Tourist arrivals up 18.5% in 2005

[Guest wowpow]

Home > Breakingnews > Tourists arrivals up 18.5% in 2006 - The Nation -

Thailand's tourists arrivals figure was at 13.6 million people this year, up 18.5 per cent from 2005, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).

 

TAT Governor Phornsiri Manoharn said that Thailand's tourism recovered this year from 2005 when the industry was still suffering from the impacts of the December 26, 2004 tsunami.

 

Hotels operators in Phuket and the other Andaman resorts said they had more rooms reservations for December and January than they had before the tsunami, but expect more than 1 million tourists to visit Thailand in the next two months.

 

Tourism, which has long been the country's top foreign exchange earner, is expected to generate Bt481 billion in spending in 2006, up 30.9 per cent from 2005 figures.

 

The TAT has set a target of 14.8 million foreign tourists for 2007, earning the country Bt560 billion in tourism revenue.

 

- The Nation

 

My strong impression has been of fewer gay tourists. Certainly at the moment Bangkok's Gay bars seem very quiet. Dream Boys had only 6 customers at 9.15 p.m. on Wednesday and Tawan was under half full at 10.30. On Thursday Future Boys was very sparcely attended. However, Dick's Cafe seems to be bursting a the seams.

[Guest BKKvisitor]

Based on my most recent visit, arrivals may indeed be up but most of the newcomers are in package groups from China and other Asian countries and few are liable to make their way to the gay venues. The booming baht has also left gay visitors with significantly less buying power and they're adjusting spending habits accordingly.

 

I believe that Dick's Cafe continues to prosper because of good management, attentive staff and fairly reasonable prices. Regulars have come to trust the place and feel comfortable there.

 

I've always believed that Bangkok could support one upmarket gay-friendly bar and lounge (with piano player, soft jazz), but I've never found one. I find that one I want that type of experience, I have to go to one of he better hotels and imagine that all of the men there are available. Given the fact that I'm in Bangkok, I know that a respectable portion actually are and I amuse myself by culling the crowd.