Quote:
Originally Posted by ATMwalking
I think the would easily acknowledge all of that.
But that doesn't change thier belief they can have a one way money flow. Money flows in and rich thais get richer. I think at the core they are massively insecure and put everyone else up on a pedestal in comparison.
So in there mind opening up or equality automatically equals their losing in their zero sum game mentality. Given how unproductive and uncompetitive thai industry is, this is likely true. If you look at the FBA, the lists of types of companies are actually about "not ready to compete".
Have to keep in mind Thais compare themselves with Burma not Singapore. As long as they are doing better than Burma then all is OK. Thais don't have a world view.
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I think you could be close to the mark here.. Thailand seems to want all it can get (tourism money, foriegn exchange, investment, etc etc) and give nothing (or as little as possible) in return..
The fact is even as the smiles get harder to find, the rules get tighter, Thailand gets more visitors so they are being proved right !!
Also I have a theory about this (which may be wildly off the mark but hey its at least my thinking).. As I have pounded on about economic posts for years, greenspan flooded the world with cheap money, That cheap money has puffed all asset prices and created inflation, but it has also allowed people to have an artificially higher standard of living, when people feel good, have money etc, they go on vacation. So in a very convoluted roundabout way Thailand has been the net benefactor in its tourism market of a very unusual 10 year cycle post 97 crash. Thier currency went down (making property more purchasable), westerners felt richer (so came on holiday) many sold puffed home prices back in the west (and retired here).. All these globalized factors have been pushing more people onto Thailands shores.
Now from that Thailand seems to have gained the idea that this will continue and continue no matter what they do in visa regs, land ownership, etc etc etc.. Now maybe it will, maybe I am flat out wrong.. But my feeling is there isnt going to be the prosperity of the last decade, there isnt going to be the discretionary spending, there isnt going to be the same movement of retirees and holidayers and those that there are will be looking for the best deals. How will Thailand react to a more demanding tourist ?? They seem frustrated enough with the ones they have, how will they feel when they need to provide more service to compete ? Thais dont seem very good at improvement without guidance (sounds horribly patronizing.. But Thais dont seem to innovate alone much is perhaps better).. How will they feel when theres a decreasing amount of farang money instead of increasing ?? Will the frustrations and xenophobia get better to make it more inviting or worse as they get pissed off (low season robbery and violence in transient tourist economy springs to mind)..
Anyway thats an out there theory or idea.. Just one that I think could well be a factor for the coming decade. I know I often come across as a kook with my economic doom and gloom posts, but I have been right on the money for the last few years and I still see dark clouds ahead.