Thailand tourism situation

[PeteC]

Here is a question.Do you think the present thai government is planning for a future without a reliance on the income from tourism. Nothing else makes sense to me

That question probably needs its own thread. In short, before the Baht crisis in the early 90's Thailand was the top "Asian Tiger" economy, approaching the GDP of Singapore. Other SEAsian countries where still in primitive mode, and China was just starting up. When the dust settled on the Baht problem, they found that they didn't have the skilled and educated people to drive the growth and take advantage of their lead position. They STILL don't have the skilled and educated people because of the fear it apparently brings to rulers here.

Tourism was starting to boom due to the weak Baht, and IMO they just sat back and took advantage of that growth, and forgot about the hard work and cultural changes needed to continue to grow a modern industrial and technological economy.

That brings us to the Covid crisis. I don't think they can do much but wait for tourism to come back. The industrial and technology horse is not only out of the barn, it is out of sight and now residing in neighboring countries in SEAsia, and China. They've done little to develop more educated talent here, and countries like Japan still complain continuously that they can't find skilled workers. "Stay tuned" is the best closing I can come up with.

[buksida]

Do you think the present thai government is planning for a future without a reliance on the income from tourist

Nothing else makes sense to me

I don't think the current regime gives a hoot about tourism or the livelihoods of the population. Clinging to power and making as much money as possible for themselves is their only priority.

[buksida]

TAT awaits upsurge from European travellers next year
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is hopeful the European market will revive following the outbreak, with the first group of Scandinavians expected to arrive later this year.

Siripakorn Cheawsamoot, TAT deputy governor for Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas, said prior to the pandemic, the number of tourism receipts from the European market accounted for one-third of total revenue.

The goal for next year is to increase the length of stay, rather than focusing on volume.

As of Oct 20, about 120 Scandinavians informed Thai embassies, the Thailand Longstay Company or the TAT they would like to enter the country via the special tourist visa (STV), which allow visitors from low-risk areas priority entry.

He said tourists from these countries normally prefer longer stays, averaging 18 days, and are considered to be from low-risk areas. Some potential tourists have already begun the progress of planning a return to Thailand, said Mr Siripakorn.

Even though many countries in Europe have been hit by a second wave, there is still opportunity to bring back travellers from markets such as Russia and the UK by using other visa types such as non-immigrant visa O-A for retirement, he said.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/20 ... -next-year

Something tells me they'll have a long wait.

[Dannie Boy]

Yes, until the travel restrictions are reduced, they’ll be no stampede at Suvarnabhumi!!

[HHTel]

bout 120 Scandinavians informed Thai embassies, the Thailand Longstay Company or the TAT they would like to enter the country via the special tourist visa (STV),

Well if they do get these 120, that just leaves 39+ million and they'll be back to pre-Covid!

[ahandpatsy]

Yes and airlines will be falling over themselves to fly 120 people at a time

On the chinese tourists are there any pictures?

[buksida]

1ST GROUP OF CHINESE TOURISTS TO THAILAND COMPLETE QUARANTINE
Thailand’s Ministry of Public Health said on Thursday that the country’s first group of travelers since the COVID-19 border shutdown will begin to venture outdoors as they have completed a 14-day mandatory quarantine in Bangkok.

The first group of 33 Chinese tourists, who arrived in Thailand on Special Tourist Visas (STV) from Shanghai, have already completed their mandatory 14 days in quarantine at a Bangkok hotel, and will be traveling into the provinces whenever they are ready, said the ministry.

The ministry said the group of Chinese tourists all tested negative for COVID-19 upon arrival at the Suvarnabhumi Airport.

After the 14-day quarantine period, they again tested negative for the virus.

An executive of the Royal Benja Hotel said the hotel also arranged Loy Krathong event for the Chinese tourists so they won’t get too bored.

“However only the tourists who passed the hotel COVID-19 test were allowed to participate in the Loy Krathong festival held at the hotel’s pool,” Sri-Sa-ard, the hotel executive, told a press conference.

The ministry said the Chinese tourists can stay up to 90 days under the STV scheme and can extend their visas twice within the 90-day period.

Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Governor Yuthasak Supasorn said that although the Chinese tourists needed to update to the Thai government with their whereabouts, he is not willing to disclose the destinations where the tourists will be visiting.

“All tourists need to inform the Thai government of their whereabouts in the country, but we are not ready to disclose their preferred destinations as it is a matter of privacy,” said the governor.

“After the 14-day quarantine, they can go wherever they like in Thailand,” said the governor.

Yuthasak said that in the near future, all incoming tourists won’t need to be subjected to the 14-day quarantine.

“The government is considering to allow a 10-day quarantine instead of 14,” said the governor. “However this rule will only apply to tourists coming from low-risk countries.”

He said many foreign tourists have shown interest in visiting Thailand, but the Thai government has limited arrivals to only 1,200 per month until the end of this year.

https://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/cri ... uarantine/

1,200 Chinese 'tourists' a month, that'll save the economy, I can see TAT counting the money already ...

[buksida]

Tourism minister warns of domestic slowdown
Thailand's tourism minister has warned that local demand is expected to drastically slow amid a slumping economy if there is no proper plan to reopen to tourists next year.

Local demand remains below 40% of last year's figure despite an uptick in activity since the outbreak of the pandemic, said Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, Tourism and Sports Minister.

However, that trend is likely to slow going into next year if there are no plans to revive the tourism industry after the government's tourism stimulus campaign ends in January.

"We have a precarious year for domestic tourism waiting for us in 2021, with the number of trips and receipts possibly going down to 15% of 2019," he said.

Recovering from the current crisis will be more difficult than it was to recover from the 1997 Asian financial crisis because of the pandemic's broad impact on the economy, he said.

While for any recovery to happen, winning back foreign tourists will be vital since domestic tourism is small by comparison.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/20 ... c-slowdown

[ahandpatsy]

Can anybody tell me actually how many Chinese tourist have actually make it through the airport and what is their make up. Singles age kids? If it was a success then you would have seen publicity. Seems like a massive custard pie

[HHTel]

Well according to the report earlier, there were just 33 Chinese freed from quarantine and allowed to venture out only a week ago. They could hardly cause much in the way of news.

[ahandpatsy]

I guess my point is. I thought there were going to be arrivals every week and the restart of tourism. One shipment of 33 'tourist' in a month doesn't cut. It was TAT that made a big deal of it

[nanyang]

Thailand further relaxes visa requirements for Europe and Scandinavia
The requirements for this type of visa are the following:
• Bank statement providing proof of income in the last six months equivalent to THB 500,000 (USD 17,000)

That rules out a lot of backpackers visiting Thailand.

[dtaai-maai]

At income of £26k per year it rules out quite a lot of people in the UK, not just students/backpackers, especially this year with furloughs and layoffs.

[nanyang]

At income of £26k per year it rules out quite a lot of people in the UK, not just students/backpackers, especially this year with furloughs and layoffs.

There's more, which puts a visit even further out of reach:


Medical insurance that covers COVID-19 with at least USD 100,000 in coverage for the entire duration of your stay.
Proof of alternative state quarantine reservation (ASQ) for the 14-day mandatory quarantine.
Proof of a negative COVID-19 PCR swab test taken within 72 hours prior to the flight.

[dtaai-maai]

Let's face it, it's all pretty academic at the moment...