Chinese Embassy issues safety travel caution as “Global Week” holiday approaching

Monday, September 24, 2018

The Chinese Embassy of Bangkok has issued a safety warning to its tourists travelling to Thailand during the next month of “Global Week” holiday after six drowning incidents involving Chinese visitors in the month of August.

The  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.

There are 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. In August Thailand opened dedicated lanes for Chinese tourists in five airports across the country, staffing each one with Mandarin-speaking officials. However, the growth of mainland tourism to Thailand may have been undermined in the summer holiday period, following the deaths of nearly 50 tourists, most of them Chinese, when their boat sank after it was hit by five-metre (16 feet) waves in early July.

The warning notice from the Chinese embassy reminds travellers that waves can reach more than two metres during monsoon season, from May to October, and that swimming and sea trips are not appropriate. The embassy also reminded Chinese tourists to follow the rules while in Thailand and stay out of the water when authorities put red flags on beaches, indicating the marine situation is dangerous.

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