Thailand tourism situation

[joelle]

I personally think they know exactly what they are doing. Telling businesses they are trying hard to stimulate tourism from overseas whilst deliberately making coming to Thailand unpalatable for most.

with you
They don't want any Tom, Dick or Harry foreigners anymore and that's one way of doing it
They probably want Thailand to be an Iso place for only "elite" "select" people !!
I feel sorry for the ones whose livelihoods depended on income from visitors from abroad.

[HHTel]

The so-called 'elite' are not the ones spending money accounting for a around 12 or 13% of GDP. That money comes from short term 'holiday makers'.
The 'elite' will never provide the cash injection that Thailand has been used to in the past.

They have no idea!

[joelle]

The so-called 'elite' are not the ones spending money accounting for a around 12 or 13% of GDP. That money comes from short term 'holiday makers'.
The 'elite' will never provide the cash injection that Thailand has been used to in the past.

They have no idea!

Exactly

[buksida]

That seems to be the crux of it - the junta doesn't want western tourists any longer, it's following the China model, unsurprisingly, and erecting more barriers to travel in the hope those evil roundeyes will stay away.

Their reliance on domestic tourism also appears to be failing them - there are only so many long weekends the Bangkok hi-sos want apparently.

TAT: Infection fears mar holiday
Concern over new local Covid-19 cases is affecting domestic sentiment for the upcoming long holiday from Nov 19-22, says the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).

Even with the long weekend taking place during the high season, local infections resulted in travellers slowing or changing their travel plans, especially for areas where new cases were reported such as Krabi, said TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn.

Domestic tourism might be tepid this weekend as people already splashed out for trips during the public holiday on Oct 23, said Mr Yuthasak.

The government also declared several special public holidays in the last few months, including Dec 10-13 in a few weeks.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/20 ... ar-holiday

[handdrummer]

The country could go on permanent holiday bracketed by sporadic weekends of work.

[Dannie Boy]

They are offering discounts for hotel and air travel to expats living in Thailand - further details attached

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... n-thailand


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[Big Boy]

They are offering discounts for hotel and air travel to expats living in Thailand

On a similar note, I've recently booked 4 rooms at a hotel near Suvarnabhumi. The prices were about 1/3 of what I normally pay (same hotel) - I was amazed. I've no idea if this is the norm because these are the first rooms I've booked since Covid.

Changing tack somewhat, I've just come back from a walk from Hua Hin Temple to the Fishing Pier and back. What a shocker. I've not done the walk for at least a year, and last time it was very busy, shops, bars, massage parlours, restaurants and hotels all alive. The first thing I notice is one year on, I must have lost my good looks - not once did anybody mention how handsum I was .

Now I would estimate less than 50% of establishments were open, but with no clientele. The streets are deserted - we saw a few Thai workmen asleep in a doorway, but that was it.

I knew it was bad, but I found this to be shocking.

I was talking to my daughter this morning. She lives in a Thai style rented bungalow. It is cheap, and because of that, always full. She now reckons her road is like a ghost town. There's no work here, so everybody is going home. There are currently 13 empty bungalows in her Soi.

[buksida]

They are offering discounts for hotel and air travel to expats living in Thailand - further details attached

Normally these things are only for expats with work permits. Will be interesting to see if everyone else gets a discount just by showing their non-immigrant visa.

Here is the list of hotels if anyone wants to try:

[Dannie Boy]

The article in the BP says that to qualify you just need to show your passport with expat status to qualify for the discounts - not that I’m planning to take advantage!!

[buksida]

Define "expat status" - in the eyes of the govt it has always been work permit holders. I won't be trying it either since most of the hotels listed are several hundred dollars a night.

[Big Boy]

I thought this when my son and his wife took advantage of the similar deal for Thais. That scheme only helped the high end establishments. Certainly it wasn't helping the standard of hotel I would normally stay in, and the establishments where the food vouchers had to be cashed in would also normally be right off my radar.

The top end hotels will probably scrape by regardless, whilst the low to mid-range hotels will simply go to the wall.

As I said, the hotels I would normally stay at are heavily discounted anyway, such is their desperation to attract clients.

[pitsch]

There are also a few cheaper hotels participating in the EXPAT TRAVEL BONUS

[pitsch]

https://www.facebook.com/Greenparkpatta ... 155268560/

[Pinoydave]

The so-called 'elite' are not the ones spending money accounting for a around 12 or 13% of GDP. That money comes from short term 'holiday makers'.
The 'elite' will never provide the cash injection that Thailand has been used to in the past.

They have no idea!

Big business around the world doesn’t help the poor...... Thailand political class don’t care, the last one that did ended up an exile

[buksida]

Thailand will remain closed to general tourism until at least the 2nd quarter of 2021
iss any resemblance of general tourism to Thailand goodbye, at least until march next year, at the earliest. That’s the outlook for Thailand’s beleaguered tourism industry from the usually optimistic Minster for Sports and Tourism, Pipat Ratchakitprakan.

So, apart from the STV and the modified 60 day Tourist Visa, and a few other options – all involving quarantine and a lot of red-tape for now – there’s not much good news on the horizon for people wishing to get back to Thailand right now. The minister’s outlook wipes out any hope of any tourism resurgence for the 2020/2021 high season.

The Thai Hotel Association and The Thailand Travel Agents Association have been lobbying, even demanding, the Thai government to drop its mandatory quarantine provisions and urgently negotiate travel bubble with provinces in China and other nations that are currently “low risk” for Covid-19, including Singapore, Vietnam, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan.

But Pipat says everything is on hold at this stage and that the Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha is urging caution in regards to any wholesale easing of restrictions.

“The country will continue with opening to businessmen, technical experts, high level workers and those in the medical field for now. 14 day quarantine will continue for now with many countries still in the grip of the pandemic.”

https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/tourism ... 1-minister