PHUKET – Recently, Mr.Aekachai Chamnankaw- former souvenir operator- revealed that operators had been forced and threatened by a Chinese tour operator not to sell to their tourists. As a result the souvenir sellers had to close.
The Chinese operators had then opened souvenir shops and forced the other shops to close so they were the only shops selling souvenirs. Plus, they had also invested in 20-100 speed boats and only hired Chinese employees.
Mr.Kajorn Weerachai-deputy minister of sport and tourism- admitted that that the Chinese operators had completely taken over the Thai operators.
Suksit Suwanditsakul- CEO of Di Vana group- said that they had to lower the price for the Chinese tourists who came in a group to 300-400 THB each. The operator hadn’t welcomed the tourists in big groups because they could make more from smaller groups.
The number of Chinese tourists in Pa Tong is less than other beach locations and they didn’t reserved the whole hotel like the Russian tourists had done. However, some hoteliers in Pa Tong had welcomed about 50-70 % of their capacity for Chinese tourists said Mr.Suksit.
The hotelier in Chianmai also revealed that they would rather have tourist who book online rather than the large tour groups because they can earn more money.
Pol.Maj.Gen.Apichai Ti-a-mart-ommander of tourism police- admitted that Chinese operators had invested more in Phuket according to the increasing number of Chinese tourist in Thailand. Some had rented land from Thai people to operate their business, some had co-invested with Thai operators.