Thailand Dismisses Claims of 94% Drop in Chinese Tourists

[snoop1130]

Picture courtesy of Hanny Naibaho, Unsplash

 

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is dismissing rumors that Chinese tourist numbers have plummeted by 94%. TAT Governor, Thapanee Kiatphaibool, assures that Thailand still ranks as the top destination for Chinese travelers.

 

The reported decline has been attributed to Thailand's crackdown on call center scams.

 

Thapanee pointed out that the disappearance of Chinese actor Wang Xing near the Thai border hasn't affected tourism numbers, as no official reports back up the claim.

 

 

Despite a noticeable dip in visitors as the anti-scam efforts ramped up in February, Chinese tourists remain the largest group of foreign visitors to Thailand.

 

Thapanee is confident that the crackdown will ultimately attract more quality tourists and boost confidence among international travelers and Thai locals alike.

 

January saw a strong influx of Chinese tourists, and while numbers fell with the scam crackdown, predictions signal a quick bounce back.

 

Experts expect tourism to return to vibrant levels soon, spurred by increased trust in safety and service quality, reported The Thaiger.

 

-- 2025-02-26

 

 

[bkk6060]

9 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

TAT Governor, Thapanee Kiatphaibool, assures that Thailand still ranks as the top destination for Chinese travelers.

??

Well documented Korea is the top destination.

 

https://www.travelweekly-asia.com/Travel-News/Travel-Trends/Top-destinations-for-Chinese-travellers-in-2024

[DonniePeverley]

Doesn't matter. 

 

The volume of Benidorm Brits, cheap Europeans and Indians i am seeing is through the roof. 

 

Yesterday i saw a Benidorm group drinking leftover drinks lying around on bars. The queue in 7/11 for cheese toasties was crazy too.

[bdenner]

Well there's a bonus, no need the employ staff to clean up after these annoying, zero Baht freeloaders with their coupons.

[redwood1]

2 hours ago, DonniePeverley said:

Doesn't matter. 

 

The volume of Benidorm Brits, cheap Europeans and Indians i am seeing is through the roof. 

 

Yesterday i saw a Benidorm group drinking leftover drinks lying around on bars. The queue in 7/11 for cheese toasties was crazy too.

 

I would like to shoot anyone who orders a cheese toasty whos in front of me in the 7-11 checkout line.....

[DonniePeverley]

1 hour ago, redwood1 said:

 

I would like to shoot anyone who orders a cheese toasty whos in front of me in the 7-11 checkout line.....

 

Or wants a sim card set up. 

[CallumWK]

4 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is dismissing rumors that Chinese tourist numbers have plummeted by 94%.

 

I'm pretty sure there have been quite some cancellations, but 94% was just a blown up number.

[ronster]

Chinese takeaway !

[outsider]

Good riddance. Any reductions in their numbers is good. Ditto other cheap, rowdy foreigners.

[wensiensheng]

I don’t know if the drop is 94% or not, but based on what is see in Phuket, it is a very very significant drop indeed.

 

What nonsense, Thailand still the top Chinese destination. 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[globalspark]

As a long time tourist I can safely say the country is now poor value destination.Many nice hotels but I'm general are falling apart and 4 star are3 etc.Vietnam is far better in all aspects and tourists are going there in big numbers.Why are tourists eating cheese tastiest at 7/11?Why would I want to go back to see fat ass bargirls covered in tattoos and high as kits.The word I been using lately is attitude and this has created in to the Thai culture 

 

[sandrew33]

12 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Picture courtesy of Hanny Naibaho, Unsplash

 

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is dismissing rumors that Chinese tourist numbers have plummeted by 94%. TAT Governor, Thapanee Kiatphaibool, assures that Thailand still ranks as the top destination for Chinese travelers.

 

The reported decline has been attributed to Thailand's crackdown on call center scams.

 

Thapanee pointed out that the disappearance of Chinese actor Wang Xing near the Thai border hasn't affected tourism numbers, as no official reports back up the claim.

 

 

Despite a noticeable dip in visitors as the anti-scam efforts ramped up in February, Chinese tourists remain the largest group of foreign visitors to Thailand.

 

Thapanee is confident that the crackdown will ultimately attract more quality tourists and boost confidence among international travelers and Thai locals alike.

 

January saw a strong influx of Chinese tourists, and while numbers fell with the scam crackdown, predictions signal a quick bounce back.

 

Experts expect tourism to return to vibrant levels soon, spurred by increased trust in safety and service quality, reported The Thaiger.

 

-- 2025-02-26

 

 

A few years ago this was the dream but when we observe them replaced by bulk Russians, package tour Indians and those objectionable man bag wearing Benidorm types it’s basically a nil all draw at best 🙂 

[sandrew33]

3 minutes ago, globalspark said:

As a long time tourist I can safely say the country is now poor value destination.Many nice hotels but I'm general are falling apart and 4 star are3 etc.Vietnam is far better in all aspects and tourists are going there in big numbers.Why are tourists eating cheese tastiest at 7/11?Why would I want to go back to see fat ass bargirls covered in tattoos and high as kits.The word I been using lately is attitude and this has created in to the Thai culture 

 

To be fair there’s new hotels built every second week and there remains myriad brilliant ones. 
 

Perhaps avoid crap old hotels and fat bar girls and you’ll have a better time. 

[impulse]

Every month, I make a round trip from north China to Bangkok and almost every month the planes (usually 737-800 and A320) are full.  And I haven't noticed a drop in the number of flights to select from.  The ticket price varies by season and special holiday (as do the hotel rates).

 

I think the discrepancy lies in the "94% increase in cancellations".  That's nowhere near the same thing as a 94% drop in passengers.  Very few people cancel a flight after they've been charged for it.  I've only done that once in the past 22 months because it cost more to do a change than to cancel my flight and get another. 

 

I did have the airline cancel one flight but they got me on the same flight next day.  If only 1 in a hundred flights get cancelled, then 1.94 flights in a hundred isn't a huge number.

 

And on an aside, traveling with the Chinese airlines (where I'm often the only laowai on the plane) has gotten pretty pleasant over the past 25 years since my first flight on a Chinese airline.  Back then, it was not pleasant.  Nowadays, it's fine.

 

[NemoH]

The cheaper condos are fully tenanted in BKK. I guess there are now many many tourists who are not touring but setting up homes here in Bangkok based on the longer term visa. Considering the large number of tourists coming in Thailand, I still don’t not see many tourists eating at restaurants … wonder if they ever spend any money at all…

[Gknrd]

Everything I read here in South America is how the Chinese economy is in the toilet? Could be they just don't want to or don't have the money to spend anymore.

[blaze master]

9 hours ago, redwood1 said:

 

I would like to shoot anyone who orders a cheese toasty whos in front of me in the 7-11 checkout line.....

 

I just ordered 3. 

[Aussie999]

12 hours ago, DonniePeverley said:

Doesn't matter. 

 

The volume of Benidorm Brits, cheap Europeans and Indians i am seeing is through the roof. 

 

Yesterday i saw a Benidorm group drinking leftover drinks lying around on bars. The queue in 7/11 for cheese toasties was crazy too.

And where are you from

[Aussie999]

Can someone explain how cracking down on scam centres affects tourist numbers, to me it's a BS claim, trying hard to cover the truth, Chinese do not feel safe, in Thailand... Not that that's a bad thing.

[Iron Tongue]

13 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The reported decline has been attributed to Thailand's crackdown on call center scams.

Too bad the thousands of Call Center Chinese are being deported.

IMO, they formed the best-behaved group of all tourists! 

You never see them, you never hear them because they're chained to the phones all day.  They never go outside to make noise , spit on the sidewalk, clog the roadways, beaches, restaurants or shopping locales; and since they're packed into factory buildings or hidden in the jungles they don't compete or drive up rental prices!

They are the best!

 

[hotchilli]

13 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Thapanee is confident that the crackdown will ultimately attract more quality tourists and boost confidence among international travelers and Thai locals alike.

Attract quality... he's only interested in numbers.

[thesetat]

13 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Thapanee is confident that the crackdown will ultimately attract more quality tourists and boost confidence among international travelers and Thai locals alike.

Why would this attract more quality Chinese tourists? Is there such a thing anyway? 99% of the chinese that come do not spend money when here except for shopping things that are cheaper than in their own country. 

They rarely eat local foods or shop in local stores. 

 

17 minutes ago, Aussie999 said:

Can someone explain how cracking down on scam centres affects tourist numbers, to me it's a BS claim, trying hard to cover the truth, Chinese do not feel safe, in Thailand... Not that that's a bad thing.

I would guess it is because of the sheer numbers showing the Chinese how unsafe and risky Thailand is to come to.

 

13 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

??

Well documented Korea is the top destination.

 

https://www.travelweekly-asia.com/Travel-News/Travel-Trends/Top-destinations-for-Chinese-travellers-in-2024

 

Perhaps you are mistaken. Last month it was in all the news that the Chinese were travelling to Japan more than Thailand now and was their top choice in destinations. 

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Travel-Leisure/Japan-overtakes-Thailand-as-China-s-most-popular-destination

[daveAustin]

Hard to believe that number but one can dream. Let’s lose those other big groups. Thailand works better with max 20M tourists. 

[PingRoundTheWorld]

One can only wish... I do think there's been a decline in numbers - but nowhere near 94%. Likely causes are feeling unsafe, and much higher prices - which ironically they were a big part of causing. And China economy worries probably aren't helping either.

 

Now do India please... they've totally taken over entire areas.

[watchcat]

13 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

TAT Governor, Thapanee Kiatphaibool, assures that Thailand still ranks as the top destination for Chinese travelers.

 

I for one hope he's wrong.

[newbee2022]

As I read in another blog the amount of Chinese tourists is indeed plummeting because in China/social mediia there are warnings not to travel to Thailand. Thailand is said to be unsafe. People are kidnapped or organs removed. Some were killed.

 

[ChipButty]

Around the south of Phuket it is noticeable, and most morning Im out early then drive along Rawai sea front where there is a big boat company there used to be loads of Chinese waiting to be picked up for the boat trips, Not recently, very rarely see any. 

[DUNROAMIN]

Is'nt that a good thing?

[wensiensheng]

1 hour ago, thesetat said:

Why would this attract more quality Chinese tourists? Is there such a thing anyway? 99% of the chinese that come do not spend money when here except for shopping things that are cheaper than in their own country. 

They rarely eat local foods or shop in local stores. 

 

I would guess it is because of the sheer numbers showing the Chinese how unsafe and risky Thailand is to come to.

 

 

Perhaps you are mistaken. Last month it was in all the news that the Chinese were travelling to Japan more than Thailand now and was their top choice in destinations. 

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Travel-Leisure/Japan-overtakes-Thailand-as-China-s-most-popular-destination

There are quality Chinese tourists. Singapore targets high rollers with its integrated resorts, as does Macao with its outright Casino operations. Believe me, they spend big. Of course they don’t usually travel around on tour buses 😂

[Upnotover]

The original story I read was talking about a 94% increase in cancellations.  That is hardly the same as a 94% drop in tourists.  I think TAT may well be right this time.