Thai tourism hit as gun violence prompts Chinese visitor cancellations

The Thai government has been urged to tighten gun control measures by Chiang Mai hoteliers and tourism entrepreneurs in the aftermath of the Siam Paragon shopping mall shooting on October 3.

The incident, which resulted in the death of three people, including a Chinese tourist, and injured four others, has shaken the confidence of Chinese travellers in Thailand. The fallout from the incident has seen approximately 60,000 Chinese tourists cancel their trips to the country.

Airports of Thailand’s data indicates a drop in the number of Chinese visitors from 650,000 to 590,000, marking a 9.2% decrease after the shooting incident.

Before the pandemic, China was the largest overseas tourism market for Thailand, with around 11 million Chinese arrivals in 2019. However, this year’s projections are significantly lower, with tourism authorities predicting less than half of that number, or about 5 million, will visit the country.

Chiang Mai, a city that welcomes a considerable number of Chinese tourists, has seen five Chinese airlines, including Juneyao Airlines, Spring Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Sichuan Airlines and Air China, establish routes to the province.

Chutidech Promkaewngarm, assistant manager at Standard Tour Co Ltd, a leading tour operator in the northern region, mentioned a temporary impact on the confidence of tourists due to the shooting incident. Despite not all reservations from Chinese tour groups being cancelled, many have postponed their trips. Some Chinese netizens have expressed their reluctance to visit a country where gun ownership is not illegal.

Promkaewngarm stated that the number of Chinese tourists is currently less than 50% of that in 2019 or before the Covid-19 pandemic. He suggested that a combination of factors, including economic difficulties in China and the recent shooting incident in Bangkok, could be responsible for the decline in Chinese tourists.

Somrit Haikum, managing director at Pacific World Chiangmai and vice president of Chiang Mai Chamber of Commerce, emphasised the need for the government to implement preventive measures to avoid a repeat of such incidents. He also stressed the importance of diversifying Thai tourism markets and transitioning towards environmentally friendly tourism models.

Paisarn Sukcharoen, president of the Northern Thai Hotel Association, also voiced concerns about the impact of the incident on the tourism industry. He revealed that over 30% of hotel bookings had been postponed immediately after the incident and suggested that the government’s implementation of gun control measures could help restore confidence.

Patthara-anong Na Chiang Mai, director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s (TAT) Northern Region, said that the visa exemption introduced by the government, available until February next year, continues to attract more tourists from China and Kazakhstan. However, she considered the TAT’s prediction of five million Chinese tourists to be overly optimistic, forecasting a total of over 4.2 million Chinese visitors in 2023.

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