reader Posted August 22 Share Posted August 22 From Khaosod English BANGKOK — The free visa policy for 53 countries/territories has led to a continuous increase in the number of tourists entering Thailand, with Chinese tourists ranking first. However, there are growing concerns that money is not flowing into Thailand as it should because Chinese zero-dollar tours have returned. According to Tourism and Sports Economic Division, from January 1 to August 18, 2024, Thailand received a total of 22,474,172 foreign tourists who generated revenue of 1.05 trillion baht through their spending. The five countries with the highest number of tourists are China (4,555,262), Malaysia (3,104,092), India (1,294,076), South Korea (1,193,255) and Russia (1,053,724). Although Chinese tourists top the list, Thailand faces challenges related to market-disrupting tours [The practice of foreign tour companies using Thai nominees to bring foreign tour groups to Thailand involves offering the lowest possible prices — “underbidding with a willingness to take a loss” — to put Thai tour companies out of business and drive them out of the market). TMax and splinter1949 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithambrose Posted August 22 Share Posted August 22 11 hours ago, reader said: From Khaosod English BANGKOK — The free visa policy for 53 countries/territories has led to a continuous increase in the number of tourists entering Thailand, with Chinese tourists ranking first. However, there are growing concerns that money is not flowing into Thailand as it should because Chinese zero-dollar tours have returned. According to Tourism and Sports Economic Division, from January 1 to August 18, 2024, Thailand received a total of 22,474,172 foreign tourists who generated revenue of 1.05 trillion baht through their spending. The five countries with the highest number of tourists are China (4,555,262), Malaysia (3,104,092), India (1,294,076), South Korea (1,193,255) and Russia (1,053,724). Although Chinese tourists top the list, Thailand faces challenges related to market-disrupting tours [The practice of foreign tour companies using Thai nominees to bring foreign tour groups to Thailand involves offering the lowest possible prices — “underbidding with a willingness to take a loss” — to put Thai tour companies out of business and drive them out of the market). Good points again. In Cambodia, my guide told me that the local economy gains nothing from all the Chinese tourists, who fly on Chinese Airlines, travel on Chinese buses, and stay and eat in Chinese hotels. See discussion in other thread. llz and splinter1949 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinapu Posted August 23 Share Posted August 23 9 hours ago, Keithambrose said: Good points again. In Cambodia, my guide told me that the local economy gains nothing from all the Chinese tourists, who fly on Chinese Airlines, travel on Chinese buses, and stay and eat in Chinese hotels. See discussion in other thread. Which is best visible in new Siem Reap airport where inside I couldn't find even ONE sign in Khmer, Chinese and English only Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithambrose Posted August 23 Share Posted August 23 3 hours ago, vinapu said: Which is best visible in new Siem Reap airport where inside I couldn't find even ONE sign in Khmer, Chinese and English only Indeed, Chinese flags everywhere in the airport, and the new town at the airport has a Chinese name! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moses Posted August 23 Share Posted August 23 6 hours ago, Keithambrose said: Indeed, Chinese flags everywhere in the airport, and the new town at the airport has a Chinese name! What did you expect when new airport, funded by China as a part of its Belt and Road Initiative? who pays the piper calls the tune. 18 hours ago, Keithambrose said: gains nothing from all the Chinese tourists, who fly on Chinese Airlines, travel on Chinese buses, and stay and eat in Chinese hotels this is just jealousy guide who isn't hired as guide by Chinese company... Khmers are drivers in these buses, Khmers are workers in these hotels, Khmers are guides for these groups, Khmers are waiters in restaurants where Chinese are eating and Khmers sell to Chinese tourists all these souvenirs which they order ... from China oh, and Khmers are workers in massage parlors, bars and saunas ... Heba as-sa3udeya 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10tazione Posted August 23 Share Posted August 23 8 minutes ago, Moses said: What did you expect when new airport, funded by China as a part of its Belt and Road Initiative? who pays the piper calls the tune. I would expect there is a law that signs have to be written at least in the local official language. But apparently there is now such law. vinapu and Mavica 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moses Posted August 23 Share Posted August 23 4 hours ago, 10tazione said: I would expect there is a law that signs have to be written at least in the local official language. But apparently there is now such law. Heba as-sa3udeya, 10tazione and unicorn 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members unicorn Posted August 24 Members Share Posted August 24 16 hours ago, vinapu said: Which is best visible in new Siem Reap airport where inside I couldn't find even ONE sign in Khmer, Chinese and English only It looks as though you didn't look very carefully at all. I have to support @Moses on this one. I went through that airport just last year. Even a nod to the French colonials... 😉 Mavica and Heba as-sa3udeya 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinapu Posted August 24 Share Posted August 24 9 hours ago, Moses said: What did you expect when new airport, funded by China as a part of its Belt and Road Initiative? who pays the piper calls the tune. There's thing called keeping up appearances. In almost every country there are foreign investments and yet signages are in local language, not investor's one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinapu Posted August 24 Share Posted August 24 9 hours ago, Moses said: Khmers are drivers in these buses, Khmers are workers in these hotels, Khmers are guides for these groups, Khmers are waiters in restaurants where Chinese are eating and Khmers sell to Chinese tourists all these souvenirs which they order ... from China oh, and Khmers are workers in massage parlors, bars and saunas ... That's very nasty piece of argument straight from colonist handbook. Replace "Khmer " with any name of country ever colonized and occupied throughout history and is could be said the same, including parts of you own country occupied by Germans 1941-43. Marc in Calif 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members unicorn Posted August 24 Members Share Posted August 24 3 hours ago, vinapu said: That's very nasty piece of argument straight from colonist handbook. Replace "Khmer " with any name of country ever colonized and occupied throughout history and is could be said the same, including parts of you own country occupied by Germans 1941-43. Lord, we need to have a rolling eyes emoji which can be left as a reaction to postings. The Chinese are hardly colonizing Cambodia. However, the Ukrainians may now be colonizing Russia! 😄 A screenshot from a video purportedly showing Ukrainian soldiers tearing down a Russian flag in Sverdlikovo, Kursk. Footage widely circulating online on Sunday appear to show at least two different groups of fighters ripping down Russian flags attached to buildings in Kursk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinapu Posted August 24 Share Posted August 24 29 minutes ago, unicorn said: The Chinese are hardly colonizing Cambodia. Mission almost accomplished, this is what I hear from Cambodians Marc in Calif 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moses Posted August 24 Share Posted August 24 43 minutes ago, unicorn said: However, the Ukrainians may now be colonizing Russia! Oh, yeah... you should be teacher of subject "How to derail threads". By the way: Russia took 1 Ukrainian republic - Crimea - and uses it 10 years already, took 4 Ukrainian regions and uses them almost 3 years. In total 125,000 sq.km. Ukraine controls 3 small districts along the border for 3 weeks, on second day after invasion they took 72 villages. Now they control just 28. It is PR company for the West, because sponsors are angry with no results since spring 2023. They expected Russia will move army from Donbas to Kursk. But Russia didn't. And that is Ukrainian fail - over 5000 Ukrainian soldiers already died in Kursk region, and Ukraine just 3 days ago declared total evacuation of 2 cities in Donbas - Pokrovsk and Krasnoarmeisk and 14 villages. https://www.economist.com/europe/2024/08/22/the-kremlin-is-close-to-crushing-pokrovsk-a-vital-ukrainian-town Pokrovsk is strategical logistic hub for Ukrainian army in supplying whole eastern region of Ukraine. Fail of Pokrovsk is unavoidable because Ukraine took half of Western tanks and elite battalions to Kursk region. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c785z8917leo So now Ukraine has +100 additional km of the front line, +5000 bodies to burn, and still will lose Pokrovsk. The only plus - short PR-campaign for 3 weeks. Ukraine exchanged 5000+ own soldiers to 3-5 "victory" reports and bunch of photos with Russian flags (see above)... Marc in Calif and unicorn 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinapu Posted August 24 Share Posted August 24 16 minutes ago, Moses said: Oh, yeah... you should be teacher of subject "How to derail threads". By the way: Russia took 1 Ukrainian republic - Crimea - and uses it 10 years already, took 4 Ukrainian regions and uses them almost 3 years. In total 125,000 sq.km. Ukraine controls 3 small districts along the border for 3 weeks, on second day after invasion they took 72 villages. Now they control just 28. It is PR company for the West, because sponsors are angry with no results since spring 2023. They expected Russia will move army from Donbas to Kursk. But Russia didn't. And that is Ukrainian fail - over 5000 Ukrainian soldiers already died in Kursk region, and Ukraine just 3 days ago declared total evacuation of 2 cities in Donbas - Pokrovsk and Krasnoarmeisk and 14 villages. https://www.economist.com/europe/2024/08/22/the-kremlin-is-close-to-crushing-pokrovsk-a-vital-ukrainian-town Pokrovsk is strategical logistic hub for Ukrainian army in supplying whole eastern region of Ukraine. Fail of Pokrovsk is unavoidable because Ukraine took half of Western tanks and elite battalions to Kursk region. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c785z8917leo So now Ukraine has +100 additional km of the front line, +5000 bodies to burn, and still will lose Pokrovsk. The only plus - short PR-campaign for 3 weeks. Ukraine exchanged 5000+ own soldiers to 3-5 "victory" reports and bunch of photos with Russian flags (see above)... Reads as copy of German reports from Eastern front from fall of 1941 unicorn and Marc in Calif 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moses Posted August 24 Share Posted August 24 30 minutes ago, vinapu said: Reads as copy of German reports from Eastern front from fall of 1941 You can read the same "report" here https://www.businessinsider.com/how-ukraine-audacious-military-offensive-kursk-russia-could-backfire-experts-2024-8 Western military experts say the same. "We don't know why they did that". Let me show you the scale of the Ukrainian "victory" that Western propaganda is trumpeting It is map of European part of Russia It is map of Kursk region, Ukrainian soldiers are running in 3 districts of 28. They already lost over half of technic and about half of soldiers. unicorn 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members unicorn Posted August 24 Members Share Posted August 24 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members unicorn Posted August 24 Members Share Posted August 24 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members unicorn Posted August 24 Members Share Posted August 24 12 hours ago, Moses said: Oh, yeah... you should be teacher of subject "How to derail threads".... I was just expanding on the prior comment "...including parts of your own country occupied by Germans 1941-43...", to point out that 1943 was not the last time foreign troops have occupied parts of Russian soil. 😉 Well, your country certainly has an ample supply of corpses to keep that war going as long as it wants. Whether it can replace the military hardware and supply of trained fighter pilots is more questionable. vinapu 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moses Posted August 24 Share Posted August 24 dreams... dreams... but they give hopes to desperate Ukrainians... country without economic and almost without males... Marc in Calif and Mavica 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post vinapu Posted August 25 Popular Post Share Posted August 25 3 hours ago, Moses said: but they give hopes to desperate Ukrainians... country without economic and almost without males... Still holding up nicely. And Russia, like every thug , attacked them for that reason, hoping for easy walk. Marc in Calif, reader, Mavica and 3 others 5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members unicorn Posted August 25 Members Share Posted August 25 7 hours ago, Moses said: dreams... dreams... but they give hopes to desperate Ukrainians... country without economic and almost without males... You're right. When it comes to body counts, Russia can win almost any war with almost any single country, since life is cheap in Russia. I don't see you volunteering for the fight against the hapless Ukraine, though. Marc in Calif, vinapu, Ruthrieston and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moses Posted August 25 Share Posted August 25 https://www.globalfirepower.com/country-military-strength-detail.php?country_id=russia last research, Jan 2024... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moses Posted August 25 Share Posted August 25 5 hours ago, vinapu said: Still holding up nicely. They not "holding". Zelensky's regime is grinding its residents into fertilizer under pressure from the West... And the most shameful thing is that the West is collaborating with the Nazi regime. Mavica, Heba as-sa3udeya and unicorn 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members unicorn Posted August 25 Members Share Posted August 25 20 minutes ago, Moses said: https://www.globalfirepower.com/country-military-strength-detail.php?country_id=russia last research, Jan 2024... NATO would crush the Russian Federation. We have both better quantity and quality. Narva's only 150 km from Petrograd... Ruthrieston 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moses Posted August 25 Share Posted August 25 2 hours ago, unicorn said: NATO would crush the Russian Federation. NATO will never participate in this conflict - nobody wants WW III vinapu 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
