SHANGHAI — Concerns are mounting among Chinese travelers planning trips to Thailand for the forthcoming Lunar New Year, sparked by a recent incident involving actor Wang Xing, who went missing shortly after arriving in Thailand for work.
Wang, previously less known in China, was reported missing after traveling to a popular tourist destination, leading to significant public concern and scrutiny.
Thai authorities acted quickly, rescuing Wang from a fraudulent online scam in a Myanmar city near Thailand on Tuesday. Identified as a human trafficking victim, Wang was found disoriented and had reportedly been shaved bald, as shown in images released by the authorities.
This incident has dampened enthusiasm among Chinese tourists as the annual Lunar New Year travel rush approaches.
On a prominent Chinese lifestyle platform, a search for “How do I cancel my Thailand trip?” returned over 380,000 posts recently.
Shawna Li, a traveler from Zhejiang province, expressed her disappointment after planning a trip to Thailand with friends for the Spring Festival holiday. Following news of Wang’s case, they collectively decided to cancel their trip. “We changed our minds due to safety concerns, especially since we are all women traveling together,” Li noted.
Tourists take photos outside the Grand Palace in Bangkok.
A manager from a major travel agency reported a noticeable decline in bookings to Thailand following Wang’s ordeal. Currently, there is only one group tour scheduled to depart before the end of the month, with limited participation. “This will definitely impact travel confidence in the short term,” she stated.
Wang had been lured by a stranger claiming to represent a reputable Thai entertainment company, which led him to an unofficial border crossing into Myanmar’s Myawaddy, a hotspot for scam operations. Prior to his rescue, he reportedly underwent two days of training for telecom scams targeting other Chinese individuals.
The rapid response from Thai police came after Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra urged action against such crimes to mitigate potential harm to Thailand’s tourism sector as news of Wang’s disappearance spread.
After being rescued, Wang was filmed asking to return to Thailand, declaring, “Thailand is safe, and I will come back again.”
The Bangkok Post has reported that visits from Chinese tourists may decline by 10 to 20% during the upcoming holiday season due to safety apprehensions following this incident, as estimated by the Association of Thai Travel Agents.
Last year, Chinese travelers constituted Thailand’s largest tourism group, with 6.73 million arrivals, according to the Thai Ministry of Tourism and Sports.
In recent years, there has been an alarming trend of Chinese citizens being enticed into telecom fraud networks operating in northern Myanmar, targeting residents back home.
Chinese authorities have indicated that around 100,000 individuals in Myawaddy are engaged in telecom fraud activities, according to state media reports.
