The events began with Phuket Vice Governor Amnuay Pinsuwan leading an event to mark Chinese National Day at the Royal Phuket City Hotel in Phuket Town on Sunday night (Oct 1), the first day of the ‘Golden Week’ holidays.
The event celebrated the 74th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China and the 35th anniversary of the founding of the Phuket Thai-Chinese Association, chaired by former Phuket senator Tunyaratt Achariyachai.
Present for the occasion were representatives from the Consulate-General of the People’s Republic of China in Songkhla.
As outgoing President of the Phuket Thai-Chinese Association, Ms Tunyaratt passed the presidency to newly elected President, Uaychai Ongwimonkarn.
“We will cooperate with all friends. Promote the development of Let’s work together with all sectors of Phuket to create a bright future for the two countries. Let China and Thailand be prosperous. There is a strong China-Thailand friendship that will last forever,” Mr Uaychai said.
Phuket International airport General Manager Monchai Tanode was on hand in person yesterday (Oct 2) to welcome the first visitors to arrive from China for the Golden week holidays, with 109 Chinese passengers arriving on Air China flight CA717 direct flight from Hangzhou touching down at 2pm.
Thailand is poised for a tourism revival with the launch of a new visa exemption program targeting Chinese tourists, reports state news agency NNT.
The government’s ambitious plan aims to attract 2.9 million Chinese arrivals and generate a staggering B140 billion in tourism revenue over five months. This move is seen as a critical step in shoring up the nation’s economic recovery, the agency noted.
The visa-free scheme, which came into effect on Sept 25 and also extended to Kazakhstan nationals, has already shown promising signs, with more than 22,000 Chinese travelers entering Thailand within the first two days of the visa waiver.
According to Phuket Immigration, 37,343 Chinese nationals arrived in Thailand through Phuket airport from Sept 1-30, second only to 40,210 Russians who arrived directly in Phuket during the month. A total of 242,780 foreigners arrived in Phuket by air last month, Phuket Immigration reported.
Chai Wacharonke, government spokesman, emphasised that the program is expected to contribute significantly to the country’s tourism revenue, projected at B140.3bn.
“Thailand’s decision to waive visas for Chinese tourists is seen as a catalyst to rekindle the interest of Chinese travelers, who were the largest visitor group before the pandemic hit. The visa exemptions for Chinese and Kazakh tourists form part of the government’s comprehensive strategy to expedite economic recovery,” NNT reported.
Meanwhile, Thai Airways International has reported that flights from China have been moire than 90% full after the visa-free scheme came into effect, reports Bloomberg.
“We have seen significant growth in terms of Chinese traffic into Thailand,””the carrier’s Chief Commercial Officer Korakot Chatasingha told Bloomberg Television on Monday.
The government is banking on Chinese visitors to lead a spending recovery as policy tweaks and new airport infrastructure bolster the tourism-dependent nation. Bangkok’s busiest airport just last week opened a new terminal, Bloomberg noted.
Thai Airways, which is going through a debt restructuring after Covid, said last month it plans to increase its flights to five Chinese cities to 56 a week, up from 49, starting Dec 1, Bloomberg also noted in its report.