Chinese spenders offer Phuket hope amid the wreckage of Thailand’s tourism industry

It’s the middle of peak season, but the beaches are empty, businesses are boarded up and go-go girls in Patong bars dance in return for virtual drinks

But Phuket’s tourism industry sees a glimmer of hope in middle class Chinese who are getting over the shock of Covid-19 and looking to invest overseas

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Bangla Walking Street – once the home of Phuket’s party crowd is now deserted without tourists. Photo: Vijitra Duangdee

Published: 9:00am, 16 Dec 2020Updated: 9:43am, 16 Dec 2020

Gasping for tourists in the middle of a peak season devoured by the coronavirus pandemic, the bar, hotel and tour operators scraping by in Phuket, Thailand, are praying vaccines will open global borders before they are forced to close their businesses.

But amid the wreckage of stricken souvenir shops, ‘For Sale’ signs on half-complete beachside properties and abandoned clifftop guest houses, there are flickers of hope – as some island businesses take the cue offered by the virus to look to a future beyond mass tourism.

For that, all roads lead to China.

Over recent years money has washed onto an island with a strong Chinese flex; most of the local population are descendants of Hokkien Chinese traders whose shophouses and shrines decorate Phuket Town.

A sign for Patong on a beach with a few local tourists. Photo: Vijitra Duangdee

But the relative trickle of investment so far – mainly buying condos or running package tour businesses – is likely to return as a flood once the pandemic eases, as China’s middle classes become bolder with their overseas investments after a year at home.

“The pandemic has shifted the mindset in China. People are ready to take a chance after the shock of Covid-19,” says Paranyoo Banchuen, project director of Utopia Corporation, one of Phuket’s biggest developers.

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