Tourism as cover for investment projects
New measures will be announced next month to attract tourists back to Thailand, especially visitors from China, ahead of the New Year of Huangdi, Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak said on Thursday.
The government is expected to approve a package of measures in the second half of November. It would be effective until the end of December, he said. The measures would concern the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the Ministry of Finance and Thai Airways International.
Chinese New Year 2019 begins on Tuesday, February 5, 2019, according to the Huangdi calendar 4716, the year of the boar. The start begins with the spring festival. The cabinet wants to use this, among other things, to put Thailand on the map for more Chinese people in order to halt the decline in Chinese tourists.
The deputy prime minister said he would visit China early next month to boost Chinese investment and tourism in Thailand. The planned exemption from the 2.000 baht on arrival visa fee would be discussed in a few months, Somkid said.
He also said the government would not allow further delays for Thailand's mega investment projects. The income from the tourism industry is important for the economy and for financing government plans. Many of the projects scheduled for this year had already been delayed and rescheduled for the first quarter of 2019, Somkid said.
It is remarkable to note that on the one hand there is talk of an increase in Chinese tourists, and on the other hand that people are concerned about the decline of the same group of tourists. At Phuket there would even be 40 percent fewer Chinese. Sometimes the government believes its own dreamed reality, but the hard reality puts them back on the ground. Measures should make Thailand attractive again, but in fact to financially secure the mega investment projects by, among other things, stimulating the tourist industry. Which package could be attractive to a wider group of tourists has apparently not yet been considered.
Source: Bangkok Post and Wikipedia
I don't think the dreamed numbers of Chinese will come next year.
And if they do come, I don't think they will deliver the dreamed golden mountains.
And furthermore, you should not only look at what they spend – insofar as they spend – you also have to look at the costs of that tourism, the pollution for example, of the planes, buses and the waste.
But I'm afraid that the cost of pollution will remain an unpaid bill for the government, which will be passed on to the future.
The fact that the Thai government does not employ consultants who know the ropes.
Planet Thailand is holding up and even thinks it can solve it.
If Thailand would ask good travel advisors from both Europe and the USA to consult how or what to stop the decline in tourism, because things are going very badly, you can already see that in Bangkok and Pattaya, where I go more often than the nightlife completely on its ass…..both literally and figuratively. Empty bars, and little crowd in the malls, both Europeans and Chinese.
Thailand has even turned the tourists away by using double entrance fees and tariffs and that is also being spread on Social Media about how the Thai treats tourists.
The tide has long turned and it won't get any better.
Has nothing to do with government but the people should be taught how to deal with foreigners and not use the system to cheat or rob you. The good left behind.
The entire visa system needs to be overhauled… and apply fixed rules… because every official has their own interpretation. I can name a dozen … reasons.
Hope that a Thai official reads Thailand blog and will have a good conversation with his boss about the pain points why TOURISM is going downhill in Thailand.
TonyM
The Chinese come to Thailand less because of Thailand's poor image in terms of safety and customer-friendliness. Some incidents of the last months:
– quarrel in a barbershop about paying the bill
– a guard on Don Muang who gets into a fight with an elderly Chinese tourist
– 21 (I think) Chinese tourists drown in a boat accident near Phuket (boat sails when the weather forecast was bad)
– Prawit blames the Chinese for the scams on Chinese tourists in Phuket.
The Chinese do not stay away because of the high costs in Thailand. Many Chinese who buy a package holiday in their own country do not even know that the price includes 2000 Baht visa-on-arrival. The Chinese will not come back if those costs are scrapped because the package price will not go down. Those who profit from this gift from the Thai government (1 million * 2000 Baht = 2 billion baht) are the Chinese tour operators... They pocket the 2000 Baht per tourist.