JAKARTA - Chinese tourists are busy canceling their vacation plans to Thailand ahead of the Chinese New Year in 2025. This cancellation was triggered by an unpleasant incident experienced by Chinese actor Wang Xing while in Thailand some time ago.

Wang Xing or known as his stage name Xing Xing was reported missing after arriving in Bangkok and heading to the Thailand-Myanmar border. He initially came to Thailand after communicating with people who claimed to work in the Thai entertainment industry for a cooperation offer, which was later discovered to be fraudulent.

Although Wang Xing was finally found in Myanmar and returned to Thailand after two days of disappearance, this incident turned out to have a significant impact on China's tourist confidence in Thailand. This led them to choose to cancel their vacation tour plans in the country with the Bangkok capital.

Thai government spokesman Jirayu Huangsub said Prime Minister, Paetongtram Shinawatra, ordered the Ministry of Tourism and Sports to release a campaign to restore the image and trust of Chinese tourists over Thailand.

"The Prime Minister said that although missing Chinese actors have been found, this incident affects the trust of Chinese tourists," the spokesman said, quoted from the Bangkok Post, on Wednesday, January 15, 2025.

The impact of this incident was felt by the hotel and airline sectors in Thailand. The chairman of the Marketing Committee for the Thai Hotel Association (THA), Prachom Tantiprasertsuk, said that many hotels at their main destinations such as Bangkok, began receiving order cancellations.

"The impact on the tour group is more visible because tour agents can still cancel their hotel bookings and plane tickets, in contrast to independent tourists whose orders cannot be canceled," he said.

The cancellation of hotel reservations and plane tickets by Chinese tourists in Thailand is expected to increase near the Lunar New Year holiday, which falls on January 29, 2025. The decline in the number of Chinese tourists during the holiday period is even predicted to reach 20 to 30 percent compared to the previous year.


The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)