中國遊客旅遊東南亞 應該避開泰國曼谷動盪

The love affair between Chinese tourists and Thailand hit its first big reality check last month, according to Vichit Prakobgosol, one of the matchmakers who helped the relationship blossom.

泰國華裔旅遊業者黃漢忠(Vichit Prakobgosol)表示，中國遊客與泰國之間的“熱戀”上月遭遇首次大考。黃是幫助這段關係得到蓬勃發展的“媒人”之一。

The Thai-Chinese tour operator’s CCT Group saw the number of Chinese visitors plunge after street protests convulsed Bangkok – with the prospect of more trouble to come as opposition activists started blocking roads late yesterday to shut down the city from today. “January is normally high season because of Chinese New Year but, if the situation worsens, volumes may be down more than 50 per cent,” said Mr Vichit, who founded CCT a quarter of a century ago.

在曼谷爆發街頭抗議活動之後，泰國國泰旅遊集團(CCT Group)眼看着中國遊客數量大幅減少，而隨着反對派12日夜間開始封鎖道路，從13日起封城，形勢可能會變得更加嚴峻。黃漢忠表示：“由於中國農曆新年，1月通常是泰國的旅遊旺季，但如果形勢惡化，遊客數量可能會減少一半以上。”泰國國泰旅遊集團是黃漢忠25年前創建的。

His company welcomed 7,000 Chinese arrivals to the Thai capital in December, compared with an expected minimum of 15,000.

去年12月，他的公司接待了7000名赴曼谷旅遊的中國遊客，而此前預計該月遊客數量最少爲1.5萬。

“Chinese tourists are especially frightened by the so-called shutdown of Bangkok, as they understand it to mean they cannot enter or exit the city,” he added.

他補充稱：“所謂的封鎖曼谷尤其嚇到了中國遊客，因爲他們認爲，這意味着他們無法進出曼谷。”

Mr Vichit’s worries are shared by others in Thailand’s jittery tourist industry, who fear the deepening political crisis could bring an abrupt halt to a boom seen before big demonstrations began in November.

整個泰國旅遊業瀰漫着緊張不安的氣氛，其他從業人士也懷着與黃漢忠一樣的擔憂。人們擔心，政治危機惡化可能會令大規模示威活動出現之前的旅遊熱潮戛然而止，這些示威活動始於去年11月。

As protesters battle to derail elections due on February 2, businesses are hoping a mix of a weakening national economy and political instability won’t destroy “Teflon” Thailand’s reputation for shrugging off financial and reputational troubles rather than seeing them stick.

在抗議者試圖破壞定於2月2日舉行的泰國大選之際，企業界希望，疲弱的國民經濟和政治不穩定局面不會破壞泰國因爲不受金融和信譽危機影響而贏得的“特富龍”聲譽，不會出現粘鍋現象。

“The situation for Thai travel isn’t good at all in our agency this year,” said a manager of one international travel agency in south China, lamenting a sometimes violent crisis in which seven people were wounded when gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on anti-government protesters in Bangkok early on Saturday. “In the past, we usually promoted Bangkok for the Chinese New Year – but this year, we replaced it with islands in southeast Asian countries.”

“今年我們旅行社的泰國遊形勢很不好，”中國華南一國際旅行社的經理表示，“過去，我們通常會推廣春節泰國遊，但今年我們換成了東南亞海島遊。”他傷感地提到了這場時而帶有暴力色彩的危機，上週六凌晨，一夥騎着摩托車的持槍者向一羣反政府抗議者開槍，造成7人受傷。

The nerves in the run-up to Chinese New Year on January 31 reflect China’s importance to a Thai tourist industry that accounts for up to 10 per cent of Thai gross domestic product.

1月31日中國農曆新年之前的這種緊張情緒，反映出中國市場對泰國旅遊業的重要性，而旅遊業在泰國國內生產總值(GDP)中所佔的比重多達10%。

Much of the official 20 per cent growth in the sector to October last year has come from newly wealthy middle-class Chinese, attracted by publicity such as the wildly popular 2012 Chinese comedy movie Lost in Thailand.

官方統計數字顯示，去年1-10月泰國旅遊業產值增長20%，這在很大程度上得益於中國新興富有中產階級，2012年極受歡迎的中國喜劇電影《人再囧途之泰囧》(Lost in Thailand)等宣傳材料吸引了他們。

Some of those gains have already been reversed, thanks also to new rules in China that have pushed up the costs of foreign tourism by banning operators from charging commissions from shops they take their groups to visit.

由於中國頒佈的新規，這股增長勢頭在一定程度上已被逆轉。新規禁止旅行社從它們帶團去購物的商店收取佣金，這推升了出境遊價格。

The number of Chinese arrivals at Bangkok’s main Suvarnabhumi airport plummeted from almost 170,000 in December 2012 to fewer than 134,000 last month, say official data.

官方數據顯示，2013年12月抵達曼谷主要機場——素萬那普(Suvarnabhumi)機場的中國遊客數量從2012年12月的近17萬人降至不到13.4萬人。

Even though some hotels in Bangkok are reporting falls in occupancy of 15 per cent or more, many other tourists are still coming through the capital to Thailand’s island resorts as normal: arrivals of both US and British nationals at Suvarnabhumi rose slightly year on year in December.

儘管曼谷一些酒店報告入住率下滑15%或更多，但很多其他國家的遊客仍像往常一樣通過曼谷去往泰國的海島旅遊勝地：去年12月，抵達曼谷素萬那普機場的美國和英國遊客數量同比均略有增加。

Bangkok’s streets hardly feel empty either, with foreigners swarming around popular tourist areas such as the upmarket Ratchaprasong mall district and the choked pavements of the Silom Road night market.

曼谷街頭也沒有給人空蕩蕩的感覺，大量外國遊客出現在頗受歡迎的遊客集散地，例如曼谷的拉查帕森(Ratchaprasong)高檔購物區，而Silom Road夜市的人行道上仍是熙熙攘攘。

And the protests are an extra attraction for some visitors, such as the Spanish tourist who pitched up on his bike this week to an opposition camp outside the prime minister’s offices and quizzed demonstrators on whether their movement resembled Mohandas Gandhi’s non-violent campaign for Indian independence.

抗議活動還特別吸引了一些遊客，例如一名西班牙遊客日前就騎上自行車來到泰國總理辦公室外的反對派營地，詢問示威者他們的運動是否與莫罕達斯•甘地(Mohandas Gandhi)爲爭取印度獨立所開展的非暴力運動類似。

But, while the slick PR videos for a country where “happiness has a thousand faces” have never exactly reflected some of its grittier truths, Chinese media and others are pointing increasingly to the gap between Thailand’s image and actual events.

然而，儘管關於這個“千面王國”的華麗公關視頻從未如實反映其現實中較爲嚴峻的一面，但中國媒體和其他方面越來越多地指出泰國形象與實際國情之間的差距。

As a reporter for China’s state-run Global Times put it in an article last month: “My recent visit to Thailand left me with the impression that this southeast Asian country’s gentle smile can become a scowl in the face of political unrest.”

正如中國官方報紙《環球時報》的一名記者上月在一篇文章中所言，最近去泰國給他留下了這樣一種印象：這個東南亞國家的微笑在面對政治動盪時可能變成一副怒容。

Now Mr Vichit just wants to see Thai tourism and other businesses repeat their success in shrugging off the effects of previous protracted protests in the capital in 2008 and 2010.

如今，黃漢忠只希望泰國旅遊業和其它行業可以再次像2008年和2010年曼谷爆發長期抗議時那樣，擺脫政治動盪的影響。

“If the political tension is resolved quickly it will only take one month for the Chinese to flood back into Bangkok,” he said.

他表示：“如果政治緊張局勢迅速化解，只需一個月中國遊客就會再次涌入曼谷。”