The reputation of hospitality in Thailand

When people think about “Thai Hospitality”, they may think: lots of cheap, luxury hotels, and a thriving tourist culture. There is a wide-spread perception that the luxury experience—i.e. good service, fine dining, fine accommodations—can be bought and experienced during a traveler’s stay at an affordable price. This serves as a strong attraction for many middle-class travelers.

Another frequent reputation of the industry is that of the prostitution activity, and its link to hospitality. Because of the high activity of prostitution in Thailand, it is often a topic in hospitality, whether hotels allow for “women of the night” to accompany men back to their rooms. This in turn has some effect on the reputation of the hotel industry in general, as well as each and every hotel with its individual policies. Whether these policies have a positive effect or negative effect on the hotel’s reputation is debatable: for example, many businessmen and travelers may see some hotels as unattractive because of their strict policies against putting up prostitutes; and on the other hand, conservative travelers may be put off by hotels that allow for prostitutes, seeing it as a “dirty” business practice.

The service mentality of the people in Thailand

The core of any hospitality industry is the “software”, i.e. the people.  And regardless of the will of the international hotels that come into each country to implement a standard “service level” for their guests, the hotels in each country will often reflect the inherent service mentality of the culture it stands in. It may be difficult for an international hotel to quickly find local resources in China that can operate with acceptable service quality for a standard, three-star hotel. On the other hand, an international hotel would have to be aware that it has to offer a much higher service than its standard hotel elsewhere to operate the same hotel in Japan. This is all due to the inherent differences that make up the service mindset of the local people across different cultures.

For Thailand, the reputation for its service has appeared to be fairly reasonable and positive. Based on the reviews and feedback provided on blogs and travel sites, it appears that the quality of service at the high-end hotels and restaurants is relatively consistent and well-received; however, the quality of service at the mid- to lower end has received mixed reviews. On the other hand, because many things in Thailand are still much more affordably priced than things in other developed countries, this has left tourists/people with much better access to the high-end experiences the hospitality industry has to offer. Hence, it appears that people are able to have much more exposure to good quality service than not when traveling through the urban parts of Thailand.

At an overall level, when people that have traveled to Thailand use words to describe the people they encounter while there, they use words such as “friendly” and “helpful”. So, generally speaking, it seems that we are dealing with a culture that has a foundation for hospitality and service that is capable of meeting the demands of the international travelers. This presents good grounds for continued growth in the hospitality industry both in the present and in the future, as the overall positive reputation of the country is expected to continue to attract the interest of both businesses and travelers alike.