After the lockdown ?

[Gaybutton]

lifting the travel bans on different countries incrementally

My own speculation is once they lift the travel bans, how many people will even want to travel to Thailand? And with so many countries experiencing economy woes as a result of this virus, how many people will be able to afford a holiday in Thailand even if they do want to come?

Depending on how long this lasts, how many tourist attractions, tour bus companies, hotels, etc. will have survived?

I think Thailand's tourism industry is going to be in deep shit for a very long time, but I know one thing that always attracts tourists and Thailand better ease up on that particular part of the tourist industry if they want to attract tourists quickly - and it ain't "family oriented" . . .

[Dodger]

My own speculation is once they lift the travel bans, how many people will even want to travel to Thailand? And with so many countries experiencing economy woes as a result of this virus, how many people will be able to afford a holiday in Thailand even if they do want to come?

Good point!

I was on the phone with my daughter yesterday and she said that her and her husband won't be making their second visit to Thailand next year as planned due to the very reasons you cited.

With both her and her husband being laid off work, their savings will be depleted by the time this pandemic clears. In addition to that, she said that they had serious concerns about traveling anywhere abroad now.

She told me back in October (way before corona) during her first visit to Thailand, that she would never consider bringing her children here. In her exact words..."This was a place for adults - not for children".

[traveller123]

She told me back in October (way before corona) during her first visit to Thailand, that she would never consider bringing her children here. In her exact words..."This was a place for adults - not for children".

That is sad as Thailand can be a wonderful place for a family holiday you just need to avoid the flesh spots which is easy to plan.

January 2019 my daughter, son in law and grandchildren aged 4 and 6 came and we spent two weeks visiting Koh Lanta, Surin and Kanchanaburi and they all loved it and can't wait to return.

It surprised me that they enjoyed the few days they spent staying in my home in a village near Surin where they visited the local water park, went for a couple of muay thai lessons, visited village markets, rode around the village on the back of my partners bike etc.

It can be a real eye opener for children from The West

[Gaybutton]

January 2019 my daughter, son in law and grandchildren aged 4 and 6 came and we spent two weeks visiting Koh Lanta, Surin and Kanchanaburi and they all loved it and can't wait to return.

Obviously there are plenty of "family oriented" holiday spots in Thailand. Just why the hell the powers-that-be think Pattaya needs to be yet another one, especially when that would entirely change Pattaya's paradigm, goes beyond me. I've never figured out what some people have against sex. What is so terrible about sex?

Pattaya never did become anywhere near the "family oriented" holiday destination they wanted. All I ever saw happen was Pattaya became the Chinese tour bus-traffic jam destination. If that was the goal, it worked perfectly. Even some printing companies made out beautifully. After all, somebody had to be the one to print all those "how to behave" pamphlets needed for clueless Chinese tourists.

Plenty of places for family holidays in Thailand. What's wrong with letting Pattaya remain being the place for adult holidays? I'd much rather for that to be Pattaya's resurrection than for Pattaya to become the Chinese tour bus destination again.

If every one of the Chinese exclusive businesses in and around Pattaya fail to the point they cannot reopen, you won't see me complaining about it.

[traveller123]

Agreed

[Dodger]

Agree as well.

[Dodger]

That is sad as Thailand can be a wonderful place for a family holiday you just need to avoid the flesh spots which is easy to plan.

I should have emphasized "Pattaya" versus the entire Kingdom.

[gerefan]

Most countries have their fleshpots. What about Amsterdam, Berlin, even London?
It doesn’t stop tourists or families visiting Holland, Germany or the UK does it?
Hardly rocket science...

[Dodger]

Most countries have their fleshpots. What about Amsterdam, Berlin, even London?

Not to belabor this, but I see a fairly significant difference between the "hotspots" that all countries have, as compared to Thailand. For instance, it would be considered an extremely rare event to have parents sending their children (some being under aged), to work as prostitutes in the western "hotspots" you referred to, although, in Thailand, this has been commonplace for centuries, and certainly not exclusive to Pattaya. Prostitution is deeply ingrained in Thai culture, and not as confined to labeled "hotspots" like Pattaya as you may think.

Responsible parents in the West (most in my opinion) would rather take their young children somewhere for vacation that didn't have such a dark history when it comes to this. Disneyland comes to mind. On-the-other-hand, my niece, who was 19 year old at the time, came to Thailand with a group of college friends during Spring Break and loved it. She relied on me to put the itinerary together for them which I gladly did. They spent the entire 9 days in Chiang Mai, went elephant trekking, took a few Thai cooking classes, volunteered to help out at a CM orphanage for a few days, and returned home with stories of the best trip they had ever taken.

Before the lockdown, TaT was attempting to force cultural change by erasing the sex scene, not just in Pattaya, but from the entire Kingdom, thinking this would create a new image of Thailand that would attract more families and their children to come and spend their money here. My daughter's no rocket scientist, but she knows the difference between an environment that's fun and safe for young children, and one that's not. Her and her husband only visited Pattaya once. The remainder of their holiday was spent in Bang Saray, Rayong, Koh Samet, and Bangkok. They loved every place they visited, but said this was not a place they would want to bring their children...and I agreed with them.

After the lockdown Thailand may very possibly be back at the same poverty level it was at 20 or 30 years ago. Understanding that Thailand already has one of the biggest divides between the rich and the poor in the world, with 1% of the Thai oligarchs controlling 65% of the wealth - and the rest left to their own defenses wondering how they can continue to survive after this pandemic.

less tourists (definitely not family tourists)...more action on the sex scenes...BIB back in action...and the wheel turns again.

[Gaybutton]

Researchers predict post-pandemic norms

21 Apr 2020

Societies and consumer behaviour could enter a "next normal" phase where on-demand needs of goods and services are serviced instantly through smartphone applications after the pandemic ends.

With many people working from home as part of a global effort to contain the virus outbreak, many of them have changed their consumption habits by turning to extensive use of digital services, particularly through mobile applications, according to an article co-authored by three economists at the Bank of Thailand titled "The Covid-19 crisis and the Next Normal trend of business and transportation."

As business operators are also increasingly using these digital services, a growth opportunity for digital services, such as e-commerce, parcel delivery and online food delivery, is on the rise.

Online food delivery has grown more than three times compared to the same period last year reflected from the Google Trend data of e-commerce and logistics queries and key word searches of parcel delivery and online food delivery, said the article.

Previous studies found that the value of e-commerce businesses grew by 8-10% per year, while express delivery businesses expanded by around 11% annually. Over the past five years, food delivery businesses have seen an average growth of 10% per year.

"After the Covid-19 crisis ends, we may enter 'next normal' where social conditions or consumer behaviour gear towards the era of on-demand whereby users can order products through applications in the blink of an eye," said the article.

"Therefore, the transport business should be ready to adapt to this new business opportunity that will be able to grow as long as people still have their smartphones with them anywhere, anytime."

Although some restaurant operators have already stopped their services for a while following the emergency decree implementation and other virus containment measures, an acceleration in restaurateurs' marketing promotions and consumer's behavioural change should result in an increase of the market value of food delivery services by around 1.2 billion over a month's time, said Kasikorn Research Centre (K-Research).

But those affected from salary cuts or layoffs will use this service to a lesser extent, said the think tank.

The net value of food delivery businesses is estimated at 41 billion baht or a 4% year on-year growth in 2020, according to K-Research.

"After the outbreak is resolved, food delivery will become a new norm for the restaurant business and may be one of the main channels of revenue generation for entrepreneurs," said K-Research.

Businesses experiencing the least impact from the virus outbreak worldwide are consumer services, medicine, healthcare and retail, according to a report by McKinsey & Company.

By contrast, aircraft manufacturing, air transport, tourism, oil and gas businesses, the banking sector and motor vehicle and parts businesses are identified as the most affected businesses from the pandemic.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/19 ... emic-norms