The Value of a Tourist.

[villager]

I would have to agree that Thailand does attract a lot of criminals. You can easily spot them in pattaya, koh samui, bangkok, chang mai or just about any tourist destination. A large percent of them are drunks, lowlifes and criminals on the run that Thailand allows to wander in on few if any checks. These types are screened when ever they try to enter the U.S. or Canada and often sent packing back onto the plane. Since Thailand is so concerned with money first it,s an open door to these types. But giving these guys a little slack there are many so called high quality tourists with families that certainly act like lowlifes with their rude behavior towards the thais as nothing more than a peg above slave. I am embarrassed to be around them so avoid these areas all together. Having lived here for over eight years it just got old having to avoid these idiots. I made an effort shortly after arriving to learn thai just so i could avoid them. They encourage bad behavior from the thais from tossing money around like there is no tomorrow. How often do you witness a farang paying 100 to 200 percent more for a taxi, dinner, bargirl, hotel etc. Walking down main street half naked on Koh Samui just shows total disrespect to the locals. So do us all a favor who live here in peace with the thais .Learn some common sense as to the price of a taxi, a meal, a bargirl etc. But above all learn some common manners.

Hi James, it would appear that your home base is Samui, i first went there in 89 and stayed for 3 months in a sleepy little fishing village called Bophut ,my late wife and i fell in love with the place and went annually for extended holidays , i visited 3 years ago , my my how things have changed!

[Ian]

I have several friends in the Uk who are in the building trade, mostly brickies. Anyone with the slightest knowledge of the UK climate will know that the winter months are a slack time. They will also know that brickies earn good money. So they come to Thailand, or rather they did until visas became a pain, now I hear they go to Bali

Hi Ian, its still childs play to get a double entry tourist visa, which with your 2 x30 day extensions will give you 6 months in all, of course you have to leave the country after 90 days, and then re enter but for most tourists this is no big deal.

Child's play to you perhaps, have you ever watched a brickie trying to fill in a form

[villager]

Yeah Ian, i get your drift!,LOL.

[Stense]

"Sean" Have you considered the cost of sending Better how much I have to bribe a custom officer to get it out Stay safe in your Australia, and if you are in need of an up date on Thai Immigration regulations, kindly go to LEGAL on our Web page, it is free, in the same way as a private consultation

[Stense]

Tourist trash with money? You'd better believe it. If you go to Pattaya, your jaw can sometimes hit the floor listening to some of the alcoholics in the bars. How the hell did these uneducated low-lifes get money for a return flight and 3 to 6 months living expenses... and more to the point, what about the job they have to go back to? (Excluding the retired; Borat: "You are a retard?"). Last time I was in the Pig and Whistle it was a group of WINDOW CLEANERS who had this miraculous disposable income...

Add in the increasing amount of Russian visitors into this scenario (interesting that a German poster should get so annoyed about their increasing numbers over here, can't think why!). And the answer? THAILAND ATTRACTS CRIMINALS.

Oh, You moral crusader - Who are You, that You judge people as low-lifes etc. ?
How somebody can make money for long stay in Thailand ? Easily. For example - in Europe - it is just enough to have independent job - just work for You - like plumber or even window cleaner and after 6 months You have money to live in Thailand for next 6 months - no problem
Russian visitors ? Many countries in EU tolerate them because of money, but definitely not like them - They do not know how to behave in polite way - most of them
Tourist trash with money? Pattaya is not a problem - only 10 pct. of prostitution in Thailand is consumed by farangs - 90 pct. is for locals.
Sorry, how long have you lived in Pattaya It is a few so named semi official figures on clients of prostitutes conducted by a University: Bangkok, 60% local clients ( far lower prices for married Thai men, this as many have punch card with the same) and 40% foreigners.Pattaya, 90% foreigners and 10% Thai. From where do you have your "consume figures," better what would a place like Pattaya have looked like, this without tourists and foreigners having selected the city firstly for their retirement If you go to Soy 9, the main police station and ask a question on prostitution, they will tell you that it is "No prostitution in Pattaya" - this said, if you give a average officer you can speak English with Bath 1000+, he might say:" Sorry, we have probably 80% of all ladies under 40 from Issan, but those we do not count." , and good luck with your studies.

One suggestion - VISA only for people with master degree - but You will be very suprised how many of those educated will go to spent their money in Pattaya

[Belthazar]

to Stanse
I dont have problem to agree with You about numbers in Pattaya, but I think more likely the numbers will be like 70% tourists and 30% locals and expats. But in whole Thailand it is really close to 90% locals - 10% tourists. It is very complicated to do a transparent study on such a compex thema. My numbers are form international NGOs reports etc.
It is same in mostly every developed country in the world. Tourists have only limited "playground", bul locals......
There was an article, not so long ago about prostitution ring for Hi-So Thais (managers) - mainly Thai University students.

[Bigwillie]

There are many issues surrounding tourism in Thailand and depending on your perspective it could be positive or negative. When tourist are abundant, the money is flowing, but residents complain about the behavior and attitudes of some tourist. As one writer posted earlier, there are differences between travelers and tourists. Travelers are usually more informed about the place they travel to and are usually more open to the cultural differences.

Thailand has unfortunately set itself up to become a tourist based economy. This is primarily the fault of government policies as they have not supported other ways to stimulate the economy. The others to blame are the residents of Thailand as they are not putting pressure on their government to support other economic options. Supporting Nike and GM Factories are not solutions either. The government needs to invest in its own people. Instead of spending billions on new development projects, it could spend billions on education, technical and trade schools, and invest in small businesses plans, which stimulate the economy more than large corporations. Small businesses provide more benefit to more people than large corporations, yet few realize this including those in power.

As a person who lives and works in Thailand, I have to deal with the tourist too. I can become as frustrated with tourist as Thai people. On the other side of this, many times I have had taxis and other vendors try to pull scams on me, such as trying to charge me additional money, etc. because they think I am a tourist. Is this really the benefit of tourism? Can certain Thai people justify being corrupt because of tourism? We are all responsible for our community and that means we have to work together instead of dividing ourselves across differences.

I would recommend organizing your community so you can better deal with the tourist issue. Maybe this economic recession will actually be helpful for people to see that they have options other than working in the service sector for tourist. Personally, I think Thai people are fairly creative and innovative. Dependency on tourism is ultimately hurting Thailand so I challenge people to take this opportunity to find a new direction to go. Tourism is here to stay, but it doesn't have to dominate the economy. There are options and everyone must work to develop new sectors of industry which do not rely on tourism.

I also call on the people of Thailand to resolve their political differences and learn to work together for the benefit of everyone. In society we can't have everything our way so we have to make compromises. Now is not the time to divide your nation as the economy is weak. It will take everyone's effort to make it work including the small number of tourist who sometimes create headaches for you. Ultimately, you have to look inside at yourself, and at the government policies that are related to tourism. There are opportunities for change if you look for them, but you can't blame the tourist as they are only doing what they are allowed.

[ATM]

i think that if you are a tourist in another country - you need to acknowledge that countries' rules, customs etc
as a tourist, it is up to you to earn the respect and respect the locals. If you do that in thailand, i guarantee you, you will recieve that back. Thats how thai people are - in general. Regardless of how much money you spend there
But on continuing on volunteers and my posts - some tourist act like complete idiots and have no respect at all. And im sure they act the same way in their own country
Best example is Australia - Australia has no identity and no real history or culture of its own, so aussies dont understand other countries' cultures/customs/way of life - so when aussies do travel overseas - in particular young males, they act like they do back home cause they have no clue. I can say this cause as i said previously, Im thai myself but have been in Sydney for the past 25 years. Ive seen these types of tourists and its not just in Thailand Im sure. But i have seen them in Phuket, Phi Phi and Koh Phangan for the full moon party where they trash the beach completely. These are the tourist Thailand can do WITHOUT. Theyre the back packer types that spend crap all money ( which is ok) but the main thing with them is little understanding and respect. They think they can just go overseas and act like they do back home. And treat locals like they treat people back home. These people need to learn the hard way and spend a couple of days in a thai prison!!!
Im sure that will sober them up and knock some sense and respect into them in no time

OMG you say that Aussies have no understanding of other countries cultures and customs because we have no real identity , history and culture, at the same time you admit to having lived in OZ for 25 years. Patrickoniam do you think our great nation just appeared out of nowhere. One other thing "mate" its not the tourists that completely trash the beaches and its not even the tourist operators fault ,but the fault of corrupt and incompotent thai officials.

[Ramlyn]

Foreigners bring alien diseases with them, like money! Positively negative perhaps?

Ha! Ha! Ha!
Sometimes money are like a disease because, even we have enough, we may want more.
But Thailand still needs to have a better economy, so it is good if money come.

[stilljustbrowsing]

Yeah, perhaps money should be reclassified either as an "A class drug" or an "incurrable cancer!" Gimme some more!