We don't want your kind of tourist

Despite a hugely competitive global tourism market, some countries are becoming increasingly picky about who they welcome.

A couple of weeks ago New Zealand hit the headlines when its tourism minister said Kiwis wants "disecerning tourists" not "backpackers eating two-minute noodles".

And now Thailand, which has decriminalised cannabis, doesn't want visitors who come to smoke weed.

“We don’t welcome those kinds of tourists,” Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told local media last week.

Thailand became the first country in south-east Asian to legalise cannabis for medicinal purposes and hasn’t outlawed recreational use with pot cafés and marijuana trucks (above) popping up all over the country.

Big fines or prison time remain a possibility for anyone lighting up a joint in public.

Anutin said the government’s cannabis policy is geared solely towards medical and health benefits including medical tourism.

But a recreational cannabis policy "might come in the near future," he said.

A classic fiver each way, then.

Meanwhile, Thailand's cannabis policy has drawn interest from regional neighbours like Malaysia, which is studying the use of cannabis for medical purposes.

In Tasmania, the capital city of Hobart does not want mega cruise ships docking.


Tasmania’s peak tourism body is pushing for a five-year ban on big cruise ships anchoring at Tasmanian ports.

The large cruise ships often carry up to 5,000 passengers who regularly disembark at Tasmanian ports.

The Tourism Industry Council has also passed a resolution which seeks to put a restriction on the number of people arriving on cruise ships per day.