Tourism operators are urging the government to intensify efforts against transnational cyber scams based in Cambodia, including travel screening for foreigners potentially lured into scam compounds, as South Korea’s crackdown on the industry is deterring its citizens from visiting Southeast Asia.
Last week, South Korea issued a travel ban to parts of Cambodia, after a Korean student was allegedly tortured to death at a scam centre. The Korean government also sent officials to Phnom Penh to seek the release of South Korean nationals held in a compound.
News reports have also highlighted South Koreans cancelling their trips to not only Cambodia, but other nearby destinations, as they are concerned about the Southeast Asian region.
Thanet Supornsahasrungsi, president of the Association of the Chonburi Tourism Federation, said based on informal discussions held with a Korean travel agency, the cyber scam problem has now become a big issue in Korean society.
The agent said that although tour packages booked for Pattaya and Thailand by the Korean market haven’t been cancelled, new bookings have been growing at a very slow pace, said Mr Thanet.
He said the South Korean market in Pattaya this year is estimated to have decreased by 20-30% since the beginning of the year, as many clients shifted their trips to Vietnam due to cheaper travel costs and new attractions.
This issue would also further hamper tourism in nearby eastern provinces, such as Chanthaburi and Trat, which usually gained foreign tour groups which also visited Cambodia by land, but the market has deteriorated due to the Thai-Cambodian border skirmishes.
He said the government should act faster and be more rigid in coordinating with South Korea, the US and other governments to combat transnational scams, while demonstrating that the country does not have any involvement in running such scam compounds.
Adith Chairattananon, honorary secretary-general of the Association of Thai Travel Agents, said Thai tourism is very sensitive to the overall Southeast Asian cyber scam issue.
The severe impact has been felt since the kidnapping of Chinese actor Wang Xing to a scam centre in Myanmar early this year, which resulted in a sharp drop in Chinese arrivals of more than 35% in the first nine months.
So far, there have not been booking cancellations from South Korea to Thailand — only cancellations from that market to Cambodia, said Mr Adith.
He said as well as coordinating with other nations, the government should upgrade any measures to prevent foreigners with risky behaviour from visiting Cambodia from Thai airports as they might be unintentionally lured to work in scam centres.
Mr Adith said it was unlikely that the number of South Korean arrivals would reach the 1.8 million arrivals recorded last year, but it could potentially reach 1.5 million.
As of Oct 12, Thailand welcomed over 1.2 million South Korean tourists, securing the fifth largest inbound market.