Thailand tourism situation

[buksida]

I'm talking about Expats trapped in Thailand for 2 years because they weren't willing to run the gauntlet of quarantine, additional insurances fees, etc when they returned. These people left in July 2022 when re-entry restrictions were eased, for around 6 weeks. Now their holiday is over, they are boosting TAT's entry figures.

I fit exactly into that category ... tourists we are not! Neither were all the transiting Taiwanese, but TAT'll count em anyway!

[buksida]

Tourism prospects hang in the balance

The weak baht could benefit the tourism industry as foreign purchasing power gains value, though it might not be enough to offset high airfares, according to the Thai Hotels Association (THA).

Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi, president of THA, said currency depreciation is just one of many factors helping to make the Thai tourism industry more attractive in the post-pandemic period.

"The weak baht definitely affected the industrial sector as it imports raw materials for production, but it could support the tourism industry as foreign tourists can spend more in the country," she said.

The baht has continued to plunge as the US Federal Reserve hiked interest rates by 0.75 percentage points this week to battle inflation.

"But whether a weak baht can help offset high transport costs, such as airfares, I'm not quite sure," said Mrs Marisa.

She said the soaring price of air transport has affected the number of international tourists travelling by plane, as this market remains lower than expected the past few months.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/24 ... he-balance

[STEVE G]

It’s not as if we’re waiting for 2019 to happen again, it won’t. It can’t. So many things have changed, completely out of the control of the lever-pullers in the Thai government, and they appear disinclined to get creative and come up with a newer, more relevant product for the post-Covid world.

There will be fewer travellers to Thailand, a lot fewer. The same might be said for most other tourist magnets around the world. Thailand is not immune to many of the problems affecting global travel, particularly tourism, at this time.

Recession in many of Thailand’s feeder markets, a no-show of the previously lucrative and numerous Chinese market, a collapse of the Russian outbound travel market and complex global supply chain challenges, affecting everything from staffing to fuel costs, are just some of the reasons people will be staying home for a few years.

I think that sums things up pretty well, basically people aren't travelling much anymore and if you also factor in the increasing costs of living with inflation and rising interest rates, they wont' be doing so for a while so it doesn't really matter what Thailand does or doesn't do because there aren't many tourists to attract.

[caller]

Another couple, He American, she Thai, are resettling in Thailand after 15 yrs. in San Fransico, citing the demise of the city, the filth, and the cost of living.

They should feel right at home straight away!

[handdrummer]

Another couple, He American, she Thai, are resettling in Thailand after 15 yrs. in San Fransico, citing the demise of the city, the filth, and the cost of living.

They should feel right at home straight away!

There are no junkies shooting up and sleeping on the streets in Thailand.
The cost of living here is a fraction of the cost in San Fran.
Bangkok is nosier & smellier and more polluted and congested than San Fran.
It's a trade-off.
Personally, the things I miss about the US are friends, music & libraries, and seasons.

[Ratsima]

My wife had some work in Chonburi so we spent a night at the Jomtien Palm Beach hotel. We arrived mid-afternoon, simultaneously with six or seven busloads of tourists from Vietnam. I had never considered Vietnam to be a tourist market for Thailand. The next morning there were so many of them in the dining area that we couldn't find a seat until they started filling up the buses for their next destination.

We were pleasantly surprised to see how busy Jomtien was. We've been a number of times over the past four or five years. The place was actually pretty grim even before Covid and downright ghostly during much of the pandemic. Even the massive Palm Beach hotel was closed for a while.

This time most every place along the beach was open and doing brisk business. Very few of the boarded up shops we'd seen previously.

Frankly, I don't much like the place but it was good to see people doing business and making at least a bit of money.

[PeteC]

That's on the site of the former Royal Jomtien Resort hotel which had the massive fire in 1997. Many fatalities. I don't know if the current Palm Beach Hotel used part of the existing structure, or they tore it all down and started fresh.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Jom ... Hotel_fire

[Ratsima]

That's on the site of the former Royal Jomtien Resort hotel which had the massive fire in 1997. Many fatalities. I don't know if the current Palm Beach Hotel used part of the existing structure, or they tore it all down and started fresh.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Jom ... Hotel_fire

Interesting story. The Palm Beach looks like it was built in the late 90s. After reading the description of the fire I can't image there was much existing structure to use for the new hotel. The Palm Beach has a 12 lane bowling alley next to the lobby. Did the Royal Jomtien have a bowling alley?

[PeteC]

No idea about the bowling alley. I lived in the area then about 1 km away and we all saw the smoke. By the time we got up there, Tappaya road before it meets Jomtien road was all blocked off and no one except fire and medical people could get close.

Pattaya and Jomtien were sleepy places in those days, with Tappaya road a simple country road connecting the two places. There was no internet to speak of yet and everyone was glued to TV and radio. It was a huge and tragic event for the area.

[PeteC]

If you google "Jomtien hotel fire" There are many stories about it, and video as well.

[Ratsima]

If you google "Jomtien hotel fire" There are many stories about it, and video as well.

Some pretty horrific photos there.

And, then there's this, from May of this year:

Guests flee Jomtien hotel after smoke fills building


Same location, new fire.

Maybe we'll find a different place to stay next time.

[buksida]

TAT's latest figures show Malaysians as being the top "tourists" to Thailand ... also in the top five were Vietnam and Laos ... go figure.

They can't include the Burmese because the army keeps pushing them back over the border to get shot by their own army, which this army government approves of.

[bigston]

Slump, what slump,,,
the place should be full of potheads
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-06/ ... /101500422
then it will be full of potheads and xxxx heads

[PeteC]

World Cup hits local flight seat capacity

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/24 ... t-capacity

The World Cup 2022 in Qatar scheduled to start next month has affected seat capacity to Thailand during the high season as airlines pivot to routes that serve football fans...........

[HHTel]

Slump, what slump,,,
the place should be full of potheads
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-06/ ... /101500422
then it will be full of potheads and xxxx heads

Looks like the Chinese have misread the new drugs law:

Hundreds of Chinese citizens arrested in Bangkok drug party raid

Thailand appears to be struggling a bit in its quest to draw in “high-quality tourists.”

Bangkok police arrested hundreds of Chinese citizens at a raid on a drug party in the Sathorn area early this morning. The police busted a total of 266 people at a karaoke venue on Charoen Rat Road. 237 of the busted partiers were Chinese nationals, including 111 men and 126 women.

The police reportedly found several kinds of drugs including ketamine, nimetazepam, and “happy water,” a drug cocktail containing MDMA, methamphetamine, diazepam, and ketamine, Nation Thailand reported.

https://thethaiger.com/news/bangkok/hun ... 49g2_wXVH0