Chinese tourists drop over half

Thailand’s political turmoil has started to take toll on the number of Chinese tourists visiting the Kingdom with arrivals declining over 50%.

Vice president of Thai-Chinese Tourism Association Mr Anek Sricheewachart said Thailand’s political turmoil has dampened tourism industry with now the number of Chinese tourists visiting the Kingdom saw a year-on-year drop of 41-68% and continues declining amid political chaos.

At the same time vice chairman of Thai-Chinese Business Council Vikrom Kromadit stressed that political conflicts can be resolved and the new poll date can be scheduled through peace dialogues.

He urged all parties to accept election results as internal conflicts have severely dragged down the country’s competitiveness, citing that a few Japanese firms have already shifted their investment to ASEAN neighbours including Vietnam and Indonesia.

Board of Investment (BOI) says it will continue reviewing large-scale projects applying for BOI incentives despite the Constitutional Court’s removal of former caretaker PM Yingluck Shinawatra and nine of her cabinets from offices for abusing of power.

Secretary-general Udom Wongviwatchai stressed the BOI’s performance will be unaffected by the removal of the then premier Yingluck, who was chairperson of BOI board, since Deputy Premier Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisan has been appointed by the remaining caretaker cabinet to be acting prime minister.
Niwatthamrong will serve as the new chairman for the BOI board of executives, while Udom will serve as the chairman of the BOI subcommittee and the BOI is set to complete its revision of large-scale projects valued 7.5 billion baht within the next 3-4 month.

The BOI secretary general said he believed that 90 per cent of investors would not shift their investments and operations to other countries, while the remaining 10 percent claimed they would have to monitor the situation.

This year’s investment applications will be between 700-900 billion baht, following prolonged political impasse.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/IMGP9594-wpcf_728x413.jpg

-- Thai PBS 2014-05-10

Is this so important you had to start two identical threads? ;-)

This news is a blessing in disguise.

Drop over half of what?

If only the Russians would do the same.

But the hotel floors are so much cleaner.

If only the Russians would do the same.

They might well do

If only the Russians would do the same.

They might well do

We can only hope.

Chinese tourism took a triple whammy.

1) They outlawed "zero dollar tours" where the tour operator makes most or all their money by dragging their customers to gem shops, overpriced attractions, etc.

2) There is a legitimate fear of the political situation.

3) The CCP is playing up the Thai political situation in their press, putting a loathing of any kind of protests into their populace- lest they be next on the list. If you believed the Chinese press, there's grenades and guns going off everywhere.

My heart goes out to the Thais who counted on that business for their living.

Edit: Oh, #4) It's been a while since "Lost in Thailand" quit playing in Chinese theaters. Short attention spans and all...

Edited May 10, 201412 yr by impulse

at last some good news

most of the Thais I know in Chiang Mai even the ones who have restaurants do not care for their business as they are loud and obnoxious

Chinese tourism took a triple whammy.

1) They outlawed "zero dollar tours" where the tour operator makes most or all their money by dragging their customers to gem shops, overpriced attractions, etc.

2) There is a legitimate fear of the political situation.

3) The CCP is playing up the Thai political situation in their press, putting a loathing of any kind of protests into their populace- lest they be next on the list. If you believed the Chinese press, there's grenades and guns going off everywhere.

My heart goes out to the Thais who counted on that business for their living.

<deleted>

Outbound Chinese tourism numbers are still on the rise. Take a look at the Air Asia website. They have big banner on the home page looking to hire Chinese speaking hosties.

There are lots and lots of Chinese tourists, however, they are now just deciding not to come to Thailand anymore. That trend will continue unabated because Chinese tourists are herd animals.

I also suspect that this trend has little to do with the protests, more likely that the first waves of Chinese tourists went home and their word of mouth advice regarding scams, price gouging, and lack of cheap public transport in LOS is discouraging further visits from their friends and families.

Noooo....that can't be right. The numbers are never down, it's always up no matter what happens. TAT should check if their calculators are working fine or not.....

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Drop over half of what?

Exactly.

This article needs some serious editing.

Do they mean the numbers drop by half?

I presume that's what they intended to say.

If you are going to publish such an article in what pretends to be a reputable and reliable and serious newspaper .... at least do some rewriting and/or editing before you publish it..

Three lines about Chinese tourists and the rest is some BS about investments.

Probably because the other half has already been here.

most of the Thais I know in Chiang Mai even the ones who have restaurants do not care for their business as they are loud and obnoxious

And they also seem to think that they are “God’s Gift” to Thailand.

Noooo....that can't be right. The numbers are never down, it's always up no matter what happens. TAT should check if their calculators are working fine or not.....

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Maybe they bought cheap calculators from China

Could it have something to do with them being banned,from the university there in Chiang Mai,[if they were,i can't remember all the details but i know there was a problem with them,people slipping on all the spit or something}

Glad to see there are so many happy Chinese tourist numbers have dropped by such a huge number.

Well done Suthep, Mad Monk et all. Wonder how many Thais are loosing their jobs?

And we now await the figures from tourists from other countries who are choosing different destinations.

Every cloud and all that

My guess is that a large part of the reason for the fall in arrivals is that China's economy is tanking.

Most Thai people are either red or yellow, so this result is obviously what they have allowed for. Why are they bothering to whine about it now, and why should any foreigner give two hoots about these circumstances?

Is this so important you had to start two identical threads? ;-)

This news is a blessing in disguise.

great! they are mostly escorted tours and spend almost nothing on the streets.

Is this so important you had to start two identical threads? ;-)

This news is a blessing in disguise.

great! they are mostly escorted tours and spend almost nothing on the streets.

They do however coat them with spittle.

They didn't mention that the main reason for the sharp drop in Chinese tourism was the Chinese govt ban on zero dollar tours. No effort to compare the effect on Chinese tourism to other countries. In short, a worthless article.

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Glad to see there are so many happy Chinese tourist numbers have dropped by such a huge number.

Well done Suthep, Mad Monk et all. Wonder how many Thais are loosing their jobs?

And we now await the figures from tourists from other countries who are choosing different destinations.

I very much doubt it will effect many Thais jobs, the Chinese tourist market is not one that spends money, particularly the big tour groups. More of a nuisance than anything.

Yeah, and a poor attempt at spreading Red Propaganda.

Edited May 10, 201412 yr by mrtoad

Ladyboy shows will take a hit, apparently they love 'em!

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Drop over half of what?

I was trying to anticipate the article too!

What an awful headline.

I was thinking.... drop over half a million Baht on their way to hotel,,, or drop over half a cliff.

Good, hope they stay away and spit on their own streets, noisy lot.

Not a true loss...