Thai tourism suffering a Chinese takeaway

Back home they can use it to gain a Chinese driving licence and avoid what would be a much more rigorous process. With the international licence they are able to drive in Thailand with Chinese licence plates and without insurance. Unsurprisingly, when accidents happen, conflicts ensue over who pays for the damage. Thais are not afforded the same privilege in China.

This “asymmetry of privileges” applies in other areas too. Chinese can work as tour guides in Thailand, while Thais cannot in China. Of concern is that Chinese operators are taking over Thai tourism business from start to finish. They fly in fellow Chinese and use Chinese-owned transportation, hotels, restaurants, souvenir shops, pubs and entertainment venues. They are effectively using Thailand’s resources freely, reaping the profits earned from their fellow citizens and transferring the money back to the mainland, cutting off local competitors and leaving Thailand no better off. If anything, the Chinese are crowding out and driving away Westerners, who once made up the majority of foreign visitors. 

Without fresh regulations, Chinese companies and Chinese tourists will soon flooded northern Thailand and the South, and the locals will end up working for those very companies that pushed them out of business.

Alas, the most important reason for the surge in Chinese tourists is the cosy relationship the Prayut government enjoys with Beijing. Kow-towing would be a more accurate term, amid a backdrop of few remaining foreign alliances. I urge the authorities to address this problem before it is too late. Leave the “attitude adjustment” sessions for now and follow Bill Clinton’s advice: “It’s the economy, stupid”.

Edward Kitlertsirivatana