Chinese tourists coming back to Thailand in big numbers

[webfact]

Chinese tourists grand palace Bangkok

 

By Peter Roche

“He expects Chinese to be the top foreign tourists in Phuket in April…”

 

The Tourism Authority of Thailand is addressing concerns over the monopolisation of foreign tourism businesses and zero-dollar tours, saying that “they are not a concern” as long as strict law enforcement and collaboration with Beijing continues.

 

The TAT Governor Yuthasak Supasorn says that his office in China will continue to monitor these issues and ensure that only Chinese tour companies certified by the Chinese government are allowed to send tour groups to Thailand.

 

Zero-dollar tourism is where a package is bought in the home country, including air fares, food and accommodation organised through foreign-owned companies and then visits to high-commission-paying shops and tours.

 

Full story: https://phuket-go.com/phuket-news/national-news/chinese-tourists-coming-back-to-thailand-in-big-numbers/

 

-- © Copyright Phuket GO 2023-04-04

 

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[markclover]

Yes, Thailand has tourists.  Please show some respect to the long term teachers that work 40 hour weeks for a McDonald's salary.

[John Drake]

Quote

This year, the TAT is promoting Thailand as an all-year-round destination to maintain occupancy rates at a desirable level.

Yes, air quality levels that will kill you. Just the thing you need for year round travel. The air only gets better when the flooding starts.

[phetphet]

Saw them in Tops last week, actually filling two suitcases at the checkout with dried foods to take home.

 

Must be expensive in China.

[proton]

1 hour ago, markclover said:

Yes, Thailand has tourists.  Please show some respect to the long term teachers that work 40 hour weeks for a McDonald's salary.

Nobody forces them to work for more than Thai teachers get!

[fusion58]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

Zero-dollar tourism is where a package is bought in the home country, including air fares, food and accommodation organised through foreign-owned companies and then visits to high-commission-paying shops and tours.

But…but…I was told zero dollar tours didn’t exist… ????

[gearbox]

1 hour ago, phetphet said:

Saw them in Tops last week, actually filling two suitcases at the checkout with dried foods to take home.

 

Must be expensive in China.

Great for the business. The Chinese come to shop and eat, they are not much interested in water activities. They are spending well at the restaurants, not like the riff raffs sharing a portion of fried rice and a bottle of water. The flights from Chengdu to Samui seem fully operational now, in fact there seem to be heaps of inbound flights to Samui now.

[gearbox]

2 hours ago, markclover said:

Yes, Thailand has tourists.  Please show some respect to the long term teachers that work 40 hour weeks for a McDonald's salary.

Go back to your home country, there should be teacher job vacancies paying well above Maccas money, with superior benefits like high quality free health care. Time flies and you'll end up here near pension age with little or no assets.

[NorthernRyland]

noooooooo!!!!!!

[xylophone]

1 hour ago, phetphet said:

Saw them in Tops last week, actually filling two suitcases at the checkout with dried foods to take home.

 

Must be expensive in China.

Same here at the Big C supermarket where they will buy a cheap suitcase (or two) and pack it full of dried food, even noodles etc to take back home??

 

I often look at their trolley and see the type of dried food they are buying and my immediate thought is that if they continue eating this type of rubbish, then they won't have a long life! 

[Deli]

Send them to Chiang Mai to enjoy the mountain air but keep them outta Phuket

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

The Tourism Authority of Thailand is addressing concerns over the monopolisation of foreign tourism businesses and zero-dollar tours, saying that “they are not a concern” as long as strict law enforcement and collaboration with Beijing continues

Not a concern, welcome back Chinese but with it comes the dark side...

mafia and murder.

As my father taught me " choose your bed partner very carefully"

[koolkarl]

We were in the Shangri La hotel the other evening and a large group of chinese

were near us.  It was a buffet dinner.  There was more food on the ground than on their table

and even more in their women's very large handbags. They were so loud and obnoxious. we

had to change tables.  The Thais would be far better off without them.

[StayinThailand2much]

2 hours ago, fusion58 said:

But…but…I was told zero dollar tours didn’t exist… ????

They are not zero dollar tours, but all-inclusive tours, paid in yuan in China. (Almost cashless in Thailand...)

[StayinThailand2much]

3 hours ago, John Drake said:

Yes, air quality levels that will kill you (...)

Chinese from Beijing or Shanghai won't know the difference. ????

[mrfill]

3 hours ago, fusion58 said:

But…but…I was told zero dollar tours didn’t exist… ????

Try googling "all inclusive holiday Thailand"  - I got 28 million results.

It's all in the name. These sort of holidays are not exclusive to the Chinese visiting Thailand and are common.

[3NUMBAS]

they r all spies looking to find out your business via tiktok

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

4 hours ago, gearbox said:

Go back to your home country, there should be teacher job vacancies paying well above Maccas money, with superior benefits like high quality free health care. Time flies and you'll end up here near pension age with little or no assets.

Not quite a simple affair. In the US, only one state I'm aware of, Minnesota, with a Master's degree allows you to simply take the exam for your subject, then be handed a teaching license.

 

All other states require a slew of exams and lengthy, expensive courses, which mostly seem like a racket for states to collect revenue. CA, TX, and FL are the worst in this regard. Those I've spoken to who did them said they were a joke, there wasn't much to be applied toward any meaningful professional development. It's unfortunate considering how the US still continues to suffer from a massive teacher shortage, that with such BS they're still failing to address.

 

On the other hand, Thailand offers a great opportunity for an aspiring teacher to simply hop on a plane, then be put in front of a classroom. Sure, this does result in all the backpacker, Hangman playing "teachers" everyone likes to trash. But there's also quite a few who really want to teach, make a difference in kids' lives, and grow from the experience. While working we also get to enjoy touring this beautiful country and enjoy its low cost of living, one that doesn't have to take nearly all one's salary. Your home country might pay more, but then how much of that will go to rent?

 

Not to mention, how many new teachers back home will burn out in a few years given the MMA-like, body slamming environment, complete with flying bullets? The Thai classroom can be pretty chaotic, but compared to that of America it's really heaven.

 

But yeah, you are right about long term teaching here, and a long term future with no savings nor retirement plans. Which is why after nearly a decade here I'm taking this experience back home with me to teach in the US, in a few weeks. It was certainly worth it. But given what I described above, it'll have to be with part time uni courses and tutoring centers, which piecemeal could provide for a decent salary. Again, it's not so easy. The full time, secure, well-benefitted teaching job that paid well, was from an America long ago.

 

Anyway, back to the topic. I also teach many Chinese online, and they've told me of the many rumors being blasted about the dangers of Thailand, and not to travel here. Yet other than that one student murder incident, I tell them it's relatively safe, and the Chinese have been arriving by the planeload. We then both conclude that it's the Chinese govt trying to prevent their citizenry and capital from fleeing their country.

Edited April 4, 2023 by CrunchWrapSupreme

[vandeventer]

This may not be a good idea to bring them back right now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfTgToyxufs

 

[ikke1959]

As long as the number of tourists goes up no problem .... but what about the earnings for country and businesses??

[Venom]

19 hours ago, gearbox said:

Great for the business. The Chinese come to shop and eat, they are not much interested in water activities. They are spending well at the restaurants, not like the riff raffs sharing a portion of fried rice and a bottle of water. The flights from Chengdu to Samui seem fully operational now, in fact there seem to be heaps of inbound flights to Samui now.

I'll take high volume Hi-So tours from China any day. Send the riff raffs sharing a portion of fried rice and a bottle of water packing! We don't need them. ????

[fusion58]

On 4/4/2023 at 2:09 PM, hotchilli said:

welcome back Chinese but with it comes the dark side...

mafia and murder.

…and a complete lack of social graces.

[Soikhaonoiken]

But in with those zero tours are the Chinese criminals and scammers which we seem to be reading about every day now...

Oh, wait a minute,  I forgot all those seized assets they keep getting from those Chinese mobster must be benefiting some HiSo Thais...

[daveAustin]

On 4/4/2023 at 2:51 PM, koolkarl said:

We were in the Shangri La hotel the other evening and a large group of chinese

were near us.  It was a buffet dinner.  There was more food on the ground than on their table

and even more in their women's very large handbags. They were so loud and obnoxious. we

had to change tables.  The Thais would be far better off without them.

Had similar experiences over the years—kids pissing directly into pool, pushing n shoving, excessive noise and general bad manners etc etc. They don’t give a F about anyone else and generally make for awful tourists, creating angst, inconvenience and annoyance for all. And yes, their presence rarely benefits any other Thai bar those in on the scam. That Xi character’s got a lot to answer for for letting them out!

[fusion58]

On 4/6/2023 at 6:33 AM, daveAustin said:

Had similar experiences over the years—kids pissing directly into pool, pushing n shoving, excessive noise and general bad manners etc etc. They don’t give a F about anyone else and generally make for awful tourists, creating angst, inconvenience and annoyance for all. And yes, their presence rarely benefits any other Thai bar those in on the scam. That Xi character’s got a lot to answer for for letting them out!

Interesting read on Amazon Kindle…

 

[rabang]

On 4/4/2023 at 7:35 AM, phetphet said:

Saw them in Tops last week, actually filling two suitcases at the checkout with dried foods to take home.

 

Must be expensive in China.

Last time I was in Thailand Tops was way more expensive than high-end supermarkets in Scandinavia.

[Dcheech]

Good to hear celestial tourists are back to filling spinner luggage with tinned mackeral & durian chips for lunch & dinner back at the hotel. Quality big spenders on the prowl. 

[ChipButty]

From what I can see here in Phuket tourist arrivals are going down booking have slowed right down, what will happen this low season? We used to get many independent Chinese tourist in low season so far we have only had one couple