Safety warning issued to Chinese tourists after drownings in Thailand
Embassy tells travellers to take particular care in southern resorts of Phuket, Phang-Nga and Krabi
The Chinese embassy in Bangkok has issued a safety warning to tourists travelling to Thailand during next month’s “Golden Week” holiday, after six drowning incidents involving Chinese visitors there in August.
Sea activities pose the highest safety risks for tourists in Thailand, the embassy said, urging visitors to take particular care when visiting three popular destinations in the south of the country.
Golden Week, in the first week of October, coincides with the end of the monsoon season at Phuket, Phang-Nga and Krabi. The weather can still be changeable, sea winds strong and the water conditions complex, the embassy’s warning notice said.
Chinese visitors turn away from Thailand after tourist boat disaster
About 7 million Chinese will travel abroad during Golden Week, up from more than 6 million during the same period last year, according to Chinese travel website Ctrip.
For the first time, the company said, its bookings show that Japan has surpassed Thailand in popularity as a destination for the October holiday.
Thailand has been in the top three overseas destinations for China’s outbound tourists for a long time, behind Hong Kong and Macau, according to China Tourism Academy, an official research institute under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
In the first half of this year, 5.93 million Chinese visited Thailand, up 26 per cent from the same period last year, Ctrip said.