Thai envoy in Beijing says visa-free entry for Chinese will eventually pay off

[snoop1130]

 

The chargé d’affaires at the Royal Thai Embassy in Beijing says he’s confident the temporary visa exemption for Chinese tourists will pay off given time. Benjamin Sukanjanajtee is anxious to restore Chinese travellers’ trust in Thailand.

 

Negative local PR, a spate of highly publicised shootings in Bangkok, and one particular movie, have all helped reduce the number of Chinese arrivals since the middle of the year. In October shooting in a Bangkok shopping mall, in which a Chinese tourist died.

 

Around the same time, the movie No More Bets was released, recounting the story of Chinese nationals being trafficked overseas, to a country many have assumed is Thailand.

 

By Peter Roche

Caption: FILE PHOTO

 

Full story: Phuket GO 2023-12-04

 

- Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here.

 

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[Pique Dard]

8 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

and one particular movie, have all helped reduce the number of Chinese arrivals since the middle of the year. 

...which movie? can't you can't say more than that?

[StayinThailand2much]

Just watched a clip this morning on YouTube which mentioned that, whatever is going around in China at the moment, leading to overcrowded hospitals, will, eventually, affect 60% of China's population... Go, Thailand! Back to January 2020. Time for another 2-3 years of shutdowns and reduced business activity... (Japan and Taiwan taking precautions, and discussion in the U.S. to introduce measures to control a possible health threat, but Thais, once more, just having dollar (yuan) signs in their eyes...

Edited December 4, 2023 by StayinThailand2much

[hotchilli]

12 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The chargé d’affaires at the Royal Thai Embassy in Beijing says he’s confident the temporary visa exemption for Chinese tourists will pay off given time. Benjamin Sukanjanajtee is anxious to restore Chinese travellers’ trust in Thailand.

Of course he'd say that.. he ain't gonna state the real story.

[mikebell]

47 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Of course he'd say that.. he ain't gonna state the real story.

It's his raison d'être.

[daveAustin]

Thai envoy in Beijing says visa-free entry for Chinese will eventually pay off
 

Let’s hope not. 

[fallup88]

The movie is made by Chinese which talks about kidnapping in countries bordering Thailand. Thailand doesn’t have the spine to make a big deal with China regarding the movie. Instead it continues to suck up to the Chinese.

 

If this was the other way around, Thailand making a movie negatively portraying China, China would have told Thailand to censor the movie or face consequences.

[ikke1959]

It are only Thais who are confident in this case... but the reality is mostly very different....and than they are quiet again. 

Free visa will not solve the problems in Thai tourism, but many other things could contribute as alcohol sales, e cigarettes, double pricing, and double standards.. If the act on these issues, it could improve tourism 

[Danderman123]

How can a temporary visa free regime pay off over time?

[Irish star]

Dreaming…

[Irish star]

8 hours ago, StayinThailand2much said:

Just watched a clip this morning on YouTube which mentioned that, whatever is going around in China at the moment, leading to overcrowded hospitals, will, eventually, affect 60% of China's population... Go, Thailand! Back to January 2020. Time for another 2-3 years of shutdowns and reduced business activity... (Japan and Taiwan taking precautions, and discussion in the U.S. to introduce measures to control a possible health threat, but Thais, once more, just having dollar (yuan) signs in their eyes...

Pneumonia pandemic 

[Sydebolle]

Only once Thailand understands, that tourism is a very delicate commodity to deal with, they might treat it like a little sprig of herb - too much or too little of anything can ruin the endeavours. 

Thailand should not focus on one particular group (Chinese arrive by the millions as zero-dollar-tourists); less is more and maybe they want to look how they did in the late 80s and early 90s. A fraction of arrivals with a much longer stay per capita and a considerably higher spending per capita as well - as said - less is more. 

Of course the quality tourists expect a comfortable return on their hard-earned money, so the government and its executive arms (immigration, TAT, service providers etc.) should review the present status-quo. Two-tier pricing in National Parks (locals 20 Baht, non-Thais 500 Baht) and other funny ideas go down very very bad with tour operators and travel agencies. It officially states racism which is not the best of commodities in relation to tourism promotion - me thinks! Get Thailand, presently on 101th position of a total 116, to improve English and other languages. A simple remedy could be to broadcast all those cartoons the kids love to watch these days ...... in their original version, be it English or Japanese. Once the kids reach 10 to 12 years of age, they are familiar with those languages, even if it is only a passive command - the rest can be taught but listening and perfectly speaking is a given. That, on the other hand, would mean, that the education ministry would have to rid itself of the conflict of interest in keeping the next generation(s) uneducated for the benefit of under-paying and misusing the electorate which voted them into office in the first place.

You're welcome

[StayinThailand2much]

4 hours ago, Irish star said:

Pneumonia pandemic 

 

There is more going on. 27(!) different viruses and diseases (with many patients carrying half a dozen or more at once), rapid acceleration of cases, and doctors as well as media instructed by the CCP to lie and misname, while proven medications for the officially diagnosed diseases are reported to be ineffective... But yes, the best time for Thailand to invite (tens of) millions of Chinese tourists!

Edited December 5, 2023 by StayinThailand2much

[Gknrd]

xenophobic 3 year olds running the country. Anyone else see the decline of China and Thai tourism on a linear scale.  That should answer all the questions about the direction of Thailand.

Other countries are filling the gap. 

Edited December 5, 2023 by Gknrd

[smedly]

notice how there is not a mention of the current virus spreading in China and overloading hospitals there, have no lessons been learned these last 3 years

[josephbloggs]

45 minutes ago, smedly said:

notice how there is not a mention of the current virus spreading in China and overloading hospitals there, have no lessons been learned these last 3 years

Yeah let's lock down and cripple the country again - brilliant idea!

[Dcheech]

34 minutes ago, josephbloggs said:

Yeah let's lock down and cripple the country again - brilliant idea!

 

China did that once already & not the wussified western version. You wonder if they will try it again.

[smedly]

2 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

Yeah let's lock down and cripple the country again - brilliant idea!

did someone mention lockdown, what a stupid idea

[Emdog]

Let us not overlook the fact that free visas result in less revenue for the government in the "here and now". Would "the wrong lung...er ... long run" factor in the filling of that hole of incoming revenue in the meantime? And how could they calculate the free visas were the deciding factor in Chinese tourist plans? Sounds like more numbers just pulled out of some figure producing orifice