Tourism Boom Boom

[tomcat]

Thailand's $13 Billion Plan Could Woo 65 Million Tourists Yearly
By Natnicha Chuwiruch (Bloomberg)

Thailand is already struggling to cope with the environmental impact of a tourism boom that’s expected to lure 40 million visitors this year. The influx is on course to hit 65 million a decade from now, signaling an even bigger challenge ahead.
Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy plans to pour about $13 billion into expanding airport capacity and connecting major terminals with high-speed railways. As a result, foreign tourist numbers could jump more than 60% by 2029 to about the size of the U.K. population, projections from The World Travel & Tourism Council show.

Tourism is an economic lifeblood for Thailand, and the sheer number of visitors is one of the reasons the nation has Asia’s strongest currency this year. Yet the environmental challenge of coping with the deluge is multiplying, exemplified by the indefinite closing of the iconic Maya Bay -- made famous by the Leonardo DiCaprio movie “The Beach” -- to allow its ecosystem to recover.


Leonardo DiCaprio on the set of the film “The Beach” in 1999.
Emmanuel Dunand/AFP via Getty Images

“The number of tourists is growing too fast for what the country can handle,” said Somprawin Manprasert, chief economist at Bank of Ayudhya Pcl, a Thai unit of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. “We have to implement a better system to manage the tourists and destinations, which could help with the congestion and environmental problems. We don’t see enough of this being done yet.”
Thailand isn’t alone in facing the fallout of mass tourism, ranging from coral damage to plastic, garbage and sewage pollution in the sea. Neighbors including the Philippines and Indonesia face similar challenges.
The difference for Thailand is that tourism on some measures accounts for a fifth of the economy, making management of the sector a crucial issue for the nation’s outlook. Arrivals have moderated in recent months, a blip officials view as temporary amid a cooling global economy.

Officials have tried for years to entice travelers to less visited parts of the country, to ease pressure on traditional hot-spots such as the capital Bangkok and beach resorts like Phuket. Those initiatives were only partially successful.
Thailand’s planned infrastructure upgrades include adding new terminals at the two international airports in Bangkok, as well as expanding another close to the beach resort of Pattaya.
That would take capacity at all three facilities to roughly 190 million passengers per year by 2025, from about 78 million presently. The nation’s airports are handling many more passengers than they are designed for.



Transport improvements alone aren’t enough to ensure tourism is sustainable, said Weerasak Kowsurat, who was Thailand’s tourism minister before being appointed to the Senate.
“We need to promote more energy and water efficiency, reduce the use of plastics and recycle more,” he said.​

[jabir]

Someone should tell them it's pointless expanding airport capacity if 3 of 24 immigration booths are functioning. Or probably not worth 18 months.

[OhOh]

LAX had 5 out of 50 "manned" at my last visit. Although was one open for the disabled and pregnant/toddler carrying females.

The entry Immigration queue lasted 1hour 30 minutes. That was after a 30 minute queue to use the mandatory "self service booths" which allegedly sifted out the "innocent" passengers.

The exit procedure was much quicker, even though all "hand" baggage was being scanned. The 'handlers" were much more organised.

Swampy is a doddle in comparison.

[harrybarracuda]

If the chimps learned how to use biometric passports things might go a little quicker.

Even the raggies in Dubai and Abu Dhabi now make it so you don't have to queue for someone to stamp your passport after your first visit. All done by a quick scan.

[jamescollister]

Someone should tell them it's pointless expanding airport capacity if 3 of 24 immigration booths are functioning. Or probably not worth 18 months.

Thailand has one of the shortest immigration, custom checks that I've been through.
Try Australia, every bag is searched, last time back in OZ, took near on 2 hours to get through, return to Thailand 10 minutes, use the Thai line.
Customs, just waved through.

[harrybarracuda]

Thailand has one of the shortest immigration, custom checks that I've been through.
Try Australia, every bag is searched, last time back in OZ, took near on 2 hours to get through, return to Thailand 10 minutes, use the Thai line.
Customs, just waved through.

Oz is a bit of an exception because they're paranoid about their farming industry.

But it's not generally inbound that causes problems as far as customs is concerned. It's the huge queues for immigration that are utterly fucking pointless in this day and age. A Biometric passport and the appropriate scanners are enough to verify the person coming in, and if they want details of where you are staying they can collect that information via the web beforehand.

Thailand's paranoia about collecting information on who stays where is just fucking nonsense.

I've just finished a Visa application for Cambodia for August, took ten minutes, and when I arrive at the airport I'll be through in the same amount of time if it's a bad day.

So that's more tourist dollars the Thais can shove up their arse.

Oh, and going out of Swampy last time, even in Fast Track, they had one scanner working (and five immigration desks open doing next to fuck all) and the queue was out into the airport. Some uniformed fucking chimp went down the queue taking fast track cards without telling the stupid bint at the gate, so she started trying to stop people going in despite them explaining it to her.

They really are fucking witless.

[Hugh Cow]

Thailand has one of the shortest immigration, custom checks that I've been through.
Try Australia, every bag is searched, last time back in OZ, took near on 2 hours to get through, return to Thailand 10 minutes, use the Thai line.
Customs, just waved through.

I don't know what airport you use James but that hasn't been my experience at Brisbane. Once the declaration has been filled out, I just go through on the E passport, get my luggage and hand the declaration to customs and head outside. Around 30 minutes. Occasionally there is a dog search but not often. The biggest wait is for the luggage at the carousel.

[kmart]

I've just finished a Visa application for Cambodia for August, took ten minutes, and when I arrive at the airport I'll be through in the same amount of time if it's a bad day.

So that's more tourist dollars the Thais can shove up their arse.

I'm sure your mate Hun Sen will appreciate the extra revenue.

[harrybarracuda]

I'm sure your mate Hun Sen will appreciate the extra revenue.

I'm sure the Cambodians losing business to the chinkies will.

[Belzybob]

I don't know what airport you use James but that hasn't been my experience at Brisbane. Once the declaration has been filled out, I just go through on the E passport, get my luggage and hand the declaration to customs and head outside. Around 30 minutes. Occasionally there is a dog search but not often. The biggest wait is for the luggage at the carousel.

That is also my experience now in Perth, although in the past it could be horrendous. I have my suspicions the previous delays were due to unofficial and then later official action by the Border Farce union.

I love these statistics manipulators that pop up everywhere. How can Swampy have a utilization that is above its capacity? A bit like saying a 5 litre bucket is holding 7 litres! Presumably they were talking about the planned capacity set some years ago.