Tourism, Bangkok style

“They have so many tourists,” said the billionaire Filipino-Chinese businessman as he passed our group. Yes, there were so many tourists booked and having breakfast at the fancy hotel, but little did the Tsinoy billionaire realize that there were 20 times more in the connecting high-end Central Embassy Mall here in Bangkok, Thailand.

If the gentleman were able to move around like we did, he would probably have died from envy, considering that there were thousands and thousands of tourists from all over the world visiting just the Grand Palace grounds that day.

On average, 8 million people visit the Grand Palace each year, where foreign tourists pay 500 baht per person. If only 5 million paid the entrance fee, that would be 2.5 billion just for one tourist destination. If our kababayan billionaire had a chance to take the river ferry with us, he probably would have cried because even the ferries had more tourists than I ever saw on the Hong Kong ferry.

Imagine how much more money Bangkok by itself generates in terms of hotel and Airbnb accommodations, food, services, transport and shopping. We are not even counting the other popular destinations that Thailand has developed during their Tourism Business Development plan of more than 20 years ago.

Yes, we Filipinos suffered a dose of tourism envy while attending a wedding in Bangkok last weekend. Yes, the Bangkok traffic is notorious, probably worse than Metro Manila, but then again you have a choice of Grab, Tuktuks or stylized tricycles, vans, buses and their mass transit system.

They also have klong or canal taxis that regularly pick up passengers along clean esteros every 10 minutes. Bigger river ferries take passengers of 100 and up every 10 minutes over a river similar to the Pasig River and they only charge 40 baht, whether you are a local or a foreigner.

Their river ferry terminals are much bigger than the ones along the Pasig River and they also have a dedicated marine police for their rivers, perhaps because so many tourists flock to and use them. Unlike the Pasig River where security paranoia lurks concerning Malacañang Palace’s riverside location, over in Bangkok, hundreds of water craft and commercial barges pass by the naval base, temples and shrines, etc.

Other people who don’t have too far to go simply walk, but they walk under modern elevated and fully shaded platforms that connect malls and key transport hubs. By investing in and constructing elevated pedestrian walkways, people traffic has been drastically reduced on the ground. This engineering solution would be a worthwhile investment for Metro Manila, given that it has approximately 10 times more the population density of Bangkok per square kilometer.

Speaking of hubs, it won’t be too much of an exaggeration to say that Bangkok will probably grab the title of being “The Mall Capital of the World” for having so many malls that are supersized, reaching eight floors and above, and some of them no more than a block apart. Malls like the Icon Siam is one of the larger malls that really suck in people because they have the food, the goods and even shops catering to tourists.

While walking and taking rides around Bangkok, we noticed that aside from fewer pedestrians on the ground, the roads and sidewalks were cleaner than Metro Manila and there were very few traffic enforcers or police on the ground.

One of the Grab drivers we rode with informed us that 20 years ago, Thai school children were already trained during school not to litter and not to leave the household rubbish outside of the house, except when the garbage was being collected.

Some neighborhoods have designated areas or dumpsters. He also told us that streets are clean because they are cleaned twice a day. I noticed that there were more than enough garbage bins or cans and people really had a mindset for cleanliness, even in public toilets. There were also no stray dogs in sight and few cats. I never even saw a fly!

As for the fewer police, the driver pointed to so many CCTV cameras that have become the eyes and ears of the police. Instead of human law enforcers, they have gone digital! If you have a violation you will get a fine through the mail within two weeks.

After visiting the Jim Thompson museum that commemorates the man who helped rebuild and popularize Thai silk globally, we ran into several local Thais who advised us that there was a limited sale at a nearby government facility that promotes locally made products for export and tourism.

After several encounters with locals, we realized that the Thais have a strong respect for their monarchy, tradition and authority. They voluntarily promote government institutions and don’t approve of tourist traps and even advise tourists to use Grab instead of the local taxis or tuktuks that rip off tourists.

I even saw a dedicated police hospital and grounds that had incorporated the commercial needs for the “camp,” such as coffee shops, and are “see through” unlike Camps Crame and Aguinaldo that are fenced in and blocked from public view.

Over all, tourism in Bangkok works because the institutions and services work. They are not politicized between a competing local and national government. As far as I recall, the tourism development plan thrived on continuity, focus and responsiveness to the needs and expectations of tourists, not politicians.

If Philippine tourism is to succeed, we must take the politics out and run it like a business, based on investments from government and the private sector, based on a proper business plan and managed by experienced or qualified experts, not political appointees.

Let’s earn revenues from tourism, not throw money into tourism.

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