Economy in Thailand
In discussions about whether or not foreigners are welcome in Thailand, see for example the posting 'Blinkers', the contribution of foreigners in general to the Gross National Product is often disparaged.
Thailand has one of the fastest growing economies in Southeast Asia and is highly dependent on exports, which account for approximately 70% of GDP. Tourism is part of this, but only contributes about 6%. So, according to a persistent misunderstanding, tourism is not that important and Thailand would survive without tourism. However, tourism is not only what foreigners in Thailand spend in money, but also the spin-off to travel agencies, small businesses, banks, etc. is part of it and then you see that 7% suddenly rises to almost 40%. Very different cake, I would say.
Important for a country's economic development, however, is not only the growth of GNP, but also the growth of employment. In other words, how many Thais have a job with a reasonable salary because of that favorable GNP.
Industry, especially cars and electronics, contributes more than 40% to GDP, but only 14% to employment. The largest 'employer' is the agricultural sector, such as agriculture, forestry and fishing, almost 50% share of employment, although its share in GNP is only 9%. Tourism and the associated services are doing quite well with a 37% share in employment and almost 40% in GNP, I think.
I simply gleaned this data from the countless websites on the subject. The figures may differ slightly here and there, but it is certain that we are indeed welcome from an economic point of view, and cannot even be missed for the healthy development of Thailand.
Without the tourists it would be meager for many people especially for people who sell along the street. So Tourism is and remains an important source of income and…. I SUPPORT THAT FOR FULL 100%
JOHNNY
Without tourists it would also be a lot less cozy in Thailand. I think that many expats and retirees will therefore pack their bags. Even more economic damage…
without tourism, thailand would be dead.
many families in thailand, especially the less educated, survive thanks to the falang
oh … I live in a sub-village of Mae Rim, nothing foreigners adorning the streets.
thai
how big is thailand ? how small can thailand be?
dear bloggers; there are always more thai than your best known farang.
what economics? those few tourists who get lost here?
France is still a tourist destination in the Netherlands
Thailand is far away from that...
doesn't matter chat quietly about thailand.
all those little thoughts and comments make it a good blog after all
my respect to Ferdinant who recently introduced himself with his background…
I would appreciate this...if the frequent bloggers would also put something personal about their relationship to this blog on the internet...
i don't have much respect for bloggers like luckyluck , dutch , thailandganger, and so on.
who is luckyluck etc ?
why not a human name, your own name and then also speakable ….
For example, I have difficulty responding to chang noi, a nonsense name.
why should I respond to such a person?
maybe Khun peter has something to say about it….
again
I think this blog is more valuable if everyone responds with a proper name,
I often don't feel taken seriously when someone responds with a clear nonsense name, what are you talking about?
everything lame…. that's why I was so pleasantly surprised about the introduction of Ferdinant with his indonesia background.
kjik , that's correct blogging ... name information and reaction.
I often miss that here
chasing each other a bit, scoring points…..
i would like to get an upgrade from thailandblog
no fact chasing, just informative and if this blog isn't enough about the situation in thailand, switch to thaivisa.com
@ Yes, Guido, you cannot force anyone to provide an extensive response and a good substantive response. The level is not too high on many Dutch-speaking Thailand forums. We are already a positive exception. There are a number of people, I will not name them because I am afraid that I will forget someone, who give good reactions. But that takes time and that's the biggest problem.
Thaivisa is an English language forum, a much larger target group. That is comparing apples with pears. But you can also comment anonymously there and do you know the people behind the comments/names?
@ Guido there are 14 million tourists in Thailand, of which 200.000 are Dutch. So the Dutch are not important in numbers. The other 13,8 million, of course.
It's not about the name, it's about the message. Some give personal information others do not. Everyone is free in that. A nickname is quite common on the internet. Everyone is also free to do so, provided they are consistent and do not keep changing names (trolls).
What difference does it make if someone uses their real name or nickname? That only matters if you know each other personally. Guido tells me something because I know you, but otherwise it wouldn't have said anything to me. You could have been called Piet or Klaas.
There are many reasons why someone wants to remain anonymous, both professionally and privately. I let everyone in there.
I think you would like to know who is behind a reaction, how old he is, what the connection with Thailand is, because then you can better put it in a certain perspective. Like in normal life, but this is the digital world. If someone wants to step out of anonymity, Facebook is a great medium. Photos and a description can be found there.
Guyido, thank you for the compliment, but I also agree with Khun Peter's response. There are quite good reasons to use a pseudonym name and to do so without violating the veracity of a written article or response, because that depends on the integrity of the writer.
Mi rather short-sighted, this response.
Perhaps France is the number 1 holiday destination for NL. But how many Chinese and Japanese come there?
It is not about how many NL go to Thailand, but how many tourists from the world visit Thailand.
So join me with Khun Peter
These are official amounts if you had to know the amounts that foreigners leave here to their wives and family, not in their names but with foreign money.
one buys rental houses, the other buys land and then others buy rubber plantations, you can't put an amount on that except for a million or even ten million. And a large part of tourism goes through the bars, how official is this? Almost every foreigner I know also has his own home not in his name, but has paid for all this. If all this falls away, many will be hungry.
I totally agree with your conclusion.
All that money you mean is certainly included, though! After all, everything is paid in Baht, which you have “bought” from a Thai bank.
I have to agree with Guido completely, I've been amazed for years about the nicknames they most likely gave themselves.
I'm already a Sokepok and someone under the name Kwai on a pin page with very useful information??? were jamming along.
Then I'm not talking about people who call themselves Thai Arie,Pattaya Kees etc etc.
I usually know very quickly whether the person who writes or responds lives in Thailand or whether it is someone who has been on holiday there once and considers himself an expert in Thailand, specializing in Pattaya.
Finds Thailandblog still one of the best, nicely written pieces, and it's not too bad to piss each other off.
Dear Hans, or should I say mister Geijnse? 😉 You can only address people for lack of manners in their comments and not for creating a nickname or using only the first name. I don't see the point of always using name and surname, isn't it just about having a (fixed) online identity? When I have a conversation with someone in the pub, they usually only know my first name and the discussions there are often just as hard, it's really not always about anonymity or hiding. The editors are also just 'Khun Peter', right? Isn't that enough? At least for me.
If there is anonymity at all, or hiding as you call it, then that can also be for good reasons. The expat world in Asia is very small, and especially if someone is very well known for a certain position, I can imagine that they want to be able to give a personal opinion without involving their organization. That doesn't work if you're going to mention name and surname. And if that opinion does not exceed the limits of good decency, then there is nothing wrong with that, right?
I hope my response can ease some of your negative feelings about internet etiquette.
@ Robert and Ferdinant, I join you.
Funny, we often talk about Thai and Dutch glasses and from what perspective you look at something.
Standing for something, openness, transparency nice words. And of course I am for it. But because in this case, just like the opinion of Thailand, we also have to nuance, cannot generalize and look at the individual, my opinion on this.
An important reason for choosing anonymity is:
– business, if you have a public task or position, it may be wiser to write under a pseudonym. Especially on a controversial subject like Thailand, which quickly evokes negative associations and prejudices. It is easy for retirees to say that they receive a pension and have no other (business) interests. That makes quite a difference.
– Privately, there is censorship in Thailand. Guido himself says: be careful what you say in the press, otherwise you may forget about a visa extension... Criticism of the government or political statements could mean that I, as the person ultimately responsible for Thailand blog, will no longer be able to enter the country. End of Thailand blog
Furthermore, you have no idea what kind of idiots I'm dealing with. I once wrote something critical about Pattaya. The next day I already had death threats in my mailbox.
Thailand blog is a hobby that takes me a lot of time. In the beginning also money, now there are some advertisers but that does not even cover the costs. If I am hindered in my private or business life because certain figures would harass me, by email or soil other blogs of mine, Thailandblog would still go black today.
I hope you will take that into account.
I think I'm having a blue Monday here.
Coincidentally came across this site via a link and thought: “OK, maybe I can respond to those things that I think I know something about and possibly contribute something.
Incidentally, I wouldn't know where I could possibly leave personal information without it quickly being forgotten again.
I don't know guyido either and I wouldn't know where to look to find out anything about him.
By the way, I think his comment is bland and completely out of place on this site/subject.
With what information can I serve You Lord Guyido?
@ Dutch. It's about hiding behind a nickname. But why hide if you don't know each other. Suppose your name is Piet Pietersen and you will respond under that name from now on. So it doesn't make any difference does it? After all, I don't know Dutch and neither does Piet Pietersen. I'm mainly concerned with the quality of the response and not the name above it. The same goes for the authors.
Of course I am also curious about 'the person' behind the story. Maybe I should organize a Thailand blog meeting in Bangkok and invite everyone?
Great idea, I highly recommend it. It might also be something to organize in the Netherlands. I think that there are more members living here than in Thailand. I know a meeting center near Dieren where you only have to pay for the drinks. As you know, Thai food can also be provided.
We may be straying completely off topic (Gringo: economy in Thailand), but since this item has generated quite a bit of discussion, it might be something for the editors to do something with. There are bad apples everywhere, but it's still wonderful when people with the same interest meet and you could mean something to each other. And of course those meetings are already there, but not all of them are members of Thailandblog and I think that gives a certain connection.
ok Dutch ...what is a blue Monday?
I'm not 100% Dutch anymore so I don't understand this.
I have never experienced any colored Monday.
Ins Blue Hinein ?
no idea
ok simple , I also use a pseudonym , I learned that by writing some articles for / in the Noord Hollands Dagblad
Before I wrote that I was warned by a government official who accompanied me in the Burmese refugee camps, / going there alone is actually not possible / anyway, it was made very clear to me that I had better not write a negative story about the situation there because there may be some problems in Thailand in my [MY] future.\
see also khun peter's comment….
I liked to believe that since the Burmese refugees were kept under control with automatic weapons, I had clearly arrived in a place where foreigners are actually very, very undesirable…..
I won't go into details, normally use my name in this blog as guyido
that is better understood here in thailand as my baptismal name guido
in short, to step out of the shadows, look on the internet;
www. guidogoedheer.eu or google it stupidly….
and then there is total clarity I hope
I keep my political pseudonym a secret because I regularly publish about Thai politics in relation to the Burmese refugees
is that enough mister dutch?
you can always contact me personally via my site/email…preferably not via blog.
saluti di guyido
So googling
http://www.onzetaal.nl/advies/blauwemaandag.php
A Blue Monday = recently For more information: http://www.onzetaal.nl/advies/blauwemaandag.php
The question has now been answered!
Due to the fact that I only recently commented on this blog site, I was also surprised to be used as a "negative" example. (The relevant sentence has now been removed and this whole story is somewhat incomprehensible to most people)
This “sir” Dutch thought that made no sense.
Another problem is that it is no longer about Gringo's topic, which is the economy in Thailand.
Since the 90s, economic growth has shifted to Asia and that is not surprising. After all, Asia is the largest continent in the world and had approximately 2006 billion inhabitants in 3,97, or 61% of the total world population (6,5 billion). The Western market is virtually saturated, meaning there is hardly any growth anymore. A number of European countries, including Greece and Ireland, have already been rescued from bankruptcy by the European Union and it looks like countries such as Portugal and Spain will not survive without billions in aid. Third World countries? If we are not careful, we will soon belong to a third world country ourselves.
Of course Asia is dependent on the West, but conversely that dependence is much greater. For example, no less than 75% of our agricultural lands are located elsewhere in the world, at the expense of the rainforests. Due to economic growth and low (wage) costs, almost all multinationals have also established themselves in Asia. If there were no more farang to come or invest in Asia, it would certainly mean the end of our welfare state and we would soon end up in an economic situation like the XNUMXs again. I also wonder how long our (excessive) welfare state can be maintained, something that has been annoying me for years. If we do not want to experience further economic decline, we are obliged to invest in Asia.
Our colonial past and superior status in which we have lived for years has therefore led us to feel that we are above an Asian and view the emerging economies in Asia with a certain contempt or, to put it more neatly, with mixed feelings. After all, the emerging economies there could nullify the economic dominance of us (the West), and we cannot accept that from countries and peoples that we until recently portrayed as job republics and monkeys.
Gringo, speaking of derogatory... of course we make a considerable contribution (from our own country) to the Asian economy, but we should not overestimate that contribution by thinking that we can then afford ourselves different privileges, rights or rude behavior. Unlike us, at a certain point an Asian just gets fed up with this and all foreigners or groups are simply banned, regardless of the amount of the contribution made.
Ferdinant: I myself am educated in economics and understand what you want to say. However, there are quite a few twists in your reasoning, which are not so much based on facts as on (political) thoughts. That's allowed, that's your full right and I'm not going to fight it either.
The reason why I respond is that later you speak of "We feel superior to an Asian, contempt, deviating privileges, rights, rude behavior". That "we" may refer to large groups of Farangs, but please leave me out of it. I don't feel addressed at all.
I simply conclude that Thailand absolutely cannot do without tourism and the spin-off that goes with it, the figures show that. No more and no less. The last sentence of your argument is therefore completely misplaced, because it is a utopia.
Ferdinant and Gringo are both right, but you are talking about completely different things; Ferdinant talks about Asia and Gringo talks about Thailand. The growth is in Asia, that has been very clear for 20 years. Within Asia, however, there are many major differences per nation; there are progressive countries where people rule with vision, and there are countries where that is euphemistically less the case.
Dear Gringo, I also happen to be (academic) economically, but also tax-legally trained. There are quite a few twists in your reasoning, which are not so much based on facts as on (political thoughts), are those clinchers that I can't do anything with. Where are those kinks then? The figures and statements I have mentioned are based on facts and can of course also be checked.
The written “we” is not personal, but meant in a general sense, so to speak who fits the shoe. Gringo, to revive the discussion about the article "Economy in Thailand" you wrote, I approached it from a different and yes, call it political angle and it looks like I succeeded quite well. After all, not everyone is numerically versed and interested in it. Numbers are often much less interesting than the story behind them.
It is clear to everyone that Thailand cannot do without tourism with the associated spin-off from an economic point of view. However, it is anything but a utopia that an Asian (including a Thai) at a given moment, and let me put it in a nuanced way, has a partial lack of it. In Asia, emotion often trumps rationality. There are examples of this, just think of the bombings in Bali, which cost a fortune in tourist income. A Minister who then openly calls on the population to commit violence towards the Belanda (Dutchman). Thailand (from the south to Bangkok) is also not exempt from this.
And of course they are not so retarded that they ban all foreigners, but certain groups or nations, knowing that others will stand in line for this.
Ferdinant: thank you for your response, you write: "It is clear to everyone that Thailand cannot do without tourism with the associated spin-off from an economic point of view"
That was exactly the core of my story, so we as professional and blog brothers agree on that, insofar as some reactions to “Blinkers” apparently say it is not clear.
For the rest I will – I said it before – not enter into discussion, I respect your view on that.