Torneyboy Posted September 1, 2003 Report Share Posted September 1, 2003 OK OK Your crystal ball is better than mine Figures for my office are down but are coming up as we speak and the Christmas hol season is strong....still a way to go. I am in a network of over 420 offices and in general Thailand is on the up...as you/we say nothing happens all will be ok. Re TAT they do a great job i have been taken to LOS 5-6 times by them as well as Royal Orchid Hols and others..we see the inside workings and very impressed i must say. Re Sex tourists..none from my office(that i am aware) mainly familys and couples.. Did i/We Jump on you? sorry must have been Jp and i got caught in the tail draught. :: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 1, 2003 Report Share Posted September 1, 2003 The tourism industry constitutes only about 5-6 percent of GDP. A drop in tourists (for instance because of the social order campaign) has only a small effect on the overall economy. However it will seriously effect one sector, the tourism sector, at least in the short run. Afterwards godmarketing would see Thailand emerge as a true family destination. Do agree with Fly to some extend that Thailand is a nicce but not a spectacular tourist destination. however, the advatage of Thialand over other is that it has a variety to offer that you don't find in the maledives, south america, and its a safe and relative cheap place for tourist. It does have reasonable good beaches, hotels that vary from dumps to the absolute best. The same can be said of food. Travel around is cheap and quite easy, if not always safe. It has reasonable nice nature areas etc. etc. So for families it has lots to offer if perhaps not the best in the world of anything particular. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 1, 2003 Report Share Posted September 1, 2003 Afterwards [color:"blue"] godmarketing [/color] would see Thailand emerge as a true family destination. Well I think that is better left to the churches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jp1 Posted September 1, 2003 Report Share Posted September 1, 2003 Re Sex tourists..none from my office(that i am aware) mainly familys and couples.. We know, your're a GAB (Good Aussie Boy).... Did i/We Jump on you? sorry must have been Jp and i got caught in the tail draught. no, you're a bad one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torneyboy Posted September 1, 2003 Report Share Posted September 1, 2003 Says jp1: Re Sex tourists..none from my office(that i am aware) mainly familys and couples.. We know, your're a GAB (Good Aussie Boy).... Did i/We Jump on you? sorry must have been Jp and i got caught in the tail draught. no, you're a bad one. Thank you Second part Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfinkz Posted September 2, 2003 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2003 Some interesting responses. I would say that the handful of tourist areas in the country (from among 76 provinces) are in the fourth cycle--overpopulated and in danger. Tourism is what the Thai government does best. And TAT is a successful marketer. But they are in an untenable position. There seems to be an internal struggle to impossibly create more tourists spending more money, with others more rightly believing Thailand should concentrate on its bread-and-butter budget travellers, as their tightly-gripped baht is more likely to trickle to the people and this type is also a more likely repeat visitor. The current PM, for his part, has identified tourism as a key feature to economic recovery, hoping to double it to 20 million arrivals in the next few years. Increasing tourism so dramatically would necessarily require rolling back attempts to prevent degradation of ecologically and culturally sensitive sites. It used to be said that Bangkok, as the financial center, would never really attract foreign investment unless it became "green." And it was argued that it could not afford to do so. And the counter was it could not afford not to do so. Now, with this investment still stagnating, it is turning again to its lone trump card and hoping to bleed it dry. And it is attempting to do so by de-emphasizing LOS as a sexual destination, marketing Thai hospitality and promoting pristine locales whereas in reality, in the few areas with developed tourist infrastructure, the reverse is true--sex on sale at every turn, a growing anti-farang sentiment in your face and ecological and cultural degradation around the corner. For myself, as I plot my return, I have no desire to visit the places heavily-promoted and attracting the bulk of the 10 million annual visitors. Yeah, the 25B Koh Phi Phi bungalow was alright back in the day, unaware as I was where my food and water was coming from or where my waste went, though the growing rubbish pile out back was hard to overlook. And the hill tribe trek was worthwhile, our group being booked for the Tuesday evening opium pow-wow with the "chief", clueless to the commercialization eroding indigenous traditions. Sure, Thailand will continue to attract an ever-increasing number of tourists, in search of value, variety and safety and converging on the same tired locales in their quest to "do Thailand" and scratch it off their lists. And Bangkok, at least, as the point of arrival/departure and a world capital will continue to accomodate them. For me, however, and looking back on my fondest travel memory, the future is in Issarn, the long-neglected heartland. Able to learn from the mistakes of its predecessors, and being both the last holdout of true Thai culture and situated at the gateway to an up-and-coming Laos and Cambodia--go Northeast young man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voodoo31 Posted September 2, 2003 Report Share Posted September 2, 2003 Sfinks Great post and sums up perfectly the pros and cons of tourist development and the Thailand experience. You raise an intersting point about Isaarn. I have spent quite a bit of time in that region over the past two years as my ex-girlfriend was from their. It is one area where you just dont see many farang or travellers in general. Unfortunately there seems to be a lack of genuinelly unique or interesting tourist locations. Well that was my experience anyway but possibly I missed a lot of good of good places. Anyway I hope they can come up with some touristic ideas or experiences to entice travellers to that region because it is the one area in Thailand that needs all the economic help in can get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 2, 2003 Report Share Posted September 2, 2003 Guys, Be careful to judge the current state of tourist affairs just by the deplorable state of Nana and so. Over the past few years Thailand was quite succesful in attracting huge numbers of tourists who didn't care (or did hardly care) about the opportunities offered by the sex biz. The number of Asian families coming here is still growing. And talking about big spenders: company meetings and convention goers. Let's get factual: Last week a major 5 star hotel on Sukhumvit hosted a regional meeting for a huge corporation (top 10 in Fortune top 100). The group wasn't that big (80 people on average), but they spend a million baht a day just in the hotel. Sure theys hot shots went shopping and so on to spend a few more bucks. Nana would love to have a day where revenues top the million baht (again). Thailand has an awful lot to offer to tourists with all kind of interests. And although it's a pitty nightlife starts to become a dirty word here in Thailand, there are still few countries in the world where is so easy to have sex with numerous gorgeous girls. It's just in their Thai genes to flirt, party and enjoy. just my 2satang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZMAN Z28 Posted September 2, 2003 Report Share Posted September 2, 2003 Na, tourism isn't going away from Thailand. Jut my opinion. We are in a world slump right now. ZMAN Z28 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torneyboy Posted September 2, 2003 Report Share Posted September 2, 2003 Says ongchaai: Guys, Be careful to judge the current state of tourist affairs just by the deplorable state of Nana and so. Over the past few years Thailand was quite succesful in attracting huge numbers of tourists who didn't care (or did hardly care) about the opportunities offered by the sex biz. The number of Asian families coming here is still growing. And talking about big spenders: company meetings and convention goers. Let's get factual: Last week a major 5 star hotel on Sukhumvit hosted a regional meeting for a huge corporation (top 10 in Fortune top 100). The group wasn't that big (80 people on average), but they spend a million baht a day just in the hotel. Sure theys hot shots went shopping and so on to spend a few more bucks. Nana would love to have a day where revenues top the million baht (again). Thailand has an awful lot to offer to tourists with all kind of interests. And although it's a pitty nightlife starts to become a dirty word here in Thailand, there are still few countries in the world where is so easy to have sex with numerous gorgeous girls. It's just in their Thai genes to flirt, party and enjoy. just my 2satang Yes Thailand has much to offer to the tourist..not just nightlife. The good time will return and is as i have said before the upturn has started. The internal promotions from TAT and Thai Airways will help no end IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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