Chinese tourists (and their habits) surge into Thailand

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PeteC
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Re: Chinese tourists (and their habits) surge into Thailand

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Now I anticipate a shortage of officers on non-Chinese lanes, and officers just sitting there doing nothing when the flow of Chinese is low, while people in the non-Chinese lanes snakes for a kilometer or two back towards the gates.
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Special lanes open for Chinese tourists at 5 airports
Published: 4/08/2018 at 04:47 PM
Online news: https://www.bangkokpost.com/news/genera ... recent_box

Special immigration lanes have opened at five major airports for Chinese tourists as part of an effort to woo back visitors following last month’s Phuket boat tragedy.

Senior officers from the Immigration Bureau and the Tourist Police Bureau (TPB) led a media crew from China to inspect the special lanes at Suvarnabhumi airport on Friday night.

Pol Maj Gen Surachate Hakparn, deputy chief of the TPB, stressed the importance of China as the top-ranked source of visitors to Thailand. More than 10 million Chinese visitors entered Thailand last year.

In addition to special immigration lanes for holders of Chinese passports, authorities are also considering providing multiple-entry visas. This would be more convenient for frequent travellers than the current system requiring a new visa on every trip for a stay of up to 60 days.

Pol Maj Gen Pruettipong Prayoonsiri, commander of the Immigration Police Division 2, said Suvarnahumi airport would have 18 special lanes for Chinese visitors and Don Mueang airport 21 lanes. There will be eight lanes at Chiang Mai airport, 18 at Phuket and 10 at Hat Yai.

Officials with Chinese language proficiency will staff the lanes to serve Chinese visitors, he said.

Pol Maj Gen Surachate also took Chinese reporters and Chinese marine experts to inspect eight dockyards and piers in Phuket, seeking to restore confidence among Chinese tourists following the Phuket boat tragedy.

The tour boat Phoenix capsized in a storm off the resort island on July 5, claiming the lives of 47 Chinese nationals. The craft’s skipper had ignored severe-weather advisories, authorities say.

The tragedy has led many Chinese travellers to think twice about coming to Thailand, putting a dent in the tourism market. The number of Chinese arrivals in July was up just 0.04% year-on-year after a 20% rise in June.

The Tourism and Sports Ministry has revised down its forecast for Chinese arrivals in the last six months of the year by 670,000, to a total of 5.1 million.
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Re: Chinese tourists (and their habits) surge into Thailand

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And 5 million is one quarter of 1%
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Re: Chinese tourists (and their habits) surge into Thailand

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oakdale160 wrote: Sun Aug 05, 2018 6:57 am And 5 million is one quarter of 1%
One quarter of 1% of what?
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Re: Chinese tourists (and their habits) surge into Thailand

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1/4 of 1% of the population of China
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Re: Chinese tourists (and their habits) surge into Thailand

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Gosh, as an old, white person who's lived here for 20 years and has been married to a Thai for longer than I care to remember, it's nice that I'm appreciated and can't get any red carpet treatment.
C'est la vie.
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lomuamart wrote: Sun Aug 05, 2018 2:02 pm Gosh, as an old, white person who's lived here for 20 years and has been married to a Thai for longer than I care to remember, it's nice that I'm appreciated and can't get any red carpet treatment.
C'est la vie.
It's not personal, it's financial, besides that, you're already here and considered a nonentity, only your money counts. Always carry your own red carpet. Yours truly, a fully fledged member of the cynics club. After a certain age, as yet undetermined, cynicism is an earned position allowing one to look down upon the swirling masses with a jaundiced eye and snarky tongue.
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Re: Chinese tourists (and their habits) surge into Thailand

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If you look at it from a Thai point of view the Chinese tourists must look very attractive. They come for short visits, well inside 30 days, do not overstay. Do not go out getting drunk or rowdy. In spite of the fact that they do not spend much extra, their packages keep some BIG hotels and restaurants full. And of course, they don't complain about the traffic, hygiene or govt policies.
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Re: Chinese tourists (and their habits) surge into Thailand

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Just another thought. Thai-Chinese who are very education ambitious for their children are sending many of them to a famous Chinese learning institute in Beijing. A friend who attended a few years ago and receives their newsletters tells me that it is not just Thai-Chinese, but VN--Chinese too. Thinking ahead!!
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Re: Chinese tourists (and their habits) surge into Thailand

Post by T.I.G.R. »

Oakdale160.....your comments don't reflect what I have read on Thai Visa......from their point of view (and sorry, don't read much else locally) Chinese are a bunch of pigs needing behavior training. Also, if the past few months are any indication the tourist industry is in dire straights here in the Hua Hin/Cha Am area. I don't see any traffic in the restaurants and hotels to speak of. Traffic on the roads is fierce when there is a Holiday in Bangkok but not any other times.......Palm Hills golf course seems only to be getting local play. We tee off at around 7:15 four days a week and many days lately have seen a virtually empty parking lot. I hope I'm wrong but that is what I have seen.
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Re: Chinese tourists (and their habits) surge into Thailand

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I lived for many years in China and am well aware of the behavior problem. The Chinese are like soi dogs, individually they are fine but when in a pack they are unbearable. Much of their bad behavior is them trying to get a jump on the others in their group. A maxim we used to live by in China was--However badly the Chinese are treating you, remember they are treating other Chinese much worst.
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Re: Chinese tourists (and their habits) surge into Thailand

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Two young Chinese woman on a motorbike know how to park. And they're good at it, accomplishing this on the first try:
j7-20180808_123253.jpg
j7-20180808_123253.jpg (238.05 KiB) Viewed 437 times
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Re: Chinese tourists (and their habits) surge into Thailand

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I don't think that it is just Chinese who would park like that. Plenty of locals too.
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Re: Chinese tourists (and their habits) surge into Thailand

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oakdale160 wrote: Tue Aug 07, 2018 8:20 pm individually they are fine but when in a pack they are unbearable.
this applies to so many other nationalities !!!
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Re: Chinese tourists (and their habits) surge into Thailand

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joelle wrote: Thu Aug 09, 2018 7:32 am
oakdale160 wrote: Tue Aug 07, 2018 8:20 pm individually they are fine but when in a pack they are unbearable.
this applies to so many other nationalities !!!
so true. There are so many examples of people who are fine individually or in their own or in small groups, yet they become unbearable when the small group gets bigger (having said that though, the Chinese in Thai airports do do my head in).
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Re: Chinese tourists (and their habits) surge into Thailand

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Having seen groups of Americans strolling the boulevards in Paris, it's hard to tell the men from the pigs. (Apologies to Orwell.)
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