Coronavirus (Covid-19)

Survey says… most Thais prefer to keep foreign tourists out, for now

Published

11 months ago

Sunday, June 14, 2020

Survey says… most Thais prefer to keep foreign tourists out, for now | Thaiger

“The local respondents showed little interest in visiting the more popular foreign tourist magnets of Pattaya and Phuket.”

A recent Suan Dusit Poll asked Thais whether they wanted foreign tourists visiting Thailand soon. 75.7% said “no”. 54.4% said they would prefer the Thai people to tour their own country first before heading overseas. 21.3% say they are afraid foreign visitors would spark a second wave of Covid-19.

The Suan Dusit Poll was conducted between June 9-12 on 1,116 people throughout the country on issues ranging from the easing of restrictions, domestic tourism and the possible re-opening of the country’s borders.

“When do you think Thailand’s tourism would return to normal after the Covid-19 situation is resolved?”

41.4% responded “in one year”, 25.9% said “six months”, 20.5% said “two years”, and 12.2% thought it would take “more than two years”. Only 24.3% say they want foreign tourists to come soon so that they could help reignite the country’s tourist economy and generate income for Thais.

The same respondents were also asked to list the provinces whey would like to visit during this interim period of domestic-only tourism. Chiang Mai 31%, Prachuap Khiri Khan 28.1%, Bangkok 19.4%, Chon Buri 18.6% and Kanchanaburi 11.9%. The local respondents showed little interest in visiting the more popular foreign tourist magnets of Pattaya and Phuket.

The results of the poll, mostly spurred on by fears of foreigners bringing another wave of Covid-19 from overseas, has been backed up by the results of the repatriation flights where a statistically significant number of repatriated Thais have tested positive for Covid-19.

This week there’s also been a spate of ‘bans’ for foreigners travelling in Thailand (all who have been locked down in the country along with everyone else) from travelling on some buses, and from entering some tourist attractions or temples.

(Whilst understanding the sensitivity of these poll results, Suan Dusit Polls are well recognised for their professional and open polls. The sample size is in line with their polls on other matters over the years.)

SOURCE: Bangkok Post

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News Categories: Coronavirus (Covid-19) Thailand

Related Topics:farang foreigners poll Results return Suan Dusit xenophobia

5 Comments

Pedro

Sunday, June 14, 2020 at 2:46 pm

This foreigner has been stranded here since March and I am waiting for the borders to open so I can go home and see if my house is still standing, and perhaps start work again. Until International flights are allowed in, I will remain stuck here, spending a fortune on accommodation and a vehicle, living alone with no social life etc etc etc. Thailand, please be careful for what you wish for. Tourists generally like to book their holidays well in advance, and if they are told they are not welcome in your country, they will book to take their money elsewhere, and will not come back. Being called ‘dirty foreigners’ did not help either.

Reply
Nerissa CG

Sunday, June 14, 2020 at 3:07 pm

Instead of using the word ‘xenophobia’, how about using the word ‘racism’, because this is what this is. I have lived in a number of Asian countries and recently moved to Thailand for work. I am shocked to see how racist people are in Thailand. It is disappointing. I am a professional and not a backpacking farang or however many whites are seen here. Corona is bringing out the worst in humans. Whether is whites being racist to Asians in the US or Black people or Chinese being racist to Africans in China. Being racist to anyone is not acceptable. All humans can get corona. The virus affects human beings not skin colours. It also originated in Asia. It isn’t acceptable to exclude people based on the colour of their skin from entering areas or using transport. In my home country, this is illegal. I am mixed race myself and although I look white, have African heritage and have lived and worked in South East Asia for many years. I see myself just as a human being, not a a skin colour and I view everyone else in the same way and give them this level of respect.

Reply
Toby Andrews

Sunday, June 14, 2020 at 3:19 pm

Six months of working in the rice fields will change their minds.
Without foreign investment and tourism Thailand will die.

Reply
liam

Sunday, June 14, 2020 at 8:44 pm

we have to accept and respect this survey,even if it is a wrong message for the media, the thai economy counts a lot on tourism, even if tourists are not all farang, there are also chinese tourists in the survey

Reply
Sofian Charbaux

Monday, June 15, 2020 at 10:29 am

“most Thais” = 1,116 people? Out of 69,430,000~ Thai Citizens? that accounts for 0.0000016073743338614433% of the population and that supposedly represent the majority of Thai people? Really Thaiger?

That’s some BuzzFeed level clickbait titles BS right there.

Reply

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Coronavirus (Covid-19)

Published

2 hours ago

Monday, April 26, 2021

Tim Newton

Phuket’s vice governor has stirred the pot by singling out, what he described as, “problem foreigners” who weren’t wearing their mask in public. Over the past week there has been renewed attention to the wearing of masks at all times even though it’s actually been part of Thailand’s emergency decree since April last year. And while there has been wide use of masks over the last year there may have been a dropping off of serious mask wearing at all times in recent months.

But, I have to say, the VAST majority of all people in Thailand have been wearing their masks whilst in public over the past year.

There are a few problem foreigners. There are also plenty of problem Thais who have occasionally erred in the mask-wearing department. The intentional, and malicious non wearing of masks, has been very rare in Thailand. But, really, we’re talking about a tiny percentage. I haven’t seen too many foreign Karen’s or the male equivalent in my travels.

If you want to talk about the non-wearing of masks, just look at the pub and club scene over the past few months. In just about all the photos of parties and club events the battle is to find anyone actually wearing a mask.

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Bangkok

Entertainment venues linked to majority of Covid-19 cases in Bangkok

Published

8 hours ago

Monday, April 26, 2021

Thaiger

Stock photo via Pixabay

Bars and nightclubs are linked to the majority of Covid-19 cases reported in Bangkok over the past month. Data from Thailand’s Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration show that nearly two-thirds of the recent wave of Covid-19 infections in Bangkok traced back to entertainment venues.

In late February, Bangkok was reclassified from a “red” zone to an “orange” zone, allowing alcohol to be served again and bars to reopen, as long as they closed by 11pm each night, although some venues stayed open past 11pm. Nightlife in Bangkok was nearly back to normal last month, with some nightclubs and bars operating until 2am. In late March, new Covid-19 clusters were reported in Bangkok’s Thong Lor nightlife district and many of the patients had hopped from venue to venue.

2,227 Covid-19 infections in Bangkok are linked to entertainment venues followed by 278 linked to family clusters and 203 linked to workplace clusters, according to the CCSA. 199 cases in Bangkok are linked to other provinces and 89 cases are linked to quarantine facilities.

Other cases in Bangkok include…

78 cases linked to banquets and ceremonies
77 cases linked to hospitals
74 cases linked to markets
74 cases linked to restaurants
55 cases linked to stores
32 cases linked to gyms and sports venues
22 cases linked to the police station
17 cases linked to educational institutions
11 cases linked to prisons
10 cases linked to religious places
9 cases linked to condominiums
9 cases linked beauty salons, massage shops and spas
6 cases linked to public transportation

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Coronavirus (Covid-19)

Covid UPDATE: 2,048 new Covid-19 infections and 8 deaths

Published

10 hours ago

Monday, April 26, 2021

Thaiger

Photo via Facebook/ อนุทิน ชาญวีรกูล (Public Health Minister)

2,048 new Covid-19 cases and 8 coronavirus-related deaths were reported today by the Department of Disease Control. The total number of confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic is 57,508. The death toll is now at 148 since the start of the outbreak in Thailand. There are now 25,767 active cases, including 20,461 in hospitals and the other 5,306 being treated in field hospitals. 563 people are in critical condition and 150 patients are on ventilators.

Out of the new cases, 901 were reported in Bangkok. 110 cases were reported in Samut Prakan, which is just southeast of Bangkok. 97 cases were reported in Nonthaburi, a suburb outside Bangkok. 104 cases were reported in Chon Buri and 84 in Chiang Mai.

The new Covid-related fatalities include…

61 year old man from Pathum Thani who had diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease.
45 year old man in Bangkok died who had no pre-existing conditions. The cause of death was acute kidney failure.
24 year old Thai man from Udon Thani who was diagnosed with lymphoma.
92 year old man from Chaiyaphum who was diagnosed with heart disease.
63 year old man from Yala who had been suffering from chronic kidney disease.
52 year old woman from Bangkok who was diagnosed with hyperthyroid and high blood pressure
57 year old woman from Bangkok who suffered from spinal disk herniation.
60 years old man from Bangkok who had high blood pressure.

Recently, there has been a number of clusters around the country, according to deputy spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Natapanu Nopakun, who gives the CCSA report in English.

“In Bangkok, there had been at least 5 small clusters popping up in the past days and each of those 5 clusters had at least 50 cases of Covid-positive persons.”

Natapanu says many of the new Covid-19 patients were infected by family members.

In other related news, the province of Surat Thani, including the 3 Gulf islands of Koh Samui, Koh Pha Ngan and Koh Tao, have imposed similar closures of business to the ones in Bangkok. The announcement says that you must do quarantine if you travel from a red zone. Residents are also being asked to “stay home from 10pm-4am”.