Thailand's zero-sum tourism

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Lev
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Thailand's zero-sum tourism

Post by Lev »

Thailand will step up efforts to prevent Chinese tourists from being cheated by so-called "zero-dollar tours", the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) announced.

That's the good news.

The bad news is, this statement was made in August, 2000.

So when Thai authorities recently stated that they would "discuss the problem and draft measures to address the problem", a strain of skepticism was inevitable.

"Zero-dollar" tours derive their name from package tours sold mainly in China, and to a much lesser degree in Korea, which include free air fare and low-cost accommodation. But once the incredulous (and gullible) tourists set foot in the Kingdom, the scam begins.

The groups are herded from one expensive jewelry shop to another, from pricey entertainment joints to expensive restaurants. Not being able to speak Thai, and virtually imprisoned within the group, they are ripped blind.

Unscrupulous tour operators (both Thai and Chinese) and their selected outlets in Thailand reap handsome rewards - one estimate puts the loss to the legitimate tour industry at as much as US$400 million a year. Officials claim that about 90% of Thailand's inbound operators specializing in Chinese tourists are of the "zero-dollar" kind.

In 2004, 624,214 Chinese visited Thailand, down 5% from 2003, but the number plunged 28% in the first four months of this year compared to the same period last year.

Much of this can be attributed to the falloff following the December 26 tsunami last year that ravaged some tourist areas of Thailand's southern Andaman Sea coast, but also to growing complaints from Chinese authorities over the rip-offs. Beijing, Xian and Chengdu are the main source of Chinese tourists travelling to Thailand.

Full Story: Asia Times Online
lomuamart
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Post by lomuamart »

I suppose you could always fly to China, get one of these holidays and go "missing in action" when you arrive in BKK then conveniently show your face when your return flight is about to depart :P .
I used to do this regularly when taking package holidays to Europe. When i finally reappeared a couple of days before the flight home to check what time the airport transfer was, the rep would always say that that they'd been worried about me, not having seen me since I booked into the hotel. "OH, just doing my own thing, you know?"
I appreciate this Chinese situation is a bit more serious though.
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