Drownings and arrival cards top concerns for Chinese tourists visiting Phuket

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Drownings and arrival cards top concerns for Chinese tourists visiting Phuket
Naraporn Tuarob


Pol Lt Col Rapeepat Utsaha at the meeting.

PHUKET: -- Safety on the island’s beaches, problems with filling out arrival cards when entering the country, and delays at Immigration are some of the problems affecting the thousands of Chinese tourists arriving on the island every day, a meeting was told on yesterday (October 29).

Businesspeople, Airports of Thailand (AOT) representatives, and members of the Chinese community met at the AOT office to discuss Chinese tourists and the problems they face.

Chinese tourists are often victims of drownings during Phuket’s monsoon season, and those at the meeting suggested tourists on the beaches should be given leaflets in Chinese to warn them of the dangers. Officials have already set up warning signs on the beaches in Chinese, as well as red flags, but often these are ignored.

Pol Lt Col Rapeepat Utsaha, deputy superintendent of Immigration Police, based at Phuket International Airport, said Chinese tourists often had problems with filling out arrival cards correctly.

Around 5,000 to 6,000 Chinese tourists go through Phuket International Airport every day – almost half of all tourists arriving and departing.

The meeting was told that some airlines showed a video on board, explaining how to fill it out. Some passengers had also complained that many airlines did not give out arrival cards on board.

Lt Col Rapeepat said, “If tourists come in a tour group, there won’t be problems because the guide will organise it, but sometimes there are problems if passengers come on individual travel.

“I think it would be better if airlines explain to tourists how to fill in the form, or use a multilingual video which explains how to fill it in.

“It is not required by law to show this video on board, basically it is up to the airlines, but if they show this video it will speed up the Immigration process.

“One reason that the Immigration process is so slow is that all the passengers spend so much time around the table filling out the forms once they reach the counter. Their paperwork is not prepared.”

There were also cases of passengers who had stolen items from duty free, though he hadn’t heard much about this problem, Lt Col Rapeepat said

“If the staff member from duty free identifies that theft has happened, they should report it to Tha Chatachai Police – they have a police centre at the airport. Then the police can co-ordinate with relevant officials to bring the passenger back for investigation.”

Chinese businessman Li Zhiyi, who lives in Phuket, told The Phuket News that he thinks the Phuket International Airport upgrade will not be big enough to cater to increasing numbers of Chinese tourists.

“Also, the information signs at the airport should include more Chinese language so when tourists arrive in Phuket they are properly prepared.”

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/drownings-and-arrival-cards-top-concerns-for-chinese-tourists-visiting-phuket-42614.php


-- Phuket News 2013-10-30

[soi41]

What about arrival cards with a subtext in Chinese??

Or is that too easy?

[phuketrichard]

as most are with tour groups

why dont they give them to the visitors filled out??

[hanno]

as most are with tour groups

why dont they give them to the visitors filled out??

Exactly. We get a lot of Korean tour groups here in Siem Reap and I always see the tour guide filling out the arrival forms for all the group members prior to arrival.

Edited October 30, 2013 by hanno

[NamKangMan]

Maybe their inability to fill out their arrival cards correctly was the reason why they were being charged 200 baht by immigration officers on arrival. :)

[IrishIvan]

What about arrival cards with a subtext in Chinese??

Or is that too easy?

Chinese are like Koreans and Japanese. Socialy arkward. No matter if you wrote it in their native toungue they would still have problems. Indians are the worst, it states on tiger airlines bookings to be at the boarding gates no later than 20mins. In India its 45 mins. What does that tell you??

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[EvilDrSomkid]

Plenty of Russian have trouble with the arrival card, too. They all get pulled out of the snake at Swampy and told to fill them in. The look of confusion is embarrassing.

Thai Immigration with have to change the arrival cards to include Chinese.

Better yet, ditch the stupid things.

[Jasun]

If filling in arrival cards is their biggest worry, TAT would be pretty happy.

[hansgruber]

Karon used be notorious Asian swallowing beach. It seems the beach now likes the Eastern European flavor.

[doremifasol]

The thought of seeing Chinese people invading Thai beaches sends chills down my spine.

We have seen them spit, pee and crap all over.

If they can do that in the cities and even in buildings and public places, imagine what they could be capable of on a beach.

We are talking about professional crappers here!

Enjoy these VDO:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9M8p_IZIsk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmyLhVyhIBw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nc7vlulT9ak

P.S: No animals were harmed during the shooting of these VDO's

[GeorgeO]

If filling in arrival cards is their biggest worry, TAT would be pretty happy.

Yes, I thought the same thing. Drownings and ...... arrival cards...?!

[bangon04]

Please please give the Chinese tourists their own VIP line at immigration, preferably cordoned off with a Perspex wall. This will suit everyone..

[KuhnPaen]

I thought their top concern was stealing forks from airplanes.

[Thai at Heart]

I think I might start a Chinese version of thaivisa where the Chinese can vent about Thailand.

Immigration cards and drownings. They obviously haven't been initiated into sick buffalos yet.

I might become a billionaire.

[IrishIvan]

Renting out life jackets at Karon beach might be a good idea. Is a farang allowed to do this or is it a job reserved for Thais?

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