Has the cost of tourism in Thailand increased?

Friends around the little lady have left messages asking: "Is the price of tourism in Thailand really rising?"

The answer is: "It has really gone up!"

However, the current high price in Thailand is not a small-scale price increase aimed at China tourists or limited to tourism, but an overall increase in domestic prices in Thailand against the background of global inflation and rising prices.

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Thailand's food, transportation costs, daily necessities, water, electricity, gas and oil prices are all rising, and the increase is not low. Take the price of crispy pork as an example, it rose from 550 baht to 700 baht, an increase of nearly 30%.

Everyone is familiar with the mother's instant noodles, although there is no price increase at present. However, manufacturers admit that due to the sharp increase in production costs (the prices of raw materials such as wheat flour and palm oil have increased by about 70% in the past two years), there may be price increases in the later period.

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In addition, according to the latest news, the price of durian, which is not cheap in Thailand, will go up again due to the increase in fertilizer prices and the increase in China's purchases. Therefore, net posts really don't spread the rumor that "Thai durian is delicious".

Thais are also suffering from rapidly rising prices. According to local media reports in Thailand, rising prices have become a common social problem in Thailand. In a survey in 2022, 82.96% of the respondents were dissatisfied with the soaring prices.

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In addition to inflation, the reason for the increase in tourism expenses in Thailand is particularly prominent, and it also lies in the "sequela" brought by the epidemic to Thailand's tourism industry.

The three-year epidemic has dealt a heavy blow to Thailand's tourism industry and even Thailand's national economy, and a large number of hotels, restaurants and travel companies have stopped operating. Take Phuket as an example. In the area supported by tourism on the island, the closing rate of tourism business is as high as 90%, and some specialty shops, spa shops and Chinese restaurants familiar to the little lady are permanently closed.

Although Thailand opened its doors to welcome guests in June 5438+10 last year, the tourism industry is still in a state of restart. A large number of tourist businesses have been shut down, the tourism supply chain has been cut off, and the shortage of tourism professionals has become a stumbling block to the recovery of tourism in Thailand.

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According to statistics, the hotel industry in Phuket is short of about 3,000 people, while the bus drivers in Thailand are short of work by 60%-70%. The shortage of labor indirectly leads to the increase of employment cost in tourism. Before the outbreak, the salary of Thai waiters was only more than 2,000, and now it has risen to more than 3,000.

Scenic spots and hotel leisure also need huge funds, and these costs will eventually be paid by tourists. Therefore, it is inevitable that Thailand's tourism expenses will rise in the short term.

However, with the gradual recovery of tourism in Thailand, tourism expenses will definitely fall back. Last month, for example, tourists from China still had to make expensive nucleic acids when they came back from Thailand, and the ticket price was also very expensive. However, since March, the nucleic acid report has been cancelled (just use the antigen kit to test before boarding the plane), and the ticket price is also falling. These are good signals.

If you really care about the price, you can wait and see for a while, and then come back when the tourism industry in Thailand is fully restored and the price comes down.

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In addition, in view of the increasingly loud "Thailand disappointment theory" on the Internet recently, my little wife also wants to clear Thailand's name. Of course, it is also a personal opinion. It's right to refuse to accept you ~

Recently, a certain voice and a large number of bloggers of a book claimed that they had just returned from Thailand. All kinds of people earnestly emphasized that "Thailand has changed", "Thailand is not good" and "Thailand is not worth it" with their own "blood and tears" ... The arguments are roughly expensive transportation, expensive food, poor service and separate treatment.

A typical case that the little wife saw was that the whole video was talking about her experience of being trapped by a taxi. In fact, the idea of taxi pits in Thailand has a long history and is an objective problem. But they cheat not only tourists from all over the world, but also their own people.

In terms of governance, the Thai government has also played a normal level. So there has been no improvement, and there has not been much improvement for many years.

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However, with the emergence of taxi software such as Bolt and IDrive, and the improvement of public transportation, the risk of tourists being pitted has been reduced to some extent. When tourists arrive in Thailand, they can choose to take a taxi with taxi software or take public transport such as BTS/MTR, and the price is the same as that of the locals (the taxi software must be compared).

Therefore, the high transportation fee is not aimed at tourists.

In addition, there are many reactions that the visa on arrival expressway charges 200 baht as a fixed fee. At present, there is no official requirement to pay an extra 200 baht, while the visa fee in landing visa only needs 2,000 baht.

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If the airport staff force the fast-track fee of 200 baht, you can summon up courage to argue with the staff, and you must not pay extra. Although there is this money, there is really no need to get used to it.

There is also the problem of poor service and poor treatment in Thailand. Tourism services in Thailand are mostly rough and somewhat casual, which is determined by national attributes. The little lady has met a restaurant barbecue before. When it was necessary to change the charcoal fire, he found five waiters to change it successfully. It was cold when he changed the day lily.

There is indeed a big gap between Thailand's service efficiency and China's, but Thailand's leisure and nature-returning tourism service also has its advantages. Most tourism professionals are in a state of enjoying their work, and there are few promotional activities in China. When local guides take diving and surfing, everyone is really happy, so people can easily relax and immerse themselves in the atmosphere of tourism.

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As for discrimination, some bloggers claim that Thais are "white supremacy" and have different views on Asians and Europeans. This is also a matter of opinion. Thais generally yearn for whites and Europe and the United States, but they will not discriminate against Asians. In recent years, when I went to Kaoshan Road to play, the little brother outside the bar kept praising people from China, Japan and South Korea and saying "I love you", but I rarely heard it said in English.

There is no perfect person and no perfect country in this world. Moreover, Thailand is a wonderful country full of all kinds of "self-contradictions", and it is difficult to evaluate her right and wrong with domestic thinking. China people don't have to put all kinds of filters on her, and they don't have to criticize blindly. When they want to go, they can leave everything behind and travel.