Poll Finds That Thais Prefer Staying at Home for Long Weekends

The last two months of the year are traditionally the high season for both domestic and foreign tourism in Thailand. This year, however, most Thais are likely to just stay at home for the long weekends instead of taking advantage of domestic tourism stimulus campaign by the government.

According to the Bangkok University, a recent poll found that 54% of their respondents would prefer not to travel even if there’s a slate of long weekends in December.

The poll had asked 1,137 respondents a series of questions, one of which is whether they would take the opportunity to travel and have their expenses subsidized by the government under the “Rao Pai Teiw Gun” or “We Travel Together” stimulus package.

The poll found that 54% would decline the opportunity. 20% of these people said that their jobs require them to work during the long weekends, while 11.7% said that they don’t have the financial capacity to travel even if they want to. 8.8% said health problems prevent them from making a trip during one the long weekends.

As for the rest of the respondents, 25.2% said that they intend to travel this month. 20.8% said that they have not made a decision yet whether or not to travel.

The poll also asked three questions about the government’s stimulus package. One of these questions is whether they are aware of the “We Travel Together” package.

67.9% said that they are aware of the campaign and the perks that it offer, while 32.1% said that they don’t know about the campaign and the possible subsidies they could have enjoyed from the package.

They were also polled on whether or not they have actually registered to be part of the campaign. In response, 61.4% indicated not being registered for the stimulus package. Of these respondents, 15.5% said that they find the process to “complicated” and 3.5% said that they find it difficult to reserve a room and be qualified for subsidies.

An even larger group (18.5%) said that they did not register because they are not familiar with the app that is being used.

Last but not the least, they were asked if they find the government’s stimulus package effective or ineffective at stimulating tourism.

55.2% said that the campaigns are working and have spurred more domestic travel. 44.8%, on the other hand, believe that the stimulus package is not having that big of an impact on tourism, particularly among domestic travelers.

The poll then asked respondents where they would like to travel if given the chance. 25% picked Chiang Mai for their future destination, with Chiang Rai and Nan provinces following at 9% and 6.6%, respectively.

Some respondents also picked Phetchabun, which got 6.4% of the votes, as well as Loei, with 5.1%.

The We Travel Together stimulus package was launched in July, with the goal of 5 million room nights by October 31. Because of “underperformance,” the stimulus package was then extended to December 31. Government officials indicated that they will be extending the stimulus package beyond January as part of the second phase of stimulus measures.

Source:
NationThailand