Tourist truce: PM Srettha makes a ‘Great Wall’ of friendship, inviting Chinese police to patrol in Thailand

Thailand Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin planned to ask Chinese police to join patrols at several tourist attractions in Thailand to win the trust of tourists from the People’s Republic of China.

Unexpectedly, the visa-free policy is failing to attract Chinese tourists to Thailand after the pandemic. Most Chinese tourists are reportedly worried about their safety in Thailand following the death of a Chinese woman in the shooting at the famous Siam Paragon shopping mall and several reports of kidnapping for ransom of Chinese nationals in Thailand.

In a bid to regain the confidence of Chinese tourists, PM Srettha yesterday, November 12, attended a meeting with authorities from the Tourist Police, Immigration Police, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and the Ministry of Tourism and Sports.

The 61 year old Thai PM did not give an interview to the media after the meeting due to his schedule to travel to the US to attend the 2023 APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting. TAT director, Thapanee Kiatpaiboon, however, took responsibility for briefing the public on the outcome.

Thapanee explained that the TAT had consulted the prime minister on the safety of foreign tourists in Thailand, with a focus on Chinese tourists. The TAT planned to launch a patrol project with the Chinese police and would discuss it with the People’s Republic of China Embassy on November 15.

According to Thapanee, Chinese police would patrol several tourist areas in Thailand together with the Thai police. The authorities hoped the project would be successful in regaining the trust of Chinese nationals, as was the case in Italy.

Thapanee explained that Thailand wanted the Chinese police to see how the Thai police work to ensure the safety of tourists. Chinese nationals respected their officers, so the Chinese police would be an important medium to ensure safety measures for tourists from mainland China.

With the patrol project, Thapanee believed that the number of Chinese tourists would reach the target of 4 to 4.4 million this year.

The Royal Thai Police also reported that they had been cracking down on illegal firearms, illegal businesses and fake news that could affect the image of Thailand.