Many Chinese travellers planning to visit Thailand for the upcoming Lunar New Year have expressed concerns on social media this week and posed blunt questions.
Is Chiang Mai safe? How can I convince the travel agency to refund expenses if I want to cancel my trip to Thailand?
The anxiety has been fuelled by a recent incident involving Chinese actor Wang Xing, who went missing upon arriving in Thailand for work last Friday.
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Wang, a relatively unknown actor in China until his disappearance went viral, was reported missing after travelling to the popular tourist destination for a shoot.
Thai authorities took swift action amid high public scrutiny, rescuing Wang from a fraudulent online scam operation in a Myanmar city bordering Thailand on Tuesday. Deemed a victim of human trafficking, Wang appeared disoriented and had been shaved bald, according to images released by authorities.
The incident soon dampened Chinese tourists’ enthusiasm for travelling to the Southeast Asian destination as the annual Lunar New Year travel rush approaches.
On Chinese lifestyle platform Xiaohongshu, or “Little Red Book”, searching “How do I cancel my Thailand trip?” yielded more than 380,000 posts on Thursday.
Shawna Li, a Chinese woman from Zhejiang province, had planned to travel to Thailand with three female friends for the Spring Festival holiday from January 28 to February 4, but after learning of Wang’s case, they unanimously agreed to cancel their trip.
“We changed our mind because of basic safety concerns, especially since we are four women travelling together,” she said. “I’ve never been to Thailand, which people say is affordable and fun. I used to think it might be a bit unsafe, but not to this extent.”
A manager at a physical store in Shanghai of China’s leading online travel agent, Ctrip, noted that Wang’s experience has sparked a decrease in bookings to Thailand.
So far, the location has only one group tour to Thailand that is set to depart before the end of the month, with just a dozen participants. “In the short term, this will certainly affect travel confidence,” she said.
Wang, who had been lured by a Chinese stranger who claimed to represent a well-known Thai entertainment company and offered him work, was transported to the Myanmar border and subsequently crossed into Myanmar’s Myawaddy, a city known as a hub for scam outfits, through an unofficial border point, police said.
Before his rescue, Wang, who was expected to return to China on Friday, reportedly received two days of training in telecom scams targeting other Chinese victims.
The quick action from Thai police followed calls by Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra to crack down on such crimes and contain potential damage to Thailand’s tourism sector after news about Wang’s disappearance became widespread.
Speaking with the press following Wang’s rescue on Tuesday, a Thai official was caught on camera asking the actor to express willingness to travel to Thailand again.
Wang, wearing a black cap to conceal his face, complied, stating in both English and Chinese: “Thailand is safe, and I will come back again.”
Visits by Chinese tourists in Thailand might fall by 10 to 20 per cent during the upcoming holiday season due to safety concerns among travellers following the case, the Bangkok Post reported on Thursday, quoting an estimation from the Association of Thai Travel Agents.
With 6.73 million arrivals, Chinese comprised Thailand’s largest tourism market last year, according to the Thai Ministry of Tourism and Sports.
In recent years, an increasing number of Chinese citizens have been reportedly lured to telecom-fraud syndicates operating in northern Myanmar to participate in their fraudulent schemes against residents in China.
Chinese authorities said in 2023 that as many as 100,000 people in Myawaddy alone were believed to be engaged in telecom fraud, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
More from South China Morning Post:
- China’s investors, tourists hit pause to size up risks of turmoil in Seoul
- Chinese actor Wang Xing says fraud gang trafficked him to Myanmar scam compound
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- China remains stuck in low consumer inflation for second year
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