Chinese Tourism

[pomchop]

China is now the biggest source of tourists to Thailand, with about 3.22 million Chinese visiting in the first eight months of 2013, up 88.42 percent over the same period of 2012, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

Talk about a massive increase in one year...up 88 percent? If I were a hotel operator in Chiang Rai I would be looking to hire some Chinese speaking staff.

[arthurwait]

Just go to Paragon, there's plenty of Thai Chinese there. I'm sure they would be glad of some work to pay their debts off.

[villagefarang]

Even out where I live, I am seeing a few cars with Chinese licenses plates pretty much every time I go out. That is a fairly new development and I guess signals an increase as well.

Thais don't speak much English and that doesn't seem to hurt Western numbers all that much. Maybe the Chinese won't be too worried about Thais not speaking their language.

[mrtoad]

We are certainly seeing more on Koh Chang. I was speaking with a hospital patient liaison earlier in the week, and they have a lot of difficulty with the language barriers, and they don't as of yet have any Chinese speaking staff.

[Tomtomtom69]

Even out where I live, I am seeing a few cars with Chinese licenses plates pretty much every time I go out. That is a fairly new development and I guess signals an increase as well.

Thais don't speak much English and that doesn't seem to hurt Western numbers all that much. Maybe the Chinese won't be too worried about Thais not speaking their language.

But you still don't see any Thai cars in China, not even in Sipsongbanna near the Lao border, where one only sees Lao registered vehicles in addition to Chinese ones. I think the Thai government should look at discussing reciprocity with the Chinese when it comes to Thai vehicles being allowed to enter China without a guide, otherwise they should ban Chinese ones from driving in Thailand and force Chinese visitors to catch buses or perhaps rent a car, if they have an international licence.

[villagefarang]

Wouldn’t the Thai government be happier to have both Chinese and Thai tourists spending their money in Thailand, instead of in China? Why would they want Thai people driving off to China?

[sceadugenga]

Do Thais take international holidays?

Most that do seem to prefer the shopping places like Hong Kong and Singapore, I can't recall seeing a lot of Thai sightseers anywhere else.

[pomchop]

I remember many years ago when the Japanese started coming to Hawaii in big numbers. At first they all came in tour groups and the tour guide translated everything and the meals were all group dining with preset menus. But over time the hotels finally figured out that not all Japanese wanted to come with a guide and that many of them were unable to order room service or much of anything as everything was in English and the amount of Japanese speaking staff was very small. That eventually changed and now I suspect most every hotel in Hawaii has Japanese speaking staff as well as menus all translated into Japanese.

Now in Hawaii the Chinese are also starting to pour in and it's almost a repeat of the Japanese scenario. First they come in groups with a guide then they start to come as independent travelers....and of course the hotels, especially the more deluxe ones, all have some Chinese speaking staff, menus etc.

IF IF a hotel wants to be serious about attracting Chinese tourists over the long term sooner or later you have to cater to the Chinese by having at least a few staff that can communicate and some amount of menus and other information available to them in their language.

Frankly I am somewhat amazed that when I asked at the CR Dusit hotel front desk if they have any Chinese speaking staff I was told NO. DUH..the NUMBER ONE source of tourists to Thailand is now Chinese and you have no staff capable of communicating?

There are no doubt a LOT of Chinese who do not speak either English or Thai and any deluxe hotel that seriously wants a chunk of that business needs to accommodate them.

[toybits]

Chinese vehicles can more easily enter Thailand than Thai vehicles enter China. Thai motorists are REQUIRED to leave a security deposit at Mohan to the tune of around 200 thousand baht.

That alone is enough to deter even the most determined Thai motorist from bringing their car into China.

Even out where I live, I am seeing a few cars with Chinese licenses plates pretty much every time I go out. That is a fairly new development and I guess signals an increase as well.

Thais don't speak much English and that doesn't seem to hurt Western numbers all that much. Maybe the Chinese won't be too worried about Thais not speaking their language.

But you still don't see any Thai cars in China, not even in Sipsongbanna near the Lao border, where one only sees Lao registered vehicles in addition to Chinese ones. I think the Thai government should look at discussing reciprocity with the Chinese when it comes to Thai vehicles being allowed to enter China without a guide, otherwise they should ban Chinese ones from driving in Thailand and force Chinese visitors to catch buses or perhaps rent a car, if they have an international licence.