Independent Chinese travellers are set to shake up expectations in Thailand and across all of Southeast Asia.
More than 10 million Chinese tourists visited Thailand in 2019. Almost all of them were on a strict schedule overseen by a terrifying tour guide. Almost all spent most of their money on Chinese-owned operations. Many were riding around in buses provided by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s family business.
When it was always sunny, just before the pandemic, forced marches, force-feeding, and keeping Chinese money in China were the rules of the game. That was the main form of mass tourism from China to Thailand.
The South China Morning Post spoke to Huang Hubin and Huang Junjie, a marketing manager and music producer, both in their mid-20s
Distance, visas, climate
On a pier in Pattaya that was once blossomed with twangy flags of ever-present tour groups, the Guangzhou…
