Dear Hillary,
I have been coming to Thailand for over 20 years, I used to come 2/3 times a year. I now only come once a year, the reason being the Thai THB. Over the last few years I have noticed how many shops, bars, go go bars have closed down. Most people now are staying away or going to Cambodia or Vietnam which are better value. I will give you one example (Emirates) airline has taken one flight off per day from one UK airport going into Suvarnabhumi international, let’s say there were 250 people per flight per day, that’s 1,750 per week, 7,000 per month. Total 84,000 for one year, this is just one airline, this is surely is having a great effect in the Thai economy ?????, so Hillary if you have any influence with the powers to be, tell them to wake up and smell the coffee. If the Thai THB was between 65/70 and not 40 to the pound, the economy would be better for all concerned (shops, bars, go go bars) the whole of the Thai economy would benefit, then I would start visiting Thailand more often.
Phil Shropshire England
Dear Phil from Shropshire,
Thank you for your in depth examination of the current tourism sector in Pattaya with reference to the UK. Looking first at the value of the THB – this value depends upon many factors, far more than I know of, but I can remember when it was 70 THB to the Pound Sterling. This was great for visitors and catastrophic for those of us who lived here. Everything seemed to cost double, so you can’t say that the whole of the Thai economy would benefit. Influence on the powers that be? I’m just a little voice in the wilderness, I’m afraid. Now you are only looking at the UK tourism. Now, will it surprise you to know that the Chinese tourism surpasses UK? And the Russians are coming back too. Finally, even at 40 THB Thailand offers you more holiday fun than Shropshire!
