WASHINGTON — Thailand's tourist industry hoped for a quick revival when Beijing ended its zero-COVID policy late last year, unleashing a crush of Chinese travelers freed from pandemic-related travel restrictions.

 

Data from Thailand's Ministry of Tourism and Sports showed that more than 517,000 Chinese travelers visited Thailand during the first three months of 2023, up from 13,700 arrivals during the first quarter of 2022. In the first quarter of 2023, Chinese travelers were in the top five groups of foreign arrivals, along with Malaysian, Russian, South Korea and Indian visitors.

 

Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, told VOA Thai that fewer Chinese travelers than expected arrived in the first quarter of 2023, but that their numbers were expected to pick up as agencies promoted Thailand to Chinese eager to travel after three years of lockdowns.

 

In 2023, Thailand's National Economic and Social Development Council predicted that the country's gross domestic product would grow 2.7% to 3.7%, with tourism expected to benefit such sectors as restaurants and services.

 

by Nopparat Chaichalearmmongkol

Top picture caption: FILE - Chinese tourists visit Pung Tao Gong Chinese Temple in Chiang Mai province, northern Thailand, Jan. 23, 2023.

 

VOA Thai Service's Pinitkarn Tulachom and Yiamyut Sutthichaya contributed to this report.

 

Full story: https://www.voanews.com/a/return-of-chinese-tourists-to-thailand-has-pros-cons/7107885.html

 

-- © Copyright VOICE OF AMERICA 2023-05-25

 

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The problem being along with the genuine tourist comes the criminal element who want to get out of China and free up their money, by not having it stuck in a Chinese bank.

Do we really need more "Zero Baht Tourists"  ?

 

More stampedes at the buffet table ?

More buses jamming up the roads ?

Everything prepaid in China (Airfare, Hotels, Meals, Tours)

and very little cash deposited in the hands of Thai owned businesses.

Yeah, let's here about all the Pros for more Chinese tourists (grabs a bucket of popcorn) ????

1 hour ago, kentrot said:

Do we really need more "Zero Baht Tourists"  ?

 

More stampedes at the buffet table ?

More buses jamming up the roads ?

Everything prepaid in China (Airfare, Hotels, Meals, Tours)

and very little cash deposited in the hands of Thai owned businesses.

   Correct--if 500 billion baht is considered 'very little cash'.  That's what Chinese visitors dropped in Thailand in 2019.  One site, Statista, pegged it at 543 billion baht.

I predict a Thailand-wide prawn shortage.

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

The problem being along with the genuine tourist comes the criminal element who want to get out of China and free up their money, by not having it stuck in a Chinese bank.

For those who have any ideas about the Chinese Yuan displacing the Green Back as the world's reserve currency you only have to understand 1 of 4 or 5 requirement  that will make that not happen. For that to happen the world will need lots of  Yuan outside China, every country will need Yuan to trade with- BUT as the post above so rightly indicates, China will not let everyone move Yuan out of China.

1 hour ago, kentrot said:

Do we really need more "Zero Baht Tourists"  ?

 

More stampedes at the buffet table ?

More buses jamming up the roads ?

Everything prepaid in China (Airfare, Hotels, Meals, Tours)

and very little cash deposited in the hands of Thai owned businesses.

hmm the buses and buffet is for free?

the locust are back.  whats scary is that in 50 years they will own the world.

11 minutes ago, malibukid said:

the locust are back.  whats scary is that in 50 years they will own the world.

Perhaps even worse than locusts because locusts do not waste food? But what's really scary is that they consider that they already do own not just the whole world, but the Moon, planets and stars and will do whatever they want to enforce their ownership.

Return of Chinese Tourists to Thailand Has Pros, Cons... well, duh

2 hours ago, kentrot said:

Do we really need more "Zero Baht Tourists"  ?

 

More stampedes at the buffet table ?

More buses jamming up the roads ?

Everything prepaid in China (Airfare, Hotels, Meals, Tours)

and very little cash deposited in the hands of Thai owned businesses.

So what if everything is paid for in China?

That's called a "package holiday" - if they were fine for farangs booking through the likes of Thomas Cook then they're fine for Chinese people.

How do YOU know what is deposited in the hands of Thai businesses?
The hotels, restaurants, attractions, transportation the tourists stay at and use are staffed by Thai nationals; those businesses pay Thai corporation tax and they pay social security on behalf of those employees.

There are many independent travelers who stay at Radisson, Mercure, Four Points, Accor  . . . are those Chinese owned???

Seriously, you people need to stop your whining and start thinking for yourself instead of regurgitating drivel spouted by some blowhard on a barstool.
 

2 minutes ago, BuddyPish said:

So what if everything is paid for in China?

That's called a "package holiday" - if they were fine for farangs booking through the likes of Thomas Cook then they're fine for Chinese people.

I dont think you know what the term Zero Dollar tours means. It means.............

As its name suggests, zero-dollar tourism refers to packaged tours which are much less expensive than independent travel with one catch: tourists are taken on many shopping trips and are often required to buy overpriced products. Tour guides and drivers get a kickback from these shopping excursions, offsetting the loss on the tour’s initial cost. 

In most cases, these shops are Chinese-owned and the money tourists spend is diverted back to China. With more shops utilising mobile payments through WeChat Pay and Alipay, the payments don’t even have to be converted into local currency, avoiding foreign exchange fees that would normally go to local money changers.

56 minutes ago, marin said:

I dont think you know what the term Zero Dollar tours means. It means.............

As its name suggests, zero-dollar tourism refers to packaged tours which are much less expensive than independent travel with one catch: tourists are taken on many shopping trips and are often required to buy overpriced products. Tour guides and drivers get a kickback from these shopping excursions, offsetting the loss on the tour’s initial cost. 

In most cases, these shops are Chinese-owned and the money tourists spend is diverted back to China. With more shops utilising mobile payments through WeChat Pay and Alipay, the payments don’t even have to be converted into local currency, avoiding foreign exchange fees that would normally go to local money changers.

Diverted back to China??? 
The language you use suggests this is illicit.
Any business owned and legally operated by a foreign national can repatriate its profits.
There's no stipulation in Thai law that profits must remain here so what's your point?

The currency in use here is the Thai baht.
It doesn't matter what payment systems are used - you can no more bypass foreign exchange requirements or pay in Chinese renminbi with AliPay/WeChat Pay than you can pay in pounds with a Nationwide FlexAccount VISA debit card. 

You might want to believe this nonsense as it feeds into the Sinophobia prevalent in certain corners of the farang community but anyone with half a brain cell knows it's horse manure.

There is nothing wrong with Chinese tourists. But, as so often, Thailand for several reasons attracts the bottom of the barrel and the Chinese tourists it attracts are no exception. I've several times observed Chinese tourists in more up-market destinations such as Dubai and Singapore, and they do not swamp the buffet table but act as you and I would. Thailand gets what it deserves. It has always been a low-cost (read cheap) destination, and will continue to be - despite what the TAT keeps spouting.

1 minute ago, Bangkok Barry said:

There is nothing wrong with Chinese tourists. But, as so often, Thailand for several reasons attracts the bottom of the barrel and the Chinese tourists it attracts are no exception. I've several times observed Chinese tourists in more up-market destinations such as Dubai and Singapore, and they do not swamp the buffet table but act as you and I would. Thailand gets what it deserves. It has always been a low-cost (read cheap) destination, and will continue to be - despite what the TAT keeps spouting.

There is truth in this.
The caliber of farangs I've seen over here getting up to all sorts in full view are, in many ways, inferior to the tour group Chinese they revel in berating.

The Thais are in full pursuit of Chinese and Indian tourism over that from farangland for good reason.

 

Return of the Chinese tourists and the covid cases surge.

1 minute ago, koolkarl said:

Return of the Chinese tourists and the covid cases surge.

Oh really?
They're been back since before the New Year but cases didn't surge. 
More nonsense.

9 minutes ago, BuddyPish said:

There is truth in this.
The caliber of farangs I've seen over here getting up to all sorts in full view are, in many ways, inferior to the tour group Chinese they revel in berating.

The Thais are in full pursuit of Chinese and Indian tourism over that from farangland for good reason.

 

There are good and bad behaving people of all nationalities. But to say per average a European visitor is behaving "inferior" to a Chinese is simply outright wrong. I have seen Chinese spitting on the floor just where you wanted to get your breakfast (buffet) at a 4-star hotel. I have never seen that from an European. They rather shout than speak - even at a table of 4. And I doubt they were all deaf. And they do various strange disgusting things of which you might have read in the press. And (some of the) Indians walk around the streets like they were at home in Kolkatta or Mumbai. Dangerous and careless.

 

But of course there are as well well behaving Chinese, as there are nice Russians (Yes, I know one) and people from India.

15 minutes ago, BuddyPish said:

Oh really?
They're been back since before the New Year but cases didn't surge. 
More nonsense.

Be my guest and go to a Chinese buffet and sit down at a table with them and have dinner.

8 minutes ago, BuddyPish said:

Oh really?
They're been back since before the New Year but cases didn't surge. 
More nonsense.

You obviously have an agenda. A very pro Chinese agenda. So much so you dont see humor. The comment you again are upset about was a joke.  

 

Secondly you have not read the attached article have you? Exchange views, dont espouse them.

2 minutes ago, koolkarl said:

Be my guest and go to a Chinese buffet and sit down at a table with them and have dinner.

At least their food is good as long as it is not original street food upcountry.

Well...one can't expect to see a positive article about the Chinese tourists from an American government propaganda outlet.

At the moment in Samui there are quite a few Chinese spending well in the restaurants and shops. Quite a bit of help during the low season.

A racist troll post has been removed 

I went to a buffet in China once. They were stacking their plates sky high with everything imaginable, more then they could eat.

 

I think it was a status symbol to have heap high food stacked on the table. It let everyone know they had more sustenance and resources then their neighbor.

 

They did not seem to eat or consume more, it was about hoarding it (could be why they were skinny and not overweight ????????‍♂️). Most of it got thrown out by buffet staff later on.

 

It seemed like they went for the seafood especially (not sure why ????????‍♂️). The platters were empty almost immediately. People rushed in when the server came with a new platter and let the wild things have at it and not get in the way!

Edited May 25, 20233 yr by JimTripper

23 minutes ago, marin said:

You obviously have an agenda. A very pro Chinese agenda. So much so you dont see humor. The comment you again are upset about was a joke.  

 

Secondly you have not read the attached article have you? Exchange views, dont espouse them.

No I have an anti-bigot agenda
I read the article in its entirety; it's the Sinophobic drivel in the comments that I've taken issue with

28 minutes ago, koolkarl said:

Be my guest and go to a Chinese buffet and sit down at a table with them and have dinner.

What's that got to do with Covid surges?
 

10 minutes ago, BuddyPish said:

What's that got to do with Covid surges?
 

Do you like eating bats?

Edited May 25, 20233 yr by JimTripper

28 minutes ago, JimTripper said:

Do you like eating bats?

Oh another one who reads the Daily Mail.
I'm guessing you think the earth is flat too

They should return but only those who are female and under the age of 30.