Department of Wishful Thinking Has Pokeman Idea

A Thai tourism official has proposed placing Pokestops at famous Thai tourist attractions in an attempt to attract young travelers.  

“Rare types of Pokemon will be placed at tourist destinations we want to promote to tourists,” Pongpanu Svetarundra of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports announced Monday.

While on one hand I guess we should appreciate that someone is trying to think outside the box, it still doesn’t excuse the fact that this is yet another typical completely random thought put out to the public that doesn’t seem to have been given any sort of reality check.  

The article on Khao Sod which reported on Pongpanu’s idea was quick to point out two facts:

Pokemon Go hasn’t even been released in Thailand and has no set release date as of yet.

Players can suggest sites but the game developer ultimately decides on locations.  

But let’s see if we can’t think of a few more.  

Does Pongpanu think he’s the first person on the planet who has had the idea of being able to utilize the popularity of the game?  Like every business owner on the face of the planet hasn’t already said, “Hey, wouldn’t it be great if they would just send a bunch of people to my business location”?      

Why would Nintendo want to do this?  It’s great for TAT but what about for Nintendo?  What’s in it for them?  So far, in the markets where Pokemon Go is currently available, there doesn’t seem to be any emphasis on sending people to points of tourist interest.  

Would it be in Nintendo’s best interest to send their users to locations where players may be subjected to dual pricing for access to tourist sites and-or tourist scams?  How long would this last when players started complaining to Nintendo about “Palace is closed today” scams?  

Again, kudos for attempting to think creatively but typically when you have a thought like this you don’t immediately announce it.  This isn’t a brainstorming exercise where there are no bad ideas.