower? No shyt.

But no mention of the two real main reasons - the recession in Europe and the rise in the THB. Still in denial!

Thai BHTB is a real big deal......... I remember 44.5 B to US$

This is killing Thailand .. time to stop talking and do something

[crusty]

Now hear is a surprise. Lower? No shyt.

Why do they persist in telling outright lies ? The figures are actually down to just 20% of last years bookings, at least here in Koh Samui so much so that the resort business is just not breaking even anymore ! Empty and abandoned resorts dot the landscape and the streets at night are empty.

[Thai at Heart]

Now hear is a surprise. Lower? No shyt.

But no mention of the two real main reasons - the recession in Europe and the rise in the THB. Still in denial!

And the scams, the murders, the double pricing, the dishonest touts, the airport taxi scams, the world at large is realizing that the realm is no what it was, what it ever claimed to be. 99% of Thai's give the rest a bad name.

99% of Thais are wonderful people and the vast majority of the country is wonderful. There is only place that projects the evil side of Thailand to the world and it is a shame that one city alone can tarnish the image of a great country.

Shame that so many of your supposed number of 1% of bad Thai people are all apparently crammed in around the tourist areas.

[geriatrickid]

Thailand is not attractive anymore , look how Phuket has became ? Not to mention this stupid "gala" dinner which is compulsory and totally over priced that all hotels force you to have. No , Thailand is not on my 1st destination anymore.

Wait, what...gala dinner?

Never been there, so...do tell.

Those "gala" dinners are a major irritant for the tourists. Basically there is nothing gala about it. It's a buffet dinner but there's "entertainment". This entertainment is usually a bimbo and her backing band that blares out eardrum splitting headache inducing '"music" that makes the guests leave as soon as they can. Sometimes there are door prizes. I think the hotel manager goes on a shopping spree at Big One to buy 100baht or less gifts.

The gala dinners probably attract 25% of the paying guests even though it is a mandatory charge. In most hotels, I think the surcharge runs between 2000 and 4000 baht per person on these nights. It is basically a money grab with little value offered in return. The food is the same as on other nights although they dress up the description and the staff come out of the kitchen. It is not as if the staff get paid more for working those nights. I don't even know why they have these hotel s have Christmas dinners. Most of the guests don't want them. As for New Years, who wants to go to a lame hotel dinner? If I was going to spend New Year's at a hotel, I'd want a decent dinner and some good wine, not a <deleted> buffet of road kill. Most of these hotels have F&B managers that seem to have graduated from institutional food service industries like prisons where freshness, taste and quality are not high on the list. The exception of course are the quality hotels e.g. Laguna, but then the executive chefs and F&B managers are paid accordingly and have experience.

[SomTumTiger]

Now hear is a surprise. Lower? No shyt.

But no mention of the two real main reasons - the recession in Europe and the rise in the THB. Still in denial!

Thai BHTB is a real big deal......... I remember 44.5 B to US$

This is killing Thailand .. time to stop talking and do something

This is hurting one segment of the Thai ecomony. Other segments are benefiting from the strong baht. We certainly know which side of the economy the bar stool warriors fall.

[evanson]

Although dodgy politics, rioting, scamming has bearing (it always has, there's been loads of coups over the years), it's all about the recessions elsewhere, the high baht, and Muang Thai just not being great value for money any more.

Nobody was complaining about any of that stuff when the economy collapsed in 1997 and the baht was 60 to the dollar.

Ikeep seeing this 'I remember when it was 50/45 to the GBP. Yes. But the cost of living/consumer goods were considerably cheaper then. Now, as a visiting friend put it, we have a Third World country with First World prices.

[MJP]

Although dodgy politics, rioting, scamming has bearing (it always has, there's been loads of coups over the years), it's all about the recessions elsewhere, the high baht, and Muang Thai just not being great value for money any more.

Nobody was complaining about any of that stuff when the economy collapsed in 1997 and the baht was 60 to the dollar.

Ikeep seeing this 'I remember when it was 50/45 to the GBP. Yes. But the cost of living/consumer goods were considerably cheaper then. Now, as a visiting friend put it, we have a Third World country with First World prices.

I find prices here are very stable. Consumer goods are also more widely available and cheaper than before (direct internet sales too, which are a far more arduous transaction than in the West, but the prices are keen enough and they do deliver). Yes, there was a sudden inflation a few years back, I suspect much to do with the removal of the diesel subsidy et. al. 

Scruffy and a bit rough as a newly industrialized country, yes. Third world? I don't think so.

[Amr]

slowly.. they are getting the idea... but still in denial.

most of my friends are closing their business in Thailand and moving to neighbor countries...

Sorry Thailand but it is not just the floods or unrest... all your racist policies have paid... good job... the farangs are gone... guess u r happy with that... now have fun with middle east tourists...

Edited December 3, 2010 by metisdead
All caps reply removed from view.

[saintofsilence]

When tourists are treated this way it does not help

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001909826119&v=info

[Amr]

slowly.. they are getting the idea... but still in denial.

most of my friends are closing their business in Thailand and moving to neighbor countries...

Sorry Thailand but it is not just the floods or unrest... all your racist policies have paid... good job... the farangs are gone... guess u r happy with that... now have fun with middle east tourists...

Apart from your friends closing their businesses in Thailand and moving to a neighboring countries, And the racist policies that had paid, And the farangs who are gone...bla bla bla, Can you tell me what is wrong with the tourists from the middle east?

[sarahsbloke]

Now hear is a surprise. Lower? No shyt.

But no mention of the two real main reasons - the recession in Europe and the rise in the THB. Still in denial!

I agree, no mention of everything costing 10% more this year.

My prediction is that as the Thai Bht goes up the number of tourists will go down ..... I could be a rocket scientist!

Actually there is a good correlation in the figures, Thai bht rises 10%, tourist numbers 10% worse than expected.

Edited December 3, 2010 by sarahsbloke

[Amras]

Maybe they should just keep raising the interest rate. I couldn't believe they let the dollar go back over 30:1 for 2-3 days, before jacking up the rates and sending it back down to the 20's. Surely a strong Baht will help lure in all the tourists to a developing country. I mean, who doesn't want to pay 1st class prices for 3rd class accomodations, right??

I assume you are talking about the US exchange rate (which anyway is still 30:1). Fluctuation is not really the fault of the THB, more like the weak US dollar. The AUD to Thb is up nearly as high as it has been in the last 5 years (highest was about 32 once). But our economy is strong (and consistant). The AUD to USD is still up around 98us cents per AUD. The problem is the world econonmy, EU, US etc. Making foreign dollars worth less. Don't blame a strong THB for your weaker dollar. You need to blame the economy in the consituant state. Even the EURO is struggling now...I can see a few countries potentially pulling out of the EURO and going back to their own money because how bad it could become. But that's another story.

[Amras]

Now hear is a surprise. Lower? No shyt.

But no mention of the two real main reasons - the recession in Europe and the rise in the THB. Still in denial!

Thai BHTB is a real big deal......... I remember 44.5 B to US$

This is killing Thailand .. time to stop talking and do something

Again not the fault of the THB. The fault of your 'shi**y' US dollar. Although I'm not complaining as I love my Aussie dollar going further (parry for parry) in the US.

The only time the USD will get up to that again is when the US fixes it's economy and its going to be a long time for that to happen.

[Ulysses G.]

Although dodgy politics, rioting, scamming has bearing (it always has, there's been loads of coups over the years), it's all about the recessions elsewhere, the high baht, and Muang Thai just not being great value for money any more.

Nobody was complaining about any of that stuff when the economy collapsed in 1997 and the baht was 60 to the dollar.

Ikeep seeing this 'I remember when it was 50/45 to the GBP. Yes. But the cost of living/consumer goods were considerably cheaper then. Now, as a visiting friend put it, we have a Third World country with First World prices.

What first world country has good meals for $1.00, a comfortable fan room with a bathroom for $10.00 and a full service hotel for $16? Tell your friend that Bangladesh isn't a first world country.