Phasakorn Channgam
China’s ambassador suggested Pattaya officials erect
signs in Chinese and train police officers to speak the language if they
want to retain the trust of visitors from the mainland.
Guan Mu, in a meeting with Tourism Authority of
Thailand and local-government officials May 18, said Chinese should be
added to English, Thai and Russian messages on posters, warning signs
and directions in tourist areas and hotels “to prevent tourists from
being tricked, cheated and robbed.”
The meeting between the ambassador and TAT, Pattaya
Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome and Banglamung District Chief Chawalit
Saeng-Uthai came in response to repeated complaints by Chinese tourists
about “free” package tour scams, jet ski rip-offs, food poisoning and
marine accidents.
“All these problems are faced by Chinese tourists in
Pattaya, but luckily, all have been dealt with professionally,” Guan
said. “For that reason, Chinese tourists still have confidence in
tourism in Thailand.”
However, he added, to retain that trust police
officers should be given lessons in Chinese in order to speak to
tourists more easily.
The Chinese continue to rank as Thailand’s top
tourism group with arrivals in 2012 expected to hit two million for the
first time. For the first three months of the year, arrivals are up 23.6
percent from 2011. Last year’s arrival of 1.73 million was an increase
of 56 percent over 2010, when political riots crippled tourism across
the board.
For Pattaya alone, 1.2 million visited the city in
2011, up 785,553 from strife-dampened 2010. Total tourists to the city
last year were seven million with Chinese ranking second only to
Russians and a notch ahead of Indians.
