BANGKOK (AFP): For millions of Chinese tourists, Thailand used to be a happy land of water fights, lantern festivals and delicious food.
But thanks to social media rumours and a blockbuster movie, the kingdom's image among many Chinese people is now one of dangerous illegality and seedy scam border compounds -- leaving visitor numbers plummeting.
"They felt it was not safe here, and tried to persuade us not to come," the 44-year-old nurse told AFP outside Bangkok's unusually quiet Grand Palace.Her family and friends' concerns were stoked by"No More Bets", a high-octane thriller claiming to be based on"real events", about a computer programmer who ends up in a violent scamming compound in Southeast Asia after being trafficked through an unnamed country remarkably similar to Thailand.
But since the start of 2023, only 2.3 million Chinese tourists have come, and last week the Thai government announced temporary visa-free travel for Chinese travellers in a bid to restart the flow. "If the Chinese government helps, we will receive tourists soon because Chinese people listen to their government," she said.
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