Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 25 of 67
  1. #1
    Thailand Expat misskit's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Last Online
    @
    Location
    Chiang Mai
    Posts
    48,105

    Billionaire hotel tycoon Bill Heinecke asks Thailand to charge foreigners more per ro

    American-Thai billionaire and hotel tycoon Bill Heinecke advises Thailand to charge international tourists an extra 300 baht (US$8) per room per night to aid the hotel industry’s post-pandemic economic recovery.


    Heinecke wrote in his open letter addressed to Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha that a surcharge, “will help Thailand’s hospitality sector survive this difficult environment of depressed demand and rising costs.”


    The hotels needed to charge more because the tourism industry is dealing with high inflation and rising costs of raw materials, wages, energy, and fuel prices, said Heinecke who chairs Minor International Pcl, which runs more than 500 hotels worldwide.


    The plea from the billionaire comes after Thailand is on course to achieve its goal of attracting 10 million foreign visitors this year.


    “While the goal to welcome over 10 million international tourists in 2022 poses a significant uptick year-on-year, it only amounts to a quarter of the 2019 level,” Heinecke said. “Even the projection in 2023 of 18 million is only 45% of pre-Covid.”

    Attention Required! | Cloudflare

  2. #2
    Thailand Expat harrybarracuda's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    96,565
    What an absolute wanker.

  3. #3
    5 4 Knoll
    david44's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2011
    Last Online
    @
    Location
    At Large
    Posts
    21,088
    Great way to increase tourism to......Vietnam , Laos , etc

    The bagpackers places I see promoted in the North have rooms around 300 so doubling will deter or halve the number of nights booked

    A gif to Air Bnb and unlicensed places.

    I usually spend 1500 up here and 2500-3000 in resort Bangkok so a one off 300 baht surcharge hardly matters.

    Pack em in and make soem extra on upsales of add ons, tours , the cooking school ,massages , bar bills or room service be wiser IMHO
    Quote Originally Posted by Latindancer View Post
    I just want the chance to use a bigger porridge bowl.

  4. #4
    Days Work Done! Norton's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Last Online
    Today @ 06:30 PM
    Location
    Roiet
    Posts
    34,903
    Quote Originally Posted by david44 View Post
    I usually spend 1500 up here and 2500-3000 in resort Bangkok so a one off 300 baht surcharge hardly matters
    Nor does it in one of Heinecke's joints @6800 per.

    Hotel Deal in Chiang Mai | Anantara Chiang Mai | Stay Longer

  5. #5
    Days Work Done! Norton's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Last Online
    Today @ 06:30 PM
    Location
    Roiet
    Posts
    34,903
    Quote Originally Posted by misskit View Post
    Heinecke wrote in his open letter addressed to Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha that a surcharge, “will help Thailand’s hospitality sector survive this difficult environment of depressed demand and rising costs.”
    The general best pay attention. Heinecke has friends in very high places.

  6. #6
    Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Last Online
    Today @ 03:04 PM
    Location
    Ubon Ratchathani
    Posts
    394
    So the billionaire is feeling the pinch, is he ?
    he is quite welcome to put up his prices, and let his competitors do whatever they wish...but don't complain if tourists who are also feeling the pinch choose a cheaper hotel !

  7. #7
    Thailand Expat DrWilly's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2021
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    11,389
    Quote Originally Posted by mikenot View Post
    So the billionaire is feeling the pinch, is he ?
    he is quite welcome to put up his prices, and let his competitors do whatever they wish...but don't complain if tourists who are also feeling the pinch choose a cheaper hotel !

    Indeed.

  8. #8
    Hangin' Around cyrille's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Last Online
    @
    Location
    Home
    Posts
    33,543
    Thought this bloke made his money from those piss poor pizzas, not hotels.

  9. #9
    Thailand Expat
    reinvented's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Last Online
    Today @ 07:05 AM
    Location
    top of soi 2
    Posts
    2,557
    ^
    poor hotels
    poor pizzas
    poor burgers
    poor restaurants
    poor coffee shops
    poor clothes shops

    they do a lot of things poorly, and not a great company to work for, but ok to work with
    they also do some thinsg well and are kinda a big thing

    especially the 60thb affagatos from burger king
    we won it at wemberlee
    we on it in gay paree...

  10. #10
    Member
    mackayae's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Last Online
    15-05-2023 @ 02:09 PM
    Location
    Udon
    Posts
    466
    Easy response: no more Pizza Company, Swensons, DQ, Sizzler. There are plenty of alternatives.

  11. #11
    Thailand Expat
    Shutree's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2017
    Last Online
    Today @ 06:41 PM
    Location
    One heartbeat away from eternity
    Posts
    4,658
    Quote Originally Posted by misskit View Post
    The plea from the billionaire
    Please give generously.

  12. #12
    Thailand Expat
    Shutree's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2017
    Last Online
    Today @ 06:41 PM
    Location
    One heartbeat away from eternity
    Posts
    4,658
    Quote Originally Posted by mackayae View Post
    Easy response: no more Pizza Company, Swensons, DQ, Sizzler. There are plenty of alternatives.
    Are they all his? I did go to a Pizza Company once, which was enough for this lifetime and the next. The others have never appealed.

  13. #13
    Thailand Expat
    Happy As Larry's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Last Online
    Today @ 05:06 PM
    Posts
    1,256
    Quote Originally Posted by cyrille View Post
    Thought this bloke made his money from those piss poor pizzas, not hotels.
    No, it is much more than pizza these days, He was also recently in the news in the UK over his take over of some hiso restaurant chain in London

    From Wikipedia

    Minor International (MINT) is a global company focused on three core businesses: hospitality, restaurants, and lifestyle brands distribution. MINT is a hotel owner, operator, and investor with a portfolio of 536 hotels under the Anantara, AVANI, Oaks, Tivoli, NH Collection, NH Hotels, nhow, Elewana, and Minor International brands in 55 countries across Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, the Indian Ocean, Europe, and South and North America. MINT is also one of Asia’s largest restaurant companies, with over 2,200 outlets system-wide in 26 countries under The Pizza Company, The Coffee Club, Riverside, Benihana, Thai Express, Bonchon, Swensen’s, Sizzler, Dairy Queen, and Burger King brands. MINT is one of Thailand’s largest distributors of lifestyle brands and contract manufacturers. Its brands include Anello, Bodum, Bossini, Brooks Brothers, Charles & Keith, Esprit, Etam, Joseph Joseph, OVS, Radley, Scomadi, Zwilling J.A. Henckels, and Minor Smart Kids.
    In 2017, Minor International bought a 74% stake in London restaurant group Corbin & King. In 2022, it bought the remainder of the group at auction, ousting restaurateur Jeremy King from the group he'd helped found in 1981

  14. #14
    Thailand Expat

    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Last Online
    Today @ 03:21 PM
    Posts
    18,512
    Thailand these days is little more than a caricature of a cliche manufactured by a PR machine selling paradise on the cheap to the masses while trying to foster the illusion of exclusivity to a higher class of punter that is in fact created out of little more than extortionate pricing for poor value.

    Frankly, it’s a bore and the ever growing numbers of unappealing Chinese, Russians, Indians, Arabs and Asians make it more and more unattractive.

    The urban stink, the squalor, the litter, the traffic congestion, the pollution, the tainted beaches, the absence of any culture other than the folkloric, the ubiquity of the Thai addiction to shopping mall culture, the absence of any heritage of note other than the repetition of their uniformly uninteresting temples, the unexciting cuisine dependent upon the tediously inevitable over-use of garlic, fish sauce, lime and chillis to mask the poor quality of produce bolstered by their slavish addiction to their rice and noodles, and the absurdly ludicrous belief that their country is the centre of the universe and all visitors to it must never be permitted to integrate make the place increasingly tenth rate.

  15. #15
    Thailand Expat

    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Last Online
    Today @ 03:21 PM
    Posts
    18,512
    Quote Originally Posted by harrybarracuda View Post
    What an absolute wanker.

    Indeed.

    The thing is, there is nothing to stop him from increasing the tariff on his hotel rooms in order to maximise profits on whatever occupancy he can manage but that misses the point. You see, in a highly competitive market where 4 star hotels are two-a-penny, the Avani group misses out in market share so he cannot risk boosting the tariff lest he loses out to the bigger boys. So, this communist measure of imposing a tax on all hotel rooms, everywhere, presumably to be kept by the hotel operators, will bolster profits without any loss to his competitive edge.

    Fuck him.

  16. #16
    Thailand Expat
    BLD's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2022
    Last Online
    Today @ 06:16 PM
    Location
    Perh/laos
    Posts
    3,095
    Quote Originally Posted by Seekingasylum View Post
    Thailand these days is little more than a caricature of a cliche manufactured by a PR machine selling paradise on the cheap to the masses while trying to foster the illusion of exclusivity to a higher class of punter that is in fact created out of little more than extortionate pricing for poor value.

    Frankly, it’s a bore and the ever growing numbers of unappealing Chinese, Russians, Indians, Arabs and Asians make it more and more unattractive.

    The urban stink, the squalor, the litter, the traffic congestion, the pollution, the tainted beaches, the absence of any culture other than the folkloric, the ubiquity of the Thai addiction to shopping mall culture, the absence of any heritage of note other than the repetition of their uniformly uninteresting temples, the unexciting cuisine dependent upon the tediously inevitable over-use of garlic, fish sauce, lime and chillis to mask the poor quality of produce bolstered by their slavish addiction to their rice and noodles, and the absurdly ludicrous belief that their country is the centre of the universe and all visitors to it must never be permitted to integrate make the place increasingly tenth rate.
    And yet you still live there. Theres an airport ya know. I agree with a lot of the shit youve just said but if it were me in yours shoes i would get the fuck out asap. Fortunately i am more positive on life in general even when it does throw up a few obsticles.. take some advice from an uneducated aussie ditch digger and chill out. That is all, your welcome. Thank me later

  17. #17
    Thailand Expat
    taxexile's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    19,342
    obsticles
    uneducated
    dont sell yourself short, you're a drunk too.

  18. #18
    Thailand Expat
    panama hat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Last Online
    21-10-2023 @ 08:08 AM
    Location
    Way, Way South of the border now - thank God!
    Posts
    32,680
    Is that an Indian proverb handed down generations within your family or something you picked up driving taxis for decades?

  19. #19
    Thailand Expat DrWilly's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2021
    Last Online
    @
    Posts
    11,389
    Quote Originally Posted by Seekingasylum View Post
    Thailand these days is little more than a caricature of a cliche manufactured by a PR machine selling paradise on the cheap to the masses while trying to foster the illusion of exclusivity to a higher class of punter that is in fact created out of little more than extortionate pricing for poor value.

    Frankly, it’s a bore and the ever growing numbers of unappealing Chinese, Russians, Indians, Arabs and Asians make it more and more unattractive.

    The urban stink, the squalor, the litter, the traffic congestion, the pollution, the tainted beaches, the absence of any culture other than the folkloric, the ubiquity of the Thai addiction to shopping mall culture, the absence of any heritage of note other than the repetition of their uniformly uninteresting temples, the unexciting cuisine dependent upon the tediously inevitable over-use of garlic, fish sauce, lime and chillis to mask the poor quality of produce bolstered by their slavish addiction to their rice and noodles, and the absurdly ludicrous belief that their country is the centre of the universe and all visitors to it must never be permitted to integrate make the place increasingly tenth rate.
    Erm, yes. But it always was so. Nothing has changed other than your rose coloured glasses.

  20. #20
    Thailand Expat

    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Last Online
    Today @ 03:21 PM
    Posts
    18,512
    Don’t be so fucking stupid, twenty five years ago there were practically no discernible mobs of chinks, wobbleheads, filthy Russian dross or Arab men. The entire entertainment industry was open all night and Thai folk had yet to gain access to credit to become consumer junkies. In truth there was a naivety among the people then that was almost childlike and their desire for sanook was both engaging and infectious. As an antidote to the Western preoccupations and predictability it was indeed beguiling.

    Thaksinomics and Old Squarehead fucked the country and as they say, the rest is history. The Thai have joined the modern world and now there is little or no compensation for their shallow society unsustained by any culture other than that of debt based acquisition. Their manners are an artifice and hypocrisy is the lingua franca of their existence.

    It has nothing to do with rose tinted spectacles or scales falling away, you fucking moron, it is the consequence of a relatively unsophisticated people untying itself from a rural based economy and its traditions as it transitions into an urban society based on consumerism. They’ve joined the modern world and what set them apart has now evaporated leaving little of interest.

  21. #21
    Hangin' Around cyrille's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Last Online
    @
    Location
    Home
    Posts
    33,543
    Quote Originally Posted by Seekingasylum View Post
    The urban stink, the squalor, the litter, the traffic congestion, the pollution...
    Did the 'hoped for' move back to Nana BKK ever happen?

  22. #22
    Thailand Expat

    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Last Online
    Today @ 03:21 PM
    Posts
    18,512
    I think you must have me confused with someone else.

  23. #23
    Hangin' Around cyrille's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Last Online
    @
    Location
    Home
    Posts
    33,543
    Nope.

    A couple of months ago you were planning to move to a 'pied-de-terre' [sic.] in central sin city.

  24. #24
    Thailand Expat

    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Last Online
    Today @ 03:21 PM
    Posts
    18,512
    I have not frequented NEP or its allied bars in over 20 years, and have only ventured up Soi Nana since then on the occasions I was meeting folk in the old Hanrahans pub.
    I have never expressed a wish to reside in Soi Nana nor in “ central sin city “, wherever that may fucking be.

    Cyrill, you write like a Lonely Planeteer with opinions that are but cliches expressed by fuckwits.

    I shall be returning to Bkk but as yet the final billet is to be decided. Soi 11 was in the running but it is reverting to tourist central post- covid with the usual parasites infesting the pavements again.
    Soi 10 is the favoured option, where we lived before.


    “ Central Sin City” my arse, you dozy twat.

  25. #25
    Thailand Expat misskit's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Last Online
    @
    Location
    Chiang Mai
    Posts
    48,105
    You should come up to Chaing Mai for a look around. In all my years in Chiang Mai, I have never seen so many white people as I did out today. If it hadn’t been for the sales people at Index, the Thais would have been outnumbered!

Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •