Phuket Must Shake 'Cheap Tourists'
By Premkamon Ketsara and Alan Morison Sunday, May 5, 2013
PHUKET: ''Cheap tourists'' were putting at risk the future appeal of the Phuket region to upmarket visitors, new Tourism and Sport Minister Somsak Pureesrisak said yesterday.
The ''cheap tourists'' deserved an apology but Phuket and Thailand needed to take its focus of appeal upmarket, to quality tourism, he said.
The minister was speaking after his first summit on Andaman tourism at which representatives from Krabi and Phang Nga, behind closed doors, gave Phuket a pasting for its problems.
The gathering at Radisson Blu Plaza Resort Phuket Panwa Beach produced no instant solutions to any of those problems but it did provide the minister with a snapshot of Andaman tourism and its pressing needs.
It's to be hoped that the need for Phuket and its Krabi and Phang Nga ''wings'' to function as a strategic tourist cluster was raised.
Someone probably mentioned enforcement - or the lack of it - behind closed doors at the gathering.
In terms of this week's hot issues, the minister said he thought international driving licences should be required before cars or motorcycles are hired out to tourists.
Khun Somsak also told the media that he was attempting to apply a brake to zero baht tourism - the phrase that sums up package tours where the bulk of revenue goes offshore.
''We don't want to increase the number of tourists any more,'' he said. ''What we need is better quality tourists.
''We need tourists who have strong power to purchase. Right now, the problem is that non-quality tourists have gone into the area where high-quality tourists stay.
''So the environment, which high-quality tourists try to conserve, has been destroyed by cheap tourists.''
He said that reversing the situation was not easy.
''We can't stop them coming, but we have to control the source of the problem. We have to coordinate with the Tourism Ministry of China about zero baht tours.
''I already had a discussion with international tourism companies in Phuket. We have to apologise, we need to conserve Thailand, we need to keep Phuket peaceful, we need to choose only high-quality tourists.
''I am not from Phuket, but I want to do everything for Phuket citizens. Phuket representatives, Phuket senators and Phuket mayors always reiterate that Phuket earns a lot of money for the country but the problems come with the money.''
Representatives from all three Andaman provinces will be hoping to see more money spent on infrastructure to maintain the Phuket region's expected standards.
Bali, once Phuket's major rival, is increasingly being seen as allowing degradation and development to go too far.
Perhaps the most pressing issue following protests on Phuket is the status of guides. Here's what the minister had to say:
''There were some Chinese companies that came to ask me to allow the Chinese nationality tour guides who come with the tour group to register with the tourism ministry and asked me to indulge them to work as guide in Thailand and I said NO.
''It's illegal. It's against Thai laws. We have the solutions for the problems, but we have to coordinate with the government.
''We have courses to teach Thai youths foreign languages. We should coordinate with international institutes, such as the Confucius Institute for the Chinese course.
''If the students can speak Chinese, then we can let them be the guides at the spots where tourists usually travel, such as Patong.
''But we have to have a box (spot) to tell the tourists that we have this service. We need to have signs in many languages so the tourists understand.''
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Comments
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Cheap tourists putting Phuket at risk? Well yes ok, not really news. How is Khun Pureesrisak going to get these "quality tourists" (whatever that means) to come to an island with dirty beaches, rude and scary taxi-tuk tuk drivers and the general attitude that a tourist is something to scam? Mix in to that the third world quality with first world prices! Well good luck to you Khun Pureesrisak, good luck indeed.
Posted by
Simon
on
May 5, 2013 14:41
The choice between going for high quality or mass tourism was never made officially but since Thailand as a country did not decide then the businesses did a long time ago and they went for the mass tourism ... would have been better to do as they did in some destinations in Malaysia simply to set a maximum no of visitors to certain areas...here we expand airport to get more and more tourists...here we run everything by greed without paying attention to whether it is sustainable or not, very sad.
Posted by
Sailor
on
May 5, 2013 15:12
Well said Simon , thats exactly i i see it over here.
Posted by
Pete
on
May 5, 2013 15:29
It's been a while since I've heard such arrogant and insulting comments made by a senior tourism official, if ever.
He stopped short of putting up a sign at the airport " Poor People Get Out! "
Famous Thai hospitality at it's best.
In order to get "quality tourists" you first need to provide quality services, infrastructure, law enforcement, environmental protection mechanisms, public transport etc.
Add to that the decades old scams and empty promises about fixing them.
Phuket fails in just about every "quality" category one can think of.
You see Minister Somsak, you build it and the will come. Take a look at what Phuket has built and maybe you'll see the light.
Here I was thinking tourism safety was your priority. Stupid me. It's all about money, nothing else ever matters.
Posted by
Stephen
on
May 5, 2013 15:43
I have news for the minister: Thugs and scams don't attract quality tourists. Be happy you get any tourists at all. Every incoming tourist at the airport should receive a flower garland, a box of chocolates and a letter of thanks - and maybe a self-defence kit, come to think of it.
Posted by
Swami K.
on
May 5, 2013 15:45
Simon you forgot the double pricing system. Mr Minister, like attracts like here. Offer poor standards and you going to attract poor quality tourists. The warnings were written on the walls five years ago, but alas, nobody listened. You cant turn back the clock to the what we used to attract here retort, the quality tourists have left the building and the lights have been switched off. Dream on Mr Minister.
Posted by
Ineptocracy
on
May 5, 2013 16:07
Someone better inform the TAT. It's their numerous "roadshows" that is partly responsible for all the package tourists.
The TAT's job is to get tourists to Thailand. They judge their success by numbers, not quality.
Posted by
Sir Burr
on
May 5, 2013 16:20
Oh quality tourist, don't we all want that? Who wants cheap paying guests? But when the government approves for building permits for more than 3000 rooms to be built in Patong alone for a year, AND not supporting with the required infrastructure, what the government is saying is "Just get in quantity, not quality. Quantity who won't complain too much cos they pay so little."
How can good quality hotels who served quality guests in the past survive with all these new cheap hotels opening?
Posted by
May
on
May 5, 2013 16:30
@Ineptocracy. Yes, sorry about that, I also forgot the jet skis and many many other things, the list is endless
Posted by
Simon
on
May 5, 2013 17:19
point a finger at someone or something and your pointing three back at yourself..This guy needs to wake up..as many others have said here..Look right under your own nose first.
Posted by
sky
on
May 5, 2013 17:26
well, quality tourism requires quality services...which are not available in phuket...an old bollocksed airport...bollocksed roads...b-class shopping...safety issues...scams all over the place...poor value for money...total mess of visa regulations...GO ON DREAMING!!!!
Posted by
jony
on
May 5, 2013 18:00
"So the environment, which high-quality tourists try to conserve, has been destroyed by cheap tourists."
Khun Pureesrisak completely misses the point. Who is letting hotels and condos throwing away their dirty water straight into the klongs? Who has let the island grow so much without any proper water and garbage treatment facilities? Who is throwing tons of garbage on illegal dumpster sites?
Tourists, even the "high quality" ones are not very environment aware, until the damage is too obvious. Otherwise the expensive resorts that are destroying Koh Racha would remain empty all year long.
It's actually scary to see so many logical errors and gross mistakes coming from a minister.
Zero bath tours? So the airport don't get any taxes from the tourist. The bus drivers work for free, the hotels and restaurant are not getting any bath from those tourists... nonsense
What about the chinese guide problem that is happening now? Well it's not a problem, in a 5 or 10 years some students will have learned chinese by then. I can already tell Khun Pureesrisak that if a student is clever enough to master one of the most difficult language in the world, he will certainly not work as a low-paid guide...
Posted by
John
on
May 5, 2013 18:07
Currently I believe anyone from the selected 30 odd countries can get a Tourist Visa. So many "cheap" tourist have extensive criminal records etc. Therefore like many countries ask questions like ""Have you ever been convicted of a crime and served time in jail" Australia is the model example of screening tourists and all non Australian citizens even before they get on the plane, VISA needed before entering the country. Easy problem to sort out, Somsak Pureesrisak as I am a global traveller you can reply here for my extensive knowledge.
Posted by
Lost In Translation.
on
May 5, 2013 19:57
lol I didn't realize that you could currently go to Phuket "cheaply". Everything already costs at least 5 or 6 times what it does in most other parts of Thailand...
Posted by
D.M.
on
May 6, 2013 00:14
If it wasn't for the "cheap" tourists or backpackers, what would Phuket be like? Who made Phuket popular? Rich chinese or rich Russians? I don't think so.
Posted by
Jim B
on
May 6, 2013 12:28
The up market tourists are here already - they just dont go to the trash markets and hang out in patong. I work in 5 Star resorts and they are packed and getting between 20,000 and 150,000 per night for Villas (not rooms). The money is here but what is on sale outside the private resorts isnt attractive to the money spenders.
Posted by
Digger
on
May 6, 2013 18:12
If we build it they will come. So they did- and now they want rid of the mess they (TAT) created. Unbelievable (well not really)
Posted by
Mister Ree
on
May 6, 2013 18:59
Ah! ridicolous!! Right now there is something totally out of control in order to drive tourists wanna spend money here(different from rich tourists): the rate exchange and the state of European economy, beside on the other side there are rich chineses going around only by tour operator and Russian people mainly coming here with family for quiet holiday: none of these are customers like to stay in Patong to spend money...
Posted by
dave
on
May 7, 2013 00:22
Wow, that guy lives in a Bubble! "His own world"
A better class of tourists don't go where the scams & rip offs of Jet ski, Taxi. Tuk Tuk,Rape, Muggings take place.
Clean up your yard first and the people that you seek will come.
With his attitude that things are fine on Phuket is tunnel vision with blinders on. Apart from what the Island really needs to attract wealthy tourists.
Posted by
John
on
May 7, 2013 00:37
Recevide from Agoda some days ago: "Moreover, please note that currently THAI BAHT is going stronger so customers are feeling 20 - 30 % expensive to travel to Thailand than last year."
Posted by
richard
on
May 7, 2013 08:45
Typical - now it's the tourists fault? What is needed is sustainable development and planning, law enforcement and a ZERO tollerance policy for corruption and bending the rules. Looks like you become victim of your greed just as it happened in Bali. And your answer: It's the tourists fault - how brazen to talk about low quality tourists...
Posted by
Nico
on
May 7, 2013 12:43
Just remember that an up-market tourist will only come to Phuket once. A budget tourist will come over and over again. Phuket has no potential to be up-market what so ever.
Posted by
Bjarne Petersen
on
May 7, 2013 20:08
Phuket is exactly where Phuket deserve. High quality tourist will stay away for a long long time. New rich chinese and russians is the mayor tourist and what i can recall every Thai politician in Bangkok is clapping there hands. That means far away from the dirty cirkus. And i mean dirty.
Posted by
One Expat 13 Years
on
May 8, 2013 02:00
Want to lose the cheap tourists? It's easily done. Just double the price of everything. It's going to happen eventually anyway due to natural inflation. Let's just get it over with and double the price of everything in Thailand now. (Of course, the "Thai price" remains the same.) Result: A better class of tourist.
Posted by
Hornblower
on
May 8, 2013 02:15
I've been an avid reader of Phuketwan for several years, it has become a rare thing to read more positive news rather than negative. In Greece, the political and economic situation is terrible - one famous quote from Greece "The fish always smells from the head first" If Greece or Thailand or any other country tht can manage to change their government has hope, otherwise, greed, corruption run free. It's too bad for beautiful places to end up as they have become. Hope, strength and change!
Posted by
Jim
on
May 8, 2013 04:22
'Cheap' tourists are the mainstay of income for many thousands of Thai families and businesses, from the guesthouses and small hotels through to the restaurants and souvenir shops.
These types of business do not cater for the so-called quality tourist, but instead serve mass-market tourism which is what Phuket is all about.
The Minister is deluding himself if he thinks that Phuket can attract substantial numbers of quality tourists.
I suggest he discuss his plan with the Thai people who earn a living from the cheap tourists - and see what they think... I doubt that they'll be supportive.
Posted by
Simon Luttrell
on
May 8, 2013 07:12
How many readers remember the sign just before the airport turn-off "Thank you for your tax"? I hope "Quality" tourists is the word he was really looking for. Money does not buy respect, graciousness nor integrity. Is he for real?
Posted by
rawai peter
on
May 8, 2013 10:28
I wonder if all these 'signs' for the small Chinese will be erected even lower then the sings for Thais, in which case the footpaths will become limbo courses for the Farangs .....
Posted by
geoff
on
May 8, 2013 21:27
Better take care of the "no lifeguards in june" situation if you want to have quality tourists (or any tourists at all)
Posted by
FS
on
May 10, 2013 11:25
@ FS
You don't get it. It's not the tourists they want, just their money.
If the high and mighty on Phuket could figure out a way how to do that, trust me they would.
Perhaps set up a large collection box at the airport and hang a sign saying.
" Leave all your valuables here and Get Out ! "
It sure feels like it lately.
Posted by
Stephen
on
May 10, 2013 13:08
Cheap tourists MADE Phuket and Thailand.
It kind of reminds me of a young girl that has nothing to offer but she wants to be an instant gratified celebrity rolling in cash and fame....
Sorry Phuket, but you have nothing on the table to want 'higher' quality tourists come here.
Oh and once the prices rise and you try to get what you 'want', well im sorry but the 'cheap' tourists will find another country to accommodate themselves and start another tourist destination....
Posted by
Jaded
on
May 13, 2013 02:04
They only want the rich ones because they have more money to steal.
Posted by
Harry Barracuda
on
May 15, 2013 20:21
the working classes who may have scrimped and saved for a year for a phuket vacation having the audacity to breathe the same air as the upmarket wealthy tourists this must be stamped out!
Posted by
slickmelb
on
June 25, 2013 05:27
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Cheap tourists putting Phuket at risk? Well yes ok, not really news. How is Khun Pureesrisak going to get these "quality tourists" (whatever that means) to come to an island with dirty beaches, rude and scary taxi-tuk tuk drivers and the general attitude that a tourist is something to scam? Mix in to that the third world quality with first world prices! Well good luck to you Khun Pureesrisak, good luck indeed.
Posted by Simon on May 5, 2013 14:41