For Thailand and other neighboring Asian countries, Chinese holidaymakers are becoming the "Rich Germans", turning up in every beach-resort, noisy and boorish, but rich and spending a lot of money. Busloads of Chinese tourists are now a fixed sight at popular beach resorts in Thailand
As China's overheated economy shuts down for the annual Chinese New-year, record numbers of Chinese tourists are spreading across Thailand and South-East Asia, putting a new sparkle in the profits for airlines and hoteliers who have been badly shaken by the SARS panic last year.
Airlines which were on the edge of near bankruptcy are now hitting 90% capacity and putting on extra flights for the new rich Chinese tourists.
If only 1000 Chinese tourists visited Thailand in 1991, last year Thailand welcomed a few million of them, mostly on highly advertised budget sex tours and shopping tours.
There have been complaints that Thailand's sex industry is being transformed by the influx of Chinese tourists, who are willing to pay "Big Money" for younger girls and even virgins. Nowadays Thai touts are trying to lure young girls from remote areas in Burma or Laos and even Southern China to come work in those "Specially For Chinese" entertainment venues in Bangkok and Pattaya.
This new Chinese tourist boom is the most visible symbol of the re-establishment of China's status as the middle kingdom, dispensing favors, as it did in the Qing and Ming dynasties, to tributary states as a reward for their loyalty. With US$ 400 billion worth of foreign exchange reserves and an economy which grew more than 9 per cent last year and despite last year's SARS slowdown, China can easily allow its citizens to spend money on holidays to Thailand and other SE Asian countries.
Countries around the world are fighting hard to persuade the Chinese government to add their names to the list of 28 approved destinations. Australia, one of the first to be listed, is now already welcoming more than 24,000 Chinese for the new year holiday. Many Chinese want to escape the harsh winter and the tedious festivities in China for a chance of sunshine on Thailand's beaches, with others even starting to seek adventure in Cuba, Chile, Brazil and Kenya.
Outbound tourism in China is growing by 20% to 30% a year and the number of Chinese tourists going overseas is expected to reach 25 million in the next couple of years. China itself is also becoming one of the world's top tourist destinations and expects to host 60 million visitors this year.
Xu Shengli, an official of the Tourism Board, said: "It is true that people in Thailand complain about the loudness, bad manners and public spitting of Chinese tourists. This may disgust Thai locals and other tourists, but I don't think this will matter a lot as they are spending money."
Ma Han, a Chinese travel agent, said: "When I went as a guide on a tour with a group of Chinese tourists, they would complain about the high price for beer and food, but then while shopping they would suddenly pull out loads of cash to buy expensive jewelry and even diamonds."
The Chinese government has now launched an official campaign in the attempt to curb the "unsocial behavior and bad manners of Chinese tourists abroad". The "Beijing Evening News" even printed a special page telling the Chinese to avoid spitting, how to queue in an orderly fashion, how to behave and what to say and not to say when visiting Thailand or other holiday destinations in the world.
China's government has even announced new measures to allow residents in more than 100 medium-sized cities to apply for individual travel passports, so the exodus of Chinese tourists to Thailand is bound to accelerate even more in the near future.
