Chinese tourists shun Thailand as crime film stokes kidnapping fears on social media

Chinese tourist Jia Xueqiong spent a week in Thailand with her husband and daughter, despite her parents’ disapproval.

Thailand soothes fears over visa scheme for Chinese visitors

“They felt it was not safe here, and tried to persuade us not to come,” the 44-year-old nurse said outside Bangkok’s unusually quiet Grand Palace. “All my friends said, ‘You go first to explore, if it’s OK we will follow’,” she said.

The film has some basis in reality.

Extensive reporting by the media has documented thousands of Chinese people lured to centres in Southeast Asia, mainly in Myanmar and Cambodia, to operate online scams fleecing victims for large sums.

But most of those involved are tricked into it with fake offers of lucrative work – not dragged off the streets while on holiday – and so far, no such scam compounds have been found in Thailand.

Despite only being released in August, No More Bets has become the third-most-popular film in China this year, raking in 3.8 billion yuan (US$521 million) and supercharging online discussion about the dangers of visiting Thailand.

04:22

Indebted Thai farmers eye golden opportunity as price of rice rises globally

Indebted Thai farmers eye golden opportunity as price of rice rises globally

Beijing student Leanna Qian, 22, said that while she knew some of the stories were “exaggerated”, she was still concerned about travelling to the kingdom.

“I’m worried that we’ll be taken to other places, such as Cambodia or Myanmar,” she said.

Thailand welcomed a record-breaking 11 million Chinese tourists in 2019 – a quarter of all visitors that year, according to official data.

Sisdivachr Cheewarattanaporn, president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents, said that negative online chatter had played a role in the drop.

“Things don’t happen in Thailand but Thailand is targeted,” he said.

The rumours grew so persistent that earlier this year, the Thai embassy in Beijing released a statement reassuring visitors that officials would “take measures to secure tourists’ safety”.

And across the border, the president of the Cambodia Association of Travel Agents, Chhay Sivlin, said that the situation was worse.

Chhay Sivlin said her company has received no Chinese tour groups so far this year, and feedback highlighted many tourists’ worries about safety.

“If the Chinese government helps, we will receive tourists soon because Chinese people listen to their government,” she said.

Back in China, travel agents are switching their focus from foreign trips – which accounted for more than 40 per cent of their tourism revenue pre-pandemic – to pushing domestic tours.

Let China pandas live in ‘natural habitat’, Thai critics urge as PM mulls loan

Business is also suffering the after-effects of Beijing’s draconian Covid control measures, which saw around 1.2 billion people unable to leave China after its borders were shut in 2020.

Gary Bowerman, director of travel and tourism consulting firm Check-in Asia, said it took time for people to get used to travelling abroad again.

“Going out of the country again, you start hearing about these scams … It does have an impact on people’s psychological willingness to travel,” he said.

Meanwhile, domestic travel is booming – especially for younger people, who view it as an on-trend alternative to flying abroad, Bowerman said.

In the office of a Beijing-based travel agency, which declined to be identified, staff were busy pushing domestic holiday promotions.

02:53

Top young Thai chefs create buzz in Bangkok’s fine dining scene

Top young Thai chefs create buzz in Bangkok’s fine dining scene

The agency formerly employed more than 200 people but downscaled to only a few dozen as a result of the worsening global economy, visa difficulties, and a slow aviation industry recovery.

“There’s not much willingness to go abroad,” employee Guo, who asked to be referred to by only one name, said.

And, she added, for Southeast Asia “there’s also the fear that they could go but never return.”

Outside Bangkok’s Grand Palace with her family, tourist Jia dismissed the fears of many inside China.

“It isn’t like what’s said on the internet, being scammed or other things,” she said.

“There is nothing like that at all.”