VNexpress/BangkokPost-Feb 4
Tourist-targeted scams, including taxi-fare gouging and fraudulent tour operators, are the biggest safety concerns for foreign visitors in Thailand, a survey has found. The communication barrier with locals and emergency services ranked second, according to a survey done by the Tourism Council of Thailand, which polled 302 foreign tourists in the fourth quarter of last year. The tourists complained that taxi drivers often only pick up passengers who agree to pay a flat fare without using the meter, which means drivers can arbitrarily charge higher prices, the Bangkok Post newspaper reported. They also flagged potential exploitation, requests for bribes by officials and air pollution caused by hazardous fine particulate matter (PM2.5). Among their least concerns were physical assault and kidnapping for ransom. The survey showed that East Asian tourists expressed the highest level of safety concerns, followed by those from Southeast Asia, while European tourists were the least concerned. Once considered a tourism powerhouse in Southeast Asia, Thailand faced several challenges last year. The country saw international arrivals decline by 7.2% to 32.9 million, the first annual drop outside the Covid period in a decade, according to Bloomberg. In January last year Thailand saw trip cancellations by Chinese tourists following the high-profile abduction of Chinese actor Xing Xing. China, Malaysia, India, and South Korea were the country’s biggest tourism markets last year. Read more at: https://e.vnexpress.net/news/travel/foreign-tourists-rank-scams-as-top-safety-concern-in-thailand-5013956.html
