Chinese entrepreneurs invade tourism businesses in Phuket: report

[diehard60]

Well this is what you all wanted when you said you wanted more chinese to come here. You got it so now you live or die with it..

[atsiii]

They complain because the Thais are not getting anything, but the Thai nominees fronting the Chinese companies are getting something, right? And that's what Thainess is all about: every Thai for themselves. When you can't think about anything but the next 50 baht, then surprise, surprise; 50 baht is all you get.

[thaimlord]

In Australia they're hearded off coaches and cattle prodded into the affiliated souvenir shop where the Chinese made cat fur Kangaroo prices are a multiple above the market/thrift shop price.

It's how the Chinese roll.

I have seen this with my own eyes in Surfers Paradise a few years back now, whilst having a quiet drink with some mates across the road at what used to be the Bird Watcher's Bar.

A bus-load of them alighted and were literally herded into an Opal shop. That got our attention. During the shopping session, one Chinese woman decided to pop outside and check out the shop next door. She had barely closed the door behind her and glanced into the shop, when the door flew open again and a tour guide grabbed her from behind by both arms and forcibly propelled her back into the original shop. We all sat aghast.

TL

[JO1973]

The Russian language companies have been doing this for years. So no wonder the Chinese are following the pattern. Probably, TAT should spend some time and their enormous coffin of promotional funds to arrange for Thais to get some proper language training and sustaining the Thai business with these groups of tourist. It's the same story over and over again. Masters of complaining, amateurs for handling.

I don't think the Chinese are following the Russian's example. They've been doing this increasingly since the 1990s. It was only a matter of time before it hit the more popular Thai tourist areas once Chinese tourists started going to them.

This is far more serious than people think. In the border areas of Laos and Myanmar -- as well as Thailand -- whole cities are set up that cater to Chinese. Casinos, factories, hotels, resorts, and everything that goes with them. Chinese live and work there, Chinese is the only language you here, they use Chinese currency, and for all intents and purposes these areas have been annexed to China. It's such a problem that Laos is really starting to debate whether all that money they're getting is worth it. It's also why Myanmar started to open up to the West.

I think far too many Westerners in Asia have taken an attitude of "Let the West have a taste of their own medicine" because they're allegedly losing out to a growing China. But it's not the West that's losing out -- it's all the countries that border China.

China's history has been marked by the abuse of land. Rivers and land in China are said to be beyond saving, pollution is out of control and is causing widespread illnesses, and their natural resources are all but gone. Why would anyone think they will act in a more responsible manner in the countries that border them?

[thaimlord]

Thailand has to wake up and learn very quickly how to be competitive. If they dont, and let's be honest there is little chance that they will, all of Thailands business will be pushed out in favour of businesses from competitive countries.

I think that will be really bad for the country and everyone in it but unless the Thai's wake up and take on the countries interests it will happen

Hi Gandalf.

This is not about being competitive. This is about the Chinese controlling the money flow to their maximum advantage illegally if I read it correctly.

TL

[thaimlord]

Laziness is why they are in this situation.

Poor customer care is why they are in this situation.

The mai pen rai approach to everything is why they are in this situation.

Treating tourists with contempt and disdain is why they are in this situation.

It never occurs to them that if they provide a good service then business will prosper. However continue to do what you have always done (see above) and watch the competition grow. The fact that the Chinese are using nominees is illegal but I fear it was inevitable as the Chinese have decided if they want good service then they need to do it themselves.

Wait now for the Thai's to say 'but we are not ready for competition yet.' Get used to it Thailand, Asean is just around the corner and that's when the real fun starts.

have to disagree with you quietman. This is how they operate, regardless of how good or bad the local service is. The Chinese, Japanese & Russians have been operating like this in Australia, and I dare say other countries, for decades. Wherever their tourists go in bulk, this is how they set up their operations. The local economy, whether good business or bad, gets absolutely no benefit from these tourists.

Well said.

TL

[sabaii69]

'Certain' this, 'certain' that...Name names if you're not afraid. Are you 'certain'?

[Bucko]

When I was back in Thailand last year-- I noticed a lot of Markets like " Made in Thailand " in Pattaya and Phuket have been taken over by Indian.

Also noticed there were no prices on their stuff --- so gave them a miss to buy my suitcase and went to Thai stall next door -- all prices were marked

[amerasianex]

.. Ha ha ha ha ha ha...all the Thais were hoping they would get rich off Communist China and Communist Russia. I do truly think the educational system in Thailand is flawed. The Chinese will vertically integrate the whole countries cash crops. And Thais will sleep on the side walks if they are not very very careful....with these new customers of theirs

[glasswort]

Let's hope the Chinese do not start to play golf on the same scale as the Japanese and Koreans!

[jackanapes]

whos to blame for the Chinese influx in Phuket thai nominees to set up businesses this appears to be a case of large scale blackmail close them down and send them back to china asap.

[Koala6969]

That's OK. The Chinese learnt off the Japanese how to rip off the locals where they visit. Been doing it here in Australia for years and %#@ all been done about it. That just life.

[AYJAYDEE]

What's all this nonsense about being competitive.? The article clearly states that these illegal chinese entities are buying some officials in thai government to shut the thai shops down. pretty hard to compete in that case.

[RigPig]

Laziness is why they are in this situation.

Poor customer care is why they are in this situation.

The mai pen rai approach to everything is why they are in this situation.

Treating tourists with contempt and disdain is why they are in this situation.

It never occurs to them that if they provide a good service then business will prosper. However continue to do what you have always done (see above) and watch the competition grow. The fact that the Chinese are using nominees is illegal but I fear it was inevitable as the Chinese have decided if they want good service then they need to do it themselves.

Wait now for the Thai's to say 'but we are not ready for competition yet.' Get used to it Thailand, Asean is just around the corner and that's when the real fun starts.

Just put the price up when business is slow....

[phycokiller]

I find it truly amusing to read the Thai Visa contributors ignorant and totally stupid comments! So many posts with so little facts which shows the lack of economical sense these people have.

China is investing BILLIONS of U.S Dollars across the globe and the Phuket story is so insignificant. iconic Lloyd's; building in London is not Chinese owned. Another iconic U.S landmark, the G.M building was bought by Chinese at a cost of 3.46 Billion U.S Dollars The Waldorf Astoria and numerous other properties have been sold by the U.S owners to Chinese. The Chase Manhattan Plaza also has been sole dot the Chinese.

In Australia, WANDA is investing One Billion Australian Dollars for a hotel and commercial building in Sydney and another 950 Million Australia dollars on the Gold Coast. The Par Hyatt Melbourne, Sheraton Sydney, Hilton Sydney all belong to Chinese.

In France some of the best vineyards are now Chinese-owned while Volvo and Tesla have also changed hands.

Come on guys. Wake up and read some quality news and try to understand what is going around in the world rather than your heads stuck in your little Sois in Thailand!

..but do you think this is a bad thing? would it be a bad thing if say the Brits were doing the buying or the Gemans?........I don't think this article is about economics or even business, it's about Xenophobia.

Xenophobia, nationalism, patriotism, all the same thing. good when we do it, bad when other people do it

[Deli]

40 years ago my mother warned me about the Chinese... she new

Anyone surprised about these ' news '. Took just a while until the locals found out that the Russians went out of cash and now the Chines take over, just a littler bigger and probably with much more substance. Deal with it or die ( business wise ). That's it. The Westerners backed off Phuket long time ago...

[khunpa]

So it really requires more than being uneducated, lazy and narrow minded to survive in business and a globalised world?

That really sucks! Lets get ASEAN open and up and running for real. I am sure Thais will have more complaints.

Edited June 15, 2015 by khunpa

[empireboy]

Beaten at their own game!

[neeray]

Yes, the Chinese can out do Thainess quite easily.

Being the "copiers" that they are, they can just copy Thainess. And make it cheaper.

[thaimlord]

Laziness is why they are in this situation.

Poor customer care is why they are in this situation.

The mai pen rai approach to everything is why they are in this situation.

Treating tourists with contempt and disdain is why they are in this situation.

It never occurs to them that if they provide a good service then business will prosper. However continue to do what you have always done (see above) and watch the competition grow. The fact that the Chinese are using nominees is illegal but I fear it was inevitable as the Chinese have decided if they want good service then they need to do it themselves.

Wait now for the Thai's to say 'but we are not ready for competition yet.' Get used to it Thailand, Asean is just around the corner and that's when the real fun starts.

Just put the price up when business is slow....

It never fails to amaze me how so few of we westerners understand the concept of putting up prices in slow periods.

Our western answer is to drop prices and progressively cut each others' throats, so that all but one or two go out of business.

Here they raise prices and cut staff to compensate for the lessening numbers of patrons and transactions, and as such, they generally ride it through.

Simple and effective and nothing wrong with it as a concept in the slightest.

TL

[Oziex1]

"Thais almost got nothing from Chinese tourists"

Apart from the Thais taking money from the Chinese to bend the rules to allow the destruction of the local tourism industry, for the small business people.

This is the price Thais pay for their corrupt country.

Edited June 15, 2015 by Oziex1

[mike324]

competition is good to make Thais realize how bad they have been all these years

[cumgranosalum]

I find it truly amusing to read the Thai Visa contributors ignorant and totally stupid comments! So many posts with so little facts which shows the lack of economical sense these people have.

China is investing BILLIONS of U.S Dollars across the globe and the Phuket story is so insignificant. iconic Lloyd's; building in London is not Chinese owned. Another iconic U.S landmark, the G.M building was bought by Chinese at a cost of 3.46 Billion U.S Dollars The Waldorf Astoria and numerous other properties have been sold by the U.S owners to Chinese. The Chase Manhattan Plaza also has been sole dot the Chinese.

In Australia, WANDA is investing One Billion Australian Dollars for a hotel and commercial building in Sydney and another 950 Million Australia dollars on the Gold Coast. The Par Hyatt Melbourne, Sheraton Sydney, Hilton Sydney all belong to Chinese.

In France some of the best vineyards are now Chinese-owned while Volvo and Tesla have also changed hands.

Come on guys. Wake up and read some quality news and try to understand what is going around in the world rather than your heads stuck in your little Sois in Thailand!

..but do you think this is a bad thing? would it be a bad thing if say the Brits were doing the buying or the Gemans?........I don't think this article is about economics or even business, it's about Xenophobia.

Xenophobia, nationalism, patriotism, all the same thing. good when we do it, bad when other people do it

do you really consider the Sino-phobic sentiments expressed on this thread are "good" then?

[NamKangMan]

Laziness is why they are in this situation.

Poor customer care is why they are in this situation.

The mai pen rai approach to everything is why they are in this situation.

Treating tourists with contempt and disdain is why they are in this situation.

It never occurs to them that if they provide a good service then business will prosper. However continue to do what you have always done (see above) and watch the competition grow. The fact that the Chinese are using nominees is illegal but I fear it was inevitable as the Chinese have decided if they want good service then they need to do it themselves.

Wait now for the Thai's to say 'but we are not ready for competition yet.' Get used to it Thailand, Asean is just around the corner and that's when the real fun starts.

Just put the price up when business is slow....

It never fails to amaze me how so few of we westerners understand the concept of putting up prices in slow periods.

Our western answer is to drop prices and progressively cut each others' throats, so that all but one or two go out of business.

Here they raise prices and cut staff to compensate for the lessening numbers of patrons and transactions, and as such, they generally ride it through.

Simple and effective and nothing wrong with it as a concept in the slightest.

TL

What you describe is exactly the reason Phuket continues to outprice itself in the regional tourism market.

Add to that, collusion, so everyone raises their prices to the same level, at the same time, and you can see why Phuket has lost a big portion of their western tourist market, and continues to lose it at a rapid rate.

On a National level, this business model is causing many tourists to consider holidaying in neighbouring countries.

Instead of promoting competition and excellence of product (tourism) - Thailand uses collusion and price gouging.

Hardly a way to manage a sustainable tourism industry.

Edited June 15, 2015 by NamKangMan

[yooyoo]

Thais marketed to the Chinese, they got the Chinese.

Welcome to the Chinese exports ... they are different to the farlangs and not happy to encouraged the spending of million RMBs in the Thai tourist industry without a return to themselves... but is it really different from the pubs and bars and restaurants owned by expat to sell beer and feed fish chips to the poms that travel to the Land of Smiles?

[thaimlord]

Laziness is why they are in this situation.

Poor customer care is why they are in this situation.

The mai pen rai approach to everything is why they are in this situation.

Treating tourists with contempt and disdain is why they are in this situation.

It never occurs to them that if they provide a good service then business will prosper. However continue to do what you have always done (see above) and watch the competition grow. The fact that the Chinese are using nominees is illegal but I fear it was inevitable as the Chinese have decided if they want good service then they need to do it themselves.

Wait now for the Thai's to say 'but we are not ready for competition yet.' Get used to it Thailand, Asean is just around the corner and that's when the real fun starts.

Just put the price up when business is slow....

It never fails to amaze me how so few of we westerners understand the concept of putting up prices in slow periods.

Our western answer is to drop prices and progressively cut each others' throats, so that all but one or two go out of business.

Here they raise prices and cut staff to compensate for the lessening numbers of patrons and transactions, and as such, they generally ride it through.

Simple and effective and nothing wrong with it as a concept in the slightest.

TL

What you describe is exactly the reason Phuket continues to outprice itself in the region tourism market.

Add to that collusion, so everyone raises their prices to the same level, at the same time, and you can see why Phuket has lost a big portion of their western tourist market, and continues to lose it at a rapid rate.

On a National level, this business model is causing many tourists to consider holidaying in neighbouring countries.

Instead of promoting competition and excellence of product (tourism) - Thailand uses collusion and price gouging.

Hardly a way to manage a sustainable tourism industry.

Hi NamKangMan

I hear what you're saying but neither is cutting each others' throats in business a way manage a sustainable tourism industry or any other industry for that matter. Each method has its limitations and the destination itself needs to be attractive in more than just financial terms. It would seem that Phuket's attractiveness is lessening, but it's difficult to assert that this is solely because prices are rising.

Thanks

TL

[MikeTexas]

To many Thais saw (and still see) falanges has having "big money" and are pricing themselves out of the Asian tourist market. Tourist go where they can get the most for their buck with the fewest hassles. I tried to warn my GF about this years ago.

[tracker1]

In Australia they're hearded off coaches and cattle prodded into the affiliated souvenir shop where the Chinese made cat fur Kangaroo prices are a multiple above the market/thrift shop price.

It's how the Chinese roll.

Dont forget the Japanese and Koreans have done the same in Australia they own their own coaches own gift shops own tourist attractions they have purchased ! what makes a Government think the money stays in the country ? amazes me !

[Jimlove]

Didnt take a genius to see that one coming but guess the thais were oblivious for realities - they can thank Ms. minister Popcorn for this

[mercman24]

yep give them an inch and they take a mile. that's what ya get, Japanese the same, years ago i worked in a rubber factory making wiper blades and aerosol can seals, we invited them in, they took loads of photos and sure enough a short time later they were the market leaders, i just knew this would happen .