Thai tourism minister responds to Chinese embassy safety advisory
The tourism minister plans closer coordination with Chinese authorities to address their concerns and acknowledges an impact on Thailand’s tourism image.
- Thailand's Tourism Minister acknowledged the Chinese embassy's safety advisory, affirming that tourist safety is a top government priority.
- He argued that the reported safety incidents primarily affect individuals deceived in their home country for criminal purposes, rather than genuine tourists.
- In response to the concerns, the minister stated that Thai authorities will implement stricter security measures to build confidence among visitors.
- He called for closer collaboration and information sharing with Chinese authorities to understand their concerns and prevent future incidents.
Tourism and Sports Minister Surasak Phancharoenworakul said he was aware of a Chinese embassy advisory warning tourists to take care over their safety when visiting Thailand.
Speaking at Government House at 10am on October 20, before a Cabinet meeting, Surasak said tourist safety was a key focus of the prime minister’s policy and had also been treated as a priority in the past.
The minister said Chinese visitors’ reasons for coming to Thailand had to be considered. Those genuinely coming as tourists would probably not be put in a headlock or taken to the border, while people involved in such incidents might have been deceived in their country of origin.
Surasak acknowledged that there had been cases of tourists being put in headlocks, but said help was possible because checkpoints were in place throughout the border areas on routes into neighbouring countries.
The minister said he understood the concerns behind China’s warning, including its citizens’ safety and the risk of them being deceived by fellow nationals. However, ordinary tourists in Thailand could not be forced into a vehicle, have their hands and feet tied and be taken to the border, Surasak insisted.
Thailand would not allow itself to be used as a transit route for transnational crime, the minister said. All the agencies concerned, including the Royal Thai Police, tourist police, immigration police, relevant Ministry of Interior agencies and security agencies, would apply stricter measures to build confidence. Efforts to protect tourists also needed to be stepped up.
There would also be coordination with Chinese authorities to find out what concerns remained, Surasak added. Acknowledging that Chinese tourists remained important to Thailand, the minister called for Thai and Chinese authorities to build understanding and links, work closely together and use the information gathered to make improvements.
The advisory had affected Thailand’s tourism image, according to Surasak. China could control its own citizens, and there had already been an impact even without a formal warning, he said.
The minister maintained that Thailand took good care of Chinese tourists, just as it did visitors from other countries. Such problems affected Chinese tourists alone, while tourists from other countries did not encounter them, Surasak said.
In cases involving some countries, incidents had occurred because contact had already been made in the country of origin, the minister explained.
It was only fair to ask why, if Thailand were unsafe, the same thing did not happen to tourists from other countries, Surasak said, arguing that this meant people had been lured into coming.
Tourists leaving Thailand via the border had to pass numerous checkpoints and could ask for help if they wished, the minister noted. They could not leave easily, except when they did not realise they had been deceived.
“If tourists genuinely want to visit Thailand and have no intention of going to another country, incidents like this would probably not happen,” Surasak said.
