Chinese tourists to Thailand have skyrocketed and returned with an overwhelming advantage, and permanent visa exemption is just one of the favorable policies.
After the visit of the Thai Minister of Transport to China, the era of more reasonable low-cost air tickets between China and Thailand will return to the era of more affordable flights with more flights.
At the same time, high-priced domestic flights in Thailand have also been under strict scrutiny.
Cost-effective Thailand tourism is getting closer.
Overseas travel to Thailand exceeded 12 million! Nearly 2.5 million Chinese tourists!
A few days ago, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Thailand revealed that as Thailand began to enter the off-season, the number of tourists to Thailand in short-haul markets and long-distance markets has decreased since last week (April 29 to May 5), especially in Europe, and Russian tourists have also dropped from the previous ranking to No. 5.
Thailand welcomed a total of 639,822 foreign tourists last week, down 12,419 or 1.9% from the previous week, equivalent to an average of 91,403 daily visitor arrivals. The top five visitors were: China (161,678), Malaysia (84,127), India (46,561), South Korea (31,738), and Russia (27,228).
Overall, from January 1 to May 5, 2024, a total of 12,588,825 foreign tourists visited Thailand, generating about 605.201 billion baht in revenue.
Among them, the top 5 tourists with cumulative entry are as follows:
- China: 2,461,620
- Malaysia: 1,634,388
- Russia: 784,550
- South Korea: 704,427
- India: 677,783
Good news! The number of flights between China and Thailand is expected to increase! Thai Deputy Prime Minister made suggestions during his visit to China
On May 9, Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport Suriya led a delegation to meet with China's Minister of Transport Mr. Li Xiaopeng during his visit to China, and the two sides exchanged views on the overall transportation situation, including air, water and land transport, including current and future relevant cooperation guidelines, to develop this greater potential.
Among them, in terms of air transport, the government led by Thai Prime Minister Saita attaches great importance to air transport and policies to promote tourism, such as the implementation of visa-free policies for many countries, China is one of them, and has received a good response, which also provides convenience for the people of the two countries.
Therefore, the Thai side hopes that the Chinese side will consider measures to increase the number of Thai-Chinese flight slots (slots) for the airlines of the two countries in order to increase convenience and make the price more reasonable.
In addition, the Thai side also invited Chinese potential and quality contractors to consider participating in the bidding for the expansion project of Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket airports in Thailand to jointly develop the Thai project.
Suriya said that Thailand has great admiration for China's infrastructure construction, especially China's road and highway construction, which are very advanced and of good standards, especially tunnel drilling technology.
At present, Thailand is considering the construction of a tunnel in Phuket Province, and it is hoped that the Chinese side will invest and exchange technical experience with each other.
Taking this opportunity, Mr. Li Xiaopeng also invited Suriya to attend the Global Sustainable Transport Summit to be held in September 2024 to discuss and exchange views on sustainable transportation issues. From now on, the Chinese side will continue to issue invitation letters.
High-priced tickets were checked! Thai Airways opposes the Ministry of Transport's request to "lower the maximum fare cap"!
The Ministry of Transport of Thailand ordered the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) to review the adjustment of the ticket price cap to solve the problem of high air ticket prices, and asked the Civil Aviation Authority to consult with domestic airlines to find out the conclusion and find measures to reduce the air ticket price adjustment cap.
In response to the matter, the chairman of the Thai Airways Association and the managing director of Bangkok Airways, Pu Di Pong, said that Thai Airways will not agree to the adjustment of the above-mentioned government-requested reduction of the fare ceiling, as the prices of tickets currently on sale are still within the price framework set by the Civil Aviation Authority.
Among them, the maximum fare cap (single flight) for low-cost airlines is not more than 9.4 baht per kilometer, and full-service airlines are not more than 13 baht per kilometer.
It said that only in some cases, certain routes will be subject to the maximum price cap, such as flights to Phuket, but the price cap is also determined based on the company's cost calculations.
On the other hand, airlines are facing rising costs, and if they want to lower the fare cap further, they will still be in a difficult position because the airline business is not really profitable.
What are the remaining reasons why Chinese tourists do not come to Thailand?
In terms of distance, Thailand is currently one of the most suitable destinations for Chinese tourists.
However, affected by Internet rumors, many Chinese dare not come to Thailand.
At first, it was because of the "Ka waist", but after the fall of northern Myanmar, this rumor stopped.
Then there is marijuana, and tourists are worried that if they accidentally come into contact with it in Thailand, they will be harmed when they return to their home countries, and their own health will also be affected.
But just the day before yesterday, Thai Prime Minister Sai Tha announced that marijuana was back on the drug list, and the legalization came to an end.
"Ka waist + marijuana", two major safety issues, do not need to be mentioned in the future.
Expensive? Pit people?
It is another reason why Chinese tourists do not come to Thailand, and after the patrol and crackdown of the tourist police, the situation of major attractions and routes has improved significantly.
What's more, this factor is not "fatal" - a batch appears, a group is attacked, and there are similar situations in all countries.
Therefore, the biggest obstacle to Sino-Thai tourism at present is car accidents and air tickets.
Every once in a while, buses carrying Chinese tourists will have car accidents, with both dead and injured, and the driver fatigue driving phenomenon is serious, and the Thai authorities cannot find an effective solution for the time being.
Chinese tourists going to Thailand in the future must pay attention to traffic safety and choose their means of transportation carefully.
As for the high price of airfare, today's news may be the final answer.
The discount of 1,000 yuan to and from Thailand will become more and more and become the norm, and the low-cost attraction will also be in line with the competition method of the current environment.
Thailand's affordable tour groups will also move towards higher quality operations in affordable air tickets.
Text: Editorial Department of Thailand.com, Ten-Face School of Thailand.com Week