Mass tourism celebration as hundreds of new Chinese tour buses procurred, introduced to Phuket traffic next month

Suthicha Sirirat

PHUKET: The private and public sectors joined at a Phuket resort to celebrate the procurement of 300 new tour buses from China, which will be added to Phuket traffic next month to meet growing demand for transporting Chinese tour groups around the island.

The news confirming the procurement of the first 100 buses to be introduced to island traffic by August 15 was announced at a celebratory event held at the Hilton Arcadia Phuket Resort and Spa in Karon on Saturday (July 23).

Presiding over the event, which was titled “Muang Naa Yuu Thong Thiaw Plod Pai” or “Livable Town, Safe Tourism”, was Phuket Governor Chamroen Thippayapongthada, who was joined by Ms Zhang Pei Dong, a commerce official from China, and representatives from the Land Transport Department, Andaman Tourism Business Association and the Bestlin Group, a Bangkok-based company specializing in the import of tour busses from China.

Officials and businessmen smiled for the cameras before revealing some details about the deal to select members of the media in attendence.

Governor Chamroen explained that the event was staged in collaboration with reps from the public and private sectors to help boost confidence in Phuket’s tourism safety image following a string of accidents on the island, many of which involved Chinese tourists.

Ms Zhang Pei Dong went on to reveal that last year more than 8 million tourists from China visited Thailand, half of which came to Phuket, adding that in the first six months of this year, the number of inbound tourists from China was up by 20 per cent from last year.

Therefore, she thought that it was a “good thing that Phuket province valued looking after tourists by increasing the quality and standards of safety”.

Full story: http://www.thephuketnews.com/mass-tourism-celebration-as-hundreds-of-new-chinese-tour-buses-procurred-introduced-to-phuket-traffic-next-month-58382.php#mEjlCQd1MWA4oGM5.97

-- Phuket News 2016-07-24

“was a good thing that Phuket province valued looking after tourists by increasing the quality and standards of safety”.

Chinese tourist feel more safer because they are Chinese buses?! As opposed to say Swedish ones that pass stringent tests but cannot pay the required 'commissions'.

Chinese buses with Thai drivers, aah the best of both worlds.

Will they come complete with new excuses for when the first one gets pranged ?

Brakes failed on a brand new bus doesn't sound quite right but who knows !

This is the future of tourism in Phuket.

Think about it for a minute. Not 50 extra tour buses on the roads in Phuket. It is 300 extra tour buses packed with Chinese tourists.

If you're in the tourism business and still offering bacon and eggs in your Phuket restaurant, you need to make a paradigm shift in your business model - right now.

Cause to celebrate?

300 new tour buses from China added to Phuket traffic!

https://www.google.co.th/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&ved=0ahUKEwiMzbab-YrOAhWDrI8KHWDTCxEQjRwIBw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DSZ9GFbTTdfI&bvm=bv.127984354,d.c2I&psig=AFQjCNF80RG9RSoPfFB6DUBznhnu3Mm0Sg&ust=1469409985171998&cad=rjt

Chinese buses with Thai drivers, aah the best of both worlds.

Will they come complete with new excuses for when the first one gets pranged ?

Brakes failed on a brand new bus doesn't sound quite right but who knows !

The bus made a noise in Chinese that the driver couldn't understand and he crashed

Keep them there.! Mass tourism is not good for any country?

Who else is celebrating besides the outlets that get visits by these Chinese and the TAT? I doubt anyone that receives nothing from these visitors is celebrating. Rawai speedway is already a mess with literally 100 buses parked and driving up and down the speedway as well as blocking traffic at any one time.

So these are to be added to the existing fleet of vintage buses that cruise the island. Cause for celebration would be replacing 300 of the old buses.

Who actually owns and is going to operate these buses ?

the private sector or public.

regards worgeordie

Phuket seems to becoming the hub of Chinese tourism......and with a further 300 coaches hitting the roads, it could be getting uncomfortable.

While western tourist numbers will not decline immediately......once word is out that the island is awash with Chinese, these people will find alternate destinations.

The farang who live there must be a little concerned....

300 more tour buses .... aaaaargggg

Keep them there.! Mass tourism is not good for any country?

Nothing all that wrong with tourism but as it gets bigger and bigger (mass) any government should have plans of how to employ the same workers if the home economy crashes and outbound tourist numbers take a big plunge etc.

Who else is celebrating besides the outlets that get visits by these Chinese and the TAT? I doubt anyone that receives nothing from these visitors is celebrating. Rawai speedway is already a mess with literally 100 buses parked and driving up and down the speedway as well as blocking traffic at any one time.

If, and it is big if, they would fill all the buses at full capacity, you could take off at least 50% of the buses currently on the island. In a best case scenario currently the buses are only filled to a 50% capacity, and I am being very generous. Viset road has become a parking space for buses and they are arranging more parking spaces left right and center!!!

Phuket seems to becoming the hub of Chinese tourism......and with a further 300 coaches hitting the roads, it could be getting uncomfortable.

While western tourist numbers will not decline immediately......once word is out that the island is awash with Chinese, these people will find alternate destinations.

The farang who live there must be a little concerned....

Chinese tourists must vastly outnumber western tourists now, judging by what I saw in Puket / Phang Nga a few months ago. Perhaps western tourists have had enough of the scams, threats to safety, etc, and have found other better destinations closer to home.

Phuket, you'll regret having the hordes of Chinese tourists come en mass to your island. They don't spend any significant money on this, thus the locals don't benefit from it. Their tours are paid for in advance, in China, in RMB. Their buses cause tremendous traffic, and tear up the roads. Please do take them though, because we've had enough of them in Pattaya!

Who actually owns and is going to operate these buses ?

the private sector or public.

regards worgeordie

I was wondering the same but found this in the article:

"... Mr Wichai [speaking for the bus division of the Andaman Tourism Business Association] said that tourism operators who will receive and use the busses will not be required to make a down payment or pay any installments, which he said will be covered by the tourism retail outlets requiring the transport of the (Chinese) tourists."

So the deal seems as follows:

- the ATBA offers free bus services to Chinese travel companies all around the island in return for letting the bus stop at some shitty overpriced tourist crap stops

- if you own a shitty overpriced tourist crap stop you can contact the ATBA and for a nice sum of money they will have their buses stop at your spot in the middle of nowhere with a load of Chinese

- the Chinese will be unloaded there with nothing to do but to buy your crap or sit around doing nothing.

Almost everybody wins:

- the Chinese tourists have cheap transport

- the Chinese travel operators can offer cheap tours to Thailand including transport by bus

- the ATBA gets paid for dropping off tourists at shitty shops

- the shitty shops get a good chance to extract money of the Chinese tourists

The only ones who loose are the ones who do not want to pay off the ATBA to get busloads of potential customers.

Methinks the Chinese manufacturers are gonna be really p*****d off when their reputation is shot in Thailand.

Too bad the bus brakes don't work reliably here. Must be the tropical climate perhaps?

Phuket seems to becoming the hub of Chinese tourism......and with a further 300 coaches hitting the roads, it could be getting uncomfortable.

While western tourist numbers will not decline immediately......once word is out that the island is awash with Chinese, these people will find alternate destinations.

The farang who live there must be a little concerned....

As someone living on Phuket I can tell you that I barely notice the hordes of Chinese.

They go by bus from tourist hot spot to the next, and local farang maybe visit those places once every decade when family or friends stop over.

The only time I come across a group of Chinese is when I go to Central Festival and I notice them shopping at the Tops supermarket there where they only buy chips, instant noodles, and candies.

The traffic congestion is a problem on Phuket, but I doubt that is due to the buses with Chinese. The main reasons I get stuck in traffic is due to all the road construction going on (underpass) and the huge amount of private vehicles being present at any time.

(note to say that I stay in the Old Town area of Phuket and barely cross the mountains to the more touristy spots).

Would Phuket be better served by having a revised baht bus structure that connects the different parts of the island? Especially the tourist parts.

You think westerners will still fly approximately 12 hours to a small Island, only to then face massive traffic queues which go on for miles and miles? Phuket is already overloaded with polluting traffic, on roads ill-equipped to handle such numbers of cars, buses, taxis, and now hoards of Chinese tour coaches. The infrastructure is diabolically inadequate. Phuket is totally ruined, no surprise many Europeans have gone elsewhere where the grass is greener, and apparently cheaper.

Oh god. This is why I'm thankful I don't live in Phuket.

Would Phuket be better served by having a revised baht bus structure that connects the different parts of the island? Especially the tourist parts.

Yes. But the taxi 'mafia' aren't able to interfere with Phuket's unfortunate new stream of revenue, unlike a public bus service for all.

So does the portable potty bus follow each one?

Joy to Phuket, their Lords have come!

Most of the Thai-Visa Phuket people wont have to worry about it........

because any announcement of an increase in tourism is just a conspiracy & complete plot by set up by the TAT.........so keep the tin foil in your hat & you wont be seeing those buses ........................(until they hit you).........

Tour buses are for long distance travel. E.g. Inter-province bus terminals. You need parking spaces or hubs for such large buses. Plus maintenance.

Where is the space for these buses to park?

Do those buses also have some XXXL seats for the rich Germans thailand is after?

They will feel honored to sit in a brand new chinese bus. What brand are they by the way?

Good. I live and work in China eight months a year, and for the past five years have been vacationing independently in Thailand for sixteen weeks a year (approx. Jan. & Feb. and July & Aug.) to get away from the expectorating 'ant people'. I've never broken any Thai rules/laws. I spend money living in 3/4-star resorts and support the local economy.

It has become evident Thailand does not want tourists like me. Overzealous airline check-in personnel at HKT trying unsuccessfully to charge me 'extra'... a corrupt Immigration supervisor at HKT extorting 2000 baht from me... police roadblocks, roadblocks, roadblocks... and now Phang Nga Immigration requiring the Foreign National Information Form to be completed for an extension of stay have all left a very sour taste in my mouth re: Thailand.

It has become evident Thailand really only wants 'package' tourism - be it groups, or individual families/couples who are picked up at the airport and shuttled to their resort where they stay on a 'full board' basis (breakfast , lunch & dinner), and only leave the resort to go on a regular, package tourist tour. In other words... 'sheeple'.

The idiots at TAT don't know they are cutting their own (and the country's) throat.

<deleted> Thailand. This will be my last visit.

This is the future of tourism in Phuket.

Think about it for a minute. Not 50 extra tour buses on the roads in Phuket. It is 300 extra tour buses packed with Chinese tourists.

If you're in the tourism business and still offering bacon and eggs in your Phuket restaurant, you need to make a paradigm shift in your business model - right now.

"still offering bacon and eggs in your Phuket restaurant"

Considering the fall of the pound and Euro, the paradigm shift has most likely taken place. They probably have already reduced portion size and now offer a choice of egg OR bacon.