Chinese tourists visiting Thailand for Lunar New Year are worried about being kidnapped by gangsters to work in hellish scam centres, despite efforts to reassure them.
Chinese nationals topped the list of visitors to Thailand last year, with nearly seven million making the trip to Thailand in 2024.
But high-profile kidnappings on the Thai-Myanmar border have sent a chill through the market at a peak period, with a reported 10,000 trips cancelled during the Lunar New Year holidays.
Thai aviation chiefs say they expect arrivals from China over the January 24 to February 2 period to be down on 2024, despite higher traveller numbers overall.
Even those who have brave the trip are uneasy.
“I didn’t dare to tell my family, so I came here…
