Chinese netizens critisised Thai tourism for being expensive and dangerous

Chinese netizens criticised Thai tourism for being expensive and dangerous. A Chinese male influencer who claims to be a psychiatrist added Thailand also traps Chinese women in prostitution and is a nation of organ trafficking.

Thai tourism was a hot topic on Chinese social media last week. It began when a Chinese media agency published an article on March 13, which reported that travelling in Thailand had become three times more expensive than in the past and Chinese people will be unable to visit the country as frequently as they used to.

The article went viral when it was reposted on Weibo with the hashtag “Thailand is too expensive to travel.” As a result, it became the top searched story on the application, with over 450 users reading the article and many commenting on the post.

Following the trend, a Chinese male influencer claiming to be a psychiatrist launched a video on his channel Xin Yi Lin Lin on the Douyin application saying that Thailand was dangerous, especially for Chinese women.

The man claimed that criminal gangs had moved their bases from Myanmar and Cambodia to Thailand, where they joined with anti-Chinese groups from Western countries to target Chinese people.

The man then mentioned the 76 Garage restaurant and bar in Bangkok, which is popular among Chinese netizens because it uses sexy male models to serve food and entertain customers. He blamed the restaurant for using hot Thai men to lure Chinese women into prostitution. He also reckons that these sex workers would later lure Chinese men into Thailand where they are kidnapped and killed for organ trafficking.

The man also accused Thai influencers of using Chinese social media to draw more and more people to the country.

The video quickly went viral, receiving over three million shares, 1.7 million likes, and 400,000 comments. While some Chinese citizens agreed with the man, many others found his claims to be unreliable. Watch the video HERE.

Chinese netizens also claimed that taxi drivers in Thailand rip them off by charging 750 baht for a journey that is only 2.4 kilometres and that travelling in Thailand is deadly dangerous. There can be no arguments for this claim.

Many Thai netizens responded to the video and posts in English, and many urged the relevant departments in Thailand to respond and clarify the issue to prevent misunderstandings that could affect the Thai tourism industry.

Thai-ASEAN Panorama reported yesterday that the Spokesperson of the Prime Minister’s Office, Anucha Burapachaisiri, responded to the issue on March 21 during the press conference after the Cabinet meeting. Anucha insisted that the information shared on Chinese social media was fake news.

Anucha added that the Minister of Tourism and Sports, Piphat Ratchakitprakarn, would later clarify each accusation.