Thailand plans to end the many hotel room promotions due to the pandemic, but only for foreign tourists, by introducing dual pricing.
Foreign tourists may soon find Thailand a more expensive destination than it has been in the past two years.
Indeed, the country now plans to increase hotel rates to pre-pandemic levels to support a faster recovery of the sector.
“The Ministry of Tourism and Sports plans to ask hotel operators to implement a dual-rate structure in which foreign visitors can be charged rates similar to those before the pandemic.
But locals will still be able to benefit from reduced rates,” said Traisuree Taisaranakul, government spokesperson, in a statement on Wednesday, July 6.
"It's about maintaining our pricing and service standards for foreign tourists, which affects the perception of the country's tourism brand," Ms. Traisuree said.
“The rates that were reduced during Covid-19 will be maintained for Thais to support the momentum of domestic tourism.”
This follows statements by some Thai ministers on July 4:
"Thailand's private hotels, businesses, and hospitals should refrain from offering discounts to attract tourists and instead focus on increasing the country's value as a high-end travel destination."
See: No discounts for foreigners: Thailand wants to attract wealthy tourists
Hotels in tourist hotspots such as Bangkok , Phuket , Krabi and Koh Samui continue to offer huge discounts to attract visitors after the pandemic caused room occupancy rates to drop to around 30%.
Although hoteliers did not immediately respond to the proposal, the ministry and the Tourism Authority of Thailand will soon hold talks with the Hotel Association of Thailand about the dual-pricing plan, according to Ms. Traisuree.
Although the country has lifted all Covid-related travel restrictions , the tourism sector is still reeling from the heavy losses incurred during the pandemic.
The government expects 9.3 million foreign arrivals this year, a fraction of the 40 million tourists who arrived in 2019.
But according to the Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT), 12 million foreign arrivals are needed, as that is the minimum threshold needed to support the entire industry.
See: Tourism Council of Thailand targets 12 million foreign arrivals
This plan, which is understandable, risks being poorly received by foreign travelers and will have an impact on expatriates living in the kingdom.
This kind of announcement, like the previous one, which aims to make Thailand a destination for "high-end tourists," sends a negative message to backpackers and middle-class travelers, who make up the vast majority of tourists and who might feel unwelcome in Thailand.
As Marc, one of our readers, says in his comment :
“It is the middle class that supports the Thai people during their travels.
But by dint of reading these disdainful words for foreigners, they will no longer come.
I will no longer return to this sovereign country which despises me as a "farang" (foreigner in Thai) .
I'm not going to spend my money there anymore, too bad for them.
There are other beautiful countries, where the people are lovely and tourists are treated well."
See also:
Foreigners in Thailand will still have to pay 5 times more to visit national parks
Source: Bangkok Post
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17 comments
Incredible! This is where we reach the heights of human stupor...
I'm not going to dwell on this, it's simply worthy of basic reasoning from a 3-year-old child!!!
And always come back with this goal of bringing in the "rich" farangs, disdaining the vast majority of ordinary tourists who support tourism and the Thais...
They are busy killing the goose that lays the golden eggs!
What a bunch of idiots!!!
Instead of attracting tourists by taking measures to encourage their return en masse, they will drive them away...
It will take them 6 months to realize this and it will be too late for the 2022/2023 peak season!
Let them enforce their discrimination law against farangs and expatriates.
Two or three millionaires spending a week in Thailand won't turn the country around.
The country is in much worse shape than the government says. Let them continue.
In two or three years, they'll be begging for tourists to come back.
But they'll have left Thailand for other places.
ToutelaThailande, it is good to inform tourists about what is happening in Thailand.
Could you produce a few more positive articles!!!
Because by reading you regularly, I notice that lately the majority of your articles are pessimistic.
What is certain is that you are not working to promote a tourist revival with increasingly negative articles.
Reading you, one could believe that tourists with average purchasing power are despised by the Thai authorities...
Which will ultimately push us to look elsewhere...
But perhaps, that is the goal of your articles...
Hello Didi,
I don't think the editorial staff of "ToutelaThailande" is particularly pessimistic and trying to discourage international tourism.
But, having lived in Thailand for 11 years, and having followed this French news website for many years, I can attest to the fact that most (if not all) of the articles published here are translations of original articles published in the local Thai and English-language press (Bangkok Post, Thaiger, etc.)
The reality is that Thailand is in really bad shape and the government is not really encouraging, through the latest measures announced, a recovery and encouragement for international tourism!
Decisions for long-term results are not a Thai specialty, as the country's political and economic leaders prefer to react quickly and quickly with measures aimed at the short and medium term, without much in-depth reflection, with analyses of all the factors influencing and the consequences of the decisions taken...
Which gives rise to situations that we often know to be contradictory, suppressed, taken against the grain, such as (and this is only one example among many others.)
This decision, which does not date from this year, but was already proposed at the beginning of 2019, to impose a tourist tax on all foreign tourists arriving in the country...
A tax that was never implemented due to a lack of logistical resources, a consequence of hasty decisions being made....
Thai authorities make implementing decisions on draft ideas, see their desires, put them in the form of decrees to apply them, but between these two extremes of "wanting" and "applying", there is often a big gap in the means that must be implemented to implement their projects!!!!
They lay down laws, then wonder how to apply them and find themselves faced with a wall of problems... (see the problems currently being managed by the liberalization in a few months of cannabis which has gone from being a prohibited drug (with prison sentences of up to life imprisonment!) to a legal ingredient in Thai cuisine and food supplements, medical care and recreational use at home!!!
Rushing is never a good advice, but in Thailand it's almost a national sport!!!
More expensive and less expensive hotels, more expensive national parks too (it's masculine).
Thanks El Perricho, the mistakes have been corrected.
They don't know what the law of supply and demand is in this country.
If their turnover goes down, they raise their prices.
Just like many people, they don't know the difference between turnover and profit.
There they go again with their money.
This country is pathetic. Indeed, there are other countries around.
It will be time to look elsewhere.
They have barely erased their previous nonsense when they add another layer.
These Thai leaders are worth as much as our ENA graduates, we have to admit it :)
Like them, they are capable of ruining your economy with stupid decisions...
It doesn't matter, there are plenty of other countries just as nice as Thailand nearby. It will surely benefit them.
Thailand is a Nationalist country (in the non-political sense): Covid comes from abroad, we are able to produce our vaccines on our own, foreigners are there to pay.
Afterwards, it is a magnificent country where you can spend incredible moments.
The choices of Thai leaders are only a reflection of the thinking of this Nation. It is better to know this.
Note: A beautiful mistake in bold in the title (dear).
I spend all my annual holidays in Cambodia with my Thai wife...
Cheap, good reception...
No discrimination barangs, moreover, we try to consume as little as possible in our house, simple, I made my house autonomous: I pay neither electricity nor water and I produce my biogas, and for our rare trips all electric.
I notice that, over time, more and more couples are doing the same.
Is this government looking for zero farang tourists in Thailand, or even zero farangs?
When we get used to it, it will be too late, it will be hard to go back!
Very good idea for once from this government...
Fed up with these hordes of wild tourists who think they can do whatever they want simply because they are Western and even worse... Chinese.
I live in Krabi and I regularly noticed the lack of manners of most of these tourists.
Of course there are some decent and friendly ones, but they are very rare...
So yes, I agree with the government's new provisions.
And don't worry about Thailand, which will recover faster than France despite fewer tourists...
Currently Phuket is full of... rich Russians, Ukrainians and Chinese, so they don't expect backpackers far from there...
You are a Westerner yourself, and to Thais you will always be a farang.
You only have one view that does not go beyond the pagoda of your village.
Not all Thais who make a living from tourism share your opinion, but the fact that they don't have jobs is not your problem.
I don't deny that many tourists behave badly, but it's not unique to Thailand.
And just because they're rich doesn't mean tourists behave better; you're confusing wealth with good manners.
We're not worried about Thailand, as mentioned above, it doesn't matter, there are plenty of other countries just as nice as Thailand nearby. Cambodia, as Jean mentioned, is one of them.
Well, let's summarize:
There will be no tourists during the high season due to the economic crisis and the new variants already predicted.
There won't be any Chinese tourists because they are already preparing to close down due to the increase in Covid cases.
So there will be nothing to boost the Thai economy and the government wants to snub the poor and attract the rich during the short period when they would have the opportunity to make money.
And still the same anti-foreigner policy, many expats who could have provided help to the country at the height of the pandemic moved to neighboring countries.
How much did they bring back to the country each year? There is no study, but they already had a higher standard of living than many Thais.
And bringing them back would be a good thing for the country as the global economic crisis deepens and people around the world suffer, especially Europeans.
The Thai government is aiming for the high end, when you see the number of illegal dumps on quite a few roads or near places to visit, I find that it is not lacking in humor...
FYI, I'm a permanent resident. I also suggest that wealthy customers check out the local markets where flies are stuck to the meat and fish on display with virtually no refrigeration.
If it's for a drug competition... the Thais will make it to the podium without any problem.
When I first moved here and was asked to give money for the schools, or if I saw someone in need, I gave willingly.
Unfortunately, I am forced to save money because of the Thai government...
So I'm not giving anything anymore! Let them ask their leaders.
OK OK, there's some truth in your speeches and some stories that don't hold water, guys.
We live in Thailand, we discover it and we love it or not!
I think you have to get to know her and the Thai people for a few years before forming an opinion.
So many careerists and mythos have been seen in 40 years!
By the way, the tax already existed at that time.
It was 500 baht when leaving the country, payable at the airport of course...
Stupidity is not invented, it is constructed.
It's like human stupidity and those who think they are even more Thai than the Thai themselves, it always made me laugh in Thailand.
Well, I'm not saying anything anymore, it's annoying to listen to nonsense bigger than whales, so if my comment doesn't get through like it sometimes does, I would have understood the point of my participation in a biased forum...