Dear Thai Minister of Tourism,
I know, it sounds good: High Value, Low Impact. Only luxury tourists! Only jetsetters in designer swimwear, swiping their credit cards like a grill heating up on Ko Samet. No more loud crowds in sandals and sunburns, no more beer-bellied Buddhas at the street food stand.
But let’s be honest: if the package-deal French, the sausage-loving Germans, and the sun-hungry Scandinavians stay away—your five-star resorts will be emptier than a temple at midnight. In Bangkok’s rooftop bars, only influencers with drones will dance—but no one will pay the bill.
I can already see Thailand’s future without the “standard tourists”:
The tuk-tuk driver stares at his phone. No passengers. No honking. Just silence.
The beach vendor in Ao Nang whispers wistfully: “They used to buy sarongs, now they only want selfies.”
The massage parlor in Pattaya? Waiting. For Jeff Bezos. Or at least his driver.
Yes, maybe the backpacker is not “high value.” Maybe he doesn’t pay 8,000 baht for avocado Benedict with a sea view. But he comes back. He loves Thailand. He sweats, curses, laughs—and eats Pad Thai at a plastic table. He is not an investor, he is a fan.
Thailand without the everyday Europeans is like a papaya salad without chili: pretty, but bland. Only luxury? Then Thailand becomes a theme park for the super-rich, but no longer a country to fall in love with.
And you know what will happen when the last retiree from Hanover decides not to come, because “High-End Thailand” is too expensive? Your chic villas will stand there like the hotel ruins of Khao Lak: empty, abandoned, haunted by the ghosts of lost revenue.
Respectfully,
Yours,
Kilian Borchert