Thailand Worried About Drop in Chinese Tourists

[Dodger]

The falling numbers of Chinese look bad for the statistics but actually is not a big loss to the Thai economy. They come on group tours all prepaid. They .

It is sad that Westerners are less welcome nowadays, especially expats and long term/frequent visitors .

Just out of curiosity, who exactly said that?

[Undaunted]

Chinese “Zero Dollar” tours to Thailand:

https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-l ... ckdown-and

[Jun]

just recently, Jay asked me where all the Chinese people went.

I don't know either, but it's a sure bet they didn't all go to Monte Carlo or the French Riviera . . .

Chinese tourists to Europe tend to spend quite heavily, particularly on luxury goods and so on. I believe some of the stores have taken on Chinese speaking staff as a result. According to one site, on average, Chinese customers spend £1,630 per shopping trip in the West End.

Whilst Pattaya seems to attract some low end Chinese tourists who get herded around like sheep and taken to some cheap Chinese restaurant, I wouldn't assume ALL the Chinese tourists to Thailand are low spenders.

[Gaybutton]

Chinese “Zero Dollar” tours to Thailand

Part of the article says:

such ‘forced shopping’ tours are frowned upon for tainting visitors’ image of country

Forced shopping tours? What's the point of that when most of these tourists rarely buy anything - and when they do it's even more rarely anything more than a few baht.

[Up2u]

The falling numbers of Chinese look bad for the statistics but actually is not a big loss to the Thai economy. They come on group tours all prepaid. They spend very little and contribute to general pollution problem in the main tourist destinations.

Unfortunately the Thai authorities are not satisfied with the drop of the Chinese tourists, not because of the harm it may cause to the local economy, but because of the general xenophobic and pro Chinese stance flooding all the ASEAN countries lately.

It is sad that Westerners are less welcome nowadays, especially expats and long term/frequent visitors .

There is a parallel, when the Russians first came it was tour groups and a few years later they traveled independently. Bought condos, spent money like drunken sailors and then the ruble tanked and we know the story. Looks like the same is happening with the Chinese. Think of all those unsold condos.

[Gaybutton]

I wouldn't assume ALL the Chinese tourists to Thailand are low spenders.

If you ever see any in Pattaya shopping as big spenders, let me know . . .

[mahjongguy]

At Central Festival, one of the Boots stores. A group of mainland Chinese ladies. The one ahead of me at the register had two baskets of cosmetics. Total bill was 22,000 baht. She put it on her AliPay card.

[Gaybutton]

Total bill was 22,000 baht. She put it on her AliPay card.

Why do I think they were not part of one of the typical Chinese tour groups?

[Jun]

At Central Festival

I would bet good money that if anyone went to Central Festival & looked for it, they would see exactly the kind of Chinese big spending you saw.
You're not going to see it in Tuk Com, Big C (much) or your local DIY store.

From my experience of Chinese students in the UK, some of them shop at Harrods & others have Amazon deliveries several times per week. Obviously if students have money to burn, it follows that some of the tourists will have plenty of money, since they are from the same population.
Whilst average wages in China are low, those who are successful can do very well.

[fountainhall]

I would bet good money that if anyone went to Central Festival & looked for it, they would see exactly the kind of Chinese big spending you saw.

And there are still some posters here who continually state the average per day spends of Chinese visitors produced by national tourist organisations are pure lies!