China’s Golden Week starts tomorrow, when over a billion mainland Chinese people return to their homes to celebrate with their families or go travelling abroad. In the lead-up to this, the Thai government, especially the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), have been working hard to urge Chinese travellers to visit the Land of Smiles.
This comes as many Chinese no longer see Thailand as a desired destination. The number of Chinese visitors has fallen by 35% year-on-year. The TAT predicts the number of Chinese tourist arrivals during Golden Week will drop 24% year-on-year.
Safety fears driven by reports about accidents and those covering scams, fraud and abduction have tarnished Thailand’s image. Chinese tourists are now flocking to Japan and South Korea, or other alternative destinations in our region, such as Vietnam and Malaysia.
There’s little wonder that Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul yesterday told parliament that his government would prioritise tourist safety and convenience, while cracking down on scammers targeting visitors.
But the biggest challenge among these is how the government can improve public safety for tourists.
This is a systematic problem that cannot be addressed by deploying more police to patrol tourist destinations or installing more CCTVs.
Thai officials do not lack resources or laws to ensure public safety, which now includes the use of biometric technologies to trace foreign visitors.
Over the years, Thai police have successfully solved all criminal cases related to foreign visitors except the case of Tomoko Kawashita, a 25-year-old Japanese tourist, who was raped and killed in Wat Saphan Hin National Park in Sukhothai, central Thailand, over 17 years ago.
Meanwhile, most of our problems affecting tourism, such as accidental fires in hotels and entertainment venues, broken infrastructure, illicit drugs or even scammers, can be linked to corruption.
Unsafe hotels, such as those without a fire escape, get built when local officials turn a blind eye and developers ignore building construction codes.
Unsafe public infrastructure, such as broken escalators or roofs that cave in during heavy rain, as seen at Don Mueang airport several years ago, often results from poor or inadequate oversight.
Then there is the rampant use of illicit drugs, either in communities or tourist destinations, made possible due to the help of tea money paying officials to look the other way.
The proliferation of proxy businesses run by some foreign criminal groups is also made possible with the help of local officials and local people.
Without tackling corruption and enforcing the law, Thailand will not be safe either for locals or tourists.
Apart from improving public safety, it is about time the government and TAT renew their tourism strategy. TAT currently has a strategy to reposition Thailand as an upmarket and sustainable destination, not just a budget-friendly one. But in reality, the TAT and the government have targeted high tourist numbers.
Policy makers have not made sincere efforts to transform Thailand’s tourism industry into one that offers upmarket, safe and sustainable destinations that tourists want to revisit and stay longer.
The government needs to make drastic reforms. After all, tourists are alike. They love to visit countries where they are well taken care of.