snoop1130 Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 Thailand sees drop in Chinese visitors after tourist boat disaster By Patpicha Tanakasempipat Chinese tourists visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha in Bangkok, Thailand August 19, 2018. REUTERS/Soe Zeya Tun BANGKOK (Reuters) - A boat disaster near Thailand's Phuket Island that killed 47 Chinese last month is significantly cutting arrival numbers from China, though the Thai tourism industry is hopeful the decline will be stemmed by late this year. The July 5 capsizing of the Phoenix was Thailand's worst tourist-related disaster in years. China is Thailand's biggest source of visitors, and last year accounted for nearly one-third of the record 35.38 million arrivals. During July, Chinese arrivals fell 0.9 percent from a year earlier, the first drop since the start of 2017, when the Thai government was cracking down on cheap tour packages from China. The Thai tourism ministry expects a bigger decline of 14.3 percent for August. And the ministry cut its target for Chinese arrivals in July-December by 669,000, or 11.5 percent, to 5.15 million. Virat Chatturaputpitak, vice president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents, said he expects numbers to recover during China's "Golden Week" holiday in October, when many citizens travel en masse. "They'll return in October," he said. For sure, the boat deaths have cut Chinese arrivals in Phuket, a popular island resort. "This is the lowest point in my 20 years working with the Chinese," said Apicharn Pasomsap, an airport transfer operator who caters to Chinese tour groups. "We're all waiting around for clients that don't arrive." The number of hotel rooms in Phuket taken by Chinese in July and August has been 30 percent lower than usual, according to the Thai Hotels Association. The Tourism Authority of Thailand said six Chinese airlines have cancelled a total of 19 flights to Phuket, or about 6 percent of weekly arrivals. AVOIDING THE WATER Zhou Min, 33, an English teacher from China's Yunan province, still visited Phuket for two days recently, but didn't go on the water. "My husband didn't allow me to go out to the sea because the accident influenced us and we were a little scared," she said. After the disaster, Thai Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan blamed Chinese tour operators for disregarding Thai safety regulations, prompting a backlash from Chinese netizens. He later apologised. In July, China issued statements reminding outbound tourists to guard against safety risks, with mentions of the Phuket incident. Local Thai authorities say they have increased safety checks on boats. Yuthasak Supasorn, Tourism Authority of Thailand governor, told Reuters the boat disaster "has affected our image and what's most important now is we have to focus on restoring tourist confidence and our safety image." -- © Copyright Reuters 2018-8-22 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trainman34014 Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 What they mean is that they hope it will all be forgotten by later this year. Only image matters and safety is of little concern. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkidlad Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 Good job there is a boost of tourists from other countries, that not only matches the lost Chinese tourists, but actually surpasses it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesofa Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 17 minutes ago, snoop1130 said: Local Thai authorities say they have increased safety checks on boats. I'd guess that they don't mean 'increased', but 'started'. When the bad publicity eventually dies down (no pun intended), the 'safety checks' will return to zero. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBadGeordie Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 Not sure about arrivals, but there certainly appears to be a reduction in departures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattayadgw Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 Farang - smiling!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowboat Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 1 hour ago, snoop1130 said: "My husband didn't allow me to go out to the sea because the accident influenced us and we were a little scared," she said. The untreated effluence should be more of an influence you to stay out of the water Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cadbury Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 1 hour ago, snoop1130 said: "This is the lowest point in my 20 years working with the Chinese," said Apicharn Pasomsap, an airport transfer operator who caters to Chinese tour groups. Oh! How dreadful. The money is drying up and that is the most concern. The image of corpses floating around inside a Chinese tour boat is of minor consequence. What a sick person Apichan is. Thailand is all about money, money, money...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catman20 Posted August 22, 2018 Share Posted August 22, 2018 ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LazySlipper Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 And yesterday, or the day before the were boosting an 11% increase in tourist arrivals. Damn... dunno what to believe anymore, so I 'll just switch into the Jimmy crack corn mode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PatOngo Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 12 hours ago, snoop1130 said: "They'll return in October," he said. Red October! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammieuk1 Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 When you slaughter your guests they are very unlikely to come back? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colinneil Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 5 minutes ago, sammieuk1 said: When you slaughter your guests they are very unlikely to come back? When you slaughter the guests they are unable to return. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Khun Loong Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 Great to start the day with some good news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave67 Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 I notice the real hazard of waterfalls has not been mentioned Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inThailand Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 Best news I heard all year. Less Chinese. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fex Bluse Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 4 minutes ago, inThailand said: Best news I heard all year. Less Chinese. I too appreciate the news, but we will all need to acknowledge that the long game is Thailand being full of Chinese for the rest of our lifetimes. There are too many and China is just close enough... Sad reality. Westerners who came to Thailand in the previous decades were SO LUCKY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BestB Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 Someone needs to make up their mind . first it was Chinese dropped by 680000 then it was numbers are up by 10% from previous year now it’s back to numbers dropped . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebell Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 It's not just sea water that's a threat - trips to Petchaburi have been suspended awaiting the arrival of more aqualungs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juan B Tong Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 Yeah? And the bad news is......? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigA Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 I dispute this, there is a huge number of Chines tourists at the night market and malls around Hua Hin such as Bluport. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maejo Man Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 On my way to the airport the other day, the taxi driver asked me where I was going, to which I replied Chiangmai. Ha Ha he laughed, you mean China! He wasn't wrong; the town is full of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fex Bluse Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 10 minutes ago, BigA said: I dispute this, there is a huge number of Chines tourists at the night market and malls around Hua Hin such as Bluport. I dispute your observation. Mine is based on the fact that I have not seen a single Chinese person today during my morning commute to work in Bangkok. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NextStationBangkok Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 On the positive side, less pollution, and more beach space available for Thai's and rest of the world! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soistalker Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 This is what happens when you have zero concern for tourist safety. It's all about the numbers. This is what happens when you kill a bunch of Chinese and the hive mentality kicks in and they all decide it is unsafe, but many still come. But probably the next big accident, and with buses or boats full of Chinese this is an inevitability, the numbers will crash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soistalker Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 What's the next big accident to kill scores of Chinese, you ask? It will be a tour bus full of Chinese that crashes because the driver is on drugs or speeding or watching tv or talking to the bus attendant or falls asleep or just loses control of the bus because he is just some Somchai driving the bus and not a regulated bus driver with a bus license. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deli Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 Unfortunately there are still so many, that the drop isn't visible in daily life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odysseus123 Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 I wish that they would make up their slightly discombobulated minds. Either the numbers are up by 247 million (yesterday) or they are down by 52 (today). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dutchbull Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 Still too many screaming Chinese around me ...little bit more decline okay for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katipo Posted August 23, 2018 Share Posted August 23, 2018 14 hours ago, snoop1130 said: After the disaster, Thai Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan blamed Chinese tour operators for disregarding Thai safety regulations, prompting a backlash from Chinese netizens. He later apologised. His arrogance has cost the country billions. You think after all the disasters, natural and man-made, that have befallen this country, that one boat accident is the reason for the drop? No, it's how it was handled, particularly by one individual at the top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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