BANGKOK - Thailand has come up with a novel idea to tempt Chinese tourists to visit during Golden Week.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is negotiating with the managers of Meizhou Mazu temple in Fujian province, China, to bring the Mazu goddess statue, or the Ruby goddess, to Bangkok from November 14-19.
Tourism and Sports Minister Pipat Ratchakitprakan believes the goddess – who is the patron of seafarers - will “promote relations between the two countries and increase the number of Chinese tourists, who want to show their respect to the goddess at places where the statue will be displayed”.
Those places will be the Quanzhou Jinjiang Association (Thailand), Lim Clansmen Association of Thailand and Yaowarat, Chinatown.
“The Mazu goddess culture is older than 1,000 years,” said the minister. “This project will also serve as a cultural link to China’s One Belt One Road global strategy.”
Some 10.5 million Chinese visited Thailand in 2018, accounting for about 28% of total foreign arrivals, but growth has tailed off this year in the wake of fatal accidents in Thailand involving Chinese tourists and the strong Thai baht, which has made holidays in Thailand more expensive.