Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing some rather good news in my opinion regarding tourism numbers here in Thailand. I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from Reuters, that is reuters.com, the article is titled: Thailand, China to waive visas for each other's citizens from March. That article goes in a different direction, I have already made another video, I made it contemporaneously with this one where we actually talk about this dynamic of the new Thailand, China Visa waiver program. That said, the thrust of this video goes to a different part of the article. Quoting directly: "In 2023, Thailand welcomed 28 million foreign tourists, slightly above its target, generating 1.2 trillion Baht ($34.93 billion) of revenue, (that's in dollar terms) Government data showed." So interesting here.

I think this is really great news for Thailand, the fact that the numbers are high. I have got to be honest with you, I think people were getting a little pessimistic going into high season. I came back from Pattaya, we took a week off here in the office and by the way, to clients, folks who watch the channel and everything, thanks a lot for your patience, we really needed it. I'm actually coming off the break with a bit of a cold if you can't tell so I don't know, good news, bad news, but whatever. 

I was down in Pattaya over the New Year weekend, I was actually up in Bangkok for the New Year itself but I was floored, it was fantastic; the place was packed; it was so good. I was so happy to see that after all these years now of having to go through really some pretty downtrodden times, it was good to see that we are back. Tourism in Thailand is definitely back and it's great. And everybody in Thailand that sort of pulled together to make that happen, everybody deserves a credit for it because it did happen, we got there. And even if we only went slightly over the target that is that is great, that is great. There is nothing to be unhappy about with that because I think a lot of people were getting pessimistic, didn't even know if we would meet the targets going into high season and lo and behold we did. So I think this is all great news and we will certainly keep you updated on this channel as the further situation evolves.