Chiang Mai locals resent Chinese tourists: report

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-02-24

Chiang Mai University, Thailand. (Internet photo)

A poll by Chiang Mai University in Thailand has showed that local people do not welcome the increasing number of Chinese tourists, reports the state-run China News Service (CNS).

CNS cited a poll published on Feb. 17 which claimed that 80% of those surveyed said that they dislike Chinese visitors because they do not respect local culture and leave a mess.

Visitors from China were criticized for talking too loudly in public, cutting in line, smoking, spitting and litter in the streets. Some 70% said peace and quiet are immediately destroyed whenever a Chinese visitor enters the house; 53% complained that the local government does nothing to address poor behavior on the part of tourists, and 30% said public order in Chiang Mai has been jeopardized because of the increasing number of Chinese tourists.

CNS reported that Chiang Mai University has begun to ask visitors to show their photo ID or passport on entering its campus after a group of Chinese visitors spent a night camping on the grounds, during which they painted on the ground without permission.