"Thailand attaches great importance to the safety of Chinese tourists and will take appropriate measures to ensure the security of those visiting the country," the Thai Embassy in China said in a statement last week, seeking to clarify the rumors and reassure tourists about their safety in Thailand.
According to Chinese newspaper Global Times , the hashtag "Tourist Safety in Thailand" has topped trending topics on China's social network Sina Weibo, attracting hundreds of millions of views.
Chinese tourists flock back to Thailand after the epidemic
In a Weibo post that garnered a lot of interaction, a Chinese netizen wrote that Thailand is one of her favorite tourist destinations. Her previous experiences were good and it was a place she wanted to visit again and again. "However, what is circulating online about Thailand makes me hesitate," she wrote.
"Since China allowed Chinese tourists to travel abroad, Thailand has made comprehensive preparations to welcome and added multiple communication channels for visitors, providing convenience and safety for tourists to get information and report emergencies to the tourist police," the statement from the Thai Embassy in China said.
According to Hong Kong newspaper SCMP , the statement was made after a 34-minute vlog posted on Bilibili (similar to YouTube) warned about restaurants in Bangkok using attractive male waiters to attract tourists.
Videos of these male waiters have become popular on social media, and the vlogger, "Heart Doctor Lin Lin," claims that human traffickers use the videos to attract more Chinese tourists to Thailand, putting the tourists at risk.
Restaurants like this are common in Thailand and there is nothing new about them, the vlogger said. The videos target vulnerable women, but there is also content aimed at men. The mysterious vlogger then urges tourists to be cautious.
The post has since been removed and the “Heart Doctor Lin Lin” account closed, but the content continues to be widely shared and stir debate online in China. A repost on Weibo is still accessible, attracting tens of thousands of likes.
Many accused the vlogger of spreading fear and making false claims while others said the warning was justified and the account helped expose the "dark side of society".
According to the Global Slavery Index, Thailand is home to 610,000 victims of human trafficking. Human trafficking is a widespread problem in Southeast Asia, according to SCMP .
China's Global Times also published an editorial titled "There's no reason for Thailand not to take good care of Chinese tourists." The article reiterated the announcement by the Thai Embassy in China and said that the sensational rumor had even become a hot topic, causing the Thai Prime Minister's Office to raise alarm. This shows that Thailand's "high regard" for Chinese tourists is not just empty talk.
The article, after reviewing information about the resumption of tourism between the two countries, wrote: Chinese tourists complain about higher prices, being scammed, experiencing worse services than before... Negative information about Thai tourism such as "Is traveling to Thailand still safe?", "Thailand is no longer the same" has recently received continuous attention on Chinese networks... "We hope and believe that after realizing this, Thailand will take measures to thoroughly handle these problems. The longer it drags on, the more disadvantageous it will be for the Thai tourism industry," the article emphasized.
Source link
Comment (0)