Thailand Tourism

With tourism down dramatically many Thai companies are trying new advertising to combat the the ever growing slump they are seeing in their bottom line. It’s not enough that the world wide economic situation is keeping tourists away, Thailand can’t help itself when it comes to making even dedicated travelers think twice.

Thai politics have been a major concern since the coup in 2006 and the recent events regarding Cambodia have some  travelers on edge. The continued violence in the South of Thailand with the Muslim community and the recent attacks on freedom of speech have been keeping Thailand in the news for all the wrong reasons.

You would think the easiest way to go would be accentuating the beauty and diversity that is Thailand and calling out the cultural aspects of the country. Instead the advertising  that has been coming out just leaves potential travelers scratching their head.

Medical tourism has long been a strong suit for Thailand with procedures generally being one third of those in the West. A good dental bridge in America might cost you $4000 once all is said and done but in Thailand the same bridge would cost $600.00.

While the majority of tourists are aware of these deals the advertised deals usually draw the wrong attention. Local ads like the one below are a usual sight. I have to admit though,  the ad is compelling. Come to Thailand for a short stay and for under $10,000 you can go home a new man…don’t want to be a man anymore, go home a new woman.

Thai Air is also rolling out new advertising but one might wonder what demographic they are targeting. The new ads, while very well done and quite beautiful, don’t really convey Thailand, do they? They have opted to leave out their planes or pictures of Thailand for beautiful pictures of Thai women in flowing colorful gowns.

I’ll give them this, it does make me think of orchids and beauty so it does draw me to Thailand but I’m an easy sell and usually ad campaigns aren’t there to preach to the chorus. These ads will be rolling out to America and Europe soon.

It’s not easy for any country in the current economic climate but at the very least most countries know their strong points and aren’t struggling to find their identity or appeal.

Thailand should take a cue from The Australian tourism  campaign of the 80’s and 90’s. Find a well liked Thai comedian and have him throw a shrimp on the barbie while extolling the great diversity and beauty that Thailand has to offer. Well, they might need to change it to a grasshopper in the oil or a rat on the barbie but you get the idea.

I haven’t seen a Thailand tourism ad in America for a long time but they may want to start with the company that did the below ad back in 2007. Someone there understood marketing.

Thailand, known as a premiere tourist destination in Southeast Asia, offered a remarkable experience for tourists from around the world. Therefore, my husband and I drove all the way from the Philippines to visit that country.

It was midnight when we landed in Thailand Airport. Once when we left our luggage and successfully complete all custom controls, we drove into the lobby. It was not as crowded as I thought, perhaps due to the fact that it is already midnight.

Wehave a room booked in Loma Resort and Spa in Pattaya, so that a taxi was everything we needed. Some drivers refused because the track was just around Bangkok. Meters with no option other drivers and was already a fixed rate amount. The price was totally inappropriate, but we have not the time to act, as we were completely exhausted. Although we had a taxi driver, the most important thing was deceived sure the resort to reach.

Pattaya, which is 150Kilometers southeast of Bangkok, was a great choice for families and couples who wanted a memorable vacation. It was famous for its vibrant nightlife, especially in Walking Street, where bars, restaurants, nightclubs, bars and cabarets, stood in each corner. Probably it was a remarkable place for single men and women, as well as gay and bisexual men.

During the day, white beaches and shopping malls would definitely very tempting. A variety of local andinternational cuisine and entertainment also contributed to Pattaya ‘s success as a tourist destination. Apart from Pattaya, we are still next few days on Koh Chang – Thailand’s largest island after Phuket.

We stayed at the Grand View Resort Paradise Resort & Spa on the third week of June, during the early rainy season. The weather was no obstacle for some rain forest adventures, such as elephant trekking and motorcycle driving experience. Scenic ViewWaterfalls and Buddhist temples were magnificent, like the beaches, restaurants, bars and resorts.

The trip would be complete without a stay in Bangkok. We stayed at the JW Marriott Hotel Bangkok, two minutes walk to Khaosan Road. The hotel was surrounded in the vicinity of Sunset Street, a phenomenal street with many restaurants and entertainment, as well as tourists from different countries.

Some of the attractions were the Grand Palace in Bangkok, Cobra Show, Tiger Temple, River Kwai Bridge andgolden temples such as Wat Phra Kaew, Wat Po and the Golden Mount. Traveling with a tuk-tuk, enjoy a Thai massage, drinking Singha and Chang beer and selling fried squid, cockroaches and grasshoppers were also part of Thai culture and tourism. In addition, Thailand was absolutely the “Land of Smiles”, as most Thais offered their big smiles.

Shopping would be very interesting, too. There were street stalls on Silom, Sukhumvit Road, Khaosan, shoppingShopping centers, Floating Market, Flower Market, Chatuchak Weekend Market, Patpong Night Market in Bangkok and China Town.

In addition, our three weeks holiday in Thailand experience has been very spectacular.

Thailand has been voted as the World’s Best Tourist Country in the Norwegian Grand Travel Awards 2007 held in Oslo, Norway earlier this month, according to the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Ministry said that the Thai Embassy in Oslo reported that it is the fourth consecutive year Thailand won the annual award organised by Travel News Magazine of Norway. Greece, Denmark and Italy ranked second, third and fourth respectively.

Alongside this recognition, the Pattaya Daily News – one of the many publications in Thailand with a serious stake in the tourist economy – has today published an upbeat overview of the tourist industry’s “resilience”.  This article includes a few thoughts on future directions:

The maturity of cheap regional airlines will extend accessibility to remote Thai destinations while the possibility of a single-visa system for the region offers much scope. In Asia, there are now three such schemes being considered [including] the “Five Countries, One Destination” initiative adopted by Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Myanmar…The prospects of sustainable tourism are looking favourable, but greater consideration must be given to the potential environmental impact in order to come into line with global consciousness, even if it requires compromise measures.

Overall, the prospects for Thai tourism continue to be encouraging. After all, the unique appeal of climate, affable people and diverse tourist attractions are hard to beat and will ensure Thailand’s popularity indefinitely, barring outrageous developments.

It is immediately clear to even the freshest visitor that Thailand enjoys a remarkable tourist economy.  Through thick and thin, it has continued to attract increasing millions of foreign visitors as each decade has rolled by.  Cambodia, Laos and Burma have, until recently, all looked on enviously and seen the Thais reap the lucrative profits (and associated problems) that tourism brings.  These days, almost everybody wants a piece of the tourism pie.  There is much (as yet) unwritten scholarly work that could really contribute to understanding this industry and its role in shaping political, social and economic forces across the region.

As the Pattaya Daily Mail article makes clear, tourism (in its many forms) is almost certainly set to continue its onward march.  And so even if they are repulsed by the excesses of the industry – and try to ignore its impositions on what some might naively see as their turf – anybody who is serious about studying mainland Southeast Asia cannot ignore this scene.

Students of modern Southeast Asia can run from tourism but – almost no matter where they go or what they do – they can never hide…