I first went to Thailand in 1997 and immediately fell in love with the country. Thailand at that time to me was mysterious and exotic, full of potentials and pitfalls.
Fast forward to 2010 and here I am after 13 years and many trips to the LOS sharing, with the help of my 
Is Thailand Still a Good Destination?
When you consider the events of the past few months, the worldwide financial crisis, possible worldwide recession/depression and the closing of Suvarnabhumi Airport by the PAD protesters from November 25th through December 5th, do you still think the Thailand is a good vacation destination?
Golf and I have booked our trip to the Kingdom for April 2009 and nothing short of a civil war would make us change those plans. Of course we have close ties to Thailand and many reasons to return, but what about the casual tourist or first time visitor, do you think that recent events around the world and in Thailand will put people off of visiting? Add to that the drop of some currencies against the Thai baht and what was once a cheap destination for Australians and British tourists is now considerably more expensive.
Depending on what reports you listen to the hotel occupancy rates for December in all of the usual tourist hotspots were dismal. Chiang Mai, Phuket, Samui and many of the other islands have had reports of occupancy rates as low as 20% throughout December, which is the beginning of the high season in Thailand and is usually characterized by rising numbers of tourists. True, some of the hotels are reporting that they are getting back to normal this week for Christmas and New Year bookings, but it’s possible that these are people who booked several months ago. It appears that new bookings for January through April are extremely low.
If you were planning on traveling to SE Asia in the next 6 months will you still make Thailand your destination or will you go somewhere else? And if you’re choosing not to go to Thailand what has influenced your decision the most; the political instability, the poor economy or the exchange rate? If you are still planning on heading to Thailand in the next 6 months why are you keeping it as your destination considering the above mentioned negative factors?
Personally I will keep traveling to Thailand for the culture, the people, the food, the weather and the sanook atmosphere. I’d love to hear what others are thinking about travel to the Land of Smiles in the coming year, please comment below and let me know what you’re thinking.
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I have been reading about how many of the hotels and airlines have discounts and other deals to intice visitors to visit. They have been making me think to visit Thailand a lot sooner than I was planning. The political issues seemed to have settled, so I am not worried about that issue. Thailand has always been an affordable destination, and at the moment, even more so, but I know those special discounts won’t last long.
I’m going for two months from mid-Jan to mid-March, can’t wait! The Thai’s are such a Pacifist people that as long as you avoid the political rallies I think everyone should be ok. The fire in Santika last night scares me more, as it is a club I have been to a few times.
I’m going for the laid back lifestyle, food, culture and people.
I’m in Bkk now and have been for 3 weeks, got to Thailand on the 13/12/2008, the plane was half full and when i got to Bkk it took only 30 Min’s to get to my driver. Over the pass few weeks now Bkk has got real busy and the tourist are here. I come to Bkk every 28 days for a week for my R&R from the mining industry in Australia and I will be thinking that my breaks will be change due to the global markets and the dollar exchange is not good. Thailand must consider what’s going on in the big wide world as hotels are only offering good deals to their people and not us the foreigners who come to spend money etc… i can tell you what’s going on in Australia and it’s not good with many workers in the mining industry and the construction industry.I work for world mining giant and they have stopped all projects on every site and now are laying off 14,000 workers world wide. As mention I come here to Bkk for my breaks and over the last 4 months it has become more demanding on the old back pocket and I’m fortunate that i have a good understanding and knowledge of how things are in Bkk but my the every day Thai person has no idea or understanding what’s going on in the world outside. Thailand and at the end of the day every one will suffer if they don’t support the tourist with deals and packages in the new year.
i have been in Thailand recently, despite of few problems in last few months, its definitely a good value for money destination. one can enjoy a lot if ur alone, lot of beaches and nice restaurants.much cheaper destination and full of fun.
I was supposed to go to Bkk on the saturday after the airports were closed by the protestors. I was quite dissapointed but that has not deterred me from visiting again, hopefully in April when I know some friends will be there, especially during sonkran. I was scheduled to stay at the Marriott Resort and Spa, near the river in Bkk, and I’m not sure if the rates have dropped, but I would still like to go there and maybe shoot up to Chaing Mai for a portion of my visit. I sense there are no political issues at the moment, so this is not a concern, only when I will be able to go again!
Thailand is always a cool place no matter what happens, things seem to be resolved more peacefully than other countries. The culture and the attitude of the people is what keeps me going back.
Thailand is like every other country in the sense that there will be good and bad places. For example, Chiang Mai is nice but you wouldn’t go to the deep south with the instability that is going on there. I’m heading to Koh Samui myself which should be a blast.
It’s a great dstination to getting married there, a friend if myne did and it was everyhting great!
Me and my friends were thinking of going to Thaliand. We’ve worked out the accomodation and airfare will probably cost us about $1200, how much do you reckon spending money will cost us??
That depends…where will you be staying? Bangkok? Chiang Mai? Phuket? Your final destination will definitely effect your expenses. Second…do you know anyone in Thailand? If so, your expenses will also be lower as they will know where to go for cheap eats, drinks, shopping, etc. Speaking of eats and drinks…do you plan on eating western meals while in Thailand? Triple the expense. Do you plan on partying a lot? Small bars can be cheap, but in the tourist/expat type bars you can expect to pay anywhere from $2.50 and up for a beer.
After accommodation and airfare Golf and I typically spend about $500 a week when we’re in Thailand. That is a mix of Thai and Western meals, partying 2-3 nights a week and some shopping thrown in for good measure. That is also typically in Bangkok or Phuket. Smaller islands like Koh Chang and Koh Samet are typically cheaper for us simply because there isn’t much to spend our money on other than eating and drinking.
Hope this helped a bit. If you have more specific questions feel free to send me an email steve [at] thailandmusings [dot] com