Trapped in paradise
So, from now on, the Thai government only wants to allow well-to-do foreigners within its borders. Truly a noble goal, but a few decades too late. Where until now policy was aimed at chasing as many hurdles as possible into the country, it is now suddenly about quality instead of quantity. I predict: it is a plan that is doomed to fail.
At the beginning of this century I visited the island of Koh Chang. At that time it was still virtually untouched, with a few luxurious resorts. Bars were absent except for three. You could only drink a beer there. According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), the island was intended to attract upmarket guests. The island had to be prevented at all costs from becoming an entertainment center a la Pattaya, Phuket or Samui. A decade later, that policy turned out to have failed miserably, see what happened on White Sand Beach, including pollution, beer bars and cheap hotels.
The TAT has always been concerned with numbers of foreigners. It was always more, more and more. It didn't matter where from, whether it was China, Russia or Africa. With only a ticket in his pocket, backpackers, dollar tour Chinese and even criminals entered the country.
Until things got out of hand, also because most Thai people have no idea of the value of their own country. The beautiful beaches are polluted, the tropical islands are true rubbish dumps, the cities became clogged and the inhabitants gasped. Millions of tourists rushed to the 'Land of Smiles'. They brought relative prosperity, but also trampled what they had come for. It was good business with corrupt police, military and governments and the (ever more thrifty) trees seemed to grow to the sky.
Covid-19 threw a spanner in the works for Thai food. Thailand came to a standstill overnight. Hotels, restaurants, shopping malls and the like closed their doors and the staff were out on the street. Suddenly, foreigners were no longer allowed to enter the country.
That now seems to be a wonderful tool for the current Thai government to reset the country. Thailand for the Thai and for the wealthy foreigners who can afford to spend a few weeks in luxurious resorts. A kind of Maldives, so. A few foreigners with a work permit and some other experts are allowed in, provided they are healthy, the rest have to close at the back.
No matter how good for nature, this policy is not going to work, because let the bear go. The chic resorts are in the hands of already wealthy Thais and they only get richer this way. The tens of thousands of cheaper hotels and guesthouses are without customers and the employees without work/money. In the short term, this will lead to unrest among the population, but also among airlines, tour operators and everyone who, until March of this year, earned a living from foreign guests. Thailand for the Thai? Yes, only for the people who can afford to travel. If the foreigners stay away, many of them also earn less. They have to pay for their children's house, car and education and have less and less money to enjoy their own country.
And the estimated 150.00 foreigners in the country? They are trapped in paradise. They can leave the country with some difficulty, but will not be allowed back in for the time being. The necessary duties, but hardly any rights.
It seems that Thailand, however well-intentioned, is throwing the baby out with the bathwater. 'Good guys in, bad guys out' sounds promising, but it shouldn't lead to 'All guys out, nobody in'.
Hans 'Glass Ball' Bos, I think you are absolutely right.
The wealthy tourist, who is that?
The lucky few?
The wealthy retiree, tradesman, investor?
Hank and Ingrid?
Now with that corona you can see very clearly what the consequences are if you keep or chase away the mass tourist for medical reasons. And this subdivision is to be made permanent? You wrote it yourself: poverty is spiraling out of control (already, food distribution is desperately needed), crime is increasing (you see your children starving and then you start stealing from misery), people can no longer afford anything, land and mopeds are confiscated, a vicious circle that never ends.
A disastrous plan from this government that apparently does not even look at the neighboring countries; Cambodia is now also full of poverty, more than usual there, and in Laos and Vietnam there is social unrest because people have nothing to do and the fat boys are filling their pockets.
Advice? They will not accept that, but there are experts in the world where they can get it.
OPEN that country, promote language skills, finally do something about corruption and don't make people wait hours for a stamp. As far as I am concerned, you are right: this will not work at all and the own people will suffer badly. But unrest is responded to in Thailand with the knout, not with thought.
Today in the BKK Post an article about this intention, among other things.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/1937256/thailands-strategic-path-is-rudderless
Dear Hans, that they have not yet asked you for a post in the government or as an adviser.
You solve the problem between breakfast and lunch well done.
Dear Marco, I remain available, although the chances of the Thai government accepting anything from a foreigner are slim.
Thailand has a very narcissistic upper class that wants to control and keep the entire nation under control. She thinks she can get maximum benefit from this. Self-interest first is their motto. The first steps in this process have already started in May 2014. To keep critical snoopers away, foreigners should stay away. That trend has now been able to be used thanks to Corona. Natives already received attitude corrections. And otherwise the army is still ready, and the judiciary does the rest.
What the upper class doesn't realize is that their introverted selfish attitude is causing the country to implode.
It is no longer a question of whether this implosion will take place, only the question of when.
Thailand is falling into an outright regression. Staying far away from it becomes my motto, read: advice.
You put the blame for the pollution very much on the tourist.
When I go to the city, often via some detours, because I hate the highway, the roadsides are full of garbage and construction rubble everywhere.
That is certainly not waste from tourists, because there are hardly any here and moreover tourists usually do not walk around with building rubble in their bags.
If you get a lot of tourists as a country, you also have to ensure proper processing of the waste.
Tourists can do no more than throw their waste in a waste bin, after which that waste is the responsibility of the government.
I state in my story that the Thai have no idea of the value of their own country. As a result, they throw their garbage everywhere. I also experience that in my neighborhood in Hua Hin. And the yard dogs do the rest.
I totally agree with you Hans.
I live right next to a river and you wouldn't want to know what I see passing by here every day.
An expensive restaurant near me, the garbage bags next to the street flicker, while the street dogs greedily watch. The next day, it's a big mess, while the garbage truck comes by every morning at 10 o'clock. Instead of purchasing a garbage container from Thaiwhatsadu, no, that is not possible.
But a thick Mercedes that is possible.
The farang seems to be often portrayed as a pervert, but I think the Thais have looked in the wrong mirror.
They simply don't care if who lives then who cares??
And they want to bring in the wealthy?
One should ask oneself how doctors, lawyers and the highly educated behave when they visit the Spanish holiday resorts.
These people who behave nicely in their own country can act like animals during the holidays.
Unrecognizable and almost impossible to imagine, such a cover. It is certainly not only the average holidaymaker who goes wild during the holiday
For those who haven't figured it out yet, Thailand is governed from Beijing.
The Chinese have a container port in Myamar, are building a fast train connection, a container port in Greece, a majority interest in African raw materials, the new Silk Road is almost ready.
Never again with tankers via the Indian Ocean, the countries in Southeast Asia have no choice, act as a satellite state of China or else experience the consequences of an angry neighbor.
For those who don't understand yet, China makes the rules, too many Europeans in a satellite state could cause problems in the future.
This is just another kite like so many others. It seems to me that such a suggested policy will lead to massive unemployment. Everyone back in the rice fields? I can't take shit like this seriously.
I myself also notice little of Robert, in my immediate vicinity that mopeds are picked up, children do not have food etc etc etc.
I still see them racing around on mopeds the kids.
Jan Beute.
Wealthy tourist.
This name has of course also been used by the government in order not to lose face and to reassure the upper class.
Someone with state pension in the Netherlands has about 35000 Baht, which is above average for Thailand.
So well off.
For an American Express gold card you must have approximately 45000 annual income in most European countries.
In Thailand, a Thai who already receives about 400.000 Baht …. our state pension income.
So indeed no problem our minimum incomes are still well off, so we can all just keep coming!
Are those rich tourists also allowed to enter Thailand for a while, or is it actually expected that they will immediately dump their budget for that trip in the collection boxes at Suvarnabhumi and return by return flight?
My son was deputy of a very expensive hotel on Koh Samui for a short time. US$750 per night. But it was NOT to teach the Thais to get the glass from the beach near the hotel. As a rich tourist, she will just step on a piece of glass. Not to mention the rest of dumped garbage.
Completely agree.
But Thailand is not a democracy.
On Koh Chang, at the end of the road SE, past Long Beach, is a resort, Tantawan. Luxury bungalows on stilts. No one is ever there. There are plans to expand the place over the water, up the mountain. The money comes from a bank (director), who can therefore enjoy it on his own. and yes, the bank money has to flow somewhere, so go there. I wouldn't say it could be more corrupt. The case is before the judge, and as soon as he is bribed, the money can continue to roll.
A human right is free travel.
Many of us are kidnapped by the government here and elsewhere in the world. Those government clowns are loozers. The state of emergency is being extended continuously to keep the Thais under control so that the opposition cannot demonstrate.
But I'm afraid it's only a matter of time. More and more unemployed, without money and even food, what do they have to lose. The country urgently needs to open for many reasons. The new German who can go in and out of the country just like that and came back for 1 or 2 days, no rules for him, in between a few bags of rice and handing out his photo while his subjects are having an increasingly difficult time. And yet they think they are doing a good job there in Bangkok.
That so-called better public is not satisfied with polluted beaches, a large part of which the rental of beach chairs is also prohibited.
No person of this quality seeker will be happy to lie down on a towel for a whole day to enjoy the beach life.
The elite or so-called better tourist also demands safe traffic, and zebra crossings where the other traffic at least adheres to international rules.
This category of so-called better tourists is not used to sitting in a hut with other sweating people in a Songtaew, so that taxis without mafia structures are mainly needed for those.
Apart from the cheap paste of fried rice for 0,40 Baht and a beer straight from the bottle, this only requires quality restaurants with a pronounced hygiene concept.
Night market restaurants where the rubbish is often deposited under the table so that stray dogs can roam freely, this fine company is certainly an eyesore.
Heavily polluted air, where the particulate matter load is among the highest in this world, is no longer even a reason for mass tourism to place Thailand at the top of the list of paradise holiday countries.
Things where you can extend the list far, which are very often accepted from the less spoiled tourist because of a charming Thailach, favorable price, and the fact that Asia is not Europe.
The so-called better tourist who is looking for quality, hygiene, and clean air, etc., and does not look at a price, can find this better almost everywhere closer to home.
I think every country prefers wealthy tourists. The only question remains whether it is also the well-to-do tourists or what can pass for them who spend the most money? My experience is that it is not infrequently the most wealthy who complain about 1 euro.
In Thai culture it is normal for the wealthiest to be the most generous, but that is not the case at all in many other cultures.
What I read about the polluted beaches of Samui, I have been going there for 35 years, never less than 5 months a year.
Every day I clean up the beach, empty oil cans, boat cushions, shampoo bottles, empty Thai whiskey bottles... All this waste belongs to the local fishermen and local residents.
Even young children who learn about the environment at school just dump everything on the beach.
So please don't blame tourists for this.
What a lot of negative thoughts about Thailand. It seems more like that everyone speaks for his own parish: The Pataya ganger for the pub and the Tattoo shop, the other for their etc etc.
If you read a book and want to learn from it, I recommend reading 3 books and taking the average of all three 🙂
Here's something positive about Thailand. Written by one of the largest accounting firms in the world from their office in Bangkok.
Moderator: Do not copy pieces of English text here, a link to the source is sufficient.
sorry miss the link, seemed interesting??
very simple, as long as the farangs with millions cannot own land and houses in Thailand, they will go to other countries to invest their money. The rich do not give away their earned money. that's how I think about it.
Nicely said…
Traveling and staying in a 5 star resort or backpacking and/or staying in small guesthouses has more to do with the way one wants to experience a trip than with the resources one has available. There may be more affluent people among backpackers than among travelers staying in a resort.
When I went to Thailand for the very first time more than 30 years ago, I also stayed in a beautiful resort. After that I never stayed in them again and now prefer more charming little hotels.
And 30 years ago I didn't have the resources I have today.
This does not only happen in Thailand, but everywhere where there is mass tourism.
I just read that people in Amsterdam also want to get rid of mass tourism. Last week there was a report about this on RTL-Z. Wealthy Chinese and Japanese spend an average of € 350,00 per day. Germans and Belgians, on the other hand, € 150,00. You can guess which one you prefer. The Amsterdammer himself can barely walk in his own city.
In Venice they are also fed up with mass tourism. St. Peter's Square is falling apart. Here too they want to regulate it. Thailand is therefore not an odd duck in the bite.
What good are hordes of Tourists baking in the sun all day, drinking and making noise in the evening. Take a look at the beach from the movie the Beach, for example. It had to be closed because nature was destroyed by mass tourism.
I don't know if well-to-do tourists would have more respect for environmental fauna and flora than less well-to-do tourists.
I just thought that tourists who are satisfied with lying on a beach or a swimming pool are the least damaging to nature even if they go out for a few beers in the evening.
The wealthy tourist who wants to speed around on jet skis, motorboats and quads, experience helicopter flights and go deep-sea diving seems to me to be a greater danger to nature.
You attach too much value to the daily test balloons of the Thai government, they are champions here in making fairly stupid comments that are then picked up by the forums as if it were immediately law.
No country has an income control if you want to come as a tourist, if you want to go to the Seychelles as a low budget tourist it is difficult of course because of the cost structure there, the same in New York. But of course no one is stopping you. Thailand is a low budget country, of course they want rich tourists but that is wishful thinking. As long as Thailand has the qualities it has now, the budget tourists will keep coming.
An expensive baht automatically ensures that the backpackers leave elsewhere, but there are certainly no wealthy tourists in their place. Thailand simply does not have the quality of other destinations.
So relax, and let the clowns in Bangkok pour their daily nonsense over the media, 90% of the plans are never heard from and the other 10% fail TIT.
The rich tourists have been here for a long time, the poorer ones too. Both don't go away, and both come back.
Celebrated the holiday in Thailand every year after 15 years.
But discover more and more disadvantages of this country.
Both the unfriendliness, service, traffic, costs, crime, corruption, pollution, ingratitude, and so on.
And now they want some more wealthy people!! Do not make me laugh.
They are completely destroying tourism itself.
We will not go to Thailand for the time being.