ZFT
You only need to look at the gripes of the folks on independent travel websites already to see the effect it's having. Yes, most tourists enter Thailand by air from beyond the region, but you cannot underestimate the sheer amount of re-entries these people make to Thailand. Thailand has traditionally been a hub for exploring the region, but it seems to be willingly shedding this role now, which is a big mistake.
As you probably know, lots of western travellers and gapyear kids (a sizeable section of Thailand's core tourist base) arrive in the region at Bangkok and then head out around the neighbouring countries to the east, before heading back into Thailand by air or land. Some fly on from Bangkok, and others work their way down to Malaysia, Singapore and occasionally Indonesia.
The new 15 day rule is forcing them to compress their time in Thailand on their re-entry. Getting multi-entry visas is the alternative, but they're often regarded as expensive by this kind of traveller and crucially they've also got a short activation period, so they're not particularly flexible.
Given the rapid rise in the cost of travelling in Thailand for Brits, Aussies and Europeans because of the naff exchange rates at present, added to the probably ill-informed but nonetheless very real fear that has been created by the PAD protests, Thailand is becoming a less attractive proposition. People are openly put off when you look around these travel websites.
The low cost terminals at KL and Singapore, coupled with their relatively slack visa requirements and the longhaul and Australian low cost links that are now starting to grow from these 2 airports, make them an ever appealing proposition over Bangkok.
The travel industry has been seriously looking into growing the offering and frequency for alternatives to Bangkok recently (which the PAD protest has justified), and I honestly think that Thailand will suffer because of the visa exemption change.
You're right that tourists aren't the target for these changes, but yet again the Thai government has pushed through an ill-conceived raft of changes with repercussions that they clearly haven't thought through properly.
I guarantee that next year will be a much worse year for tourism in Thailand than it need be. They're already gonna have a stinker because of the recession and the PAD protests, but to now restrict the options of a key section of their tourist base is just plain stupid. These tourists I'm talking about will spend less time in the country, of that there is no doubt. Not all of them are big spenders, but sheer numbers make them significant. The search is on for the Thai alternative while Thailand does nothing to defend its reputation as the focal point of the region.
It's about time Thailand introduced a multi-entry fixed term tourist visa, or pushed ahead with the plans for a regional visa with their neighbours.
Last edited by harrogate; 4th Dec 2008 at 00:08.